MCL Through Different Lenses

I just read the chapter outlines for Inevitable, and it made me think of the wide range of conversations about MCL that I've had with people.  I've noticed that one of the challenges of promoting MCL is that it can be viewed through various lenses, from narrow to very broad.

For example, in my class...

• Students are moving largely at their own pace.
• Students have a voice in the way they are accessing/demonstrating the most critical, higher level content.
• Students move on only when they meet a given standard.
• Students have nearly unlimited opportunity to meet and/or exceed each standard.
• Common content is available at multiple levels (e.g. - ALL students must be able to identify literary elements in narratives.  EACH student meets this standard in the context of level appropriate readings.)

With the above features in my classroom mix, it is fair to say that, at the classroom level, this is a functional MCL approach.

However, while my classroom approach features many core principles of a MCL classroom, that is just one level at which the term is used.  Many teachers speak of MCL from a larger, building/content wide viewpoint.  At the building or content level, there are greater requirements for commonality of process.  Some may use this as an excuse to keep from moving forward at the classroom level, claiming that it is impossible to move forward on one's own until the MCL processes for the entire building are established.  This is an understandable viewpoint if one views MCL through the building-wide lens.

Finally, one could view MCL through a system-wide lens.  This one is a reach with today's traditional school system structures.  However, it is what the leaders of this movement appear to endorse.  In this approach, the features of MCL would be applied to an entire K-12 system of education in a school system.

Since we all come to MCL with differing experiences and viewpoints, it makes sense to consider when communicating with others about MCL the lenses through which each of us view the initiative.