Jeremy Lapka

EDL 272
Reflection David Langford Podcast

In listening to David Langford’s podcast it was hard to not reflect on my own current practice

and reality as a math teacher. I listened to the podcast twice with two different lenses of focus. The first

time listening through I was focused on hearing just what he was saying. The second time listening I

focused on the change he was talking about (personal reflection), and this I believe was what his main

point of the podcast was hitting at. The idea of change and having to start at the top depends on the

level at which you are looking at it from. As a teacher you are at the top of the system of that classroom,

and change can begin at this level. We (me included) as teachers or humans point to the people we

think are above to pass the blame or look for the solution. Yes, I believe there are system that need to

be put into place from the district level, but think of all the systems and processes we currently run in

our classrooms. If we are truly looking to improve the achievement levels of students, what can I in my

current role as a teacher change. David Langford said in his podcast, “You change the system (your

classroom) you change the psychology of the people in the system.” I can have an impact in my current

system in my current role as a math teacher, but I need to reflect on my own thinking as I lead my

classroom of students.

Looking back over my notes, a new piece of learning that stuck with me was “flat to round”.

David Langford was talking about behavior and how we are continually trying to manipulate it in

schools. I had never completely thought about it in this way before, but we do try and fit all the students

in a building into one behavior system. My thinking goes right to the metaphor of you cannot fit a

square peg into a round hole. We continue to extrinsically motivate students with rewards, prizes,

trophies, and grades into what we need to get completed. At the end of the podcast Langford talks

about all the pressure we place on the education system. However, this pressure of getting the desired
results only sacrifices the integrity of teachers, but I see this continue (loss of integrity) then within our

students when we only extrinsically motivate them. The shift to intrinsically motivate students can

produce a higher quality of work when working together in the learning and not in the learning for a

grade.

As I was listening to his explanation of the rollout and implementation of the common core

curriculum within the United States I had never that about it from the angle he was talking about as not

being beneficial. With the introduction of common core within my district all I heard and believed was

how great this is/will be. We are unifying our education system as a whole, and our creating a

progression for all system to follow. I see this as something that does conflict with my current reality. He

does bring up great points about does it take away the creativity of districts or teachers to meet the

needs of it students. I found it very interesting with his examples about nothing better than good

competition. Did putting everyone on the same playing field as districts/states take away the

competitive nature to continue to improve oneself? I found this argument to be very compelling and

agree with him of why we do need to continue to work together along with pushing each other to

become better.

These last few classes I have really taken the time to reflect not only about the courses I have

taken, but myself as a teacher/teacher leader within my building. We have talked about in class

“managing up” or now “changing from the top”, but am I leading by example. My hope is that my

colleagues will see me working to improve myself, and want to continue this improvement/learning for

themselves which ultimately effectives our student learning.