What you see isn't always what you get...

The question is iconic... "what do you want to be when you grow up?" Perhaps there are those of the opinion that we ask this question in school too early, and maybe even too often adding stress to the minds of young people who have enough on their plate just handling the pressures of school. The fact remains, however, that all children will do something when they grow up requiring the unique skills and abilities they develop throughout their lives, and teachers play an important in this development.

Thinking of this development as each child's story is one way to approach our challenge to support and nurture it. We start hearing from our writing teachers very early in school that the best writing comes from our own experiences. What if our students began documenting their learning stories in kindergarten, and continued to write them all the way through to graduation? I mean actually writing them down. The story would read and look differently over time, but that's what we would intend to happen.

For our students, these stories would be a meta-reflective, continuously evolving assessment of where they've been, where they are and where they want to go in life and school; their hopes and dreams would jump off the page like postcards predicting the future. For their teachers, these stories would be the assessment lens we use to gaze at our students strengths, glance at their weaknesses and analyze where we think we can support them in writing the next chapter. If authentic assessment is that which carefully considers the perspective of the learner while striving to make learning relevant and engaging, then I can't think of an easier way to tap the private logic of kids than simply asking them to tell us their stories, from their point of view.

Simply sharing our student's stories, celebrating them, using them as catalysts for personalized learning and competency development is an opportunity teachers should leverage in support of each one of them.

21st Century? Let's Just Call it Contemporary Teaching and Learning...

I don't write a lot about technology in education, but it is a prominent aspect of my professional development. I learned some years ago that the best way to learn in the context of professional development is to do the background work required to provide professional development for others. I did just that at the recent Alberta Technology Leaders in Education Conference (ATLE) 2010 in November. It's hard to believe I hadn't heard about this conference, and right in my backyard. Anyway, when I did hear about it via Twitter, I jumped at the opportunity to propose a session- Insights on Initiating a Technology Integration Game Plan from the Ground-Up.

My session was very-well attended and I was pleased with the dialog that it generated. I formatted my presentation in the form of a workspace; a style I'm using more and more often. I appreciate the collaborative element work spaces provide, and I think of this sort of presentation as an "open source" offering... when I'm done with my rant, those who attended can do whatever they want with it. The link is theirs to use however they want. They can even do the presentation themselves if that's what works for them. I'm learning that to be truly collaborative, (and my experience at ATLE 2010 confirmed this for me once again,) I have to let go of what I believe is a natural tendency of teachers to protect "their" stuff. If what I have to say helps a colleague advance their practice, I encourage them to leverage my message in their own way for their own purpose.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend much of the rest of the conference as a result of other responsibilities and commitments, so my learning was limited to what I discovered while preparing my presentation. My school is on a technology integration learning curve funded through the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI). Near half-way through our technology integration action research project, we've learned a great deal as a staff, and I've learned a tremendous amount personally as a leader within the project, mostly by making mistakes.

One of my larger epiphanies has surrounded the term 21st Century Learning. I'm not fond of this term. I have thought about this a great deal, and I've come to the conclusion that contemporary kids don't need to be told they are learning in the 21st Century... they just are. To me learning in the 21st Century, when boiled down to a core element is really just about change; not change as in a desired change of state from what is not good to what is, but rather change as a constant. This is how I've learned to frame change in contemporary teaching and learning. The world is shrinking and growing at the same time. This bit of irony continues to fascinate me. Technology creates accessibility among people around the globe, connecting them in affordable and efficient ways never before possible; our world is shrinking. At the same time, these networks and connections allow us exposure to new cultures, ideas and knowledge previously inaccessible; our world is expanding. This is an awesome shift.

As I stood and spoke with my audience during ATLE 2010, it struck me that much of the professional development we do in education fits the "change as moving to a desired outcome or state" paradigm. My session was contextualized as a primer for building a technology integration plan from scratch, and when I asked participants where they were at on the tech integration spectrum, most indicated they  arrived at a place where technology integration was evident. There was one lady though who asked me before I started who the target audience was. I explained that my initial plan for the session was to provide some insights for colleagues who were just getting started, but as I worked to prepare the session in the weeks leading up to ATLE 2010, I realized that the process of change, (in this case, change in the way we approach and utilize technology in schools,) is perpetual. Authentic change doesn't end because once we get to the state we desire, it's time to change again; that's just the nature of change within contemporary teaching and learning.

I told the lady that my session was for anyone who had an open-mind and a willingness to think deeply about the role of technology in schools, and more importantly, how teachers should be continuously upgrading and refining their technology skills and perspectives. She stayed, and participated in the back channel too. She engaged, and that made me happy.

So in retrospect maybe I should have called my session "Approaching Technological Change in Contemporary Teaching and Learning" instead, because that's what it ended up being. Imagine that, my approach changed to fit the context of my learning and what I wanted to share with my colleagues... maybe I am becoming a contemporary teacher and learner.

"Take a pass on yelling uncle..."

I came across this awesome Nike ad while attending the Alberta Lacrosse Association Annual General Meeting this fall. Kyle Miller, a world champion field lacrosse player, showed it at the beginning of his keynote presentation to the AGM. Kyle's resiliency story is one of character, perseverance and courage, and it was an honor to hear him tell it. After learning about Kyle's story, it was very clear why he chose this particular video as an opener. Resilience is something Kyle Miller understands implicitly, and this ad isn't about anything if it's not about resiliency.

"Only the strong will survive" ... the theory of evolution indeed. The theory of competition... "The strong aren't immune to getting their asses kicked." Every athlete knows this. I've been talking a lot lately with anyone interested about change as continuous improvement as opposed to a finite change of state. Athletes know implicitly that the variables affecting their performance on any given day are infinite. They know that there are two sides to every competition and they line up to play the game to find out which side will be stronger... and both have to believe in their hearts that they will be the one. They do whatever they can to prepare for that game to the best of their ability, but without really knowing what the outcome will be. They have a challenge, and they prepare for it as thoroughly and professionally as possible considering the infinite variables at play. When they lose, the harder these gamers fall, the faster they bounce back to play again after dusting themselves off and adjusting their game plan. They "take a pass on uncle," and teachers should too. Teachers can learn so much  in attempting to understand and adopt the athlete's perspective toward challenge.

Take some time to reflect on that. Passion, dedication, fortitude, commitment to purpose; all critical elements of a resilient person. If we intend to nurture resilient students, teachers must strive to possess these qualities so we can reflect them back toward our students. In doing so we become alternate mirrors reflecting positive and encouraging images about what the future has to offer; one where things never stop getting better and better as long as we are committed to the principle of change as continuous efforts to improve, as much as possible, despite the odds stacked against us. Change will happen despite what we do to try and control it... we need to embrace it and work with it; never say uncle on behalf of our students.

A new day is a new game and an opportunity to adjust our game plan to reflect what we think should be done to make that day better than the one before it... continuous improvement.

Teachers... get in the game.

Perspectives on Change in Contemporary Teaching...

Recently the "tone" of my blog was called into question. Before this I can say with absolute honesty that I had given precisely zero thought to the tone I wanted to project from this thinking and writing project of mine. It's not complicated... I have always kept a journal, but the value of sharing my thoughts within the realm of education and the social sciences with people around the world was too enticing not to experiment with. This guy's blog is an action research project designed to idea-tap with anyone who's interested in engaging the conversation... and the conversation never stops in my world- it's ever-changing. That's it.

I don't have an agenda, nor do I intend for this blog to take on a tone. It's an organic project going in a bunch of directions because that's where the conversation leads me. There is no intentional tone. It's a free-flowing place stemming from my belief that change is a constant, not a variable. Trying to manipulate change is a slippery slope in my opinion. Accepting change as a natural process that will happen despite our efforts to control it is the more interesting path. It just keeps leading us around the next bend, and that's exciting to me. I like change; I thrive on it, and I think this perspective benefits me as a teacher and learner.

In today's teaching and learning environments things move so fast; it's hard for teachers to keep up with the social, emotional, political and pedagogical issues. Contemporary (aka 21st Century teaching- a term I'm not fond of,) teaching and learning is not about technology; it's about change. Change is the most pressing challenge in teaching and learning, and also our most brilliant opportunity. I am growing increasingly wary, however, about how some of those invested in education (and virtually everyone seems to have something to say,) perceive change.

There is such a dichotomous aura surrounding the principle of change. We have the old way of doing things, and then there is the new, "better" way that we should aspire to, (according to those who believe strongly that their better way is the only better way.) These change realities as perceived by the opinion and lobby behind them originate from any number of angles, and may or not be properly informed, researched or field-tested. We view change as something that needs to happen before our desired state is achieved. The question begs; what is our desired state?

Let's assume that any given change resulted in an improved educational reality. Does this mean that new reality as framed by a change can be crossed off the list so we can move on to changing the next undesired reality? In my mind this is a grossly unproductive way to view change. Wayne Gretzky is the best hockey player that ever played the game. Interestingly enough he was also the first guy on the ice at every practise, and the last guy to leave. In athletics we understand that change is best framed as perpetual improvement, not as changing realities as we seem to contextualize and understand change in education.

We've created such a frenzy around changing desired educational realities. We've even begun to stratify the process and the people within it. Terms like "edupreneur" and "change agent" are floating around out there to describe those who "get-it" more than the rest of us, as if they are change Jedi's... brave and wise warriors fighting on our behalf to make education somehow better. This is not good. Any true change, positive or negative, has to permeate a culture to be sustained. Creating change  hierarchies among educators is exactly the opposite of widespread cultural change. The kind of change we should be talking about in education is cultural change, not changes of state. We need to contextualize change as the perpetual process of doing things better, differently and with more creativity. Once the teacher culture gets this simple principle we will begin to see the organic, creative and fluid environment that is all-of-a-sudden able to reflect the broader global society of the 21st Century.

So let me define the tone of my blog. Wait a minute... I can't. I can't because on any given day I hope it reflects the best thoughts I have in a variety of change (improvement) contexts, and even more importantly those that are shared with me by my network of colleagues that couldn't care less about forcing absolute realities. I can't predict the future, but by accepting change as a constant and quantum element of my role as a teacher and learner, I will be ready to accept it and do my best to flow with it.

There are no perfect realities, but I can fit perfectly in any reality I'm willing to perceive openly and with a constant eye toward improving it.

My Personal Paradigm Shift in the Context of Inclusion...

For a period of eight years I taught within segregated special education environments designed to address the needs of socially/emotionally and behaviorally challenged middle and high school students. When my journey began I was a full-fledged believer in segregated teaching and learning. My perspective was simple... if even one child felt excluded in an "inclusive" environment, could we really call it an inclusive environment?

Ours was a highly specialized educational environment supported by massive amounts of funding designed specifically to nurture a sense of belonging and purpose for our students, but it wasn't long before I started to question the legitimacy of what we did. Don't get me wrong; we did really great work, and we had visitors every month from far and wide seeking clarity about what we did for our students and how we did it because they wanted to emulate our effort. However, as the program evolved, I started wondering why what we did couldn't be transferred to any school context. As I understand now, the awareness I was developing was regarding the fact that no matter how "included" our students felt within our environment, we simply could not deny that they were excluded simply by virtue of their enrollment in our segregated/congregated environment. 

I really started to question whether what we were doing for kids were the most advantageous and least intrusive interventions possible. I reflected on my perspective toward disabilities and challenges in learning, and I began to consider the concept that perhaps in some ways we are all disabled and challenged; that the continuum of social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral issues affects all of us- so why would we segregate particular groups of individuals? Are we not all traveling on a learning journey that is unique and personal... like our learning fingerprint?

These questions plagued me, and I lost sleep. My perspective began to change. I thought a great deal about Occam's Razor and how we could simplify the process of helping our kids so that the process could be extended to any teaching and learning environment, with some customizing for each particular context. Then I met Nan Henderson and the thoughts I was dancing around in my head began to organize. What I was looking for wasn't a strategy, a program or another source of support for these kids; it was simply a philosophy... the philosophy of resiliency. It's free and it literally touches every element of learning, and teaching. To me, resiliency is the essence of inclusion and it's all about perspective- the lens we look through everyday in our effort to provide a caring environment in our schools and classrooms.

Looking at challenge (cognitive, social, emotional, behavioral) as opportunity and celebrating strengths within as asset-based model are benchmarks of a resiliency-based school culture. Every student is challenged in his or her own individual way... it's imperative that teachers learn what these challenges are so we can re-frame them as learning opportunities to be measured against themselves, not on a curve that's externally applied. Providing appropriate and effective strategies to support the teaching and learning process addressing these challenges can take many forms, and not all of them requiring extra funds. In its simplest form, supporting a resiliency-based school culture is as easy as wrapping a layer of love and caring around a student, and it takes only one person to do that at a minimum... a person that is so often a teacher.

He drew a circle that shut me out-

Heretic, a rebel, a thing to flout. 

But Love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle that took him in! 

Edwin Markham- "Outwitted"

I've created a workspace addressing the philosophy of resiliency in schools, and I invite collaborative contributions to the space from anyone who has questions or wants to contribute to the positive development of this idea. I used it to present a session at this year's Alberta Teacher's Association Special Education Conference. Please visit the 'Presentations' page at http://bit.ly/sLvMuO and share your thoughts.