When I was writing my last blog my eyes wandered to the profile I posted to accompany my blog. I wrote I couldn't wait to see what classrooms looked like in five years after all of our 21stC work. That caused me to pause and wonder if I was content with how far we had come and what we had accomplished. If you know me, you would know the answer was automatically no. Four years ago when I wrote that profile my mind was full of very "blue sky" visions and I was determined to make them happen.
When I met with my 21C teaching and learning steering committee I voiced my disappointment and suggested we needed to redefine our vision for moving forward to guide our work. One of the teachers on my committee responded to my comment with a resounding, "I disagree with you completely and here is why." He continued to describe in great detail, with enthusiasm shining on his face, about how he has changed as an educator in the past four years and how the educational experience he facilitates for his students has completely transformed. What an awesome reality check.
I think one of the most important things a leader must be able to do is listen to the people around them. Leaders aren't always right and leaders don't always have the right or best answer. Reflection is a powerful tool and a leader who doesn't reflect is going to be one of those folks on the bus to Abilene with no one else on the bus.
My 21C committee is very grassroots. There are some Superintendents on it, including me, but there are also teachers, IT resource staff, Instructional Coaches, Vice Principals, Principals, Department Heads and Curriculum Coordinators and we welcome new folks all the time. I facilitate the conversation as the committee lead but every voice on the committee has equal value.
We are going to re-visit our 21C teaching and learning vision. During the process my colleagues will make sure I take the time to celebrate what we have already accomplished while continuing our journey towards the blue sky and beyond. This is all about our kids and we owe it to them to be the best and not rest until we are. It is humbling to work with a group so committed to excellence.
Thursday 19 March 2015
Monday 16 March 2015
Is Engagement only about students??
I love questions that aren't really questions. The answer to this one is, of course, no. Engagement in the educational process is just as important, if not more important, for the educators as it is for the students. It is highly unlikely a student is going to be actively engaged in a classroom where the teacher is disconnected and not motivated. Engaging teachers in creating interesting and captivating educational experiences for students is key. I do not support cook-book education.
Teachers are smart, they are talented, and given the opportunity, they can be creative and innovative. When teachers, like most other employees, are full vested in an innovative change, magic happens. It is the difference between doing change to teachers and inviting teachers to have a fulsome voice in the change and what it will look like.
There has been a Tweet circulating in the last two weeks, and I apologize to the creator of the quote because I don't know who it should be attributed to, but it says, "If we want children to take risks then they need to see their teachers taking risks, and if teachers are going to take risks then they need to see administrators taking risks." Nothing could be more true.
Education is a vocation where many voices help to improve the end result. The more we learn and the more we look for ways to apply that learning, the better the student experience will become. Perhaps the biggest learning for me as I have travelled through my 21st Century journey has been the need to not only listen and value the teacher voice, but the student voice as well. We need to see all of the stakeholders in the educational process as able and critical contributors to the direction education takes. There is no formula, no textbook with all the answers, no guru who can give us all the secrets to success. Success will come when all members of the educational community are actively engaged in creatively and innovatively transforming education into a powerful experience designed to ensure our students are ready for the world they are going to inherit.
Teachers are smart, they are talented, and given the opportunity, they can be creative and innovative. When teachers, like most other employees, are full vested in an innovative change, magic happens. It is the difference between doing change to teachers and inviting teachers to have a fulsome voice in the change and what it will look like.
There has been a Tweet circulating in the last two weeks, and I apologize to the creator of the quote because I don't know who it should be attributed to, but it says, "If we want children to take risks then they need to see their teachers taking risks, and if teachers are going to take risks then they need to see administrators taking risks." Nothing could be more true.
Education is a vocation where many voices help to improve the end result. The more we learn and the more we look for ways to apply that learning, the better the student experience will become. Perhaps the biggest learning for me as I have travelled through my 21st Century journey has been the need to not only listen and value the teacher voice, but the student voice as well. We need to see all of the stakeholders in the educational process as able and critical contributors to the direction education takes. There is no formula, no textbook with all the answers, no guru who can give us all the secrets to success. Success will come when all members of the educational community are actively engaged in creatively and innovatively transforming education into a powerful experience designed to ensure our students are ready for the world they are going to inherit.
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