Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Teaching and Learning’ Category

Great People, Great Teachers

Posted in Leadership, Teaching and Learning on February 20, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

young learners“I always wondered in school, why has nobody discovered me? Didn’t they see that I was more clever than anybody in the school? That the teachers had trouble learning, too? That all they had was information that I didn’t need? It was obvious to me. Why didn’t they train me? I was different. I was always different. Why didn’t anybody notice me?” – John Lennon

 

 

 

 

I recently had the opportunity to review our “Bright Lights” presentation which articulates the strategies and skills of many of our educators. I am always intrigued by the creativity, passion and reception by learners of others’ teaching practices. I remain captivated by the magic that professionals bring to the organization of teaching and subsequent learning that goes on in classrooms.

Teachers and teaching matters. Most people understand the impact of good teachers and research supports this contention. Let’s review some of the research on good teachers and great teaching.

The RAND corporation in a recent study using student results on standardized tests revealed that being taught by an effective teacher has important consequences for student achievement. They found:

1. Teachers matter more to student achievement than any other aspect of schooling.

2. Non-school factors do influence student achievement, but they are largely outside a school’s control.

3. Effective teachers are best identified by their performance, not by their background or experience.

4. Effective teachers tend to stay effective even when they change schools.

Russell Bishop (2003) provided us with one of the most effective interventions available for all students but most importantly for minority students and that was the belief that teachers have in their students. He argued that those teachers who come into classrooms with the belief that students can learn and achieve to a high standard and who work collaboratively with others in this proposition actually help students learn more and to a higher level.

John Hattie, in his book, Visible Learning (2008) concluded that effective teachers exhibit characteristics. Some of these include:

1. They are directive, influential, caring, and actively and passionately engaged in the process of teaching and learning

and

2. They are aware of what each and every student in their class is thinking and what they know, and what they are capable of achieving.

ReLeah Cossett Lent in the book “Overcoming Textbook Fatigue; 21st Century Tools to Revitalize Teaching and Learning” , provided some interesting strategies and learning activities that are used by good teachers in promoting student success. These included Inquiry Based Learning, Project Based Learning and Students Collaborations. These are all activities that are not new to any of us. However Lent discussed the effect of the following as foundations that influence learning even more when used as elements in instruction:

1. Respect and Relationship building by the teacher

2. Communities of teachers working collaboratively to support students (must be visible to the learner)

3. Teachers as coaches to students and each other

Michael Strong in his book “The Highly Qualified Teacher” outlines the personal attributes of teachers as articulated by young learners. The top 12 characteristics most consistently mentioned by the students were:

1. Cooperative, democratic attitude

2. Kindliness and consideration of the individual

3. Patience

4. Wide interests

5. Personal appearance and pleasing manner

6. Fairness and impartiality

7. Sense of Humour

8. Good disposition and consistent behaviour

9. Interest in pupils’ problems

10. Flexibility

11. Use of recognition and praise

12. Unusual proficiency in teaching a particular subject.

Again it is reinforced for me that there are terrific educators working around us. The best are those who have a personality that allows them to connect with the learners they serve, an orientation to working collaboratively as a community of learners and professionals and have skills in the organization and presentation of learning activities.

Sounds easier that it really is. We are fortunate to have so many terrific educators in our district.

“Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear, and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions, and you will cultivate success. Dream” – Lao Tzu

Read Full Post »

New Year’s Resolutions

Posted in Leadership, Parents, Professional Teams, Teaching and Learning on December 31, 2012 | 1 Comment »

 

 

 

“Teaching is an instinctual act, mindful of potential, craving of realizations, a pausing, seamless process, where one rehearses constantly while acting, sits as a spectator at a play one directs, engages every part in order to keep choices open and the shape alive for the student, so that the student may enter in and begin to do what the teacher has done:  make choices.”

     -  A. Bartlett Giamatti

 

highwayPlease accept my Best Wishes for a terrific 2013. 

 

As we return to our professional work following our Christmas Break I thought I would pen a different version of my professional resolutions for 2013.  I make them public in the hope that we can collaboratively work together  to find many successes throughout the year.

 

One of my reflections during the holidays was a reminder of how human is our profession.  We can build new schools, alter bus routes, develop new technologies, but in the end, it is the human interactions in the classroom and the school that drives our educational endeavours.  Let’s hope that we as teachers in the upcoming year can see improvements in the following:

     1.  More supportive emotional climates for all learners.

     2.  Strategies to enhance mastery of content, skills and concepts.

     3.  New ways for learners to apply their knowledge

     4.  Better use of formative and summative assessments of learners and systems.

     5.  Enhancements of the professional capital of all associated with our district and profession.

 

Young learners are with us for part of the day and we accept our responsibilities as educators as part of a collaborative pact with parents, guardians and the community.  Another resolution for consideration is an enhanced partnership with parents.  I hope:

     1.  We further develop trust with all parents and guardians.

     2.  Provide welcoming environments to our parent partners.

     3.  We find ways to include parents as partners in providing academic support for their children.

     4.  We can reduce the structural and psychological barriers to increased parental participation in our classrooms and schools.

 

In return I hope parents can find ways to better support teachers and schools, enhance their roles in developing student self-discipline and provide better information on their children for our consideration.

 

Resolutions should speak to moral purpose and directions.  With this in mind I hope for:

     1.  More instructional leaders in our district.

     2.  Continued development of Social responsibility as a way of being.

     3.  Better and more adult learning.

     4.  More knowledge and understanding of how to approach and integrate the requirements of 21st Century into  our classrooms.

 

Students have a huge responsibility to support their own learning.  My hope is that they find opportunities for enhanced

     1.  engagement, participation and learning

 

In the end my resolutions remain the same as they have for over 37 years as a professional.  I wish to be the best teacher, connected to the best system serving students and families.  Not too much to wish for I hope.

Enjoy 2013

 

“We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals deep inside us that something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust….. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”

     -     e.e  cummings

Read Full Post »

Reasons for Learning

Posted in Change, Parents, Personalized Learning, Teaching and Learning on October 26, 2012 | 1 Comment »

another view of learning

 

“The 21st Century skills are essentially an updated version of the belief that education can actually make a big difference to the quality of life that our children will have, some from increased capacity but much coming from social contribution, near and far.”

     -     author unknown

 

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a series of dialogues providing feedback to the Ministry of Education on future graduation requirements. Participants included students, educators, parents and community partners. The orientation was to build on the strengths of our system and expand on the key elements of the BC Education Plan in providing our input.  The key elements of the plan include:

  1. Personalized learning for every student
  2. Quality teaching and learning
  3. Flexibility and choice
  4. High standards
  5. Learning empowered by technology  

From my perspective it was interesting to listen to the various responses.  The responses were not that different from those articulated by organizations such as (SETDA)  the State Educational Technology Directors Association who believe that the key to a productive life in the globalized and digitized 21st century includes:

  • core subjects (English, reading or language arts, languages, arts, mathematics, economics, science geography, history and civics) 
  • 21st Century themes  (global awareness, financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial skills, civic literacy, health literacy)
  • Leaning and Innovation Skills  (creativity and innovation skills, critical thinking  and problem solving skills, communication and collaboration skills)
  • Information, Media and Technology Skills  (information literacy, media literacy and ICT literacy)
  • Life and Career Skills  (flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and cross-cultural skills, productivity and accountability, leadership and responsibility) 

It will be interesting to hear whether our input results in a similar framework that is BC made, and BC developed.  My hope is that the orientation to the framework will come with a distinct connection to the educated citizen.  Will we all be clear that the reason for teaching and learning will be directed at the “dream” of a literate and socially motivated citizen.  Such a citizen should be able to inquire, continually build on natural talent, and nourish the ability to build ideas.  I would hope that the intention of our plan would be to sustain and further develop what is good in our society. 

Any change process should begin with a compelling story.  Let’s hope that once we complete this important work of retooling our education system there is clarity  as to our intended purpose.

 

“  Students learn skills by seeing them, understanding them, and practicing them until they become an integrated part of the students’ repertoire.  Thus, the models of teaching that fit the requirements of our time are in the inductive, cooperative, and inquiry-complex.”              -Joyce & Calhoun

Read Full Post »

Lessons from Louis Pasteur

Posted in Change, Leadership, Personalized Learning, Teaching and Learning on October 12, 2012 | 1 Comment »

doctorsHeidi Gable, our DPAC President, recently forwarded a blog posting to me describing the author’s response to a Turner Classic Film on the life of “Louis Pasteur”.   The movie described the 40 years it took Pasteur and his colleagues to convince the world’s doctors to wash their hands prior to surgery.  Once this tiny action was  adopted by doctors the rates of infections was reduced and the mortality rate following surgery dropped significantly. 

 

The author suggested that it took so long because doctors had a view of their profession and the strategy of hand washing threatened their self-image as doctors.   According to the movie doctors had to come to grips with the fact that accepted practice was not effective in saving patients and doctors were not quite the ‘healers’ they thought they were.

 

An interesting  thesis which the author extends to our educational world.  As educators are we caught in the same trap that suffocated medical practitioners in the 19th Century?  Are we open to or ignoring instructional practices that would improve the learning opportunities for students?  Like the doctors in Pasteur’s time    are we blind to the possible changes to school organization that would enhance teaching and learning in the 21st Century context?

 

educatorsAs I   engage with the professionals in our district I feel that I can honestly say that we are moving forward in our support of learners.  We see many experiments  and new directions where the staff are reflecting on practice and finding ways to support the learners of our schools.  The question remains however, “Are we adapting quickly enough to our new historical context?  Are we as a district and profession incorporating the best and highest yield strategies to support the learners in our district?  Are we helping each other become better teachers so that we have better learning environments for learners?

 

My sense is yes to all these questions but I am sure we can do better and quicker.  My faith in the professional of this district is immense.  Through our reorganization of the CommunityLINK hubs , professional learning opportunities, invitation to parent and student voice, commitments to our Dream, and a knowledge and understanding of the possibilities of programs such as the Learning Improvement Fund we are becoming clearer on what works and how to help each other attain the inherent skills of our craft.  When I see us discussing and  reengaging around fundamental principles such as inclusion, professional learning, Response to Intervention or “Teaching Content to All”, Universal Design for Learning, Backwards Design, Inclusive Instructional practices and Assessment for Learning , and how to collaborate effectively to support  student learning I am more positive than ever that we are more like Pasteur than we are like the doctors he tried to influence.

 

In Andy Hargreave’s words and borrowed from our LIF training session;

“Teaching like a pro is about improving as an individual, raising the performance of the team, and increasing quality across the whole profession.  It is about developing, circulating, and reinvesting professional capital.  Together these things define what’s worth fighting for as a teacher and in teaching.

Read Full Post »

Year End Message

Posted in Leadership, Teaching and Learning, Year End on June 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

graduation

“ Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”

                    -     Johann Wofgang von Goethe

 

It was with great anticipation that I recently read Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan’s new book “Professional Capital”. I find Andy’s work always thought provoking and in many ways affirming. Affirming in the sense that I see much of his writing evident in our district.

Their book is a critique and a challenge of our teaching and learning profession. The authors articulate an inspiring vision for the teaching profession; one that is in tune with Coquitlam.

One of the conclusions I took from their book is that for a district to improve it must be focused on the development of every employee in support of its’ mission or dream.

As the year comes to an end I wish to thank all employees for the exemplary work they do on a daily basis. Our commitment to collective growth is having observable outcomes for learners and our collective work ensures positive outcomes will continue.

I can find no better way to thank you all than to share with you the words of one of our students.

Karly Adair, a student at Pinetree Secondary, presented the valedictory address or Siyam at the recently held Aboriginal Education Honouring Ceremony. Her remarks helped reinforce for me the value of our work and the impact we as a community have on young learners. She graciously has granted permission for me to reprint her speech.

Thanks to Karly and through her words I would like to again thank you all for the efforts you make in helping our learners find “Success in their lives.” Karly’s words remind us of who we serve, the importance of our Dream and the impact we have.

“Each of us carries a fire within ourselves. The strengths of our fires reflect our experiences, associations and knowledge. We are taught at a very early age to let go of any distractions of the day by making peace within ourselves, so that we can nurture and maintain our fire. We are taught the necessity of balance as shown in the medicine wheel; to take care of ourselves by ensuring we tend to our physical, mental, spiritual and emotional needs. Every student you see before you has a fire burning bright.

Throughout our lives we die a thousand deaths and begin a thousand new lives with every journey we take. At every stage in our education whether it was completing preschool, primary school, and now high school we begin a new journey, and a new life.

Our latest journey began four years ago when we, the class of 2012 took our first steps into the terrifying place we know as high school. We left our middle schools as the cream of the crop, the highest ranking, the top of the mill…however when we started grade nine we were quickly informed that this was no longer the case. Once again we were at the bottom of the food chain and had to work our way up, and prove ourselves. Through all the challenging subjects, through the drama, and through the years we climbed up the clichéd ‘ladder of success’ to become the great looking, intelligent students you see before you now.

As a young generation starting new independent lives we continually face challenges – how we view them defines us. It is whether we choose to see the challenges as stepping-stones or as obstacles. If we choose to see them as obstacles, then the challenges we face will be viewed as problems – problems that need to be overcome along with all the negative connotations associated with problems. We however, choose to see challenges as stepping-stones – opportunities that we have encountered along the way for us to use, to "step on" so that we can achieve more, develop further and ultimately actualize more of our goals! We need to create a vision whereby our name becomes synonymous with excellence, innovation, honor, integrity and outstanding quality and service. That’s it – we need to promise less and deliver more…every time. If we keep our vision simple yet goal focused – then we will have turned defining our vision into a stepping-stone, one which we will use to reach even greater heights. Our entire schooling has been a great stepping stone: one that will take us to new places, and bring us to new goals.

All of the knowledge and experiences will no doubt be valuable to us as we continue on our journeys. They say hindsight is always 20/20… looking back through all of the schooling, on all of the adventures we’ve been on, the times we’ve been lost or scared, the good and the bad… all of this has come together in a way that never made sense at the time to create the individuals you see before you. After all it is our experiences that make us who we are. However I think that the most important thing that we have learned over the last four years is that we can do anything we set our minds to. We are the future generation, with unlimited opportunity, and we are willing and capable of not only contributing to society, but of making a difference and changing our world.

We have to take a moment to thank our families, teachers and community for teaching us and for showing how we can all grow as individuals as well as a group. It is they who showed us that we have the ability to reach for the stars, and to hold them in our hands.

So now we are graduates. We are going to begin a new life, out in the real world, doing real things. I bid you all wish us luck and give your support because frankly we have earned it. You should all be proud of the loved ones you see here today for they have started a life long journey filled with knowledge, integrity, honor and freedom. Nobody is perfect – we’ll keep working on that. We have our moments – but I suspect that underneath it all – we’re all kinda special! I would like to close this speech with a quote: -White Elken once said ‘When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.’ We the class of 2012 accept this challenge with open arms and open minds.”

Thanks for your support of the learners we serve.  Enjoy your summer and let’s return prepared to move forward with our “Dream  -  Learning Without Boundaries”

“In order to discover new lands, one must be willing to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”     -     Andre Gide 

Read Full Post »

SYSTEM FRAMEWORKS

Posted in Change, Leadership, Professional Teams, Teaching and Learning on June 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“A teacher who understands the conditions that make people want to learn – want to read, to write, and do sums – is in a position to turn these activities into flow experiences. When the experience becomes intrinsically rewarding, students’ motivation is engaged, and they are on their way to a lifetime of self-propelled acquisition of knowledge.” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

I recently spent a day in a workshop examining leadership and governance and the associated communication required to keep a team invested, knowledgeable and connected.
During the day I was impressed by the level of discussion and surprised at times with the discovery of solutions through collaborative processes. Through our work I was reminded:
• Developing and sustaining a community of learners is continuous, and rewarding work
• We should remember to review and renew our community and its processes for newer members
• Educational communities have a history and should continually evolve and co-create knowledge
• Never forget the power of appreciative inquiry
• 90% of accountability is affirmation
These were valuable reminders for leaders charged with helping develop a high achieving school system. Luckily, in my position I get to see manifestations of each on a daily basis. While they do not form a framework for leadership they do form part of the orientation our school system has accepted as part of its development going forward.
Following our workshop, I was motivated to review lessons learned by others involved in systemic organization and growth. McGuinty (2012) reminds us:
Lesson 1. The drive to make progress in our schools can’t be a fad
Lesson 2. Education reform is not important to your government unless it’s important to the head of your government – personally
Lesson 3. You won’t get results unless teachers are onside
Lesson 4. To succeed you need to build capacity
Lesson 5. Settle on a few priorities and pursue them relentlessly
Lesson 6. Once you start making progress, you’ve got permission to invest more
Lesson 7. You’re never done
Lesson 8. The best way to sustain your effort to improve schools is to keep it personal
While McGuinty doesn’t propose a framework, his lessons do provide guidance to our collaborative actions.
If we continue to learn and build on the appropriate ideas of others and connect people’s hearts to the work we do we will continue to develop collaboratively a system built on a “Dream”.

“The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates

Read Full Post »

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND EMPLOYEE SUPORT

Posted in Leadership, Professional Teams, Teaching and Learning on May 24, 2012 | 2 Comments »

“For good teaching rests neither in accumulating a shelf of knowledge nor in developing a repertoire of skills. In the end, good teaching lies in a willingness to attend and care for what happens in our students, ourselves, and the space between us.”
Laurent Daloz

I had the pleasure to address a group of Coquitlam and Richmond teachers completing a Mentorship Training Program facilitated by Bruce Wellman. It was amazing to see the level of engagement and commitment of these educators extending their skills in the area of Mentorship and Coaching.

I have just begun to read Andy Hargreaves new book written in collaboration with Michael Fullan. The premise of their book “Professional Capital” from my understanding is that we can improve student learning by positively impacting the capacity and skill of all teachers in a school or district. It is not a singular proposition. The work of all of us as educational leaders is to figure out how to collaboratively support better teaching. Mentorship and coaching skills will be requisite for all system leaders if we are to achieve this goal.

If we expect teachers to enhance their professional practices then we need to provide different knowledge and skills than we have provided in the past. As systems we need to commit to professional learning and Doug Reeves in his book Transforming Professional Development into Student Results (2010) suggests that our focus should be on high-impact professional learning that focuses on student learning, and on people and their practices.

He states:
“We know what effective professional learning looks like. It is intensive and sustained, it is directly relevant to the needs of teachers and students, and it provides opportunities for application, practice, reflection, and reinforcement.

We also know what it doesn’t look like: death by Power Point, ponderous lectures from people who have not been alone with a group of students for decades, and high-decibel whining about the state of (take your pick) children, parents, teachers, public education and Western civilization.”

If we can support professional learning with a high level of emotional commitment to each other as valued professionals we can truly improve learning. Stallard and Pankam in a Leader to Leader article (Winter, 2008) suggested the following practical ways a leader can add the element of human value to our work environment.
1. Help employees understand the basic psychological needs of people.
2. Make a connection with as many people as possible.
3. Treat and speak to employees as partners.
4. Help employees find the right roles.
5. Educate, inform and listen to employees.
6. De-centralize decision making.
7. Recognize the need for work-life balance.
They further indicate that leaders should eliminate behaviours and attitudes that do harm to people by devaluing them.
1. Eliminate disrespectful, condescending and rude behavior.
2. Go easy on criticism.
3. Minimize unnecessary rules and excessive controls.
4. Eliminate excessive signs of hierarchy.

Wise suggestions which employed in concert with professional learning are bound to result in greater achievements.

“Are we doing enough to take the ‘hero’s journey’ and become agents for the future? Or were our individual identities so dependent on our existing competencies and skills – and so entwined with the established structure – that change, deep or otherwise, was simply not an option?” – Tom Jones

Read Full Post »

TEACHER “DRAFT”

Posted in Leadership, Teaching and Learning on April 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“Through learning we re-create ourselves. Through learning we become able to do something we were never able to do.” – Peter Senge

I was channel surfing on our television the other day and happened to dial into the NFL Channel. The show which I began watching consisted of a panel of football “experts” trying to determine who and in what order players would be selected in the upcoming professional draft. Each expert had their opinions, supported by criteria on their order of selection.

I began to wonder what criteria would we use to select and invite teachers to join our profession and our school districts. In our district we have implemented a behavioural interview and selection process and I think we could clearly articulate our process and criteria for review. But I am now wondering if we have consensus and whether we really have the right criteria.

Do we select for judgment, skills and knowledge? How about desire, commitment, and intelligence? Where do we determine whether an individual has character, integrity and a sense of ethics? Do we have clarity on our individual contexts and the requisite instructional strengths to be successful in those contexts?

I question my assumptions on what are the characteristics of good teachers who employ the best strategies to ensure success for all learners. I read research on best practice, useful strategies, and am overwhelmed by the research and information on good teachers and good pedagogy. How do we incorporate all that we know about character, relationship building and pedagogy into our selection processes?

In the end we must make judgments on applicants to our positions and was reminded of my obligations to these candidates by the writers of the book Gridiron Leadership, 2009 by Offstein, Morwick, Griffith and Praeger . They reminded me that I need to:
1. Recognize my own biases
2. Keep an open mind
3. Know when to switch strategies, approaches and stances
4. Be realistic in my approach
5. Seek diversity

As leaders in systems we must realize that our actions, decisions and communications have an effect on our school and district cultures. I remind myself and others that our selection processes are a clear indication of how serious we are in developing culture and in serving the learners in our schools.

“An education is not a quantitative body of memorized knowledge salted away in a card file. It is a taste for knowledge, a capacity to explore, to question, to perceive relationships.” – author unknown

Read Full Post »

GREAT TEACHING – ANY CENTURY

Posted in Change, Leadership, Personalized Learning, Teaching and Learning on April 13, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Being willing is not enough; we must do.” – Leonardo da vinci

Tony Wagner in his book The Global Achievement Gap (Basic Books, 2008) articulated Seven Survival Skills for students learning in the 21st Century. They include:
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Collaboration Across Networks
• Agility and Adaptability
• Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
• Effective Oral and Written Communication
• Accessing and Analyzing Information
• Curiosity and Imagination
His list is similar to many reported in books, articles and frameworks. If we accept his, or develop our own framework our challenge becomes one of implementing instruction and assessment to support the framework.

Focusing teaching and learning on a thinking framework will involve a different professional approach. We will need less standardization of curriculum and assessment and more reliability on collaborative approaches to instructional pedagogy, active engagement of learners and better formative assessment.

Each school in our district is committed to improving the learning condition for each student. That is the basis for our Dream of “Learning Without Boundaries”. Annually we review and prepare our school Codes of Conduct designed to ensure safe environments for students. As we move forward with our Dream and the Ministry’s Education Plan is it time to review and make explicit our habits of learning or as in Reggio philosophy our image of learners and their abilities? We should actively commit to habits such as inquiry, collaboration, active involvement and self reflection as parts of our commitments to our students and ourselves. This commitment should be in reference to how we reflect on our practice and how we organize activities and interactions with learners.

What do classrooms committed to habits of learning look like?

Anne Reeves in her book Where Great Teaching begins (ASCD, 2011) provides some guidance and articulates a student and learning centered instructional design for classes, units and courses. She lists the following as questions to be answered as part of instructional design.
1. What will students learn?
2. To what degree will they learn? To what depth and breadth?
3. How will they acquire their learning?
4. How will they demonstrate this learning?
These questions are similar to many other frameworks.

She also suggests that our intentions or objectives need to be developed or evaluated with the following in mind. Objectives should be:
• Clear and specific
• Focused on thinking
• Measurable
• Aligned with standards
and
• Their mastery can be demonstrated

Reeves clearly articulates a need to shift our focus on teaching that is designed for learning in the 21st Century as we continue to grow as professionals and further enhance our skills in a 21st Century context. We would be wise to remember that as we reflect on and adopt new pedagogical approaches we are involved in a change process.

Michael Fullan in his book Motion Leadership: The Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy (Corwin Press, 2010) reminds us of the “Ready-Fire-Aim” metaphor with its change savvy ideas.

The elements of the strategy include:
• Relationships first
• Honour the implementation dip
• Beware of fat plans
• Behaviours before beliefs
• Communication during implementation is paramount
• Learn about implementation during implementation
• Excitement prior to implementation is fragile
• Take risks and learn
• It is okay to be assertive

The learned lessons for me continue to be that we need to focus our teaching on the development of learning and thinking skills. We do so by sharpening our pedagogy and implement collectively our approaches. Great teaching continues to support and develop great learning, no matter what century we teach in.

“The nature of relationships among the adults within a school has a greater influence on the character and quality of that school and on student accomplishment than anything else.” – Roland Barth

Read Full Post »

HARGREAVES & FULLAN, REVISITED

Posted in Change, Leadership, Teaching and Learning on March 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

” Trust…. has important consequences for the functioning of a school and its capacity to engage in fundamental change.” —–Bryk & Schneider, 2002

Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan will be publishing a new book in the near future. It will be interesting from an educator’s perspective to see if their ideas regarding school systems have changed or been amended.

As you recall, Coquitlam worked extensively with Andy over the last several years. His introduction of his Fourth Way framework helped spark the conversation around our “Dream” and “Mindful Leadership”.

Andy’s passionate guidance around building an education system with a moral purpose, community connections and thoughtful improvement strategies was much appreciated. I would like to remind us of the Fourth Way framework.

Six Pillars of Purpose and Partnership
1. An Inspiring and Inclusive Vision
2. Public Engagement
3. No Achievement Without Investment
4. Corporate Educational Responsibility
5. Students as Partners in Change
6. Mindful Learning and Teaching

Three Principals of Professionalism
1. High Quality Teachers
2. Powerful Professionalism
3. Lively Learning Communities

Four Catalysts of Coherence
1. Sustainable Leadership
2. Integrating Networks
3. Responsibility Before Accountability
4. Differentiation and Diversity

I appreciated Andy’s ability to present the major cultural and organizational shifts in our recent educational history and point in a direction that made sense to me and was supported by his research and observation.

As we began our investigation of our “Dream” and collaboratively developed a draft set of pillars in support of that “Dream”, Michael Fullan’s recently published work in system change struck a chord. The paper he wrote for the Centre for Strategic Education in 2011 is a reminder of how to better influence systemic change. In his article “Choosing the Wrong Drivers for Whole System Change” he clearly articulates;

“Wrong Drivers” for change
1. Accountability
2. Individual Teacher and Leadership Quality. (Promoting individual vs group solutions)
3. Technology (Investing in and assuming technology will carry the day vs instruction)
4. Fragmented Strategies
He supports each with examples from observation and research. He also takes time to review implications of each driver from his perspective.

What are his positive appropriate and alternate strategies to support systemic change?

“Right Drivers”
• Capacity Building instead of Accountability
• Group Work instead of Individual Quality
• Instruction Supported by Technology
• Systemic Solutions instead of Fragmented Strategies

We would be wise to pay heed to his drivers and recognize that we need to implement these within our framework of relationships, trust and culture.

“Good schools are intrinsically social enterprises that depend heavily on the cooperative endeavours among various participants who compose the social community.” – Bryk & Schneider, 2002

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 156 other followers