Could we be missing Something?

We're talking about effective practice and how to best meet the needs of our learners. We're looking at how to develop self regulated learners in single cell classes. Evidence available from australia.teachingandlearningtoolkit.net.au/toolkit shows that meta-cognition and self regulation along with feedback as having high impact on learning and achievement.
So we're wondering how to best create the conditions that promotes these outcomes. We're currently pursuing creating self-guided programmes in single cell classes. We are working on having greater learner voice and choice, through having must do and can do activities within various aspects of our programmes. Learners will be involved in the development of some of the learning activities.
Having just come back from a trip to Christchurch that focussed on collaborative teaching approaches, I'm now wondering about the "power of more than one".
We were reviewing our moderation practices today and then I gave a quick report from my trip and the link was made between the two - with more than one teacher about, moderating would be enabled on a more frequent basis, there would be ongoing moderation as learners are discussed between teachers.
I am learning more and more about personalising  learning and collaborative teaching. I am learning about more advantages for both teachers and learners in taking a collaborative approach in an "innovative learning environment". Such ideas as a learner not connecting with one teacher might be avoided in a space that has more than one teacher, learners might gain different perspectives on the curriculum. Teachers worry about not knowing their learners so well. I know this is a real concern in many schools and one parents might have too - who is actually looking out for my child?
We don't feel we know enough yet about this to implement it successfully and there is a high level of angst in my community about taking this approach. So currently we're  looking at how we can ensure our learners are offered all they can be in a single cell setting.
If there's  one thing I hear over and over again, get the pedagogy right, then go from there. We have work to do to ensure that our classes are running how we want, that we all share some understandings of what we are wanting to achieve and how to go about achieving that.
Perhaps some teachers will select to work in a collaboration in the near future. In the meantime, we need to get our pedagogy right about enabling learners to be self guiding and self regulating.

Self guided learning and another reason why...

We sometimes double guess ourselves. I'm not sure why. Perhaps we need to ensure we have done our research properly to feel we have an evidenced base to justify our actions. However, something like self-directed or self-guided learning has plenty of research behind it and many schools are heading in the direction of personalising learning. This is more and more common in MLE's and for those of us in single cell schools, it's about MLP. It is possible to transform traditional practice in a single cell class. It's happening already. In lots of places, like our school.
The double guessing comes when we're questioned by parents (or by colleagues) about our approach and when things aren't quite going right, a new approach is quickly identified as being a potential problem.
And what about preparation for high school? How can students having choices and having to manage themselves possibly prepare them for high school? Sound familiar?
My thinking is, school is first and foremost not about preparing learners for a future life. They're living it right now. We should be giving learners what they need for today. It's ridiculous to suggest that everything a learner is doing is preparation for "real life" and that at some stage they'll recall the skills and learning for when it really matters. It matters now! They need to use and apply what they've got now.
I also believe that the skills and experience gained from managing oneself through a self guided approach will actually give a learner the skills they need to be successful at any time. Being able to prioritise tasks, know how much time to give a task and to know one's own strengths are essential. This knowledge and these skills can only be gained through being given opportunities where learners gain experience in applying them. (And when you look at it, these are actually skills that would make a learner successful when they do go to high school.)
There isn't an age when these skills can be acquired, it's no use saying that these are things a learner will be able to do in the senior school. Nonsense! Learners have been making decisions and learning plenty in their first 5 years of life and it should be that this type of learning continues when they first start school - not ignored for 4 or 5 years and then reintroduced sometime later in their schooling.

So, to all those innovators out there, trying new things and wanting to transform their practice - I encourage you to keep going. Kia kaha. The easy thing to do is "pack up" and revert to what has always been done. Is this a lesson we want our learners to learn? I think not.

The leader I want to be

I've been on sabbatical. I have missed a lot of school. I have missed school. I have met with inspiring educators at various schools and enjoyed seeing other schools in action and wondering about the next phase for our school.

I was asked two brilliant questions by learners at two different schools. The first of these was from a five year old. I asked him what he was doing on his ipad and rather than answering me, he asked, " Are you Kevin's Dad?" Thenother great question put to me was from a 12 year old. He asked, "Is this your job?" I replied, "No, but I wish it was!" It would be an incredible job - to visit schools, talk with learners and educators and then write about it. These experiences change you. It's an honour.

So what has really happened while I've had my sabbatical?I feel I've changed. I don't want to go back and be the same old me. I need to be better at some things. I cannot expect our school to continue to evolve while being the same leader I was.

So, what do I want to be?
I want to be more inspirational. What is it that makes a leader inspirational? Different things for different people. I need to personalise my leadership more.
I want to be more relaxed. I wear my job pretty hard. Sometimes it hasn't been fun. I need to be more prepared and use better strategies for amanging some situations.
I want office free days where I am in a class for most of the day. I want to see what's going on more. I want to have far greater "voice" of learners, educators and community. I'll need to listen more.
I want to be an expert learner myself. I need to read even more, connect even more, collaborate more.
I want to take greater risks and innovate more. I need to pursue some personal goals and develop some other interests.

I know I don't have all the answers yet-that's not what this is about, but I do know that I want to be and will be a different leader than I was before.

Meat and 3 veg in week 4 of the term.

I was raised on meat and three veg. It's what I know. When the daily question arises, "What shall we have tonight?" my mind automatically goes to meat and three veg. I can cook other meals. I prefer to cook other meals. Especially one pot meals. Sometimes I go to cookbooks for inspiration. We have lots of cookbooks. We like the way they look. Some of the recipes are really good and work well. Others have been attempted and failed and not tried again.
I go through phases. I look through the books. Get inspired. Buy fresh new ingredients and go for it. Then it's back to meat and three veg again. Hurumph. What's happened here? I was going well with the new dishes. They were well received and were relatively easy to make. But before I know it, I'm back in the old routine, peeling spuds and carrots. I like spuds. I like carrots. Peas. Meat. No problem, it's just the tediousness of it all. Plus, there's not enough variety. Not to mention you don't have to have meat everyday anyway. But change is hard right. This is what my Dad likes so Mum cooks it. I learned by watching Mum. I cook similarly.  It's engrained in us. What we see we become. How we ate is how we eat. How we were trained to cook is how we cook. And when I run out of ideas, or just can't be bothered, this is what I revert to.

Ooops, just realised that I'm meant to be writing about teaching. Have a great week 4. Avoid the meat and 3 veg ok.

What's in a name?

Some schools have made the change. It's radical. It's cutting edge. It's hip. Students calling teachers by their first name. How can a relationship based on respect be expected when a student, not only knows your name, but is actually allowed to call you by it? Surely anarchy must follow?
I just don't know. I really don't.
With a name like Bede, which most people assume is a nickname, there could be problems. I for one am big on names. I've had years of people mishearing, mispronouncing and replacing my name. I'm Steve, Pete or Bedee to some over the phone. Because of that I'm big on names. I'm good with names too. I make it a point to know parents by first name. I call colleagues by their name, "Hi Peter, " I would say. I find it interesting that some reply to me without using my name. I'm not asking for a Mr Gilmore, just some recognition that it's me you're talking to you. The power of the name. It can be a weapon, silence someone in one word, or bring personal praise when used in different ways.
I'm Mr Gilmore at the moment. We are all on that formal name basis. There's a big part of me that would like to change. After all, I'm Bede. Mr Gilmore is my father. I like being Bede. My name suits me. Mr Gilmore has a whole other layer to it in my opinion. It's formal. It carries mystique - you may not know my real name. What's the big secret?
I'm not sure what your school does and does it really matter? Would it make a difference to a student's learning if they could call me Bede?
I understand it's a culture thing. It's about breaking down barriers. Respect can and perhaps should be earned other ways. I dunno. I grew up calling my friends' parents Mr and Mrs. Not by their first name. Have times changed? Have they changed enough?

I'd be interested to hear from you about this. What have I missed? Are you going by first name at your school?
If you do reply, please call me Mr Gilmore though. Show some respect, please.

Doing a lot of stuff - but is it change?

I've missed a day of writing due to having a friend over for dinner and painting all day. (who thought it was time to change colour of all the windows this summer anyway?)
Our friend is another teacher, of course, and we got talking  education, between the sevens. Along the way she said, "some schools can be doing a lot of stuff, but nothing much changes," and isn't she right on the money there!
I laughed because it's so true. You can be taking part in all manner of pd sessions at school and return to your room and pretty much just carry on in some instances. Of course, effective schools have good appraisal systems to ensure that teachers are implementing school wide approaches etc. But isn't that the problem - sometimes a teacher might only be implementing stuff to be complient. Of course, that's better than the teacher who just carries on regardless, but not a whole lot better. I can think of schools I have worked in previously where we were caught up in a number of different pd programmes and we were all very busy. Did it bring about change or is there an assumption that change will just happen as a result?
I am pretty sure that your school has some schoolwide pd happening right? Who selected this? How was the decision made? Is it something that you personally need? Will it be tailored to your needs? Are you onboard or are you going to be busy doing stuff without bringing change?

If you could choose your own pd, what would it be this year? How would you run it? What would you read, who would you see and what would you do and why? Exciting to think about?

Self guided learning...for everyone.

What I have realised about my own professional learning over the past 5 years as a Principal is that I have had the opportunity to be self-guiding. I have become a life long learner through this opportunity. No-one delivers my professional learning on a plate. I design my own learning based on what I see and hear happening at our school. It covers a wide range of areas from responding to student achievement information through to developing my leadership practice. I have to read widely and talk with others to develop my knowledge and my learning. I seek it. I find it.

This is what I want for my staff and I'm trying to "unbundle" existing practice. (Thanks Rachel Bolstad et al for that term) My take on this is one where the Principal decides what staff need and a plan is developed that will see all staff participate in a professional development programme over 12 months. Teaching as Inquiry has a strong emphasis on teachers developing knowledge and practice based on the learning needs of their learners. Even though a school wide need might be identified, because teachers all have different previous experiences and knowledge, they start in different places and therefore will finish in different places.Is it a bit naive to think that school wide PD is going to meet all these needs? I'm not a big fan of the "sheep drench" approach to PD. At best, these types of sessions are a 'spark' or a catalyst for them to experience and perhaps further persue. Expecting automatic pick up of a "one size fits all" approach is unrealistic at best and frustrating at worst.

I'm giving opportunities for staff to develop their own professional learning by making funds available that they can use for texts, for study, for travel, for what they need for their own learning. I'm encouraging them to get out there and see what's happening and what's possible. I want the teachers at our school to have a personalised experience. I want them to have choices about their professional learning so that their needs are better met. I want to provide them with the same opportunity I have had. To be self-guiding. I want to take this further. I'm considering optional meetings/workshops - come along if this interests you or if it might complement your current learning. I'm not sure if that approach would work or not. It's a big shift from our current set up.

I'm not exactly sure that I know how to proceed. I've asked staff for their ideas and input into how they like to learn and there certainly seems that opportunities for self-guiding professional learning is desirable. I'm considering how teaching as inquiry can guide us to personalise professional learning further. I'm reading a lot of material that relates to professional learning and creating "teacher agency" and clarifying my thoughts through this post. Your thoughts and ideas are welcome.

How one small change can transform outcomes..

To get a feel for what I mean, watch the following clip... The collaborators on this project didn't tell people to use the stairs - they gave them a reason to want to use them and the way they did it was through fun which led to engagement and motivation. If we want to bring about different outcomes, we will need to make changes! Here's a short clip from Ken Shelton's ulearn13 keynote address on change. I need to underline the point he makes here, it's not necessarily a massive change that could bring about different outcomes for learners. In the example above, the stairs were not ripped out or taken away, but something was added to them to make a the change that was required. (I'm thinking now of how the SAMR model applies...) In looking through edtalks there are lots of excellent examples where teachers have made changes to an aspect of their practise and the outcomes for students have gone way beyond what the teacher could have ever imagined. Here are some examples that could provide inspiration for others:
Newsboard for the 21st century from EDtalks on Vimeo.
It's a great idea from Laetitia - all classrooms have cameras in them - use them! Checking out her Hauora TV is quite inspiring with 5 year olds interviewing and presenting. And how lucky are the parents of those parents to have such an open window into their children's classroom. This travel buddies idea is a small change from what a lot of new entrant teachers might do with a class toy or mascot that goes home with students, but rather than a written diary that comes back to the teacher and might be shared with the class, this takes the same idea to a whole new level. And Emma Watts talking about engaging struggling writers: What we have here are a number of examples where changes have been made to existing practise that have led to exciting outcomes for students.