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?

Differentiated assessment...

flickr image via Stuck in Customs

Great strides have been made to adjust our instruction to meet individual student needs, but often we don't adjust the way we assess this individualized learning. Differentiated instruction must at some point lead to differentiated assessment, otherwise we're fooling ourselves.

Students are all on their own timeline and we're finally starting to realize that we need to figure out what that timeline is in order to apply an optimized and purposeful learning experience. We need to meet them where they're at and help them learn forward. This is the differentiation process. It accounts for a student's particular learning styles, interests, strengths and weaknesses and adjusts for them to optimize learning. However, once we've done such a good job creating an appropriate and fair learning context for individual kids, we often ruin the process by not making a reciprocal effort to create an appropriate and fair assessment context for individual kids.

There are countless ways to assess learning; some really good and some really bad. I'm not going to get into the debate over which are which here. I'm just going to say that teachers should be making as much  effort to find the right way to assess each student as they do to find the right way to teach each student based on the learning styles, interests, strengths and weaknesses of each one.

How best to do this is up to each teacher and how much is known about each of their students' learning stories. Time should be provided for teachers to investigate the background of each student. A major element of this process should include asking students how best they learn and providing learning opportunities that match what they tell us. We should be engaging them as early as kindergarten to do this.

The thirteen-year learning story starts in kindergarten, and there are many ways kids show us what works for them and what doesn't. Observing and noting their reactions to particular learning tasks, watching them play and discover provides us the chance to get a glimpse into their unique perspectives. Keeping one eye on the prescribed curriculum outcomes, and the other on creative ways to achieve them in consideration of each child's learning preferences seems to me a great strategy to begin walking a good learning path alongside each of them.

However, assessing a whole class the same way after successfully and creatively designing a learning environment that accommodates the unique and individual learning variables of each student doesn't appear to make too much sense to me.

Reflective Leadership...

flickr image via flickrPrince

The principal is an accomplished teacher who practices quality leadership in the provision of opportunities for optimum learning and development of all students in the school.

My teaching career has led me in many unanticipated and diverse directions. The experiences I have had, and the lessons I have learned along this journey are the platform of my skill-set and knowledge as a professional teacher and educational leader. I believe that more often than not, the path chooses us.

I have taught at least one subject to kids from grades one through ten. I taught a first and second grade split class during my first year teaching at Tall Cree Indian Reserve in northern Alberta. From that jump-off point I continued my growth and development as a teacher for five years in grades three to six within two other Aboriginal communities. I moved to Red Deer and joined the Alternative School Programs in my seventh year of teaching. I worked with grades six to ten over the next eight years within two different segregated programs addressing severe student behavior. I completed my Masters Degree in Leadership (focus on school counseling,) during this period. I then took a position as a counselor for what turned out to be one year at the middle school level. At this point my direction shifted once again, and I was fortunate to become a school administrator at Mattie McCullough Elementary School.

With every teaching and administrative position I have held, I have assumed different formal and informal leadership roles designed to optimize learning and development opportunities for all students. Additionally, I have assumed leadership roles throughout my career putting me in a position to support the ongoing and purposeful professional development of my teaching colleagues and beyond as a conference speaker, workshop writer, blogger and author.

This reflection summarizes my teaching experiences, my personal professional growth and my perspective as a learner and teacher relative to the leadership dimensions contained within Alberta Education’s Principal Quality Practise Guideline. These are the elements that form the foundation of my practise as an educational leader. Over the course of my career I have formulated a set of personal beliefs that guide my practise. Many, if not all of these beliefs, permeate my life away from school in ubiquitous ways also. I will reference these as “I believe” statements where appropriate throughout this reflection.

If You're Having Fun...

flickr image via katerha

A couple of years ago my students and I came up with what we thought to be a really good description of the way learning should be.

Like most classrooms, we had every type of student... those really focused on their letter grade achievement; those really focused on the process of learning and not so concerned about their letter grade achievement and those who seemingly weren't that concerned about either. In self reflection, the kids noticed that those who were stressed about the test weren't having all that much fun in school. They also noticed that those who evidently weren't concerned about the process or their grade were having a lot of  fun, but perhaps not the right kind. When we spoke about those kids who seemed to really just enjoy the process of learning, the students noticed that these kids were striking a balance between school work as they called it, and having fun... knowing when to keep things light, but also when to get down to business.

In the process of our reflection we came up with this definition of purposeful and engaged learning in school.

If you're having fun and not learning, that's bad. If you're learning and not having fun, that would bad too, but if your having fun and learning, that's good.

Pretty simple I think.

If this was the only reason to blog...

flickr image via tibchris

I'd still do it. Let me explain the reason.

I noticed a recent trackback on Connected Principals, another blog I contribute to occasionally. The post it pointed to was called "Norm!" The blog's author is Anthony Purcell, a first year teacher who evidently uses reflection as a tool to inform his practice and help him become a better teacher.

At his blog, Educationally Minded, Anthony made reference to a piece I wrote called We need schools where everybody knows your name. I read his post and was humbled that my thoughts had impacted him enough that he decided to share his reflective response. I have never met Anthony, and he has never met me, but we had a virtual meeting of the minds; a philosophical rendezvous in cyber space. We shared thoughts as teacher colleagues that transcended our professional perspective and entered into our personal feelings about things. We need to do more of this as professionals; get to know each other on personal levels... learn more about what we represent as human beings who care for others.

Blogging has provided me an opportunity to connect with those I perhaps never would have known at all. I've shared with them; they've shared with me. We have encouraged each other to think and question. We have created circles around our thoughts and invited each other inside.

If this was the only reason to blog, I'd still do it.