If something has no cost, is it worthless? Reflections on making an offer teachers can't refuse.

When I first conceived of my Plan B, I had big dreams.  I would use my position as the STEAM specialist teacher in my school to full advantage. For some time, I had been looking for a way to be more relevant to the classroom teachers and to the students who, I thought, viewed me as that fun science teacher under the stairs in B building where we get to go for a few weeks each school year.  I didn't want to be an "internal field trip", I wanted to be a part of the dynamic planning and integration around STEM disciplines in the classroom, in the garden and in our field service site at Waihe'e Coastal Refuge. The Plan B, as I initially imagined, would be a tool for achieving a piece of those goals and having some data from the experience with which to push forward in the years to come.
My advisor took a look at my plans and told me, while the "I do", "we do", "you do" model of teacher collaboration would likely achieve my aims, it was also very time consuming for me and required a significant investment from teachers.  Those teachers, the ones who already have too many mandates, creative ideas to spare, workshop strategies they want to try to implement and WASC accreditation meetings on top of data teams and IEPs and ... I got it, come up with a new plan.

My current research design is a little bit less ambitious.  I am still interested in what value my STEAM position has on teacher practice but I am looking at that question as a measure of science teaching efficacy and outcomes expectancy. It is a little unnerving and threatening to design a research study that a) will determine if you get or do not get a MEd. and b) directs a laser focus on how effective you are in your professional role.  Hey, maybe I'll have no Masters and no job next year!

I've cleared the IRB hurtle and recruited my teachers.  I have a pretty lack-luster sample size of 6 teachers out of a possible 11 that I am working with in Q4 agreeing to be a part of my survey and interview.  as part of my research, I also send them lesson plans I have written as Classroom Connections. These are optional for them to teach and are designed to extend the science and engineering practices and content  place-based elements within the instruction. Basically, they are customized lessons for their particular class.  My motivation on this was my advisor's recommendation that I do more than just model effective STEAM instruction when working with my research subjects.  In order for them to reflect on whether our professional learning community caries value for their teaching behaviors they need to try some of the techniques themselves.   Sounds logical, sounds easy, sounds like someone is doing quality work for you and that feels welcome.  And yet, I am still having trouble getting teachers to commit to the optional lessons. I've asked for feedback, I've gone ot meet with them at lunch. "It is a good lesson", they say, followed by some variation on the theme...'I've got to move on to the next thing in the curriculum'.

I haven't gotten much closer to cracking the puzzle of how to open teachers up to depth over breadth to student engagement and a bit of chaos over scripted curriculum that fits neatly in the time slot.  There will always be ore to do than can be done, I know.  How do I remain true to my pedagogical bias and the practice of teaching kids from their own wonderings while still keeping the essential relationship with and support of the general education teachers who either value, or not, my professional position?