Personalising professional learning

The #BFC630nz twitter chat (which I usually browse over as I eat my breakfast, because I don’t function properly at 6.30am) from this morning has really got me thinking about what I hoped would be an effective way to go about professional learning for our staff this year.

I saw a number of tweets from teachers wishing they had input into the content of staff meetings or some choice about them.I can relate.

Previous posts of mine talk about the hit and miss of most staff meetings I have attended or lead. In response to this and wanting to personalise the learning experience for my staff, we have run “Professional Learning Groups” rather than staff meetings each fortnight this year.

Each teacher has been asked to lead something and it was up to them to work out how much time they might need depending on what they wanted to achieve.

My thoughts were that a PLG might run for a term, or for a whole year. The frequency of those meetings would vary too. A PLG might meet 5 times across a term, or 5 times across a year. It would depend entirely on what the goal was.

I wanted all teachers (5 plus me) to experience that leadership role. It didn’t mean they had to be expert in something, but be prepared to facilitate. I left it open as to what staff might choose to lead. ( I need to point out, we’re all experienced teachers and have been together for a few years, so there is already a high level of relational trust)

At the start of the year, it was a bit like an Educamp, for those of you who have been. Staff pitched an idea to everyone else of a PLG they would be prepared to lead. (They also needed a second and third option too, just in case no-one was interested in the first idea or 2).

From memory, each teacher had their first idea generate enough interest to make it worthwhile.

I was away on sabbatical the first term when these new initiative was established, so I wonder if I’d been present that things may have unfolded differently.

I also surveyed the teachers using google forms to collect some initial thoughts about how they like to learn, what they wanted to achieve with their PLG and what potential barriers they foresaw.

So, what have I seen and what has happened so far?

I think there has only been one occasion when a staff member didn’t come to a PLG. Perhaps old habits die hard, or perhaps what’s being offered is meeting people’s needs. Either way, pretty much full attendance. There are 2 time slots. 3.15-4pm and 4-4.30pm. (We finish at 2.50pm, so teachers have 25 minutes before meetings start)Teachers book up on the shared doc in advance. I send out a short email prior to each PLG I lead to give  a heads up on what’s going to be the content, so people come along prepared, or could choose not to come.

Some PLGs have been one offs. This wasn’t my intention, but it met some needs. I think a PLG offered over time would probably have more long lasting effect and would offer better support. I haven’t made up my mind fully one way or the other about one offs.

Teachers do seem more interested and invested. I have no way of measuring that other than observation and from listening to people talk. It’s certainly been way more collaborative than it used to be.

Topics covered so far: Accelerating learning in Literacy, personalising learning, mask making for wearable arts, boys ed, Reading Eggs, Pond, eAsttle, Sign language, RTCs/Appraisal.

These are quite different to what I thought might be offered. My intention was to have PLGs based around identified learning goals from end of year appraisal meetings. When I look at the list above I can see that’s it’s been rather disjointed.

The #BFC630nz chat this morning had @karyngra tweet this - “Personalised Teacher PLD combined with whole staff vision building, definitely effective”.

This has prompted me in to thinking more deeply about the vision aspect and the importance of everyone having input into a collective vision.

I refer to the “Model for Managing Complex Change” adapted from Knoste, T (1991) to work out what piece might be missing if I see something not working when dealing with change:

Vision+Skills+Incentives+Resources+Action Plan = Success.

Some people have added Relationships to that as well. I wonder if our PLGs were just my idea and broadcast rather than investigating if this is the approach that staff actually wanted. (The survey results certainly supported the move however) Perhaps I didn’t do enough around the vision aspect initially. As far as Skills go, this is where coaching comes in. Some have asked for it, others I’ve approached to see if any was needed prior to the PLG. Perhaps action plans have been missing too. I developed one for my own PLG goal as it was part of something bigger across our school. Perhaps there needed to be the expectation that a PLG would have a minimum number of sessions.

Another tweet that caused “a stir” in my brain was this one - “Please don’t refer me to the charter brick I had no input in” - there’s a challenge for leadership! And well put too.

In learning more about taking a personalised approach, I read “Make Learning Personal” by Bray and McClaskey.

Their continuum of the expert learner (and this is what I want for the teachers in my school, to be, expert learners) looks like this:

Voice⇒Choice⇒Engagement⇒Motivation⇒Ownership⇒Purpose⇒Self regulation

“When learners include their voice and have opportunities for choice, this changes how they interact with the content, the teacher, and each other.”

This has significant implications for the way in which traditional approaches to PLD have been taken. Without authentic Voice there really isn’t Choice. I had to allow staff to generate their own ideas for PLGs, because if I’d made up the list based on school priorities and then got people to choose from there, they would potentially be choosing from a list they didn’t really want anyway. (much like my Mum saying I could have broccoli OR brussel sprouts - is that really a choice Mum?)

I promised an honest post. I will lay my cards on the table at this point. Another reason I have taken this approach to professional learning for staff, is that this is the way I see our classes running and I need to illustrate this for staff. I want to show the process I went through - collect voice, allow choice etc. I cannot and will not expect my teachers to implement change without being prepared to change my own ways of doing things.  It needs to be systemic and “unbundle” traditional approaches. (Thanks Rachel Bolstad for that term, I love it).

So, where to from here? What plans and thoughts do I have for next year?

I believe that a personalised approach is the way to go. When I see what is happening for learners in our classrooms I am blown away. Must dos and Can dos are the developing common language across the school. Staff certainly seem more invested and motivated around professional learning.

I should also add that I free up funds for each teacher to use to support their own professional learning and our teachers only day for the past couple of years have seen teachers going out to schools of their own choice to meet their own learning needs.

This has generally been well received and I have been in awe of the learning and action that has occurred after these visits. I think there is benefit in 2 teachers going to a school together, as the talk between people and ongoing support is important, but not at the expense of someone tacking along just to make that happen. Remember, Voice, then Choice, not just Choice.

I think we’ll carry on with this approach but perhaps couple it with some school wide stuff too. (Our school wide focus this year was being Year 2 in ALiL). But the school wide stuff would still need to be personalised. As long as each teacher can identify goals to work on, rather than all working towards one goal, then it can be personalised. A rubric can help with this showing development of skills and goals.

I have 5 staff to lead. I wonder if this approach can/could work in a big school. What would it look like? Is it possible? Would it be wanted?

Enough. I’m exhausted. Thanks for reading. Cannot wait to hear some responses.

What's most important - Teaching or Learning?

Over the past twenty years that I've been in education I think it's fair to say that the focus has been pretty much on the teaching side of things, not so much the learning side of things. Perhaps this is because we can really only truly control the teaching. I believe that learning occurs in the brain and therefore, I am unable to get inside the brains of the learners I work with. What then can I control? Quite a bit really; classroom environment, giving feedback,  using learner voice and giving choice and so on. As teachers we have plenty that we can control and over my time in education we have focused a lot on these things. A lot of money and time and effort, blood, sweat and tears have gone into the teaching of many different learning areas.

I'm wondering if we need to focus on learning, as opposed to teaching. Perhaps rather than teaching strategies it is learning strategies that need attention. I've worked with countless teachers who create wonderful conditions for their learners and despite everything, some learners just don't make (necessary) progress with their learning.
There's a bit of attention being given to how the brain works and we're getting better at talking with learners about how they learn best. I wonder if we need to further our work in understanding what effective learning strategies are, rather than effective teaching strategies.

I welcome your thoughts and ideas.

Our incredible staff

After a  long morning at my PLG  today, I wasn't too sure how I would get on sitting on for another hour and a half while we shared back about our teacher only day experiences. I couldn't have wished for a more engaging session. I couldn't be more proud of each person, the way they had prepared their thoughts and the thoughtful questions following each talk. We are all deep in our own learning pit. It's  fascinating hearing people make sense of their learning and establish their own next steps right in front of us. To date this year, it has been my favourite moment at school.

Two weeks ago we had all gone off in different directions visiting people that would support our professional learning. At this point in my post I must point out that staff had been given freedom and a budget to go wherever their funds could take them. Two of us ended up in the same schools, everyone else went different places. Schools visited were Tamatea Intermediate and Richmond School, in Napier, Parkland  School and Whakarongo School in Palmerston  North, Parkvale School and Mahora School in Hastings, Tokomaru School and Shannon School in Horowhenua and Resource teachers of literacy in Feilding and Palmerston North. I shared about my experiences, thoughts and wonderings after visiting schools in Christchurch - Hallswell, Waitakiri, Pegasus Bay, Clarkville and Breens  Intermediate.

Why not take the whole school staff to the same place? Because I don't believe this would have met each person's learning needs. It also would not have led to the diverse range of experiences, thinking and follow ups. Through having choice, engagement followed. Teachers were highly motivated because they could choose something that was relevant, topical and meaningful to them. They weren't having to tag along because someone had organised the day for them. I won't keep going on - those leaders who are implementing personalized learning in the school, I hope, are extending this pedagogical approach to the adult akonga in their own places of learning. We know that young learners enjoy having choice and adult learning theory supports this approach too.

While the majority of our experiences were supporting our work to implement personalized learning, so many other outcomes have come from these professional learning experiences. Thank you to the schools and people we visited. If we are able to action even some of the many, many ideas that came from our experiences, our school and therefore our learners will benefit greatly.

Thank you to the incredible staff at our school. Today was a highlight.

Measuring what we do.

A question I asked as part of my sabbatical was how schools are measuring the impact of the actions they are taking in personalising learning.
For me, taking a personalised approach supports the development of the KCs - so we needed to establish a starting point on how we might monitor learner progress in relation to becoming more skilled in the KCs.
Our school has a strong and relevant model that brings KCs and values from the NZC together.


We needed to add clarity for our learners so they could see what each of the "flags" really meant and then how to improve in each of these key areas. We've introduced the terms; dependent, assisted, independent and self-guiding to categorise the stages that learners might move between as they become more competent.

Teams have developed rubrics that allow learners to see where they are on the Bridge to Life and learners have used this rubric to self-assess and place themselves in their 'best fit' stage.
It's an exciting development for our school - we have some common language that extends across the school and clearly shows a progression for our learners. It's a great starting point and I know that these will be refined and further developed over time as we use them more. Each class has these displayed and classes have adopted different ways of having learners "show" where they fit best, and therefore what their goal is in becoming "the best me I can be".




The rubrics will be a tool we can use to monitor learner progress and hopefully as evidence that our approach is further developing learner capability in the KCs. By gathering in sheets that learners have assessed themselves on and tracking them over time, we will be able to see if they are progressing or not and also establish if the rubric is learner friendly.

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.

A lasting impression

We all know that schools are called upon to do special things on a daily basis. The staff in many Christchurch schools have been called upon to do the extraordinary. 48 hours, five schools and one outcome. Respect. I went to learn about collaborative practice and certainly came away with way more knowledge and ideas around this, I also came away with something I wasn't expecting and something I wasn't prepared for. Hearing what different schools had done for their community following the quake made me realise even more how vital schools are to their communities, they're more than places of learning. They can be a refuge, solace and a hope.
The leadership that principals must have shown over the past few years is something rather special. Having a new build on top of everything else is something to look forward to but also so much more work in the meantime. Split campuses, shared campuses, no campus at all. The e,optional needs of staff, children and parents,  as well as turmoil in their own lives and it's  a wonder how many kept going. It really is.

So, thank you to Halswell School, Waitakiri School,  Pegasus Bay School, Clarkville School and Breen's Intermediate. Thank you for welcoming us so warmly, for sharing your story so openly and for what you have done. Meeting you all has been a privilege. Learning from you has been an inspiration.

Note- I was one of ten Principals from the Manawatu who visited five schools in Christchurch over two days. Brilliant trip.

Our approach to professional learning at our school.

We're trialling something new at our school to support professional learning. Professional learning networks have been offered, with each staff member leading one. I lead my first session today about personalising learning, sharing back from my sabbatical. Our next session will be in ten weeks with everyone sharing some practice.
The intention behind the PLNs is for learning needs to be better met, for everyone to have a say in the professional learning programme and for everyone to have a leadrship role. We have an experienced team and most of us have been working together for a few years, so the time and the culture is right.
I am hopeful that over time the PLNs will develop into carefully planned for sessions that run for as long as necessary to achieve set outcomes.
The PLNs have generally been attended by everyone, but they are not compulsory to attend. Some staff have been brave enough not to attend Some sessions which I salute and would encourage. This is the type of thing I want happening in our rooms, so support it fully at this level too.
In addition to these networks, staff are each in charge of their own professional learning budget. This can be used for anything to support their own learning - further study, conferences, travel, etc. We also have a teachers only day where school visits are the focus. Teachers select the schools themselves based on their learning needs. We are sending two teachers to ulearn and these two contribute some of their professional learning funds to the cost of this.
I think that everyone's professional learning needs are better met through this approach, as opposed to our previous traditional staff meeting approach.I have been able to decide my own professional learning programme to support the goals that are set in my appraisal and I think the experience is one that everyone should have. That is, being in control of their own learning. This is what I want for everyone in our school; teachers and children.  I am surveying the staff at the start and end of the year to see if this has indeed better met their learning needs.
Tteaching as inquiry is firm embedded. We are also in the second year of  Accelerating learning in literacy. Our interventions are the basis for our TAIs - we're not doubling up work.
There is additional funding in the professional learning budget for things that pop up along the way, so we don't miss any awesome learning opportunities.