Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts

Friday, October 21, 2022

The "Looking Glass" Classroom

 

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass
The Looking Glass, as it were, is a curious metaphor to explain a young child's perception of the realities of school. Traditionally, the school has been a tool of social engineering, a place to stratify kids according to ability and how well they fit the construct of school, an institution that varied little from one to another. The school was a place that attempted to homogenize its subjects according to a rigid set of educational and social norms that suited many, but not all. Have schools changed much in this regard? One would surely hope, but I'm saddened to say that I do still occasionally observe the opposite.

Sunday, February 13, 2022

Ableism... What Teachers Say and Think Matter

Ableism - NCCJ. (n.d.). Www.nccj.org. https://www.nccj.org/ableism


a·ble·ism
/ˈābəˌlizəm/
noun
  1. discrimination in favor of able-bodied people.

There are few, if any, topics in education that impact our ability to serve students in optimized, effective, and appropriate ways than that of ableism. Ableism is the intentional or unintentional discrimination or oppression of individuals with disabilities. (Ableism - NCCJ, n.d.) 

Reading the definition of ableism above elicits thoughts of "why would anyone involved teaching discriminate or oppress already marginalized students?" It's a harsh definition describing an illogical occurrence, but nonetheless, one that happens quite routinely if we're being honest with ourselves. 

(whatisableism)

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Conversations that really make me think...



I had at least 2013 meaningful conversations in 2013, which is awesome. I try to have a meaningful conversation everyday, so 2013 of them worked. I will continue to have many conversations in 2014 because dialog is key to understanding, and I try hard to understand things. I'm not a fan of new year resolutions really, but I do like to reflect on my understanding of things a lot, so I'm going to spend some time reflecting on where I'm at with a few key conversations I had this past year, and what I intend to do to grow my understanding.

On student apathy...
An assertion was made that students are becoming more apathetic over time. I disagreed. The statement reminded me of another conversation I had some time ago while teaching in an alternative middle school program. I exchanged thoughts with the head of a group home/counseling agency about whether psycho-social problems were on the rise or not among school age children. I asked him whether he thought they actually were on the rise, or whether this was an illusion based on our growing willingness to accept that psycho-social problems among kids were real coupled with our growing sense of responsibility that something needed to be done about them in support of the kids suffering. With all his experience in the area, I felt he gave me the most honest answer he could... "I don't know." Psycho-social problems have existed for as long as humans have existed, but if you ask my dad he will tell you that just a couple of generations ago, his weren't dealt with readily and in supportive ways. In contrast, they were swept under the rug, so to speak, and kids were left to deal with their issues alone and unsupported, or even worse, kids were removed from the scene and forgotten about. Thankfully we have moved away from this reactive state and are becoming more responsive to student needs.

Monday, November 12, 2012

One size fits all?

 flickr image via cameronparkins

My school (formerly a sixth to eighth grade middle school,) is now an inquiry-focused, sciences and technology kindergarten to eighth grade school... elements that when put together can also be called my dream job. The school is in its third year of this paradigm shift toward a custom-built K-8 inquiry, sciences and technology context. We believe that our new school context creates an optimal environment to perpetuate the learning goals of our District.

The inquiry part of what we're doing at our school is what I want to focus on here. What is inquiry, and how are we building an inquiry-based school? This is the inquiry question we've been working on answering. To me, the process of answering this question is what's so exciting about being part of Glendale school's transformation. Our group of teachers are all at different places in their understanding of inquiry, technology and sciences, and that is not only OK, it is expected in an inquiry-based learning environment. We all have personal learning tendencies. Some like to go fast, take risks and make mistakes... others are more cautious and calculated, but everyone needs to be supported if we are to effectively balance the professional development needs of all staff. I believe it is very important to remember that an inquiry-based school doesn't work very well as a one-size-fits-all environment to address this diversity.

It is very important that we, (meaning all members of the school family: students, staff, parents and significant community members as partners,) have a collective vision and mission that guide our practice, but it's also very important that each individual member of our school understands that the collective vision and mission does not dictate that there is only one correct way to do something, and that we don't all have to be at the same place, and on the same timeline as we learn forward. If we were to believe so as teachers, we would not be modeling an authentic inquiry teaching and learning context, as surely we understand that our students don't learn in the same way, and at the same pace. The inquiry learning process is in part driven by the students themselves making it impossible to line everyone up in order of learning space and learning time. From Alberta Education on inquiry learning,
Effective inquiry is more than just asking questions. Inquiry-based learning is a complex process where students formulate questions, investigate to find answers, build new understandings, meanings and knowledge, and then communicate their learning's to others.  In classrooms where teachers emphasize inquiry-based learning, students are actively involved in solving authentic (real-life) problems within the context of the curriculum and/or community.  These powerful learning experiences engage students deeply.

 As we move forward we are asking ourselves over and over again, "how do we create authentic inquiry learning within our classrooms and school," we are confronted by the reality that, (like any good inquiry question,) there is more than one answer. There has to be, owing to the fact that every member of our school family possesses different knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA) relevant to inquiry learning, and even within each KSA, we all possess different levels of function. This is real life, and it's awesome. The diversity we have among our school family members is not a bug; it's a feature... as long as we frame it that way and are able to let go of our anxieties about changing the way we are teaching and learning. There is no one size fits all solution to our guiding inquiry question... we need everybody's answers.

As we ubiquitously create the school we want to serve kids best in an inquiry-based, science and technology focused context, it is critically important that we understand the answers are in here... we are the answer to every question we ask regarding the directions we go, the services we provide and the ways that we care for each other, our students and the rest of the Glendale school family. In the authentic spirit of professionalism and collaboration, we must look first to ourselves for the answers to our own questions... that's what creativity is all about.

Returning to our District Education Plan, we couldn't ask for a better frame to guide our inquiry. We are representing the District-wide goals of inclusion, literacy and high school completion. We see the process as constructive. We start by inquiring about inclusion. We ask ourselves the inquiry question, "how do we create a sense of belonging for every single member of our school family?" and then we work off this foundation building toward other inquiry questions that guide our effort to promote literacy across the curriculum, and eventual successful high school completion.

When we work in a many sizes to fit many inquiry teaching and learning environment, we recognize the value of perspective. We all have one, our students included, and making the effort to know each others is inherently engaging and inclusive. We are focusing on each others strengths, and the strengths of our students to point us in the direction of likely engagement. We all come to school wanting to do well, and focusing on what we can do instead of what we can't leads us down paths that we want to travel. We fully understand that our strengths are differential, and we consider this a bonus... we promote the sharing of strengths openly so we can learn from each other and leverage our ability to maximize positive effect without the pressure of feeling that we're alone on our journey. This is the inclusive path at Glendale School.

Literacy to us is not just a reading and writing issue. We promote literacy in a wide range of developmental knowledge, skill and attitude domains. We understand that kids need to grow literacy comprehensively... physical, emotional, social, environmental, numerical, artistic, musical etc... if they are to be well-rounded learners who recognize how different levels of competence in different domains complement each other, we need to support inquiry into all these domains. We're framing them as the Sciences, and to us, they are also inclusive,
How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection. An artist is emotional, they think, and uses only his intuition; he sees all at once and has no need of reason. A scientist is cold, they think, and uses only his reason; he argues carefully step by step, and needs no imagination. That is all wrong. The true artist is quite rational as well as imaginative and knows what he is doing; if he does not, his art suffers. The true scientist is quite imaginative as well as rational, and sometimes leaps to solutions where reason can follow only slowly; if he does not, his science suffers.
– Isaac Asimov
“Prometheus,” The Roving Mind (1983)

We believe there needs to be a zen-like balance between the arts and sciences... what for many are dichotomous domains. Staff members are involved in teaching the sciences as related to their relative knowledge, skills and attitudes within particular areas. We play to people's strengths. Everyone contributes based on what they have to offer. This is our balance, and we have great capacity to represent good inquiry teaching across the spectrum.

As we strive to provide inclusive environments targeting the development of literacy across domains, we believe we are promoting high school completion. One of our projects in the context of inclusion is called Empathy ReBoot. We believe that feelings come first, thoughts second and then tools... in other words, we believe we need to be empathic to the feelings of others before we can help them think with purpose. When we become attuned to the feelings of others, even if we don't fully understand them, we can at least have insight into their perspective. This insight allows us to help them form purpose; to write their learning stories during the time they are with us; to explore and develop literacy in multiple domains.

Caring for our students in this way shows them we are interested and want to walk with them down their learning paths; to think forward. Once we enter this forward-thinking mindset, it becomes much easier to develop tools together making the journey more purposeful, efficient and enjoyable... the kind students don't want to end, even past high school.

A motto I like to use, and it's permanently fixed on my classroom wall...
If you're having fun and not learning, that's bad.
If you're learning and not having fun, that's worse.
If you're learning and having fun, that's our classroom.
 If either of the first two situations arises in my classroom, it really just means we haven't asked enough of the right questions.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

In all sincerity...

flickr image via Sam Howzit
I believe that sincerity is paramount to nurturing trust and commitment in people, and critical to effective communication.
In Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team, the absence of trust is listed as dysfunction number one for good reason. Trust is obviously critical to team function and team success. Without it we can't be truly committed (lack of commitment is the number three dysfunction) to anyone but ourselves; that is to say if we even trust ourselves... I'm not sure we all do. Trust requires sincerity. We have to be honest with ourselves, and honest with others before we can trust, otherwise our function and purpose is a facade based on insincere and false (or perhaps not entirely true,) premises.

Commitment is not a half-way thing. It's what makes us accountable in the truest sense of the word. To be truly committed to another person, a process or an organization is a selfless act that makes us accountable and requires a sincere and unwavering honesty... even if the act of being committed isn't associated with any form of personal gain or enrichment. In reference to Peter Block's work, my friend Paul Shamlet articulated this very well in a recent post at the #ECOSYS blog...
In his book Community: The Structure of Belonging, Peter Block defines accountability in a novel and compelling way:  “Accountability is the willingness to care for the whole, and it flows out of the kind of conversations we have about the new story we want to take our identity from.  It means we have conversations of what we can do to create the future.  Entitlement is a conversation about what others can or need to do to create the future for us.  Restoration begins when we think of community as a possibility, a declaration of the future that we choose to live into.” (48)  
 Peter Block talks about the new story... but I don't think it's new at all. Our story has always been there waiting to be told in different contexts for different purposes. Perhaps the new story Block refers to really means the new way to tell our story; to give it purpose and authenticity. Through stories it is often said that we can learn from our mistakes, and from our successes. When we tell our stories of failure and success, we are creating vessels for these teachings that benefit all who have an ear for them. This is what makes stories so powerful and important. If we could just get better at telling stories, and in turn listening to them, infinite possibilities emerge.

Our stories are the basis of all the good, and bad, that have befallen humankind since the beginning of time. We all have stories to tell; stories already written (past), stories we're writing now (present) and stories we have yet to write (future.) We obviously have the most control over the story we're writing in the present, but how long is the present? Is it a fleeting moment, an hour, a week, a year or even longer?  I think the point of the long-now present is that we should try to make it as long as possible. In order to connect our past and future to each end of our present, the present has to have a length... this is the long-now, but I think how we determine that length is entirely up to us. Our long-now history extends toward our past and our future. We need to connect with our long-now history in a more meaningful and purposeful way. The longer we can make our long-now history, the more we are able to connect with stories already written, and the stories we have yet to write. Our past helps to show us the way to our future.

Sadly, in the midst of our fast-paced lives these days, our long-now histories have become much shorter. Our hectic lives are spent scrambling to 'get ahead and we've lost our connection with the powerful stories already written; our own and those of others. We are living in very short long now's, and when this happens our ability to connect in useful and purposeful ways is hindered. We have lost a sincere connection to the teachings of our past, and we've lost a sincere connection to our goals for the future. We are alas, living in the moment... not necessarily a bad thing if we could just make that moment a much longer one. We have to be more accountable for our stories; we need to be committed to sharing them in purposeful ways, and we have to listen to the stories of others trusting that there is always something to learn from them.

Using our long-now stories like this will draw us closer to each other as we seek interdependent networks of support in others, our processes and our organizations. The long-now narratives we share with each other illuminate the imperative that we be committed to our collective well-being; they expose our individual vulnerability, but they make us stronger as a team or group at the same time when we realize we are not alone in our story. Being sincere and honest with each other allows trust to grow and all of a sudden our long-now histories start to overlap and we communicate more effectively; we move from independence to interdependence. Not a bad place to be.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Smile... the world is good.

flickr image via ephotography

"Always smile back at little children.
To ignore them is to destroy their belief that the world is good." ~ Pam Brown 

This fall I began teaching at a new school. I am also the new vice-principal of my school. My old school and my new school are very different in many ways... different enough that they are almost incomparable. For the most part, the two schools side by side represent totally different educational contexts. I have been asked by many this fall to make comparisons between them, but I can't; they're like apples and oranges. They are both great schools doing great things but in most different ways. There is one way, however, that the two schools are identical. 

When I get asked to compare my old school to my new school, I simply say, "kids are kids." No matter where I've taught, or whatever context I was teaching in, I have always kept this notion at the forefront of my practice. Remembering that kids are kids no matter where in the world reminds me to make sure I help them preserve their innocent perspectives as long as they can. The world will happen soon enough... for now they're just kids, and they deserve to live in the world they dream of... the one that's good and happy and safe; the one that makes them smile just because they are excited to be a part of it.

When I walk down the halls, around our campus, and into classrooms every day, I remember to smile at kids, even before they smile at me. I greet them and take the time to speak with them as often as I can about anything they want to talk about. This is the best thing I can do as a teacher and school administrator to help kids feel a sense of welcome and belonging at my new school. I did this at my old school too, and every school I taught at before that.

The more I do it, the more I'm convinced that the kids are right. The world is good, and they are going to make it even better.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Informed Practice Makes Perfect...

flickr image via matthewpiatt

Well, maybe not perfect, but a whole lot better.

I was involved in a conversation about learning disorders recently, (I actually prefer to call them learning challenges.) I myself am a challenged learner... learning disabled in the traditional sense. I am dyslexic. The problem is I didn't know I was dyslexic until I was in my second year of university. I was taking an educational psychology course and we were talking about learning disabilities. As the professor described dyslexia, I began to remember the sorts of problems I had in school, and then I began to wonder if perhaps I was dyslexic. I spoke to him after class, and we decided to assess my problem. Sure enough; I was dyslexic. So how come it took until I was 21 years old to figure that out?

There isn't a teacher in the universe that would deny learning disorders can be terribly detrimental to a child's learning progress. I am certain that I have dealt with dozens of learning disabled kids during my teaching career. I am also certain that the vast majority of these kids are surviving in school, as I did, undiagnosed, or perhaps misdiagnosed... an equally or perhaps even more serious concern for teachers trying to do the right thing for all students.

Here's the problem... teachers aren't qualified to diagnose learning disorders, (unless of course they are also trained psychologists,) however, they are expected to effectively support kids who suffer from one or more of them even if they don't know exactly what the potential disabilities are. Teachers are confronted with the reality that they must teach kids who may very well present with a legitimate learning disorder, but also that they will seldom be working with really good data to support the effective mitigation of the problem. We are not practicing in an informed way when it comes to learning disorders. We need to know what a child is challenged by, and we need to know that early enough in the game to curb any added anxiety and stress a child will inevitably feel when he knows he is struggling.

I submit that we need to invest in a process that assesses every child early enough in primary school to know what learning path we should be travelling. We need to ask every child what works best for them, and investigate ways to make that a reality. We can't continue playing guessing games long after a child is deemed to be struggling... we shouldn't let them get to the point of struggle. We should be responsibly assessing them at the beginning of their learning story in order to support them all the way through their kindergarten to grade twelve journey. A cognitive test for every child early enough in the school experience would eliminate the ineffective trial and error game we play later on when we notice a child isn't "getting it."

Assessment costs money... of course it does. Pay now, or pay later? How many teacher, counselor, learning assistant and educational consultant hours are spent guessing and checking what challenges may be present for kids? I will guess when compared to the cost of early and comprehensive assessment for all kids so we can fly with instruments right from the start, that the total cost in person hours trying to deal with the problem is very high, and may end up being more expensive than just doing the assessment in the beginning.

I recently viewed this TED talk by Dr. Aditi Shankardass... A second opinion on learning disorders:



I can't imagine there would be more compelling evidence supporting the effort we should be making to be informed about every learner before they begin to experience stress and anxiety as a result of potential learning disorders. It appears Dr. Shankardass has proven that these "disorders" need not be terribly detrimental if we can become aware of them early enough to establish good action plans mitigating the challenge and maximizing learning opportunities for kids. Knowledge is power. We need to empower kids by helping them understand themselves within their own learning contexts.

I sure would have liked to know about my dyslexia when I was a kid.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Take class(room) action...

flickr image via jbj

I believe in the power of action research. Initiatives often start in one direction but end up going in a completely different direction and we sometimes view this as a failure, but within the context of action research, this shift in focus is often a good indicator of progress. Some are uncomfortable with the intangibility of this, but I like it. I like to think of the action research process as a cyclical path that puts to use the five R's: reflect, retool, recalibrate, reframe and refocus. These elements are key to keeping a project dynamic and malleable, but at the same time focused and purposeful in the effort to support quality teaching and learning. 

My Alberta teaching colleague, Greg Miller (@millerg6) recently shared this video... 


The author in the video is Dylan Williams. He writes about assessment in schools; the virtues of formative assessment in particular. I agree with his message that the power of reform in schools lies mainly in teachers. There are many camps within education reform, but without getting into the debate about which one is most correct, I just want to draw attention to the fact that the single common denominator in any teaching reform effort is teachers. As individuals, and even more powerfully and effectively in collaborative groups, teachers have a distinct and brilliant education reform platform to work from because together, they are immersed daily within classrooms and schools. 

Useful feedback loops don't occur in isolation. The collective intelligence of a group will always provide a depth of feedback from different perspectives and bases of knowledge that help steer the research ship purposefully from informed and diverse perspectives. Action research is an exciting process with the power to inform, but also an under-utilized tool when teachers don't talk to each other. To leverage the power to do things better, teachers should embrace the action research process and initiate their own local, classroom-based projects designed to improve what they do. Sharing the results of this research with other teachers allows them to learn from our experiences also which essentially streamlines their reflective process in the event they choose to conduct similar research; it's the edu-conomy of scale in action.

Collaborative education reform is powerful. Action research is a collaborative process. Much can be accomplished in better, faster and cheaper ways when we put our heads together in education. Teachers have skills, knowledge, and experience, but don't utilize them often enough to challenge each other; to step outside the box and do things differently in search of doing things better. Why should they? Because taking a different perspective or direction typically leads to greater insight, learning from mistakes and improved practice if we keep an open mind. Action research provides a conduit for stepping outside the box; making ourselves vulnerable together in the name of learning how to teach better and support kids better. 

When we fail to plan, we plan to fail. Of course, this is true for research as it is for anything, however, I would also say that when we fail to adjust a plan, the plan is doomed to fail. The nature of action research is to adjust. The action in action research includes adjusting plans according to real time data and feedback that the research is providing. It's a participatory and collaborative process that works well when those involved understand the value of the five R's of good action research. 

Reflection is looking back to empower learning forward. In research, it's learning from mistakes by being honest about our process and willing to take a critical perspective. Re-tooling is the natural selection process in research; the ability after reflection to recognize that something isn't working, and then make re-calibrating changes to the research design or process. Re-framing is the process of creating an adjusted context for the research that reflects the new responsive process that reflecting and re-tooling has resulted in. Re-focusing is the product of distributed leadership within the group; a willingness from all sides to embrace and value the new or adjusted research direction. The five R's of action research are responsive strategies that allow us to function as classroom-based researchers understanding that all is not lost if the organic nature of teaching and learning causes (as it nearly always does) a deviation from the original classroom-based research plan.

Of course it's very important for teachers to stay abreast of current pure research, but in reality, teachers in the classroom are often distanced somewhat from the basic research that occurs at universities to increase understanding of fundamental pedagogical principles. They are consumed with the application of these principles as presented through various forms of professional development as new ideas and ways of thinking about education come online. Perhaps participating in collaborative action (applied) research projects while doing the great work teachers do in the classroom every day is a way to bridge ideas, theories and principles with real-time action to test their validity. Participatory action research is how this can be done, and it often, if not always can be done for little or no cost in dollars and cents, but it does require the will of people to get together and spend some human capital.

What will your next action research project entail?


Tuesday, December 6, 2011

EduKARE taking shape...


flickr CC image via Enokson

The most exciting announcement I've heard for a while took place today in my city. Through the collaborative efforts of the City of Red Deer, Red Deer Public Schools and Red Deer Public Libraries, a new library was born today. This library will be different though.

This library will serve as a public and a school library, and it will be located at a new school to be opened in September 2014. This is a concept for library services that I have been thinking about, and writing about for some time. From the archives...
School Site Selection"As schools are renovated, redesigned or built new, physical EduKARE elements could be built into them. Community halls, recreational facilities, health clinics, libraries, satellite police stations, social service agency offices... these could be built in to the new building reducing cost of maintaining multiple facilities. Shared costs between agencies and school boards in providing these collaborative service spaces would save money. Thinking way outside the box, why couldn't senior citizen facilities share the same buildings as well? Sugatra Mitra is connecting senior citizens with the time and so much more to offer our youth in a global context; why not bring his "granny cloud" concept to every school? If we can connect significant others to kids in a global context, surely we can make the connection locally within our schools."

Sunday, August 28, 2011

If it is to be, it's up to we...

flickr photo via fdecomite

As I seek clarity and inspiration for another new school year, a recent conversation with my fellow nemeticists has once again got me thinking. As teachers work hard to prepare for the new year, and their levels of anticipation reach a fever pitch this September, it's vitally important to stay grounded and focused on our fundamental purpose. But to do this we have to know what our fundamental purpose is. I believe that, more than anything else, teachers are in the story-writing business. The world we all share is one big story written by history. When teachers teach, whether it be good, bad or indifferent, they become part of this story.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Ten EduKare School Reform Paths...

 flickr image via woodleywonderworks

... and the tools we need to travel them.

Wyle E. Coyote knew that kits could help him catch that roadrunner, but the kit alone wasn't enough. He also needed a path. What's the difference? I will say simply that kits are the tools that help us down the path. Wiley didn't have a well-thought out plan; no philosophical foundation to follow when hunting roadrunners, so the tools in his ACME kits were ineffective. Paths and tools to help navigate them need to synchronize if either is to be effective.



For some time now, a global group of excellent thinkers have been vetting a path for EduKare; a philosophical concept designed to improve schools making them better, faster and less costly within their local teaching and learning environments. We are joined in our thought circles weekly by others who are on very similar paths, but who perhaps are using different kits to effect good change in education. I think it's a good idea to share our toolkits so the path to improving teaching and learning environments can be made even more efficient.

Cathy Davidson (via Twitter @CatinStack) blogged the following points recently at HASTAC (Humanities, Art, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboration).
My Twitter pal Michael Josefowicz, who tweets as @toughLoveforx, is one of the very best tweeters on all things education.   He asked me recently about where I thought education reform needed to begin and last night I tweeted 10 for starters . . . but there are so many more.   Please add more ideas and tweet them.   The other person in this Twitter feed is @graingered (Sean Grainger) who I also know only from his Twitter feed.   Follow all these good folks:  #GoodEd

@catinstack's 10 late-night tweets on ed reform (w some a.m. edits): 
  1. End standardized EOG tests--they demotivate learning and good teaching
  2. Test in challenging way, use tough game mechanics w real-time feedback and new challenges
  3. ABCD grading is 19th c factory standard, meat packers: need nuance, subtle, real, honest assessment
  4. Make learning real, relevant, tied to communities, real experience, accomplishment, worth
  5. Omit industrial age "two cultures" binary (stem v art, human, soc). Really? in the Information age?
  6. Teach kids to think through, with, about, for--and create--new, interactive digital global communication
  7. Nourish ability, stop diagnosing, labelling, stigmatizing, medicating disability
  8. Restore arts, music, shop, PE: soul stirring learning that lets kids move, make, sing, dream
  9. stop making college implicit standard for all education, back to preschool. Many worthy careers don't need higher ed
  10. Involve parents, guardians, friends, grandparents as teacher's aids; subsidize healthy breakfasts and lunches
 NOW:  PLEASE ADD YOUR OWN TWEETS AT #GoodEd

This is as succinct a list as I have seen relative to 10 very relevant education paths to consider. I think dialog around the specific tools to help us get down these paths is warranted, so I've contextualized an EduKare kit in response to Cathy's list (see list below each point):

Saturday, July 23, 2011

I believe in collaboration...

I believe in collaboration. Effective leaders work among their people, not above them.
flickr photo via TerryJohnston

Barry Litun, a former Superintendent in my school district taught one of my graduate school courses in leadership. Something he said has stuck with me since taking that course. In describing how an effective leader fits into a high-functioning staff of teachers and para-professionals he said,
When people need defending, good leaders stand in front of them. When people are being celebrated, good leaders stand behind them. Most of the rest of the time, visitors to the school shouldn't be able to guess who the leader is.
I really appreciate this point of view as an educational leader. I agree that good leaders in schools need to be bold enough to shoulder the responsibility for what happens in the school, especially when they don't go well. I also agree that good leaders need to be humble and willing to let others receive the credit for doing good things (a sidebar to this is that good leaders surround themselves with good people... and they believe all have potential to be leveraged.) Most of all though, I totally agree that good leaders know how to distribute the leadership within their schools by enabling others to play to their strengths and do what they well know how to do; they honor the teachers and para-professionals in their schools by letting them be their own leaders.

Great leaders want their followers to be better at what they do than they would be at doing it themselves. They serve their people without expectation of credit as just another piece of the puzzle required to make things work. I think folks appreciate these qualities in a leader; they appreciate the respect, trust and confidence that they receive, and they are motivated by these things to offer their best as well.

Effective leaders work among their people, not above them.

Monday, June 13, 2011

I believe in public education...

"I believe that the public education system is the avenue by which the principles of democracy are best exemplified."

Democracy. John Dewey knew that public education was a most effective vessel to promote a democratic society in his time, and it still is in our time. Schools are environments that provide the opportunity for kids to realize their fullest potential, and then to share that potential with others in the interest of the greater good. There is no greater democratic responsibility. Public schools are the institutions that enable all kids to exercise this responsibility.

There's a catch though.

Schools provide opportunities, but kids have to seize them. Just like democratic citizens have to seize the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to be heard, only the kids who choose to exercise their right to be taught will learn.  Universal, free public education is the possibility we have created in the western world allowing kids from all walks of life, all socioeconomic, cultural, religious, and political backgrounds the right to be taught; the privilege to learn.

It's somewhat ironic to me that the very institution that first provided this democratic right to be taught is often as of late the very last choice parents are making for their kids when around the world there are millions of kids who do not have the choice to attend any school, leave alone a universal, free public school open to all. They don't have the right to be taught, which is so sad.

Education needs a united front in support of the idea that every single child should be entitled to attend school without prejudice, and on the expectation that his needs will be served at the highest level. Public schools can offer this. In order for the system to optimize, teachers and the schools they teach within must have public support; both financial and ideological, and in the democratic spirit of the greater good. The result will be wonderfully diverse, democratic schools made up of students from many cultural perspectives, all exercising their equal right to be taught, and their democratic responsibility to engage meaningfully in the process.
"People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote -  a very different thing." - Walter H. Judd

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Getting together- collaborative education reform

 
Children arrive at school expecting to learn. Teachers arrive at school expecting to teach. Parents, for the most part, trust that this exchange works smoothly and that their children's learning needs are addressed effectively at school. Simple right?

Actually, not so simple. There are variables at play in the learning exchange that complicate what should be the fairly simple process of teachers teaching and kids learning. Every child is unique; each one has a story that arrives at school with them. I call these stories learning stories, and I have yet to encounter one that didn't include challenges.

In order for teachers to provide care that addresses these challenges responsively and effectively, we have to get together with significant others in the communities we serve; we have to collaborate with them to provide service that wraps around kids and draws them in. We have to access the skills and knowledge that exists broadly outside the walls of our school buildings to fully support the whole growth of children. The web of helping professionals within our communities is complex and fragmented. Children's services aren't coordinated in efficient and productive ways. We have to change this. We all have to collaborate to help kids write their own stories. Even the online education world is recognizing that applied analytics can help a great deal in learning what is working for students and what is not. Analyzing the learning tendencies, patterns, strengths, and preferences of kids has a tremendous upside if we are to effectively design instruction that suits each child's individual needs. Before we can do this well, however, teachers have to understand that there is a ridiculous amount of insight we can gain from others who work with kids in different supportive contexts. We have to get collaborative.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Kids really do live in their own world...

 flickr photo via Chris Campbell

I just knew it...
According to this research from the Georgetown University Medical Center, mental introspection increases as brain areas begin to act in sync. Young kids really do think differently than we do!

I was talking to some colleagues recently and we were reflecting on how we (adults) lose our ability to see the world through a child's perspective. We all had one as a child, but sadly most of us have lost it. When it comes to teaching and learning, this is bad.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The intangibility of change...

 
There is a sort of natural selection process inherent in a paradigm shift. At the brink of change, people need to see for themselves that prior understanding and perspectives don't serve the purpose they once did. People need to implicitly feel that what has worked in the past is not working anymore, and before this happens no amount of coercion, convincing, ordering, whining or manipulating will make a paradigm... shift.

Change surrounds us within contemporary education... and as usual, it's whipping us all up into a frenzy. Everyone has an opinion, and many aren't shy to share theirs. Many claim to have a better way, a better program or a better philosophy... and their focus appears often to want to sell these to the rest of us as if they can will or force a paradigm to shift. I don't think this is possible if a shift is expected to be embraced and sustainable. I learned a long time ago that I can't change people... people need to experience the need for change on their own terms; it has to be a visceral process for them. So why do we insist on "changing" others if we understand change must come from within; it has to be intrinsically motivated. I think we need to change our attitude toward change.

We seem to perceive change in teaching and learning as a variable. I'm more inclined to view change as a constant. This is my perspective... how I function as a change agent on my terms. I don't believe that 'change' should be considered a means to an end, or an end to a means. I contextualize change in a different frame. I view change simply as the process all educators should embrace; the process of improvement, not toward an end, but rather as a perpetual process. We seem to want to target the 'preferred' or 'optimal' teaching and learning environment as if once attained, we're good to go. There is no preferred educational environment because there is always room to improve. Through meta-reflection and ongoing analysis of what teachers do and how they do it, change (improvement) would become a habit as opposed to a process that many perceive is imposed upon them, and that they have no ownership or investment in. When 'change' in education is reduced to a process imposed by others to improve the state of what we do, what we have is not a culture of change but rather a process of change.

If we were to cast a model of the 'perfect school', what would it look like anyway? Would we be happy with this model forever? Likely not... things change and evolve naturally; why fight this tendency? The Tao Teh Ching written by Lao Tzu, to me is a book essentially about change, and I read it daily. Written more than 2000 years ago, the timeless wisdom it contains is difficult to refute. I appreciate the perspective of Lao Tzu on the usefulness of intangibility, and change is certainly an intangible entity... or at least it should be...
Thirty spokes converge upon a single hub;
It is on the hole in the center that the use of the cart hinges.
We make doors and windows for a room;
But it is these empty spaces that make the room livable.
Thus, while the tangible has advantages,
It is the intangible that makes it useful.
Let's embrace the intangible nature of change and stop trying to control so much of what we do to the point of impossibility. Own change as a cultural element; make it what you do everyday as opposed to a process you initiate when all of a sudden what you used to do, doesn't work anymore. Welcome change as a natural state of improvement; go with it, don't fight it.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

"I need another note..."


Those of us who are privileged to work in schools need to be aware of  how the slightest act can lead to a massive realization on behalf of one of our disciples... we need to take this element very seriously. I have many stories of exceptional teachers who knew this implicitly.

My career has provided the opportunity to witness some pretty incredible people working very effectively with kids that not too many would be successful with. During my eight years working exclusively with kids from at-risk environments in a congregated special education context, (in Alberta the Department of Education designates these kids under code 42- those manifesting severe emotional/behavioral difficulties... I just coded them as needing someone to believe in them,) I was dumbfounded at the levels of resiliency these kids displayed, and profoundly saddened at the same time as a result of being forced to know what they were overcoming on some days just to make it to school at all. I took the long way home many days during those eight years. At the same time, I was repeatedly encouraged by my exposure to levels of with-it-ness in my colleagues that were off the charts when dealing with these kids' stories.

One such story popped into my thoughts today as I was writing about a colleague in another post- We need schools where "everybody knows your name." Dan McDonald taught in our Behavior Program for ninth and tenth grade kids. One day as Dan tells the story, a young girl arrived at school in a particular state of anxiety. She was pregnant, and the world was weighing heavily on her... that much was obvious. Never judgemental, Dan and his support staff watched her closely that afternoon, looking for any clue that may help tell her story that day. In the gentle conversations that ensued it became apparent that the girl was at her wits end with life in general, and she was planning to get loaded that Friday night... to drink and smoke her sorrows away. As the day wore on, and the staff became increasingly convinced that this young girl was serious, Dan came up with the best 'think-on-your-feet' plan he could; he told the girl she wasn't going to do that.

The response was painfully predictable... "yes I am!", the girl said. Dan reiterated, "no you're not," and she responded, "what the hell are you going to do about it?" Without really knowing what he was going to do if he was being totally honest, Dan blurted out the first thing that came to his mind; he said to one of the support staff members, "Ethel, what are we going to do about it?" Her response was equally off-the-cuff... "write her a note," she said. So Dan did just that; he wrote her a note indicating all of those reasons why she should not go get loaded as she seemed so intent to do that particular Friday night. She took the note, left for the weekend, and they didn't give it another thought beyond adding it to the generalized concern they felt for their students every Friday night.

Flash-forward about a year...
The girl in question had left the school to care for her newborn baby, and as often happened, one day she came back to the school to visit with her child. Dan and his staff never turned these kids away when this happened; it was as if they had a homing instinct that brought them back, and it was important that they were accepted and welcomed. This visit was a bit different, however. They were talking and holding the baby, getting caught-up with the goings-on of the last year or so in the young girl's life, but the conversation went on for much longer than was usually the case. An hour or so after she arrived, when most of what was usually talked about had already been talked about, Dan sensed there may be something else this girl needed, so he asked exactly that... "not that we are rushing you away or anything, but is there something else you need today, because we really should get back to our lessons for the day." The girl started crying and simply said, "yes, I need another note."

Never underestimate the power of small, seemingly insignificant acts of caring... you might be the only one in a young person's life who took the time to perform them.

We need schools where "everybody knows your name."


Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.
You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name. 
…Original and full length lyrics for “Where Everybody Knows Your Name,” the theme song from the 1980s television sitcom “Cheers,” was written by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo.

My colleague, Dan McDonald, master teacher and kid-magnet extraordinaire, came up with a darn good concept one day. He said we need "Norm schools..." the kind where "everybody knows your name," and not just during regular school hours. Dan is the kind of teacher who knows the value of making meaningful connections with students over time by first getting to know their personal learning stories. Some kids' stories read more happily than others, and he knew that without that connection, scholastic success was but a dream, especially for the kids from at-risk environments that he typically supported in his role as an alternative teacher.

Dan wondered out loud what our educational environment would look, sound and feel like if every person that worked in a school, metaphorically speaking, knew the name of every kid who attended that school... and of course he didn't mean that they should memorize the yearbook. He meant knowing their names in the sense that the characters from 'Cheers' knew Norm's name, and everyone else's in the bar... that 'Cheers' was like home for many of them, and the patrons like family. The names were associated with each character's deeper being; their identities and perspectives toward the daily challenges that formed the story-lines of the show. The bar was a place for them to feel accepted- a sense of belonging, and perhaps a place where they were comfortable being vulnerable as they shared their troubles and flaws with each other. He thought that schools should be this type of environment.

He wondered further how schools could become more welcoming and open to students who are vulnerable, flawed and dealing with problems... environments where they feel that sense of belonging allowing them to share their challenges with significant, supportive others knowing that they won't be judged or categorized. To nurture this sense of belonging, he pondered why schools shut their doors for all intent and purposes at 4:00 PM, and don't effectively open up again until 7:00 AM the next day. There are many reasons to leave school buildings open after regular school hours, but Dan was interested really in just one. He figured that one way to facilitate a deep, meaningful and positive connection to school would be to leave the doors open into the evenings each day. He had brilliant ideas about school partnerships with social service and helping agencies whereby programming and services for youth would be carried on right where school left off every day. He understood that for some, school is the only safe and nurturing environment kids know... why not allow them the privilege of being in that safe place as much as possible? Why not source agencies and people who would be willing to collaborate with educators to support kids in the evenings in this way? I think Dan was on to something with these questions.

Take some time to think about what kind of school you work at, or what kind of school your kids attend. Is it the kind where kids feel a sense of belonging, safety and care... like family, or is it some other kind of school? If it is some other kind of school, perhaps ask yourself what you can do to change that feeling.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

R.I.P. Phoebe Prince

The January 2010 suicide in Massachusetts of Phoebe Prince prompted investigators to accuse nine of her fellow students with the bullying that may have prompted her suicide. Phoebe Prince was the latest casualty in a war we are not winning; the war on bullying.
 flickr photo via trix0r

How many of these incidents will it take before we realize that our typical reactive response does nothing to prevent future tragic incidents from occurring? The odds stacked against our sons and daughters are overwhelming if they find themselves the subjects of bullying behavior, and we need to stop the cycle. I have written in this blog about the importance of learning bullies' stories, and for those kids on the bully-victim spectrum, I sincerely believe this needs to be done if we are to help ease whatever pain is causing their actions. This proactive approach is necessary to curb the influence of bullying, but it won't bring back Phoebe Prince or any of the others who have succumbed to one of the biggest social challenges educators are facing today... kids tendency to want to share their personal pain.

As a former counselor in middle school, and having worked with kids from at-risk environments for 16 years, I have heard stories that upset me to the point where I have had to take the long way home after a bad day at work in order to avoid displaying my grief to my family. I have been reduced to tears hearing kids stories about their home environments, what they deal with socially at school and how this affects their ability to function in even the most basic ways. Our kids are hurting. They are hurting more profoundly than they ever have before. New faceless tools to inflict pain toward others like text messaging and other social media outlets have produced a desensitized generation of perpetrators that has raised the threat of bullying to epidemic levels.

What are we to do? There are no doubt infinite opinions regarding how to deal retroactively with cases such as Phoebe Prince's, and the vast majority of them will default to an eye for an eye perspective. I honestly have nothing to say about that. What should happen to the individuals involved as perpetrators in cases like this will be decided by the courts, and that will be that. You know what though... I'll say it again; it won't bring back Phoebe Prince.

Our kids are lost... how can we make a statement other than this one while attempting to make any sense whatsoever of incidents like the Phoebe Prince bullycide? There was at least one case in my high school twenty-five years ago, and it's still happening.



We need to do what we do in schools differently if we are to curb this most devastating problem, and as I said before, we should start by knowing kids' stories. Teachers must make it their business to connect with kids on personal levels; to reclaim them. In the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in his foreword to the book, "Reclaiming Youth at Risk- Our Hope for the Future,"

The reclaiming environment is one that creates changes that meet the needs of both the young person and society. To reclaim is to recover and redeem, to restore value to something that has been devalued.

Teachers, and anyone else who works in schools, it's our most imperative moral and ethical responsibility to reclaim our lost children. We need to establish the most basic awareness that children are our gift to the future and that we are not packaging them very well as of late. We need to truly provide safe and nurturing environments in our schools for kids to thrive without fear and anxiety regarding their emotional, social and psychological well-being. As educators, we tend to underestimate the value of those regular day-to-day things we do in schools for kids who are in so much personal pain that they feel they can't live another day. In the words of Carl Jung,
An understanding heart is everything in a teacher, and cannot be esteemed highly enough. One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
Teachers, there are no emergencies in education; we get so worked up about trivial things on a daily basis that we forget, or perhaps some of us never realize that behind the faces of our students are vulnerable young souls dealing with what to them could be life or death problems that overshadow any test, assignment, lab, bit of unfinished homework or any other minor delay in the learning process. Our greatest challenge in contemporary education is to reclaim kids; all of them. Their problems are real, even if they are only real to them- they are real... make no mistake about that. Do not shirk your responsibility to acknowledge this fact, and take the appropriate action to be there when a student chooses you.

That student will choose you because in some way, on any given day, you have provided just a glimmer of hope in the dark and damaging world he/she endures.

Don't be the last person a student came to before doing something bad that cannot be reversed... be the first person a student came to and will never forget because you were willing to share the pain as you held hands without judgement taking those first steps through their grief toward healing.

In the brilliant words of Professor Herbert W. Vilakazi,
"The problems of children and of youth, giving rise to child and youth care programs, can only begin to be solved in that society of humankind’s dream; a more collective-oriented society than at present, when the father of the child shall be every man as old as the child’s father; when the mother of the child shall be every woman as old as the child’s mother; a society of responsibility of the entire community..."
Is there any more important responsibility than this?

Rest in peace Phoebe Prince.



Sunday, March 21, 2010

Every Wednesday off...


Here's one for pondering as we all enter the beginning of a long, new work week... what if we all got every Wednesday off?

Think about it; nobody would work more than two days in a row. I foresee many benefits to this format:
  • Every Tuesday evening and Wednesday would be free giving everyone more of that leisure time we all so desperately need to enhance our personal wellness.
  • More family time, or time with friends would be so nice.
  • More concentrated effort during the other four work days each week would result in higher productivity and less stress for all.
  • We'd all be more rested.
  • Kids would be more focused in school.
Ten hour days on the work days excluding Wednesday would still result in a forty hour week (if that's even what we need; I question that.)

We so desperately need balance in our lives, and this work week format would provide some.

Quality, not quantity... Why is it always the simplest axioms we have such a difficult time putting to practice?
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