The Spirit and Intent of the National Great Teachers Movement (In…

The Spirit and Intent
of the
National Great Teachers Movement


(In observance of its 30th anniversary)




By David B. Gottshall
Founder


March 1999
Introduction



        In 1969, I founded the National Great Teachers Seminar (known originally as the
        Illinois Great Teachers Seminar), based on earlier staff development experiments
        of the late Roger H. Garrison. Over the years, the Great Teachers model has
        spread to many states and provinces across North America, and the original
        National Great Teachers Seminar was discontinued after 25 continuous,
        successful years.


        As the statewide and province-wide Great Teachers Seminars develop, the
        Movement is carried by those participants to their own local colleges. Once the
        Great Teachers concept takes hold at the local level it becomes the model for a
        variety of grass roots staff and organizational development activities that are both
        immensely effective and extremely cost-effective.


        It is remarkable that a movement in education has thrived and continues to grow
        for 30 years. However, due to its age and the ever-growing distances from its
        Midwest point of origin, it is time to clarify its simple purposes and methods, so
        that it will continue to serve higher education through its positive effect on the
        professional and personal lives of our future teachers.


        What follows is not a how-to document; I sincerely believe that the continuance of
        the Great Teachers Movement depends upon there being no such document, as
        I will explain later in the text. I do hope, however, that those who venture into
        Great Teachers leadership will do so with a clearer picture of the spirit and intent
        of the Movement, having read this document.




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Purposes and Premises of the Great Teachers Seminars



       The specific purposes of the Great Teachers Seminars stated in the many annual
       announcement fliers have remained basically unchanged since the original Illinois
       Great Teachers Seminar in 1969.
           1)   To celebrate good teaching.

           2)   To cause educators to venture beyond the limits of their own
                specializations and environments in search of transferable ideas and the
                universals of teaching.

           3)   To promote an attitude of introspection and self-appraisal by providing a
                relaxed setting and straightforward process whereby participants can
                seriously review and contemplate their attitude, methods, and behavior as
                teachers.

           4)   To practice rational analysis of instructional problems and to develop
                realistic, creative approaches to their solution.

           5)   To stimulate the exchange of information and ideas by building an
                expanding network of communication among teachers in higher
                education.


       The Great Teachers Seminars are based on four premises.
           1)   In the long run, teachers learn to teach best from one another. Properly
                facilitated shop talk can be the highest form of staff development.

           2)   Creativity in teaching is enhanced by mixing teachers of diverse fields,
                experience levels, and interests.

           3)   If properly tapped, the collective wisdom, experience and creativity of any
                group of practicing educators far surpasses that of any individual expert of
                any stature or fame.

           4)   The key to success in teaching is simplification (less is more).


       The focus of the seminar is not on the teaching of specific fields, but rather on the
       art of teaching as such. The emphasis is on the nature of a great teacher. It is a
       quest for The Great Teacher, and, as in the case of any quest, the questers learn
       much about themselves.



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The Great Teachers Movement



      The Great Teachers Movement is called a movement because it is not
      associated with, nor does it constitute a corporation or an organization of any
      kind. Thus, it serves no institutional or commercial interests. There is no
      headquarters or address, and there are no officials, owners, employees or
      politics. There are no manuals or handbooks, only a few simple guidelines.
      Everything is passed on by oral tradition in order to prevent the development of
      any form of true-believership or fixed procedure that might come to be followed to
      the letter and of which the education professional would soon tire. The many
      annual Great Teachers Seminars throughout North America exist and persist only
      because of the initiative and selfless ambition of people who want to share the
      experience with teachers in their own geographic area.


      The above paragraph is the most important paragraph in this document. It
      explains the success of the movement of the past 30 years. It needs to be
      understood by all who use the Great Teachers model and who venture into the
      Great Teachers Movement if it is to survive in the 21st century.




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Distinctive Features of a Great Teachers Seminar

       In order to "qualify" as a Great Teachers Seminar, an event must be based on the
       purposes and premises stated above and must display the following features.


       There is no pre-planned agenda. For the purposes of the seminar, the best
       agendas are those that are written at the last possible moment. They are based
       on the actual needs and interests of those assembled. In the case of the GT
       Model, the agenda develops out of the discussion of two brief papers written by
       the participants before they arrive. These papers feature a teaching innovation of
       which they are proud and a teaching problem for which they have not yet found a
       satisfactory solution. There is no input whatsoever into the agenda on the part of
       the director or the facilitators of the seminar. The agenda is derived from what the
       facilitators hear and observe in their small group sessions. There should be no
       inkling of the content of a Great Teachers Seminar before it begins.


       There is no pre-planned, distributed schedule. The trouble with schedules is that,
       once they are announced, one must stick to them or one appears "out of control".
       Thus, there is no room for alteration of any sort or merit. If something useful
       comes up, it must be rejected. If something goes on too long or should be
       savored longer or turns out to be pointless, nothing can be done about it. Change
       becomes a sign of inability to adhere to the schedule. The more you succeed in
       facilitating good process, the more you "fail". A tentative and flexible listing of
       events indicating what has developed by way of a plan for the next several hours
       should be posted at some central place.


       There are no hired experts on education or anything else on hand. The whole
       idea is to demonstrate the power of the collective wisdom, experience and
       creativity of the participants. It is one of the most important concepts that they
       bring back to their campuses.


       There is an agreement at the very outset of the seminar that all behavior and
       discussion will be positive and productive. There is no occasion for griping, telling


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war stories, crucifying administrators or scapegoating of any sort. There is no
room for bad news; only good news is acceptable. No one cares what does not
work; everyone cares what does work. The question is always: "What will I do?"
It is never: "What should someone else do?" All agree to share discussion time
equitably and to be graciously honest and straightforward.


There is a significant amount of "free" time. The amount and timing of free time is
very important and variable. It is provided to allow for further discussion, informal
follow-up, and private reflection. The mind must unboggle from time to time.
Some of the best learning and realization occurs during the unscheduled times,
during recreation and excursions.


There is a tendency toward simplification rather than complication in the process
of problem solving. The chief lesson of the Great Teachers Seminar has always
been: "less is more." That is demonstrated in every way possible in conducting a
GT Seminar.




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Use of the Term, Great Teachers

       As is the case with all long-lived, widespread movements, the longer the life and
       the wider the spread, the more likely it is that there will be some distortion
       (beyond recognition sometimes) of the original. In recent years, there have been
       a few fine events using the phrase "great teachers" in their titles that have little to
       do with the widely recognized Great Teachers concept or model. While it is true
       that regional differences, variety of leadership styles, and natural evolution are
       healthy and always have contributed to the longevity and freshness of the GT
       Movement, care must be taken that they occur within certain rigid constants.


       I have always promoted the idea of "rigid, minimal structure" (with emphasis on
       "minimal"). In other words, there must a dependable, identifiable set of practices
       and qualities present so that any person in the world can go to a Great Teachers
       event anywhere in the world and experience a similar format and philosophy. At
       the same time that person must have the assurance that the Great Teachers
       event in question will be unique because of the particular combination of people,
       values, and resources assembled there at that time. If there are too many diverse
       and unrelated kinds of things operating under the Great Teachers name, there
       will be a great deal of confusion, false expectation and disappointment. In short,
       Great Teachers Seminars must always be the same so that they can always be
       different. New facilitators sometimes get alarmed when "this year's Great
       Teachers Seminar is not going like last year's!" This is actually a very good sign
       as long as it is being run like a Great Teachers Seminar.


       I urge all who use the term "Great Teacher(s)" in their titles and promotional
       materials to base all activities on the purposes, premises and distinctive features
       mentioned earlier in this document.




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Great Teachers Leadership and Training

       There is no official training program for leadership in the Great Teachers
       Movement. There would be very little to do. Former participants with certain
       qualities (see below) are invited to return as facilitators; after a few years of that
       kind of experience, some are ready to go off and do their own seminar or retreat
       GT style. The experience is essential if one is to understand the simplicity of the
       process and recognize the infinite variety of outcomes. To facilitate a GT event is,
       in a way, simply to experience it from another point of view and to be responsible
       for helping to discern the key issues and values of the other participants, to
       recognize the human resources within the body of participants, and to make a
       program out of all that.


       The facilitators do not participate in their small groups. Their chief duties are to
       listen (you can't listen when you are talking), to recognize and encourage the use
       of any relevant on-site talent and resources, and to gently enforce certain ground
       rules: no griping; equal time for all participants to present ideas and to respond to
       ideas; no pointless show-and-tell or comparing of institutional trivia; being oneself,
       saying what one really means (graciously), and the like.


       Typically the qualities that make a successful Great Teachers facilitator are good
       listening skills, broad interests, good judgment, and a certain amount of charisma
       (whatever that is, but you recognize it when it comes into the room). It is also
       important that a facilitator not be a true believer in any particular school or method
       of doing group work.


       As for the director of a Great Teachers event, after the initial explanations and
       preparatory groundwork, all of which must be done with great, conscious care
       and timing, there is little to do or say other than to put together a program with the
       help of the facilitators, to mind the process and the participants' response to the
       process as it develops, and to motivate the participants through word and deed.
       It is a lot like teaching. When a director is functioning optimally, it may occur to
       some participants to wonder for what purpose that person is actually there.


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Ever since the original 1969 Illinois Great Teachers Seminar, the motto of the
National Great Teachers Seminar has been "A Continuing Adventure in Staff
Development." Those who would be leaders in the movement must be willing to
keep it as adventurous as good teaching itself is. They must be willing to operate
without knowing for sure what is coming next, so that whatever develops is that
which ought to have developed.


Finally, for a Great Teachers event to be successful there must be minimal ego
involvement on the part of the director and facilitators alike.




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Future Development

      In recent years, many people have assumed leadership roles and gained well-
      earned recognition in the Great Teachers Movement. Some have begun their
      own Great Teachers Seminars with or without direct help from me. This is as it
      should be and as I had always hoped, because I always have believed that as
      many teachers as possible should experience this process at least once in their
      careers. The Great Teachers model does not belong to me; it belongs to anyone
      who makes good use of it and who is driven by altruistic motives.


      Just as the Great Teachers Movement promotes common sense, honesty,
      professional integrity, and simplicity, all Great Teachers Seminars must
      demonstrate same. The Great Teachers Model is itself a model of utter simplicity.
      I ask only that those who use it keep it simple for another 30 years.




      David B. Gottshall
      P. O. Box 363
      Glen Ellyn, Illinois 60138
      1999




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