...believes in cooperation not competition as primary; fundamental to cooperation is the notion of networking and resource sharing.
...is committed to equity. Its staff continuously promotes means for resource distribution that supports the notion and the probability of better learning opportunities for all professionals.
...is committed to customizing its activities to meet the needs of those engaged in long-term school development.
...is optimistic about learning and a school and community's capacity to grow, change, and renew itself. The Institute, therefore begins with a school and community's strengths rather than its weaknesses.
SDI works with an action research approach that is circular in
design, beginning with problem analysis, followed by a strategic
design phase, an implementation phase, moving to an evaluation phase,
and bridging back to the problem analysis phase with reflections on
their work.
SDI has always provided a flexible structure supporting school based change. School-based teams take on a goal for their school and use SDI support to create a workable development plan for the coming year.
Since its inception in 1982, the Vermont School Development Institute has continuously articulated, clarified and amplified its beliefs. These beliefs are the foundation of the institute and are derived from a commitment to a social constructivist model.
The institute's heart is imbedded in the work of a native Vermonter, John Dewey, who coined the term creative association. Dewey believed that people of diverse backgrounds coming together to solve problems will make inherently better decisions and over time, a vision of the future will emerge. SDI promotes the view,"you can't legislate what matters." (Fullan) SDI believes in a continuous development process that engages all invested parties over time.
Bruce Richardson, Director of SDI
311 Waterman Building
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
(802) 656-0010
barichar@zoo.uvm.edu
Edith Beatty, Director of BPE
311 Waterman Building
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
(802) 656-8491
ebeatty@zoo.uvm.edu
Allison Kuzmitski, Financial Assistant
229 Waterman Building
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
(802) 656-3029 (phone)
(802) 656-0855 (fax)
sdibpe@zoo.uvm.edu