On leadership and education

Seemingly mired in a state of inexplicable inertia—

Hoping to extricate myself with this writing—

These resonated deeply with me in the last few weeks—

In Matters of the Heart, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach mentions seven themes of a leadership approach espoused by Jonathan Jansen:

1. We must recognize the politics of emotions that energize behaviors.

2. The change strategy cannot create victims.

3. The problem must be named and confronted.

4. Leaders must exemplify the expected standards of behavior.

5. We must engage emotionally with students in their world.

6. Teachers and principals themselves are sometimes actors.

7. The environment must accommodate risk. (Jansen, 2009b, p.189)

The basic message Jansen gives and Fullan underscores is that we need to learn to combine love, trustworthiness, and empathic but firm handling of resistance, to quicken the pace of the change we wish to see.

Themes one and two really caught my attention. As many work to impact and redirect the trending educational policy of the current administration, hoping to move the punitive rhetoric to that which is positive and supporting of America’s children, I think there is an important implication in “recognizing the politics of emotions that energize behaviors”. It’s my sincere belief that a focus on the well being of our children, the well being of our democracy plays to those emotions and can energize a diverse group of stakeholders and citizens to become activists in changing the direction of educational policy.

What really struck me was number two—a theme that seems rare in these days of polarity, vitriol, and deep partisanship in which bitterness and hatred often prevail-- a theme to me that offers limitless potential and possibility for moving forward. In Leadership comes from within, Jansen writes:

“I have learned that leadership is not only technical and muscular; it is also spiritual and emotional. Strong leaders are in touch with their own emotions and the emotions of their followers. They know that the "bottom line" can only be achieved by relating to the spiritual and emotional lives of people.

In divided communities, equanimity of leadership matters. Even-handed leadership acknowledges the humanity of all followers, irrespective of what they look like or what they believe.

I've learned that leadership that overcomes division has to be counter-cultural leadership.

To be a strong leader, do what people do not expect; love those you are expected to hurt; forgive those who do not deserve it. Surprise your followers by generosity when it is least expected. Make your leadership appeal to human solidarity.”

I see this leadership approach more far more difficult than the bitter blasting away at and denigrating of those that disagree and hence creating victims; it has the power to engage all parties in systemic change. To those who may find this unrealistic, Jansen bases his tenets on the leadership of Nelson Mandela in South Africa (Mandela’s 8 Lessons of Leadership under the link) which is what Jansen terms a leadership that makes an “enduring difference.” Given the changes that have occurred in what was historically a bitterly divided South Africa, my sense is we would do well to adopt and adapt these Jansen’s premises and Mandela’s lessons as we work to support a new direction in educational policy.

How might that approach to leadership look, read and feel? Two brief examples--

From Chris Lehman in Constructing Modern Knowledge Reflections – This feels to me an exemplar of language that envisions leadership in education from a lens similar to that of Jansen:

“…we also succeeded because we were in an environment where we were encouraged to spend the time to solve the problem. We had the permission, freedom, time and resources to create something.

This week, I was reminded of how powerful -- and how frustrating -- problem-solving and building can be. I also was reminded that we can work with our hands, we can listen and engage our minds in the world of ideas, and we can speak from our hearts.”

From Brian Crosby who urges us to go “back to the notion of building schools that honor kids” and in his sharing leads us, aware of our emotions that energize— through his students, our students--

What can we gain from such an approach? The possibilities abound-- How can we garner support to move forward in this way? Can it be through our very own modeling and demonstration?

To come back to--

One thought led to another and then another,

Wanting them here as I continue on my journey,

To come back to.

Years ago, one of my favorite books, Teaching with your Mouth Shut, by Finkel,

Not forgotten, influential--

Finkel 's overarching theme in his text Teaching with your Mouth Shut stems from John Dewey's belief that "no thought, no idea, can possibly be conveyed as an idea from one person to another". Finkel explores, through both theory and praxis, possible methods for moving from the realm of "telling" students to "teaching" students. Early in his text, Finkel defines good teaching as "creating... those circumstances that lead to significant learning in others" --source

Recently, at Education Innovation a post, Teaching in the White Spaces--

Resonating, really--

"Leaving out the right ideas, concepts, information in our lessons engages the student’s imagination."

And he quoted this from Lao Tzu:

"Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote

“Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub,
It is the center hole that makes it useful.
Shape clay into a vessel,
It is the space within that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows for a room,
It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore profit comes from what is there,
Usefulness from what is not there."

And then today, from The Freire Project Blogs--

An Indian fable --

That spoke to me--

A wish Cocoon

Along a dusty road in India there sat a beggar who sold cocoons. A young boy watched him day after day, and the beggar finally beckoned to him.

"Do you know what beauty lies within this chrysalis? I will give you one so you might see for yourself. But you must be careful not to handle the cocoon until the butterfly comes out."

The boy was enchanted with the gift and hurried home to await the butterfly. He laid the cocoon on the floor and became aware of a curious thing. The butterfly was beating its fragile wings against the hard wall of the chrysalis until it appeared it would surely perish, before it could break the unyielding prison. Wanting only to help, the boy swiftly pried the cocoon open.

Out flopped a wet, brown, ugly thing which quickly died. When the beggar discovered what had happened, he explained to the boy "In order for the butterfly wings to grow strong enough to support him, it is necessary that he beat them against the walls of his cocoon. Only by this struggle can his wings become beautiful and durable. When you denied him that struggle, you took away from him his only chance of survival."

Don't we need to spend more time listening? providing time for learning? designing opportunities for our students to struggle, and to grow and to become? I think so!

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21 days-

ECMP455-- Spring ECMP 455 Class at the University of Regina

13 weeks reduced to 3--

21 days to develop an understanding of these concepts (Learning is social and connected, Learning is personal and self-directed, Learning is shared and transparent, Learning is rich in content and diversity)--

Dean Shareski shared his plan--

His students, joining him, explored vast new landscapes in an exciting, roller coaster, journey into deep learning—

And because their learning was social, connected, shared, transparent, personal and self-directed, they have compiled powerful personal PD plans with wonderful resources, they have experienced some serious “aha” moments, and they have revealed some personal stories that will affect not only the look and feel of their future classrooms but their “learning” lives forever—

Just 3 of many for example—

Learn to Unlearn
So this was unexpected
Cyber bullying

Their blogs are linked here—

To the accomplished and caring educators they are becoming, to the power of a learning environment that is social, connected, shared, transparent, personal and self-directed, and to Dean for its creation— a standing ovation--

That we all can learn in and design this type of environment for all our students-- what possibilities might arise and abound—in 21 days--

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Help Wanted: Moving conversations from testing to learning

Passion against testing and for learning--

Synergy electrifying a digital meeting space--

Expertise abounding--

Connecting with likeminded teachers--

Collaborating for our students--

Collective Action in the works to move the conversation from testing to learning—

One gathering of many planned—

To engage all stakeholders moving the conversation around education from testing to learning—

When teacher leaders, Yong Zhao, Doug Christensen and Monty Neill gather together in one room (this one sponsored by PLP) to dialogue as they did last night in TLO’s first virtual Teach In around education and learning, a remarkable electricity fills the air and ideas grounded in principles, values and vision encircle and embrace the gathering. (You can access the archive of the Elluminate gathering at this link.) Too rare an occurrence -- one to be treasured.

Under the fine leadership of Anthony Cody and Nancy Flanagan, teachers, teacher leaders, the members of the Facebook group Teachers’ Letters to Obama, are ready to move out of the “echo chamber” and engage all stakeholders as they seek to enable a huge shift --from discussions of testing to ones of learning- The time is now, as Anthony Cody says to use our “outside voices”.

My deep belief is that we can make a difference; through collaboration and collective action, we can influence change in policy. We have to, for our students.

How?

1. By joining the Facebook group, participating in the discussions there, and attending their upcoming gatherings.

2. By following Nancy’s and Anthony’s blogs

3. By learning more about alternatives to the current toxic testing policies and collecting evidence that supports the negative impact of this testing culture.

Monty Neill suggested these websites had useful information:

http://www.fairtest.org/
http://www.edaccountability.org/

Are these specific documents at the Fair Test site of value?

How Standardized Testing Damages Education
http://www.fairtest.org/how-standardized-testing-damages-education

Seven ways to work for NCLB reform
http://www.fairtest.org/seven-ways-work-nclb-reform

Forum on Educational Accountability (FEA) recommendations for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
http://www.fairtest.org/files/FEAreauthgoalssummary4-10_0.pdf

These sites on the alternate model that Doug Christensen described in the session-- The STARS model that had been implemented in Nebraska share a unique perspective that really resonates with me:

How Nebraska Leaves No Child Behind, 2007

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1626423,00.html

Douglas Christensen Assessment Maverick

http://www.edutopia.org/douglas-christensen

Doug Christensen on Classroom-Based Assessment

http://practicaltheory.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/701-Doug-Christensen-on-Classroom-Based-Assessment.html

4. By committing to help move the conversation from testing to learning through writing letters to editors, to legislators and/or meeting with legislators. Zhao, Christensen and Neill all stressed the need to educate and influence legislators and the public and offered suggestions—

· Be for something; offer stories of youngsters learning—

· Learn a little about them before you write or meet and always mention something good they’ve done—

· Make a request-- for example, ask if we might return to the 1994 law

· Have evidence to back it up your request that illustrate the power of learning

· Leave them some materials if you are meeting in a group with them, not more than a 2 pager

Imagine the possibilities when hundreds and thousands of teachers raise their voices for learning and for their students—

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KIPP-- a model for the learning revolution?

Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk, Bring on the Learning Revolution --
I'm listening, enjoying the humor, nodding in agreement--
Appreciating the comments about diversity and passion and the need for an agricultural model--
And then he mentioned "a great model" KIPP at 14.06 minutes into his talk--
The only model mentioned--
Disappointed --
KIPP, learning revolution, diversity, passion in learning -- not seeing how they go together--

Reflecting--

‘Any serious learning will take you through a dark night of your identity’.
–Etienne Wenger via Jenny Mackness

Well into my 6^th decade and yet some of my most serious learning

Truly enjoying a second year in a role of community leader for PLP

Hoping to attain a greater sense of competency far sooner than occurred in my teaching practice

Realizing as Sheryl suggests that learning is not so much just doing but more reflecting transparently while doing, and thus this posting--

When the opportunity to act in the role of community leader with PLP opened, I welcomed the occasion to continue learning and the challenge of facilitating a diverse cohort of educators in a virtual learning community. My thought-- much of what I had learned in my many years as a classroom teacher and more recently in designing online PD for teachers, particularly my MOOM-ing experience, would translate easily into this role as well and be very helpful. While providing a sound foundation, what proved most valuable was my experience with full spectrum questioning from MOOM and the WRITE model (warm, responsive, inquisitive, tentative, and empathetic) for facilitation.

However, my understanding of learning in the social networking environment of PLP and my sophistication in applying my knowledge of concepts of community of practice was far from accomplished when I began. Thanks to the members of the Illinois-Ohio cohort, the Ohio Consortium, and the Elementary Virtual Institute of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Sheryl, Robin and Will, my wayfinding has been fruitful, though often fraught with frustration over my perceived inadequacies as I seek to become more competent in supporting socialibility and participation in a community. Always asking how can I better help to support and build a sense of community and social relationships and trust, how can I better encourage different levels of participation, and how can I better add value to the community on the side out of the middle, always as a co-learner --for that is how I presently view this role.

Much learned, and so much to yet to learn, from this place in which I now find myself—

That community, relationships and trust are essential to learning has long rung true to me and I always made a sincere effort to develop those in my classrooms. I treasure amazing and very special memories of students, events, and years in which we experienced incredible synergy and learning that arose from those relationships and trust that had developed. I’ve come to understand how much more critical these characteristics are to online communities.

Helping build a sense of community

Taking the recommendation of Cothrel and Williams (1999) to heart --that community building is the key to success and developing a sense of community for its members is essential to achieve a high level of participation, I’ve worked hard to do that. I’m feeling some degree of confidence in building community through one-on-networking. My feeling is that one of my greatest strengths is the ability to allieve some of the fears of novice members and work with them to understand all levels of participation are welcome in the community, that they have something of value to add. In addition, although I make pretty extensive use of comments to member’s personal pages in the virtual learning community, as well as to videos and photos they publish. In addition, I try to increase the exposure of community members to each other with references to postings or comments by others. I need, with greater intention, to leave comments for all in the community in the initial stages of the cohort and over the course of time.

Helping to build social relationships and trust

With the building of relationships, collegiality and trust, members begin to feel a sense of community and with that arises sharing and learning from each other. Nichani and Hung (2002) point out that:

“trust is the glue that binds the members of a community to act in sharing and adapting manner. Without trust, members would hoard their knowledge and experience and would not go through the trouble of sharing with or learning from others”

In my desire to build trust, I’ve used member’s names, met virtually with teams, responded with affirmations and positive statements, attempted to be sure that every member received a response in a timely manner, pointed to responses that evidenced competence, and co created content with digital stories as we became acquainted with each other for I’ve learned that in communities that are perceived as friendly, honest, reliable and competent, members are more willing to participate. (Sharratt and Usoro, 2003) Although my sense is that I’ve been somewhat successful, I believe there is a need for me to model more often and more fully competence through transparency and sharing, making myself more vulnerable to others in order to develop that kind of trust. That willingness to be more vulnerable is not always easy for me-- I’ve long been a pretty private person and paradoxically a great sharer when approached—lots of life experiences reinforced those characteristics. However, to that end, I’m committed to reading more widely, blogging and reflecting more frequently and openly, and tweeting with more consistency and substance.

Helping to encourage different levels of participation.

Knowing when to invite folks in and how often has been an area that has challenged me. Knowing and understanding the normal three levels of participation in community (a small core leadership group of active participants, about 10-15% of the whole community; a small active group (15-20%) that attend regularly participate in community forums occasionally; and large proportions of members are peripheral and rarely participate) (Wenger and his colleagues, 2002) and confidently encouraging the participation of those on the periphery are two very different things. Lurking or legitimate peripheral participation has been the topic of member posts in the communities in which I’ve learned, and often there are members who want to push and do aggressively; I’d rather pull and invite, those lurking. I’ve been extremely gentle in these conversations and in the future will be a bit more assertive in sharing if the topic is raised early on now that I’ve learned that it has been argued that with diverse members in terms of knowledge and expertise, allowing novices to the practice to acquire expertise through legitimate peripheral participation is important, as early criticism can lead to inactive community members. (Lave & Wenger, 1991) I need to be more sensitive to content that will draw those on the periphery into the community.

On another level, nurturing the growth of others to become leaders and then knowing when to step back and sit on my hands as they emerge to lead others has been a dimension that has been somewhat effective for me and an area I’ll continue to tweak and adjust with the dynamics of a particular community as guides.

Lastly, with a deepened understanding of Tuckman’s stages of group development, I hope to develop a better sense of how to respond most appropriately to responses that clearly represent one stage in which a professional learning team may be operating. Sheryl’s modeling has been of such great value and I hope to be able to apply what I’ve learned from her more aptly.

Mentoring and offering assistance to the diverse membership of the communities has been an area of overall strength as I see it and has provided great joy to me as the community has flourished and learned together.

Helping to add value

To encourage participation, potential members have to be convinced that it is worth participating in the CoP. (Sharratt & Usoro, 2003). As evidenced by an evaluation, this is an area in which I am challenged. Although I believe that I have been particularly effective in helping members to clarify their thinking and deepen their understanding through good questions and very tentative “what if” scenarios, and I believe that has been instrumental to building collective knowledge, I realize that I’ve not been seen as one to add value. With my previously stated commitment to model and demonstrate more fully transparency in learning and sharing through blogging, tweeting and more widespread reading, I hope to feel more confident that I do add more value to the community and that that confidence may shine through in the sharing and be a factor in persuading others to also add value to our collective learning.

If that occurs, I hope that I might be more effective in encouraging more reflection in the community (I was totally unsuccessful in that area) and in sharing the potential I see in community for learning. Encouraging critical reflections at junctures of the journey through modeling may assist all of us in the community to take knowledge creation to the next level and demonstrate to members that despite how busy they may become, the virtual community of practice can lead to continued learning, collective action, and a sophisticated global practice. I am seriously considering how I can better do just that.

What has truly taken me through a dark night of my identity and continues to be more difficult for me is my nature to mull things over and my failure to become more comfortable in communicating without the customary visual and auditory cues afforded by face to face conversations.

I’m a “ponderer”; my brain doesn’t seem to be wired for quick immediate responses, but for ones for which I’ve had time to consider angles and perspectives and word use that best relays my meaning. In a fast paced virtual community and digital society, those are not always most valuable ways to guide and build community. And although I’ve made some progress in this respect, I need to work more diligently at getting beyond always needing just the right word or phrase.

More critical though, I think, is that in my lifetime, I’ve been a grand reader of eyes, of facial expressions, of gestures, of body language, and sophisticated listener of the nuances of word choice, tone and rhythm in speech. That’s been a strength, an important for me-- one that I can’t play to in a virtual environment. Without those cues, I’ve found myself less confident in replying, concerned (perhaps overly and yet again maybe not) about misinterpretation and the opportunity for misunderstanding that by the nature of the asynchronous environment, seems to me to have the potential to become amplified. That I’m finding learning to infer and imply the correct meaning from pure text and infrequent images, the complexities and nuances, in a manner in which I am comfortable and feel competent challenging is an understatement. Yet it is my impression that this will come with more years of experience; I hope sooner than later for I know a more sophisticated approach may help to better build community, encourage participation and add value. Now a passion—to help others recognize the power and potential of community to improve our practice and learning for our students.

This reflecting and the very process of bringing some sense of organization to my thoughts regarding my current place in wayfinding has been incredibly powerful learning-- For these opportunities and all the possibilities that abound from them, I am most grateful. A very special thanks to Sheryl for her generous, inspired sharing and the pathmarkers she has provided on this journey.

Deep and serious learning, through a dark night of identity, significant time to reflect meaningfully— might these same opportunities excite all learners, educators and students, as much as they have this aging, grey haired woman?

_______________________________________

Cothrel, J. & Williams, R.L. (1999) On-line communities: helping them form and grow. Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol.3, No.1, pp 54-60.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity: Cambridge University Press.

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Slow learning

A volcano—

An ash cloud—

Fast paced global traveling in Europe came to a halt--

And then the stories not only of frustration but also of folks talking, and moving slowly—

Ewan McIntosh’s [#ashcloud] Keep moving in the right direction and talk to people thinks on the latter and then draws a terrific parallel to learning:

“But imagine if learning could learn to slow down a little. Fewer (or no) tests we have to meet (like unpredictable timetables and trains to new, uncharted destinations), and more talking to strangers who might be interesting, useful (or might not, and necessitate some diplomatic manoeuvrings onto the next conversation).”

There’s faster movement now with the return of some air travel—

In that increased speed, I hope we don’t let go of that notion of slow learning—

In A Dangerous but Powerful Idea - Counter Acceleration and Speed with Slowness and Wholeness, Geetha Narayanan (Founder and Director of Srishti, School of Art Design and Technology and the Mallya Aditi International School) describes slow learning—

“Slowness as a pedagogy allows students to learn not at the metronome of the school day or the school bell, but at the metronome of nature, giving them time to absorb, to introspect, to contemplate, to argue and rebut and to enjoy.”

And she continues:

“The learning opportunities which foster slowness are created in such a way that they operate on three levels which are not discrete, linear or sequential. Taken together they enable experiences which foster genuine and sophisticated understanding. The layers are:

1. looking and listening

2. exploring and thinking

3. making and being.

The goal of our slowness pedagogy is to generate the more creative, more lyrical and the playful aspects of learning and represent it in the many languages of children - the language of movement or music; the languages of colour or shape; the language of images and of forms; the language of sounds and of feelings and many more.

In order to do this we arrange learning differently, because we are not-school. The learning arrangements that we find foster and promote slowness are:

1. the circle which represents symbolically the spirit of unity and equality within the learning community

2. grouping learners in collaborative, vertical heterogeneous teams

3. using large blocks of time

4. themes or topics for study are not prescribed but are emergent. The topics are selected from student talk, through dialogue with the community or based on the individual experiences of a family or the interests of a child. It is not static and a given but is the constant subject of negotiation.

5. the learning is organised into projects - some seem to go on for as long as a term and others last just a few weeks. The facilitators at the centres help the learners frame their learning plan, research the topic and make decisions on the representational medium that will demonstrate and showcase their learning.

6. the learning materials are made using local content, in ways that allow them to be used and re-used and to be produced within the community at low cost

7. all learning is the result of direct first person conscious experience. This method or tool focuses on the transformation of the self and the awakening of the mind rather than on the transfer of knowledge and the acquisition of skills.

The new digital technologies are tools that allow for learners to develop their imaginations, to be able to play and to have fun, to be able to tell stories in different and exciting ways. But in order to generate value they need to be integrated into new forms and structures in an invisible and contextual manner, so that they work slowly and with great finesse to create an unquiet and critical pedagogy - one where new media arts can sustain social change.”

In an interview Geetha shares:


Deceleration--- “an unquiet and critical pedagogy” in which technology is integrated so it “works slowly and with great finesse”-- Just imagine the possibilities for learning--

Photo credit

On paths to possibilities

"It's easy for anybody to point out what a kid does wrong. But that's not what a good teacher does. A good teacher goes out of his way to figure out what the kid does right and then sets the kid on a path of confidence and success." --Teach Paperless

Reading—

Liking this quote—

And thinking and wondering---

It was not uncommon to seek out a youngster’s talents, to build on them, and set them on such path-- years ago-- this statement would not have been so remarkable.

It’s a mindset that often leads to unforeseen learning and achievements—to young people with heads held high and eyes on the future.

Can this mindset also be of value in professional development as we seek to engage reluctant professionals in 21^st century learning?

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/imuttoo/2987257461/

Different paths, different outcomes--

Elimination of funding for the National Writing Project—

Common Core Standards proposals--

National Educational Technology Plan—

Seemingly very different paths, different outcomes-

Sensing some tensions here, some real disconnects?

Despite many sources and opinions available, feeling compelled to add my voice to the mix---

The National Writing Project -- The proposed national budget would eliminate funding for the National Writing Project. That would be a great loss. Don’t reading and writing and thinking, more reading, revising and thinking lead to good learning? Bud Hunt here and here, Brian Crosby, and Zachary Chase are some of the many seeking to change this. Add your voice; our government needs to understand the importance of writing and the positive impact of this project.

Common Core Standards-- The draft of the Common Core Standards is available for comment. The New York Times says:

The new proposals could transform American education.

Believing in my heart that diversity has lead to the richness of underlying values of our nation and really questioning here the wisdom in striving for such conformity--- especially from each youngster at a specific time in their lives, when developmentally perhaps it really isn’t just right for them? And appreciating the following perspectives:

The goal here isn’t to nourish children’s curiosity, to help them fall in love with reading, to promote both the ability and the disposition to think critically, or to support a democratic society. Rather, a prescription for uniform, specific, rigorous standards is made to order for those whose chief concern is to pump up the American economy and triumph over people who live in other countries.

If these standards are more economic than educational in their inspiration, more about winning than learning, devoted more to serving the interests of business than to meeting the needs of kids, then we’ve merely painted a 21st-century facade on a hoary, dreary model of school-as-employee-training.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/01/14/17kohn-comm.h29.html

The debate about national standards should really be a debate about what education is, what kind of skills and knowledge should be taught, and what truly are essential for our children to succeed in the 21^st century. We cannot simply look at what is taught in a subject area. We must consider the meaning of education. After all, what we want is the big watermelon, not the tiny sesame seed.

http://zhao.educ.msu.edu/2010/01/19/sesame-vs-watermelon-what-is-missing-in-the-national-standard-debate/

About the National Educational Technology Plan from THE Journal:

If there were any doubts about the Obama administration's intentions toward education technology, the United States Department of Education settled them Friday with the release of the first public draft of the National Education Technology Plan (NETP). The 114-page document reveals an intent not only to infuse technology throughout the curriculum (and beyond), but to implement some major--sometimes radical--changes to education itself.

You can find the entire plan here. Will Richardson’s summary mirrors my surprise, excitement, and wonder. This snippet from his post captures the good stuff in the plan:

* Personalized learning

* Learning that is “lifelong and life-wide and available on demand.”

* A device and ubiquitous access for every student and teacher.

* Professional development that focuses on “connected teaching” in “online learning communities” (Sounds familiar.)

* Professional learning that is “collaborative, coherent, and continuous.”

* Learning that is “always on”

* Learning that is no longer “one size fits all.”

* Student work on the cloud

* Student managed electronic learning portfolios

* Students as “networked learners”

* Broadband everywhere

* Open educational resources

* Creative Commons licenses

* Changes to CIPA and FERPA to open up access

* Rethinking the “basic assumptions” of schooling

Given these, wouldn’t all children have opportunities to realize their fullest potential? Won’t individual talents, creativity, and innovation grow and flourish in such an environment?

Now I’m wondering here -- how do national standards and “Learning that is no longer ‘one size fits all’.” co-exist with each other? Or can they? Or maybe I shouldn’t even get stuck there but be energized to move forward, to move beyond hope to the work at hand, as I consider the possibilities that can abound as we travel the path of the National Educational Technology Plan which seems to me can lead to far richer and far more abundant outcomes?

Harley

Chasing deer, treeing turkeys, stalking rabbits, dragging huge sticks and branches, loving the sun and the grass, riding everywhere in the back seat of our Civic—

Even blogging--

He lived life to the fullest—

He loved us as fiercely as we loved him—

A bond so strong it defies description--

We miss him terribly--

Why does that test label her grade for this school year?

An email from a former student--

A caring, bright, energetic young woman who excelled in her classroom internships as a senior in high school--

Now a first year teacher in middle childhood classrooms in a large urban district—

And experiencing a myriad of challenges with classroom management and testing--

“I don't see the purpose of tests on top of tests on top of tests... I have a young lady in my 8th grade class that is working harder than I think she has worked her whole school career. She comes to me for help and really desires to do well this term. I was told that my grades for her are inflated and that she cannot receive a B in my class because she is below basic according to last years’ PSSA test. My classroom tests obviously aren't challenging enough if she is doing that well, yet I have students that do absolutely nothing and have F's in my class. I don't understand the education system anymore. What if the day before the test her dog died, what if that was a day she didn't eat breakfast, what if she was being bullied or something else was going on? Why does that test label her grade for this school year?”

Tears in my eyes, consumed by anger and sorrow, with a heavy heart, my reply attempted to suggest how it might be possible to maintain a good relationship with her student since I had worked with so many “at risk” kids who desperately needed to be able to feel some success at school after significant effort --yet regretting and knowing it did not address the real issue-- and surely didn’t answer her questions--

And a later email—

“I am going to have to try giving harder tests structured like the PSSA exam according to the math lead teacher and the testing specialist.”

I had some sense that ‘testing cultures’ were pretty abhorrent in urban districts – I have no words to accurately describe my feelings regarding this.

Aren’t we going to lose an entire generation of young people -- not only those whose circumstances into which they are placed through no fault of their own make learning a challenge yet thrive and flourish in a caring, student centered classroom, but also those who play the game of school so well and leave us with the skills of test taking rather than critical thinking?

And what of this generation of new teachers, who entered the profession full of hope, energy, creativity and passion-- who hope to touch the souls of youngsters and share a love of learning -- How long will it take for them to wilt and wither?

The “tuning out” or quiet cries of young people, the despair of novice, caring teachers-- the outrage of those of us who’ve come before them -- surely these can no longer be heard by the powers that be as just mere whimpers and irrelevant? Or can they?

A learning posture--

Stand up straight; watch your posture. Do you remember that or is it a product of my generation? I heard it lots when I was young; even had to practice walking with a book on my head—my folks really stressed it and I never had good posture to their chagrin—

In the classroom, I did think about posture-- from a different perspective, always searching for a more accomplished practice. Initially, my posture was upright, in the front of the class, talking, giving information, and telling. My “teaching posture” evolved -- I was often sitting, in the back or with a group of students or a student, sometimes prodding, questioning, and listening. Yet I’ve noticed that my initial posture still is in vogue in many classrooms.

And as I’ve been involved in various learning communities more recently, I’ve noticed that teachers seem to be so comfortable in “teaching postures” which mirror my initial one, that it is translated into their professional learning too. I’m really feeling, and I could be wrong, that negatively impacts moving forward toward a global 21^st century practice. So lately I’ve been spending time pondering on a learning posture-- what it looks like, what it sounds like, and how to help teachers adopt one.

I’m wondering, after reading and thinking, might a “learning posture” be characterized as:

Curious and Inquisitive

So I am curious- what do you think? Should we be focusing on a different conversation than the one we are having? Should we be re-envisioning education in ways that are radically different? And if so- How do we move from talking to doing? Or is that important? --Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach

What does this new design look like? What are the big questions regarding learning, teaching and schooling that we need to begin to address? How will the roles of elementary schools and high schools begin to evolve? How will we address the divide issues that these opportunities outside of school create? And how do we personally plan for these changes as learners, parents and teachers? --Will Richardson

My focus for the next while will be an experiment as well as a creative outlet. I’ve created a space to publish fictional narratives where my true identity is intentionally obscured. I want to see what happens to the questions of digital identity, social structures and relationships, and network dynamics when the identity of the author is replaced with a fictional character – and the readers are aware that the "I" and "me" in the blog entries refer to someone who does not actually exist. –Mike Bogle

Tentative and Unfinished

Examples of “process as text” are recordings of classroom conversations, considered temporary and fleeting, that become something more than a passing conversation when they exist as video or audio recordings. These types of texts stay fixed – we can’t really go back and change the flow of a conversation – but our finished products, when published digitally, are easily and perhaps even secretly editable and revisable after publication. So we’re able to fix the temporary and fiddle with the permanent. That seems interesting and worthy of further exploration. –Bud theTeacher

That’s all I’ll say for now. I hope to revisit these ideas on occasion. I also hope you’ll help me think through them. – Jon Becker

Much to continue to mull over here: some ideas to tinker with, and some practices to encourage, but still very much a set of “conjectures and dilemmas” (Bruner) to keep exploring. – Gardner Campbell

Collaborative and Participatory

I was part of an interesting discussion on Twitter Friday night and I wanted to share it here, as well as add a few final thoughts. Participants that I reference are Bud Hunt, Brian Crosby, Dean Shareski, Anne Van Meter, Barbara Barreda, and Karen Fasimpaur. Thanks to all of you for helping me think through these ideas. – Karl Fisch

Reflective

That’s one of those really concise shift statements that makes me bend my own frame a bit. I think too often I fall into looking at these tools and wonder what they can add to our classrooms and our teaching when the real question is how can our classrooms and teaching add capacity to the tools. – Will Richardson

When I began mulling this over I had not anticipated that I would be including a sense of unfinished business; yet I have begun to feel that is particularly important. I’m not yet satisfied that I’ve captured the essence of a “learning posture” yet am feeling pretty strongly that it’s worth pursuing, especially avenues for helping teachers with an awareness of their posture and how that may affect not only their own professional learning but also that of others.

Might it not be possible that such a focus may open doors for many to possibilities for learning not yet imagined?

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Two years pass--

Remembering the cold of that night, and the warmth of family love--

Winter, spring, summer, fall and winter again--

Little things spark memories--

Bringing a smile --

An emptiness that has not yet gone-

Keeping these words close--

A time for rededication--

The national holiday honoring Dr. King is an occasion for joy and celebration for his life and his work toward nonviolent social change in America and the world. Traditionally, we celebrate holidays with parties, family picnics, fireworks, a trip back home or to the seashore. However, we must also be mindful that this is a special holiday - one which symbolizes our nation's commitment to peace through justice; to universal brother- and sisterhood; and to the noblest ideal of all: a democratic society based on the principles of freedom, justice and equality for all people. ... the holiday is an occasion for thanksgiving, unselfishness, and rededicating ourselves to the causes for which he stood and for which he died. -- source

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Why Haiti Matters-- from President Obama

"We act for the sake of the thousands of American citizens who are in Haiti, and for their families back home; for the sake of the Haitian people who have been stricken with a tragic history, even as they have shown great resilience; and we act because of the close ties that we have with a neighbor that is only a few hundred miles to the south.

But above all, we act for a very simple reason: in times of tragedy, the United States of America steps forward and helps. That is who we are. That is what we do. For decades, America's leadership has been founded in part on the fact that we do not use our power to subjugate others, we use it to lift them up—"

Barack Obama
Today's technologies afford to us incredible possibilities and opportunities to take collective action--

Add this to joy and passion --

“We need to include “poignance” as an essential analytical and expressive skill.”

Gardner Campbell

This is a revised version of a post I created for the PLP Ohio Consortium. Strangely, I’m more comfortable with it here in my own space; perhaps because of its subject and how important I think it is to all learning experiences.

Although the focus of Gardner’s post is university level learning, I’m wondering if it doesn’t readily apply to teacher learning and learning in k12 classrooms. His post is beautifully written; far more articulate that I can be. Be it the writing, the ideas--- they touched a spot deep in the core of me. For it seems to me, given poignance, passion, and joy, learning in our current schools would look and sound so very different.

He writes:

“What do our students see? That learning is largely a matter of being overruled, of memorizing the lesson that beginners don’t know enough to ask intelligent questions (when in fact some of the best questions come from beginners). And that teaching is an exercise in providing answers and furnishing conclusions, not in guiding inquiries or (heaven forefend) asking real questions.”

As he described current learning, I was taken back to an online course, CCKO8, in which I was a novice participant and faced with the professor’s comment that novices irritated him. It was not a comfortable feeling and at times I did my best to learn as much as I could under his radar.

But more important, I thought back to my classrooms, and then to my current work with PLP and spent some serious time reflecting and hoping that no learner in my classroom, no learner in the communities that I’ve been privileged to have a role, have ever in any way experienced diminished learning, felt unwelcome or inadequate because of similar attitudes and words; only wanting every learner to know the joy of asking questions and learning together.

The definition of poignance that Gardner applied:

“OED’s last senses in definition 2a: “tenderly sorrowful, bitter-sweet.”

And his suggestion:

“In the context of education, especially as one gains more sophisticated skills of analysis and expression, it seems to me vitally important that we maintain a sense of humility and shared tenderness in the midst of our uncertain journeys.”

I’d not considered previously—

Yet I’m wondering if this is one critical element of what may be missing in so many teacher learning experiences, of what may be missing as so many of us seek to change learning in schools, of what may be lacking in individual classrooms.

Doesn’t looking at learning through a lens of poignance help guide us on our journey? How might that lens/consideration change what we do, what we say, how we say it? Might learning be more as John Steinbeck described in Captured Fireflies?

In her classroom our speculations ranged the world
She aroused us to book waving discussions.
Every morning we came to her carrying new truths, new facts,
New ideas cupped and sheltered in our hands like captured fireflies.
When she went away a sadness did not go out.

Poignant, joyful, passioned-- won't possibilities abound?

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For the new year-- a wish for peace

Imagine all the people living life in peace.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one.

--John Lennon

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One year later—wayfinding continued

One year ago—passioned, savoring my journey as a PLP community leader—

Feeling exhilarated, bungling, practiced, ineffectual, poised, uncertain

And finally thinking I was on the cusp of moving beyond the tensions, the dualities I found inherent in the role of community leader—

One year later—perhaps a little wiser

Just a touch more widely read—

Privileged to be mentored by Sheryl and learning from her brilliant expertise and exceptional, sophisticated understanding of online communities of practice-

Engaged with two vastly different evolving PLP communities – PEARLS and Ohio Consortium-

Each unique, with its own politics, personalities, passions and focus-

Yet sharing the common ground of a exigent learning journey-

Arrogant in suggesting a year ago that the “perhaps less need for me to make those difficult choices” as the community evolved-- of what, and when and how to nudge, to cajole and to be silent—

Yet right spot on in predicting “special” learning journeys--

Finding that wayfinding, despite the markers with which Sheryl lights the way, always is infinite and never-ending—

Finding that wayfinding, always is fraught with tensions and dualities – jumping in, sitting on my hands, nudging, holding back, encouraging—

Finding that wayfinding continues to invoke inexplicable, disparate feelings – joy, insecurity, fervor, doubt, excitement, indecision, zeal, awe —

Learning, forever learning-- reveling in the messiness, the tensions, and the day to day need for nuanced silence or responses—

Now a bit more certain, in any emergent, evolving community, as a community leader, finding my way never will be less difficult or demanding, never less exciting or invigorating—

Absolutely loving the ambiguity and the complexity--

Truly hoping that each community member sees their personal wayfinding in the same light—

And is able to share, as I will, wayfinding one year hence--

Yes, let's!!!

"Let's make school a place where we meet students in their mind's eye, where we encourage the square pegs to stand atop the round holes, to build not a standardized future but a wildly innovative and creative future, beyond anything even the best drillers of round holes could have imagined." -- ASCD Inservice

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Missing, Celebrating, and Wondering

Thinking about blogging –

Seriously and thus this subsequent post--

Prompted by a gnawing emptiness— missing opportunities to have windows on the classrooms of two accomplished teachers and their students through their blogs.

Finding real value in returning here to think “out loud”— to create some record of my continued journey into learning— continuing attempts at articulating a lifelong passion for learning and education--

As Anne Davis and Darren Kuropatwa found new directions in their lives, I celebrated with them; and selfishly regretted the loss of the opportunity to connect and develop relationships with their students. And just as great the loss of their transparency in their practice surrounding blogging which was and continues to be a beacon -shining on the potential for making student thinking transparent, for building communities of learners and bloggers, for enabling student ownership of learning, for extending learning through audience participation , for collaborating and reflecting, and for promoting learning in which mistakes become avenues for continued learning.

On Darren’s class blogs, student authors composed daily scribe posts and expert voices projects which not only made their understanding of the concepts of the day transparent but also helped deepen their learning as they taught others through their blogging. Classmates helped with understanding by noting and suggesting in the comments. Excellence was expected; mistakes were viewed as a part of learning. I shall forever be eternally grateful to Darren for accepting me as a mentor for a number of years, trusting me to comment to his students. His transparency in describing his ever evolving and ever more accomplished practice was a source of great joy and learning for me.

As well, the years that I had the enormous privilege to be a commenter for Anne’s 5^th graders and learn from Anne and her students profoundly touched me. I learned so much more about joy in learning --particularly blogging, and reflecting. Anne’s process of developing an understanding of blogging for her students seems to me to be exemplary as they examine and explore the concept of blogging framed by the traits of writing plus linking and gradually move from commenting on other blogs to designing and writing their very own posts. Anne always recognized the importance of audience for student voices and consequently Harley and I were delighted to become 2 of many who were contacted in advance and invited to become a part of the group of commenters. Posts were never reviewed by her prior to publishing; commenters often provided pointers for improvement. Anne often asked them to “bump” their writing later in the year by going back to a post and revising and she developed a process for proof revising with podcasting which was very effective. Her kids truly enjoyed collaborating and connecting with Darren’s high school and Clarence’s middle school students. I’m really looking forward to the chapter publication of her work on building a community of bloggers that describes the complexities and nuances of blogging with young people.

Involved as a mentor with Darren’s students and as a commenter with Anne’s, I had the sense that something pretty special was occurring. Now, upon lots of reflection and collecting all these resources (and I’m missing many) I’m wondering if they don’t they point to pedagogies that epitomize the potential of and the reasons for blogging? What keeps us from offering such incredible opportunities for joyous, authentic, collaborative, student owned learning for all our students? Don’t all our children deserve these kinds of opportunities?

At a crossroads--

"...what America needs is an education system that cultivates a diversity of talents and develops “unique niche talents” that are not available at a cheaper price elsewhere in the world or that cannot be replaced by machines." --source

Yong Zhao

Sees American education at a crossroads—

Zhao’s perspective truly resonates with me both on his blog and in his recent book, Catching Up or Leading the Way

On national standards and NCLB--

As a result of adopting national standards, schools will produce a homogenous group of individuals with the same abilities, skills, and knowledge. Such a result will be disastrous to America and Americans because as globalization and technology continue to change the world,

America needs a citizenry of creative individuals with a wide range of talents to sustain its tradition of innovation. Americans need talents and abilities that are not available at a lower price elsewhere on earth. American education, despite its many problems, has at least the basics that support the production of a more diverse pool of talents. However these basics are being discarded by NCLB and similarly spirited reform efforts.

In a way, the reforms that aim to save America are actually putting America in danger. NCLB is sending American education into deeper crisis because it is likely to lead increasing distrust of educators, disregard of students’ individual interests, destruction of local autonomy and capacity for innovation, and disrespect for human values. --source

On our country failing to compete with other countries, particularly in math and science--

Last week, a comprehensive study based on analysis of major longitudinal datasets found “U.S. colleges and universities are graduating as many scientists and engineers as ever before.” The study was conducted by a group of researchers at Georgetown University, Rutgers University, and the Urban Institute. “Our findings indicate that STEM retention along the pipeline shows strong and even increasing rates of retention from the 1970s to the late 1990s,” says the report. However, not all STEM graduates enter the STEM field. They are attracted to other areas. --source

From Education Week Curriculum Matters on the need for niche talents, and passionate people:

"The American education system now is driven ... to push us toward standardization, centralization, and embodying test scores, which actually I think is moving American education away from the future," he says in the video, produced by the Mobile Learning Institute and sponsored by the Pearson Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the publishing giant. "The global economy requires niche talents, requires people to become artists, become creators, become musicians, become innovators, become people who are passionate about their work."

From Teacher Magazine Living in Dialogue on testing and monolithic thinking--

Zhao makes a strong case that uniform tests result in monolithic thinking. In the modern global economy, the passion that results when people are allowed to develop along diverse paths is far more precious than the large scale mediocrity that results from national standards and a test-centered (or "data-driven") school culture.

Most pointedly, he questions the contradiction between President Obama's condemnation of the emphasis on tests, and his embrace of "tougher, clearer standards" as the key to reform.

From his book—on the strengths of American education and suggested changes--

The traditional strengths of American education—respect for individual talents and differences, a broad curriculum oriented to educating the whole child, and a decentralized system that embraces diversity—should be further expanded. Page 182

Offering suggested changes--

expand the definition of success, personalize education and view schools as global enterprises. P 182

And in his book, he concludes--

American education is at a crossroads. Two paths lie in front of us: one in which we destroy our strengths in order to catch up with others on test scores and one in which we build on our strengths so we can keep the lead in innovation and creativity. The current push for more standardization, centralization, high stakes testing, and test-based accountability is rushing us down the first path, while what will keep America truly strong and American prosperous should be the latter, the one that cherishes individual talents, cultivates creativity, celebrates diversity, and inspires curiosity. As we enter a new world rapidly changed by globalization and technology, we need to change course. Instead of instilling fear in the public about the rise of other countries, bureaucratizing education with bean-counting policies, demoralizing educators through dubious accountability measures, homogenizing school curriculum, and turning children into test takers, we should inform the public about the possibilities brought about by globalization, encourage education innovations, inspire educators with genuine support, diversify and decentralize curriculum, and educate children as confident, unique, and well-rounded human beings. From page 198 also quoted here

So much more in his book, documented— with suggestions for global and digital competencies-

Isn’t this powerful, good thinking? How can we persuade policymakers to read and listen?

Core standards--

A move to standardized standards—

By folks who feel it’s in the best interests of students and our country—

But is it?

Lots of articulate folks adding to the discussion-- with reason and some with more passion--

Tom Hoffman’s 10 Reasons you should care about the Common Core State Standards Initiative's Draft English Language Arts Standards-

“Your state has probably already committed to using them.

The federal Department of Education is exerting heavy pressure on states to adopt the Common Standards.

An impressive and powerful list of partners and supporters are backing the Common Standards initiative.

These "college- and career-ready" standards, if implemented, will become the basis of all subsequent K-12 English Language Arts standards.

These standards, if implemented, will become the basis of all subsequent K-12 English Language Arts curriculum and assessments.

The results of those assessments will, if implemented, be used to evaluate not just schools and students, but the performance of individual teachers.

The creation of data systems to attach test scores to individual teachers is a basic requirement for federal Race to the Top grants and a top priority for the federal Department of Education and other powerful interests.

The Common Core State Standards Initiative English Language Arts Standards are not actually English Language Arts standards.

The Common Standards for English Language Arts are narrower, lower, and shallower than the Language Arts standards of high performing countries.

We are inviting testing companies to determine the future of our schools with virtually no accountability or public input.”

Deborah Meier’s Standards and Passing on the Idea of Democracy

“On standardized standards: I'm a fan of disagreements and messiness—and maybe that's beyond the call of Reason. But here's a try.

If we all agreed on everything, or even came close, democracy would be an inefficient and cumbersome business and a luxury we could ill afford in tough times. Yet getting agreement is no easy matter. Democracy was "invented" to do that—when needed.

My default position: leave it to those most affected to settle it.”

Chris Lehman’s Core Standards Sound Bites and Standardization

“There are plenty of reasons to question this movement, but here's the scariest part for me. This Core Standards movement should scare everyone who believes that meaning and learning is still most powerfully made in the spaces that students and teachers share.

This is about how students are taught that information, how they are assessed on that information, and on the role of big business in teaching and assessing them.”

Karl Fisch’s What’s Core? summarizes and extends many of the points in all the conversations.

“I would strongly suggest that you take some time to review the standards and some of the thoughtful posts about them, and then provide your feedback. Particularly if you’re a Language Arts teacher, but even if you’re not because, as Tom points out, as they are currently worded all teachers will be responsible – and held accountable – for students meeting these standards. And, as he points out in another post, it appears as though the end goal just might be high school graduation requirements.”

As Karl notes:

“Where can you provide some feedback? NCTE has issued a statement and is soliciting feedback, and you can provide feedback directly to the validation committee by October 21st. If you’re a member of NEA or AFT, you might also consider letting them know what you like or dislike about these draft standards.”

Isn’t this a time to raise your voice and comment?