The Workshop Model

Evidently, the New York City Department of Education has mandated a particular style of instruction known as "the workshop model".  It was originally mandated for literacy and science instruction in the elementary grades, but has mutated into the mandatory style of instruction for all grades in all subjects.

The "workshop model" was developed by Carmen Farina and Lucy Calkins.  Calkins' work was originally focused on teaching writing.

The whole thing is extremely reminiscent of California's indoctrination into whole language reading instruction--a debacle.  Best summary is Blackboard Bungle, parts 1 and 2, by Jill Stewart.

A simple description of the workshop model (from ThinkQuest New York City
and written by six New York teens)

In the past, students would learn their studies from a teacher standing in front of a blackboard and copying notes onto it. They would learn their reading skills by reading books and writing skills by reading essays, but this method does not benefit the students of today's times in the way that they need it to. Students today need a method of learning their reading and writing skills in a simple yet constructive way.

According to a description in New York Teacher

The model is premised on the belief of “progressive” educators that the best way to encourage deep and enduring understanding is through “discovery learning” in a small-group setting, where students puzzle out problems and acquire knowledge on their own.

Accordingly, the teacher must limit direct instruction to the first 7 to 10 minutes of class. For the next 20 minutes, students work in pairs or groups of four to try out the concept or skill that the teacher modeled in the “mini-lesson.” During that period, the teacher circulates from group to group helping as needed, or in elementary and middle schools, conducts five-minute “conferences” to assess students individually. For the final 10 minutes of class, the groups share results.

Two other features of the workshop model:

• All desks arranged in  small groups (often of four)--note some will have their backs to the front of the classroom
• Directions to teachers to avoid writing on the board (black or white) at the front of the classroom

Writing in The Wave, a website about Rockaway, New York,  the education columnist Norman Scott reported:

“Lucy Calkins [one of the leaders of the balanced literacy movement] dropped in to talk to us at a recent workshop. She said the workshop model was not to be used for all teaching and thought it was crazy to teach a social studies lesson in 10 minutes. She also restated that balanced literacy is based on teachers making their own decisions about what their students need. The suggested mini-lessons were only meant to help teachers until they learned the balanced literacy methods."

Calkins' disavowal of the univeral utility of the workshop model evidently didn't reach the shocktroops of NYCDOE:

New York City Department of Education is divided into regions; each region has a Local Instructional Superintendent (LIS).  At some point in 2004, Chancellor Klein  mandated the workshop model for all classes, and instituted a program of "professional development" for all teachers to use the model every day in all subjects, or face professional censure. 

Complaints were not slow in coming:

Teachers' Union Newsletter for High School teachers,   Winter 2004 reported the following:

• A "workshop model coach" reprimanded a teacher in front of her class for praising her students
• An administrator declared that the color red could not be used on bulletin boards because it was "too aggressive"
• Many highschools were mandated to use "only" the workshop model in all classes
• Physical education teachers in one region were directed to use the workshop model "in every lesson on every day"
• Local Instructional Superintendents (LISes) in one region ruled that the workshop model was "mandatory" in all content areas.
• In one area, the seating arrangement for all science classes mandated to be a 'U" shape, and any teacher devating from that seating arrangement would be subject to disciplinary action.

In the February 17, 2005 edition of New York Teacher,  Deirdre McFayden reported that the Department of Education had mandated "the workshop model" had the following features:

• Only 10 minutes of direct instruction for each class period
• All other work to be done by students, in small groups (groups of four)

The more than a dozen teachers interviewed for this article agreed that the workshop model is useful as one method among others. What they object to is the order to shoehorn every lesson into that format, even if, in their judgment, it is not the best approach for that day’s lesson.

“There are many topics that do not lend themselves to the workshop model,” said Richard Williams, the chapter leader of A. Philip Randolph HS on the City College campus. “The workshop model works only when it is at the discretion of the teacher. To have it mandated is a big mistake.”

Redhog, who writes the blog WakeUp Call, reports the following alarming features of the new school year:

• A middle-school teacher disciplined for teaching punctuation
• Another middle school teacher scolded for working outside the curriculum: she was demanding correct spelling from her students
• A class of high-school seniors were found to be ignorant of the existence and importance of such figures as Stalin, Darwin, Freud, Churchill, Marx, and Einstein
• Some teachers have been ordered to restrict all observations of any child's work and behavior to praise.
• Teachers using the chalkboard (blackboard, whiteboard) have been disciplined.
• Desks  must be configured in "pods" rather than rows, no matter what the subject.  Deviation is subject to professional discipline.
• Teachers "caught" deviating from the 10-minute mini-lesson (by giving longer introductions or lectures, or by moderating whole-class discussions) have been disciplined.

Redhog goes on to say,

The workshop model is the freak of Columbia Teachers College. Except for the folks who are making money on the model, practically no educational researchers, historians, or teachers in the field think it is anything but a wicked waste of time. Horrible as it is, the workshop model is just one of many innovative infections that have put the school system in a raging fever.

Writing for Education Next, the education writer Sol Stern has a searing indictment of the multiple failures of Mayor Bloomberg, Education Chancellor Klein,  and Deputy Education Chancellor Diana Lam:

But consider Chancellor Klein’s   professional development program. It is meant to indoctrinate and  remold virtually every teacher in the system, regardless of that  teacher’s level of academic attainment, years of experience,  established record of success, or personal teaching style. All are  herded into professional development boot camp, the 13-year veteran   with a master’s degree in English literature next to the  rookie just out of education school. All are forced to slavishly parrot progressive education theories and apply them in their  classrooms. Just as the teachers’ contract undermines  teaching excellence, Klein’s professional development regime demoralizes good professional educators with a previous track  record of success.

James Traub, writing in the New York Times in 2003, had some earlier criticisms of the Bloomberg-Klein-Lam triumvirate:

But it hasn't -- quite the contrary. In January, Mayor Bloomberg's schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein, announced that starting this fall all but the most successful schools in the city would adopt a uniform curriculum. The new math program, Everyday Mathematics, would emphasize understanding concepts rather than mastery of basic operations, and a "balanced literacy" approach to reading and writing would focus more on children working among themselves than on direct instruction. Reading experts swiftly criticized the phonics component, Month by Month Phonics, as sketchy and unsystematic. (Mr. Klein later added a more orthodox program.)

I wish it were possible to sue for educational malpractice.  I have some candidates for litigation in the whole language area: Ken Goodman, Yetta Goodman,
Marie Carbo, Robert and Marlene McCracken,  Jeff McQuillan,  Carol Edelsky,
Barbara Flores....

the list could go on for a long time.  Whole language robbed the children of California of the right to read easily and fluently.  Kids in kindergarten in 1988 graduated from high school around 2001--is it any wonder that we're finding that kids aren't ready for college work?  If you aren't a fluid reader, able to puzzle out unfamiliar words ("decoding") --you cannot read complex texts.

I wonder if the universal workshop model is coming to a school district near me.

(tag team: from Joanne Jacobs to Kimberly Swygert to me)

Comments

[barbara]

I am interested in researching all issues related to Lucy Calkins for an article I am considering writing about her and her programs. I am not a fan or her work. (I am the author of "Welcome to Lizard Motel: Protecting the Imaginative Lives of Children" (BEacon press '04) where I discuss Calkins very critically from a parent's point of view.) Do you have any updated information --about her recent contracts, etc. --that might be helpful to me as I proceed? Your blog is incredibly interesting and inspriting! Thank you.

[liz]

Barbara, I don't follow Calkins' work very closely. I think she isn't the villain here--from what I've read and seen, the workshop model, used judiciously, can be an effective approach to *some* learning tasks. The problem arises when it is taken to extremes/used in settings where it isn't appropriate. It's the same thing that happened to Howard Gardner and Types of Intelligence -- a useful idea oversimplified, warped, and taken to ridiculous (or harmful) extremes.

[Paulette Benditton]

I'm trying to find out more about a program called Accelerated Literacy that may be coming into New York City schools. I think the originator is someone called Susan Radley. My understanding is that it is constructivism taken to the highest degree of absurdity yet. Have you heard of this? Any ideas how I can find some samples to look at?

[Stephen Thornton-Taylor]

Open letter to Ms. Calkins. In a graduate program at Cleveland State University, I have developed a variation of the workshop model that, yes I employ in the High School social studies classroom. I call it the four stations; four walls with relevant workstation to the bottom right; two computers and an unending supply of reference material; Lincoln West, near "downtown" Cleveland; 40 different cultures represented; viva investigacion. Eureka it works! No mandates, modify people modify. thanks, Ms. Calkins!

[Sevan]

I am currently teaching music at the elementary level. This is my ninth year with MCPS,3rd as an elementary school teacher at the very same school. During my evaluations this year, I was told that I will receive a "not meet standard" rating as the principal observed me do too much of direct teaching and that the students were not working independently in small groups. I was also told that my conclusion should be at least 7-10 minutes. If my lesson is completely theoretical, I may be able to do that; but in most cases the music class has to be teacher led, commenting as they are progressing, to get good results. Any other music teachers going through the same problem?
Sevan

[klarisa K]

Hi,
My name is Klarisa and I am doing a research paper on the workshop model.
Any relevant articles regarding "the workshop model" pros or cons for my research paper would be highly appreciated.

Thank you so much,

Klarisa Konstantinovsky

[klarisa K]

Hi,
My name is Klarisa and I am doing a research paper on the workshop model.
Any relevant articles regarding "the workshop model" pros or cons for my research paper would be highly appreciated.

Thank you so much,

Klarisa

[Chris]

Hi,

I too had to pigeon hole this model into a music class. It is incompatable with large group intruction. My lesson plans are in the "model" while I teach using whole group instruction.

[Jay]

The workshop model works well. It is progressive and helps students realize that they can master material instead of just memorizing it. Thank you for the ideas.

[Ginger]

Workshop model is ideal for actually allowing students to practice reading, writing, and math. Too many times the teacher does all the talking and are shoced when students can't perform. This method offers students direct teaching with guided practice. It also allows teachers to differeniate...and meet with small groups. Differeniated Instruction is best attained through flexible, purposeful groupings with attention to meeting students' needs. The traditional was do not allow for meeting ALL students' needs. Just think....what a concept...meeting ALL students' needs...not teaching long winded lessons to the middle.

[The TRUTH]

Looks like Ginger ^ drank the Kool-aid. Teachers College is a crock of shit. They're making money with this silly program and the students are truly suffering. SAD.

[Dennis]

The way I see it, the Workshop Model is just a fancy label for something that has been done for ages. A good lesson has the teacher teaching something, and the students practicing it. Afterwards, the work is reviewed. Nothing new. It works great for certain types of lessons in most subjects, but forcing the method onto every subject, every day is ridiculous. The part I find most disgusting is the label "mini-lesson". I did not spend six years of college and graduate school to do something "mini". Surgeons do not perform "mini-operations". Lawyers do not have "mini-cases", etc... Call what the teacher is supposed to do a "mini", and it minimizes the importance of the action.

[alejandra]

Dennis: YOU ARE PLAIN RIGHT!!!!Love your comment (clear, straight forward, intelligent).

[K. MacDonald]

The workshop model is still live and well at our nyc school. We have just had yet another workshop on the workshop model because apparently even after 10 years we are not doing it "right". We even recieved a lesson template that we are expected to use to make sure we plan "correctly". We are a 6-12 school.