This conference sounds very cool!

What is EduCon 2.1?
EduCon 2.1 is both a conversation and a conference.
And it is not a technology conference. It is an education conference. It is, hopefully, an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session will be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas — from the very practical to the big dreams.

Guiding Principles of EduCon 2.1
1) Our schools must be inquiry-driven, thoughtful and empowering for all members
2) Our schools must be about co-creating — together with our students — the 21st Century Citizen
3) Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around.
4) Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate
5) Learning can — and must — be networked.

There are going to be some great thinkers here in an TedTalk like format as well as keynotes.  It is not often I aspire to go to conferences overseas but this sounds great.  Wouldn’t this be fun in NZ … get a whole group of great thinkers and practitioners together and get them to spend 10-15min reflecting on their key professional learning.  Then time for interaction and conversation.

The ultimate UnConference ….??!!

I love the Guiding Principals …. capture well what the revised NZC has to offer in terms of possibilities and where I believe ICTs fit in our classrooms.  Isn’t it good to see the #3 made overt …. “oh my teaching will be so much beter if only I had an IWB, another 3 laptops, more digital cameras”.  Rubbish!!  Your teaching will be better whe you are a better teacher, not simply when you have more toys and tools.

An article worth reading from Charles Handy:

Unexamined learning can turn out to be wasted learning, while those who fail to learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them. Which is why wise organizations build in regular review sessions for their work groups, to help them spell out the lessons, good and bad, that they have learned from their recent experiences. The most fruitful appraisals, too, are those that focus on what has been learned during the year, rather than on grading performance. Leaders, in particular, I now believe, need to devote time and intellectual energy to reflecting on their experiences in order to crystallize what they have learned and can now add to their stack of knowledge.

I have been having interesting conversations recently with a number of people at school, in our cluster and online about appraisal and performance management. I see the two as VERY different!

Performance Management = people making changes to their practice and reflecting on what they have done so they have lessons they can imbed in their practice/s. Making practice better.

Appraisal = summative judgements about how good that practice actually is.

We all (should) learn from our practice in an ongoing way.  Few teachers simply bang their head against the brick wall of poor practice.  I don’t know any teachers, parents, principals who get out of bed each day thinking “whose life can I ruin today?”  We all do our best …

But do we learn from what we do?  The answer to that is very different for different teachers!  Some reflect deeply on their practice and endeavour to improve it step-by-step.  Others simply treat teaching as a technocratic activity where if they do the ‘right’ things kids will learn through some mystical and mysterious processes.  I want the deeply reflective ones in our school thanks.

The challenge for appraisal and pefomance management processes is capturing the learning.  What is different inside the teachers head and for their practice as a result of the professional learning that has taken place this year?  This is Teaching as Inquiry as described in the NZC …. ongoing action research about pedagogy for real.  We have developed a framework for this that is one page for any given objective/focus.

It is a cool time of the year for me having the discussions with each teacher about the things they have LEARNED.  A time to celebrate the successes and offer new challenges.  Acknowledge the challenges overcome and the learning steps taken.  What has been left behind, what has been reinforced, what has been adopted.

What professional learning is all about.

We had our Cluster sharing of the Action Research projects the Lead Teachers have been doing over the past year on Thursday.  What an incredible group!  I was just blown away by the calibre of the thinking and the reflection the teachers had engaged in.

Most of the presentations would have easily been a ULearn workshop.  Some were of a higher level than presentations I went to this year.

It is really interesting having seen the work that Cluster techers have been involved in across the country now how different the things people focus on are.  We have come a LONG way in the 10months of our Cluster.  We have seen huge growth in the personal confidence and competence of the LT group as well as the teachers in our school(s).

One interesting discussion that came out of the day for me was one about the difference between confidence and competence.  One of the teachers had done some work looking at the core computer skills her children needed to have and was surprised about the things the children didn’t know that she assumed they did.  ‘Simple’ stuff like finding your way around menus, what toolbar buttons do, basic file management and problem solving.  This led to thinking about what things children can do and how small (often) their view of the potential and functionality of technologies is.  An example would be cell phones - most teenagers and even some quite young children are confident users of this technology.  But their use is often focused on a small part of the potentional functionality.  Children can confident users of software but often only in the things they already know, not pushing the boundaries or potential.

As adults we are sometimes the same.  Confidence and competence are a bit of a chicken and egg arguement in some ways - you have to have ability to be confident; but conversely confidence leads to experimentation and hece competence.  We all know of the adults and children who are supremely confident but for whom we know the competence aspect is not where they think it is.

We all need the space, time and support to develop both in the things we are focusing on in our professional learning.

I have been having conversations with a couple of friends over the last week or so about principalship and management positions. I know I ‘thought’ I was ready for my first principals position at Taieri Beach after having been involved in management study for a couple of years. But like with Teachers College it is the on-the-job training that really seems important and nothing really prepares you for the intensity and constantness of management and principalship.
Having said that it is great fun and the view ‘from the swivley chair’ is unique and one I would not be keen to relinquish. I enjoy the level of influence on learning for all (children and adults) that principalship holds.  One of the biggest thrills of the role is seeing people you have mentored go on to achieve in their own right.  I would hope that people who leave our school go on to do better things, whatever that may mean for them.  And certainly not feel like they have to get away or need a change or a challenge.  Thats the test for me.

This video of Viviane Robinson is an interesting reflection on the changing requisite skills for principalship too:

Judy O’Connel writes well on issues of Libraries and learning. I like these recent excerpts:

… I am hearing or reading rubbish!!

Doug Johnson in Continuum’s End said

It seems to me that that the continuum between reactionary educators who still find overhead projectors a cutting edge tool and progressive educators who seem to master each tool and philosophy du jour is stretching ever longer every year. As a classroom teacher in the 70s and 80s, we all taught pretty much the same way, with the same sets of tools.

The question of importance to me is not the mastery of tools, but the underlying processes that are important. This is the rub - there are those who, rightly or wrongly, are amongst the elite in terms of commentary or influence on directions in education, who it seems to me have become what my own family constantly remind me not to be…..

and

Unfortunately there are some amongst us that are so poorly read themselves that they can’t see how silly it is to tout 20th century ‘industrial age schooling’ as the reason for educational change. Oh but they are probably the same people who run your education system, or institution and are good at verbose cliques to justify their actions.

Yes, there’s a lot that needs to change about schooling. Let’s focus on the facts to get there. Cliches are born of ignorance - that’s all. Focus on the revolution not the rhetoric!

I am reminded of the rubbish written about digital immigrants and digital natives - a cliche that doesn’t hold water. I have written about this a lot in the past and it frustrates me to still see people lapping it up at conference and in blog writings.

Some kids love technology, some love singing - sounds like my kids! Sure kids starting school now have only ever known the technologies as part of their lives. But give me a break, this doesn’t mean they are actively engaged with it and know it well. Any more than living in NZ means you love rugby and understand netball!

I do like Judys point about the widening gap between the teachers who actively understand and engage with technologies and those who don’t. Some would argue that we all have to keep up, but many don’t. There are lots of teachers and classrooms out there where a computer is simply and expensive typewriter and an even more expensive way to keep the room warm. ICT PD has extended to nearly 70% of primary schools now but how many schools who have ‘been in the programme’ now have few/no staff who were there when it was happening?

Good points to ponder on I reckon, thanks Judy.

I like this list from Bruce Hammonds.

Wolk outlines eleven essentials to put more joy into learning.

1 Find Pleasure in learning. With pleasurable learning we don’t mind possible difficulties invoved in any in learning; we tend to see them as a natural part of learning, so we are far more open to taking risks. Schools need to tap into what children enjoy learning about and also make all school learning more enjoyable.

2 Give Students Choice. How much choice ( or ‘ownership’) do students have about their learning? Students can be given choices during the school day. Students can be given choice in their studies, the questions they want to explore, and how they wish to express their ideas. Schooling ought to inspire children to ask questions able to design their own tasks.

3 Let Students Create Things. People like to make stuff. Creating something original gives us a tremendous sense of agency and pride. As well, creating things gives us an appreciation of the creative process in action.

4 Show off Students Work. Our schools, and classrooms, should be brimming with wonderful, original student work. Classrooms should ’speak’ to visitors.

5 Take Time to Tinker. We all learn by fooling around. Student’s imaginative ideas , their intuitive leaps of imagination, should be encouraged. All too often our schools are too planned, leaving no room for spontaneity. We need to free teachers to take risks, experiment, to play with the art of pedagogy, and to feel the joy that comes from such on open approach to teaching.

6 Make school Places Inviting. All spaces, inside and outside of schools, need to be seen as learning spaces.

7 Get Outside. More of the school day should be outside. Fresh air and a sunny day can do miracles for the human spirit. Children need to have their sensory awareness expanded.To sit under a tree to read, draw, think, or talk. Much of our science could directly include the outdoors. Ecosystems are all around.

8 Read Good Books. Make sharing good literature an important feature of all classrooms. Give students time to share their own stories. All study topics have themes which provide opportunities to introduce good literature.

9 More Physical Education and Arts. In America many students have no art, music, and drama and little time for PE. For many students these are the areas that many children have strengths in and gain joy from.

10 Transform Assessment. Assessment is a pert of life and students need to see it as an important part of the learning process. We should make more use of immediate feedback, narrative assessment, self assessment, portfolios of authentic work, presentations, exhibitions and performances.

11 Have Fun Together. Teachers need to take a break from the seriousness of the school day and have some fun together. Anything that tears down the walls that often get built inside schools and builds more caring relationships is to be encouraged

Wolk concludes by referring back to John Dewey quote and says that schools can sap our souls is just as true for teachers as it is for students

If principals can help teachers find joy in their work, and help their teachers strive to ‘own their own teaching’ the teachers can enter their rooms every morning enthusiastic to help their students experience joy in their learning.

source:

We were having a discussion last week in staff meeting about how our school vision includes ALL children having WOW moments at school every day. Also that teachers should expect the same…

How cool is that!

Just arrived at Tapanui on a lovely sunny morning and will see how the Scribd version of my workshop imbeds. Should have done this last night but was watching the Warriors game …lol

I like the concept of fundamentally changing the way we think about our practice!
Read more about Greg Whitby here

The importance of Theory Based Practice: