The ALRI Annual Retreat
From LiteracyTentWiki
The Three “R’s” of Teacher Renewal Retreats
In 1995, the staff of the Adult Literacy Resource Institute in Boston, Massachusetts sponsored a staff development event unlike any they had offered in the past. For two and a half days, a group of adult basic education teachers had the opportunity to get away from the city and their everyday lives to reflect on their teaching in a different way. By having time to themselves in a country setting and by participating in creative activities with others teachers, participants had the luxury seldom afforded to teachers of reaffirming their commitment to their profession and exploring new areas of interest. The event was structured around three goals – the three “R’s” of retreat, renewal and return. The inspiration for this idea came from the work done by the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching. Their experiences, outlined in a book, “A Place for Teacher Renewal: Challenging the Intellect, Creating Educational Reform” by A. G. Rud Jr. and WP. Oldendorf argued that it is vital for teachers to be able to step outside of their discipline in order to refresh their outlook, and that these experiences make for better educators, prevents burnout and promotes teacher retention.
Rationale: At the A.L.R.I, we had been concerned with the rate of turnover of teachers in ABE. Through the years we had seen many brilliant, dedicated teachers turn to other professions, utterly exhausted and disappointed. We were searching for ways, other than a two-hour workshop, where teachers’ dedication and expertise would be validated, recognized and rewarded. The retreat was structured around activities that encouraged creativity and rediscovery of what it means to be a learner. The agenda included opportunities for participants to:
- work as part of a small group on a cooperative building project
- take part in a variety of mostly arts-based workshops (they were urged to select things to which they had little or no prior exposure)
- write and talk about their experiences in these workshops as beginning learners and reflect on how this applied to their work as teachers
- discuss various readings related to adult basic education
- participate in non-competitive games
- make masks and other activities
- and of course, meet and talk with colleagues from other programs.
Agenda: Fifteen teachers participated, mostly from the Boston area, as well as five staff from the A.L.R.I. Participants had been asked to write about why they felt they needed to go on this retreat and their answers fell under three general areas: Working conditions; feeling burn-out and the need to connect with peers. One teacher wrote: “Presently, one of my frustrations in teaching is working in a very tiny program (l-1/2 staff people). I’d like opportunities to collaborate regularly with peers, to reflect together on our practice and discuss response to our situation. Sometimes I just feel used up, as if I don’t have a single new idea left in my head. I’m also frustrated by how tenuous the position feels…” Another wrote: “At work or at workshops, it’s difficult for me to have meaningful discussion with other teachers about our teaching ideas and roadblocks…” One practitioner wrote about wanting an opportunity to revisit why she was in this profession in the first place. “I would like an opportunity to feel good about the field and the people I work with…I would love the opportunity to take pleasure in my work and with my colleagues. I want to be able to stop and think about why this field is worth it…and fun too…a chance to laugh.”
Results: The retreat was held in a Quaker retreat center in a rural area of western Massachusetts. The pastoral setting contributed much to the success of the retreat as well as the experiences fostered by the agenda. Participants were asked to write one-line reflections at the end of the retreat from the writing they had done through the three days. Some wrote: “It’s been wonderful to have time and space with other adult educators where we have done creative things together-it’s been very educational but in a different way-it’s definitely a different kind of staff development-one that works from within.” ;“I think it’s more lasting than another activity about skills building for the classroom.”; “I appreciated and remembered how important it is to feel that what counts is the attempt. You just can’t be a perfectionist and a beginning learner at the same time.”
Continued Need: The teacher renewal retreats continued for five more years, three of them offered in the initial format of two and a half days. But as the culture of the “work ‘till you drop” nineties sped on, it became more and more difficult to recruit teachers who felt they could take two and a half days out of their busy schedules, even if accommodations and food were absolutely free. Funding considerations also became an issue and it became challenging to justify a professional development activity that was not based on “hard” skills-development. The last two retreats were offered as one-day getaways on an island in Boston harbor. They were also successful in providing an opportunity for teachers and other ABE staff to retreat from the everyday; get renewed by activities that challenged their spirit as well as their intellect and returned with a refreshed attitude and commitment to their work in adult basic education. As teacher retention continues to be an issue in ABE as well as in the K-12 system, I hope that funding sources and school districts see the wisdom of fostering creative solutions to this persistent problem.
Marie Elena Gonzalez
Former Regional Coordinator, Greater Boston SABES Regional Support Center/ Adult Literacy Resource Institute
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