The End of Year looms!

My 3 Great Steps:

1   Seek transformative feedback (not just information) that requires action to grow leadership.

How? Ask specific questions, engage in professional conversations.

2   Prioritise and balance responsibilities.

How? Book in social time and exercise, cull to-do lists weekly, ask myself if my contributions are 'token' or if I can commit fully.

3   Activate my professional reading

How? Write about it, record my synthesis, record my what now, and talk about it.

My biggest reflection on the year is that my goals were not great. They were mostly unmeasurable and non of them had a teaching focus - which meant that my teaching practice has not developed in the capacity that it could have.

My biggest achievement this year, has been what I've learned about myself and the way I deal with stress. Goal number two played a massive role here and creating time for myself has meant that I can read my own cues better to when I need to activate systems to deal with happenings.

There's been lots of highlights - being a part of the Innovation Incubator team, and the leadership that came with that, has been great. The team make-up was fabulous - serious enough but we had loads of fun, the topic was a passion of mine, and there has been so much learning! I've enjoyed taking a role in leading our team in some development around feedback and capacities also. And my team have been brilliant! I couldn't have asked for better people to work with.

Looking into next year I really want to bring my focus back to the classroom and the habitat. The leadership stuff will happen, now that I have got myself into it. I want to ensure that I'm modelling and promoting school-wide practices like capacities and learning conversations, which can run through progress pebbles.

Big goal: Progress pebbles

1. Use of capacities to drive reflection/evaluation of progress
2. Learning conversations/conferences/parent involvement
3. Instructional techniques to achieve pebbles

Term Three wrap-up

Term Three has been an interesting one for me. I've had some revelations about myself and done a lot of learning - mostly about me. I actually have two other posts that I've written and are in draft form. I can probably, quite confidently say that they will stay this way. I've come to realise that's it's ok to admit that things are hard, and it's easier to give yourself permission to look after yourself once you've done so. Here's where I'm at with my Current --> Desired Reality.

Looking at my 3 great steps

1   
Seek transformative feedback (not just information) that requires action to grow leadership.
How? Ask specific questions, engage in professional conversations.
Did I manage this? - to some degree. I have discovered though that asking direct questions will not always get you a direct answer if the person doesn't want to give it. It is frustrating and has increased doubt in myself. 
What has been really helpful is that I led some development within my team on feedback earlier in the term, and since then we have been working on practising critical feedback. Being released for short periods a couple of times in the term has allowed the team to focus specifically on one aspect that interests them and feedback to the team to develop capacity in that area. For example, I linked my observation time and the work the Innovation Incubator team have been doing on capacities. 

2   
Now: Prioritise and balance responsibilities.
How? Book in social time and exercise, cull to-do lists weekly, ask myself if my contributions are 'token' or if I can commit fully.
This is an area I have really had to focus on this term. I had really started noticing changes in myself due to the amount of time I was spending working, or thinking about work. It's been hard for me because teaching has always been my passion and what I am drawn to. I'm a natural 'thinker' and 'worker' so, it's taken quite an effort to identify times and triggers of stress and put aside time for me. I started off having a weekly massage and yoga as timetabled relaxation. The massage has tended to go to fortnightly (sometimes due to the therapists unavailability), and I dropped the yoga, but have been walking - and setting aside time to do this. There has been a couple of distractions and exciting personal plans that has been good to take my mind off work (although sometimes they just added to the cognitive load!)

3   
Now: Activate my professional reading
How? Write about it, record my synthesis, record my what now, and talk about it.
This is something that I've lacked in a little this term. Partly due to the (cognitive) load referred to in number two. My personal professional reading is the one that has suffered. However, because I'm absolutely loving the work that I'm doing with the Innovation Incubator, this has been where I have focused on activating our capacities, linked to the reading we've been doing in that team. I've also enjoyed following up on some of the work that we did earlier in the term with Julia. 


One sentence job description
To lead learning that adds value.

I'm definitely getting much better at reflecting on this more regularly and have a visual reminder that I see most days. I can look at this as both pipelines:
Pipeline One: I think changing how we run our literacy programme has made a big impact on learning in literacy. In reading I feel that I have more time and focus to value all the elements of a quality guided reading programme and I feel that the children are getting more benefit from it. It would be interesting to seek some student voice around that. 
Pipeline Two: We (the Innovation Incubator team) have run to Teacher Meetings this term, and I have had very positive feedback from both. The teachers seem to value the thinking that has gone into our work and the practicality that has come out of it at the teacher meetings. 

Clarity in the Classroom - Absolum

We've had a focus at teacher meetings around Chapters 1-4 of Clarity in the Classroom. This has included Learning Focussed Relationships and providing clarity about learning that is to happen. 

As a team we decided that Integrity, Respect and Openness were the best fit for our principles to guide our belief around learning focussed relationships. These are not too dissimilar to the principles that Absolum himself uses. It was an interesting exercise to go through to get to this point, and we really had to dig deep to understand what each of those words meant to us. 

Building on those principles, we looked at sharing learning intentions/objectives/goals etc. with the children and co-constructing these for shared ownership. Chapter four was a good read and I think Absolum makes some very interesting points that confirm my thinking around some of the things. 

• It doesn't matter what you call them
• It doesn't matter how you share them - in fact, different ways will work for different things
• Learning isn't segmented and should be seen as a whole.

This last point, I think is particularly important and I like the example he used about a surgeon knowing how to make an incision, drain wounds and stitch. It's all very well for a surgeon to know these things, but we want them to be able to put their knowledge together to complete a successful operation. If I think about the complexity of writing, learners need to know how to hold a pencil, form letters, spell, form sentences, create interest etc. and put it all together to complete a story. Children need to be aware of the whole, and the parts.

What I worry about, is that balance between communicating the learning process and teaching the actual process. It would be a shame to see great portions of school learning time spent on writing up great screeds of intentions (for the students or on planning) - from the global to the specific. Although there are benefits to working through a sequence of teaching, a teacher is a trained professional, and has good judgement to know where to take students next on a whim. I would hope that a lesson would not have to stop to inform the student of what is about to happen. Often there's joy in the surprises.

Thanks for the Feedback - Stone and Heen

As one of my three big steps heading towards my desired reality is to focus on receiving feedback I thought I better do some reading about it!

I'm not that far in and already I think this is a throughly worthwhile read. 

So far I have learnt about the three types of feedback:
1) appreciation
2) coaching
3) evaluation

All three types are just as important as the other. The book says that without evaluation (what you are doing is good/average/rubbish - may involve 'results') coaching becomes a bit pointless really. "We can't focus on how to improve, until we know where we stand." 

However, it also says that coaching always includes a bit of evaluation in it. Unfortunately, if the conversation involves both together, then the evaluation often overshadows the coaching. That conversation is likely happening as a coaching conversation because the expectation hasn't been met. This leaves the receiver feeling surprised and unable to take on board the coaching aspect. The authors suggests having the evaluation conversation days, or more, ahead of the coaching conversation. 

Of course, that's just one of the complications that comes with receiving feedback. Consideration must also be given to the type of feedback about to be given or received. It is important to start the conversation with what type of feedback it is to be, in order to avoid confusion. I don't know that this is necessary for appreciation - I think that this is probably the easiest form of feedback to recognise (as long as it's not backhanded) and receive. 

It's left me thinking about where I see feedback in education. There is two ways to look at this - feedback to the the children about learning as well as feedback from senior leaders to staff.

Let's go with the children first. I think, in general, all of these types of feedback are happening all the time. Appreciation happens a lot! All those years as a trainee and early teacher hearing about positive praise (but not empty praise!!!!) has paid off. There is also a great deal of coaching and evaluation going on, but often will happen in the same conversation - "Jane - you're running record (evaluation) shows that you have improved in your reading and you will move up to the next level. Your reading was much more fluent than it has been and now we will work together on improving your expression (coaching)."

How about the teachers though? Are they getting the feedback they need to learn and grow? I'm speaking very generally here, but I think the only true forms of evaluative feedback many teachers get are their students results (which they're actually analysing themselves) and their appraisal. And dare I say it - I'm not really sure of the validity of appraisal.... Others also question this (maybe the same or different reasons) and they are making changes to the way appraisal is being carried out, now putting the appraisee in the drivers seat to steer their own growth. Yes - there are many benefits here BUT where do these people get their evaluative feedback from? Unless it is a coaching conversation that involves evaluation - in which case, as above, the coaching will get lost.

For me, continuing this read will be key to deciding my steps. I think one thing I need to get sorted though is an evaluative conversation with my senior leaders - am I actually meeting expectation in their eyes? 

Stay tuned for further insights from the book.

Relationships - putting it all on the line!

The bigger context: Our teacher meetings have been focussed around Absolum's Clarity in the Classroom, looking in particular at Learner Focussed Relationships (v Controlling v Caring v Activity Focussed). 

The context in question: Assembly technical rehearsal where the technology was not going quite according to plan.


I been thinking quite a bit about relationships with learners lately, and what type of Absolum's four teacher personalities I identify with. I have been noticing things and reflecting on them throughout the last couple of weeks and trying to make small adaptions to the way I talk and behave along the way. 

But yesterday, the words that came out of my mouth startled me and I went to bed feeling quite sick about the potential damage I could have done to the established learner focussed relationship I already had with those children. (The fortunate thing is that I think I have established that enough for my comment to be somewhat dismissed... I hope).

It is no excuse, but I was under stress at that particular point, with things not going exactly how I planned and my mind primarily focussed on two things. The children waiting were "in my space" and I asked them to move back to where the audience would be. They did so. But they did not go where I expected them to. Was this a problem? In the big picture no. In my head, at that point in time - yes. Then came a mumbo jumbo condescending mish mash of confusing questions that related only a little to our habitat focus of 'thinking'. Any observers would have thought I was barmy!

It goes to show though how pressure can effect a situation, and change your perspective and behaviour almost instantaneously. I'm certainly much more aware of that side of it now, after reading Clarity in the Classroom. 

I also have made a connection to the work we have done around HBDI and how elements of our thinking style can change under pressure. It would be interesting to do more work on how teaching style changes under different kinds of pressure. My prediction is that short, intense pressure (like a tech glitch) would result in controlling behaviours, but ongoing stress would result in either investing too much in a caring relationship as avoidance, or activity-focussed to "buy" some time.

Avoiding pressure is impossible, but I will be challenging myself (and hopefully you will be too), to notice what changes in your style when under pressure?

What's the Point of School? Guy Claxton

Things that resonated with me:

• People have a deeper need to be successful - to do this they need a rich set of habits of mind to stand them in whatever destiny they find themselves in.
• Despite many claims, levels of literacy haven't changed much from 1950s to 2007 (Presumably this is UK based, but likely reflective worldwide). Rather, the statistics show that teachers are just getting better at teaching to the test.
• The pleasure in reading has dropped considerably - in the pursuit of 'higher standards'.
• Reading for pleasure outweighs every social advantage, including parents income, in the future success of children.
• A child's perception: 'The people who write textbooks do not make mistakes, and the best way to learn is by your own mistakes.' (Jennifer, fifteen)
• Being a powerful learner  is not the same as being a good student. 
• Conventional education is an experiment too (as well as 'new' ILE education) - one which we have good reason to question. Inaction is not an option.
• Why should intelligence be related to the 3 Rs? What if other kinds of knowledge and expertise were more prestigious? What if English and Mathematics were reduced to one hour a week (like PE and the Arts) and became optional in later education? Children who are naturally 'bookish' are disadvantaged by the lack of fit for their strengths and interests (and those that the school clearly values).
• Possessing skills and abilities cannot be assessed by a tick box. How can a teacher observe it once and know that that child can apply that skill in a variety of contexts, for various purposes and on various days?
• Unmotivated children don't exist. This is a belief by people who actually mean: 'They don't want to learn what I want them to learn, when I want them to learn it, in the way I want them to learn it.'
• Learning at school often lacks a sense of timing.
• 3Rs - responsibility, respect and 'real'. 3Cs - choice, challenge and collaboration
• Toddlers have built in learning amplifiers - practice and play. Practice makes perfect, and the disposition to practice seems to be built in to their brains.
• Learning is learnable and teachable.
• Good learners can be awkward and inconvenient - but the teacher not having having enough time should not result in learning being inhibited.
• Teachers need to be willing to grow and learn. Would you want a surgeon to operate on you who had not opened a book or researched since he graduated 30 years ago?
• Every little detail of the way a lesson is delivered, or a school organised, is a carrier of values and beliefs.
• Magnificent Eight qualities: curious, courage, exploration/investigation, experimentation, imagination, reason/discipline, sociability, reflective.
• Performance indicators in fitness are your 'personal bests' - i.e. running a kilometre in less time than before, or lifting a heavier weight. Measuring learning power should be the same - comparing yourself with yourself. 
• Just as it takes time to build strength, it also takes time to build learning power. 
• A learning power coach (teacher/mentor) should give feedback that is useful and precise. 
• Try giving children the job of nominating each other for awards such as star persister, questioner or collaborator of the week.
• Teachers should be required to be visible engaged in some project that stretches their own subject knowledge and share that process and progress with the children. Model.
• Teachers should regularly say 'let me try this on you' and 'tell me how it goes'. Seek feedback from the students.
• Sometimes we have to restrain our enthusiasm to teach as children operate best on a 'just in time' basis. They are very good at learning what they need to know in the moment, in order to get on with a project. 
• Imagination is the child of boredom, so allowing a child to discover that being bored isn't so bad, to tolerate the quiet times, and to learn to use their own imagination to 'rescue' themselves from boredom, is a useful regime for your child.

Some deeper thoughts:

A life of cheating

According to Claxton's sources, cheating is rife in secondary and tertiary education now. And part of me says - not a surprise! He also refers to the fact that most students (I, myself can identify with this) will forget the content of their exam within a reasonably short space of time. Can you remember what was in your school or tertiary exams? So what is the point of these closed book tests - especially now when we are in a Google Age and content is free everywhere. Should these education systems be thinking about assessing ability to access and synthesis information, question it and identify errors and possible errors? Are they too thinking about the point of school?

The word 'work'

I've had an issue with the word 'work' in the classroom for a while. Claxton sums it up succinctly: "The language of work continually reinforces the idea of learning as drudgery". Talking about learning to the children is much better and causes engagement and activeness in learning. Instead of "get on with your work", try:

• How are you going to go about that?
• What is hard about that?
• How are different groups going about that?
• How else could you do it?
• What could you do to help yourself if you get stuck?
• How could you help someone else learn that?
• What are the tricky parts?

Seeking Feedback

After recognising that I hadn't made much progress on actively seeking feedback) (one of my Three Great Steps, I decided to do something about it.

I sent out four emails to some of the attendees at the teacher meetings I co-lead and asked for some constructive feedback. I was really seeking something to work on. I got three responses back.

I have since met with the third person who asked me for some particular things that I wanted feedback on. (Aside: This is a great way to give some control to the person receiving feedback, particularly if they're not ready to hear some of their next steps - however, does this defeat the purpose???) They asked me to talk about what I thought went well and what I needed to work on and then they agreed with me. It's the notes - I have to let go of them!!! It was also nice to hear from this person that they thought one of my strengths was articulating my thoughts and appearing relaxed. 

It was great to get some pats on the back and some encouragement. My next step in working on this goal is getting day to day feedback. Perhaps I will start with asking my team leader to start noticing my classroom manner and then discussing it at one of our Monday catch-ups.

Am I moving towards my Desired Reality???

It's been a few weeks now since we set goals to reach our Desired Reality and it's time to check in on them. 


My 3 Great Steps:

1   Seek Feedback - constructive 70%/ positive 30%
The purpose of having this goal is to grow my capability as a leader. I have been getting some feedback, mostly in relation to co-leading the Innovation Incubator team, but I'm not really seeking feedback as the goal states. This one needs to become priority in Term 2. I have purchased a book called Thanks for the Feedback and I'm hoping I will dig into this over the holidays and get some inspiration. 

2   Honest conversations regarding priorities and balancing responsibilities
I have been persistent with some things and making my feeling known in habitat team meetings, sometimes without a result. Am I not being heard? Or is it that my priority is not a team priority? Hard to say - but working on my first great step could help with this. I am improving on saying no to things. In fact I can think of two examples where I have turned down 'extra' jobs because the timing and commitment wasn't right for me. 

I have found this term particularly busy. Before school was preparation time, non-duty lunchtimes and after school were basically meeting times. I have found it extremely difficult to find time to work with Emma on Innovation Incubator stuff, so it is essential that I continue to prioritise this goal.

3   Make time for professional reading (learning environment goal and Innovation Incubator)
At the beginning of the year I set myself a wee target of four professional development books over the year. I have already exceeded this! I have read 1) The Element 2) chapters from The Professional Practice of Teaching in NZ 3) Expansive Education 4) Show and Tell and I'm currently making my way through What's the Point of School? 


My One Line Job Description:
To lead learning (for students and colleagues) that adds value.

I had to look this up this morning, meaning it is not yet cognitively portable - this is something I need to remedy.
However - do I think I'm doing it? Everyday? Yes and no. 
For colleagues, every day that I have an opportunity to work with the Innovation Incubator team or leading on behalf the team - yes.
For students, I would hope so. I think so. But more time and daily reflection needs to go into this one. A screen shot and laptop wallpaper may help me with this.

Putting on the presenters hat

Yesterday was a new milestone for me - co-running my first teacher meeting!

I was a bit nervous leading up to it, but actually it was more excitement as the topic is a passion and sharing that with others always brings a sense of joy. The actual presentation I felt went well mostly, apart from the odd fumbling of pages, making sure I hadn't forgotten to share any of my notes and the bit where I kicked the bucket of pens everywhere!

It felt really good be able to talk about and share what the team had been up to. Emma and I complement each other in many ways, and Emma (with far more experience in leadership) is doing a great job of extending me in my ability to both think about and articulate my ideas more clearly. 

It was wonderful to get some great feedback from teachers today - saying they enjoyed the meeting and appreciating the great deal of work that has gone into what seems like a very small slice of what is to be done. 

Getting nice feedback is always a good feeling, but it's the more specific stuff that will help me to grow and learn. 

One person said that they really liked my manner as I was presenting and sharing. 

Another gave me some more critical feedback (which was probably not intended this way, but was good to hear anyway). They said I had done a good job coping with co-presenting and that from their experience they knew how hard it is when presenting with someone who is good at talking off the cuff to an audience and how when you have your notes you want to go through in the planned order and make sure everything is covered. 

This unveiled a big realisation for me - something I think I already knew, except this was the moment of true-recognition: I have not yet developed confidence that I actually do know what I'm talking about. I rely too much my notes as though they are the only ones who can 'think' for me in a public situation. 

Next week, we have session two. I think I'm going to try to put the notes to the side, be more present in 'reading the room' and engage in the 'feeling' of the day.

Here I am clutching my notes as though my life depends on them!

Most Likely to Succeed Film

The QT-Basin was lucky enough to secure one of Core Educations screening rights to show The Most Likely to Succeed film here. 

It was a brilliant showcase of the changing nature of education and we need to get this film out there so as many people can see it as possible. It was great to have so many people there - I just feel that most of those people were already 'sold' on the idea of why education is changing.

Although there was lots to take-away from the film, the biggest thing for me was the need to for (some) parents and older generations to get their head around school is not about content anymore. 

Content is free now - it's on every internet device. 

-MLTS film

I recall a moment in about my fourth year of teaching. At the time I was living in the small town of Kirwee, about 40km west of Christchurch. Nana was visiting and I was giving her a grand tour. She asked a question about the geography of the land and we I said I didn't know the answer, I remember very clearly her reply...., "but you must, you're a teacher". It is a sign of her era, where the teacher was the giver of information, and the children were the  sponges to soak up what they could. 

As we move into an increasingly technological world, we need students who will be thinkers, innovators, collaborators, and people who can fail intelligently without being defeated. A robot will do everything else!

It brought together a lot of the things I've been reading for my role in the Innovation Incubator team, particularly what I have learnt from Claxton.

Guy Claxton - Achievement and Character: Can you do both at once?

I awaited with nerdy excitement for the day to arrive to hear Guy Claxton speak. With the focus for Emma and myself to pick up ideas relevant to what we are doing in the Innovation Incubator team. I left with some answers, and many more questions!

Here are my notes:

• Can you fulfill potential? How do you know how much someones potential is? Have you fulfilled yours? When? So why do we so often refer to wishy-washy terms like this?
• How do you 'evidence' values like Growth Mindset or resilience? I like how 'evidence' has been changed into a verb.
• Things need to be grounded in good quality research.
• How does time effect stuff - is a 45min period or one rotation going to allow persistence to grow?
• There are four Layers of Learning: today we were focusing on layer three - habits

• "Flounder" intelligently
• It is no teachers dream to turn out passive, docile, compliant, students - yet we do....
• Content gives a topic that you teach your habits through - "Today we are stretching our ______ muscle." E.g. questioning.
• Skills v dispositions - dispositions are far more important because it drives the development of the skill.
• Low socio-eco status kids benefit more from higher cognitive load. Don't go easy on them because 'their lives are already stressed'
• You can't teach attitudes and dispositions directly - they have to be coached, cultivated in culture.
• Epistemic apprenticeship

• If you diet is predominately 'efficient' then you're going to end up a bit lopsided!
• Removing own desks increases collaboration and collegiality in a classroom - proved somewhere in Australia (sorry I didn't get the details)
• Phrase: "hump of resistance" often used when referring to staff not willing to change or even explore change
• Performing v learning - learning has some form of difficulty attached to it
• Students learning to choose, design, research, conduct, troubleshoot, and evaluate learning for themselves
• Build power to teach themselves 
• Things should always be under review, status quo is not safe or neutral.
• Stepping in too soon during a learning struggle deprives an opportunity for that student to Build Learning Power. 
• Have a High Participation, Low Shame culture. Make it safe to learn.
• Display a final product with the draft - shift the focus from achievement to improvement.
• Flexing learning muscles - coach, coach, coach!
• Learning muscles to stretch (on the left hand side)

The final three points really resonated with me. This video that Guy shared with us shows the importance, and how easily coaching can be done from a very young age.

Austin's Butterfly

What next? For me:

• Read How Children Succeed - Paul Tough
• Give students authority and ability to challenge what people tell them
• Give activity and then give students think/peer/share time to decide how many people should be in groups - ownership and decision making onto kids.
• Two stars and a wish - go back to coaching children how to give feedback (I used to do this so well - why did I stop???)
• Mix up groups more - ensure children are frequently working with different people than usual.
• Use a distraction scale - show me 1-4 fingers how distracting that (plane/lightning/noise/class clown - don't actually say what was distracting though) was. If you show 5 fingers, you were the distraction. Children monitor their own focus.
• Use a kind continuum - children can move their own or others face depending on how kind/supportive/helpful they've been. Or not! Keeps an open dialogue of support.

What next? For the Innovation Incubator team:

• Give mentors strategies to embed teaching of character so it's not 'more teaching'
• SOLO - depth of though, not level of thought
• Review, review, review - this year and into every other year Shotover School exists!

Expansive Education

The main theme I'm getting out of it is the need for a 'whole' education. School is not just about the content, but learning about being a person too. This includes knowing how to behave when we don't know the answers.

The early chapters in the book has referred to the Theory of Mind a bit. This was a concept I knew about, but needed a little more context before I could continue reading. I found this little video helpful.

The basic vision of Costa and his colleagues is that schools should prepare young people 'not just for a life of tests, but the tests of life'.
My other keys points:

• students to need to be self evaluative
• willpower is like a mental muscle that can be strengthened (or depleted through non-use) and likewise resilience, concentration, imagination and collaboration can be coached and cultivated
• Expansive Education see 'skills' grow into strong 'dispositions'
• three attitudes as elements of a 21st century mindset: communal virtues (honesty, trustworthiness, kindness, tolerance, empathy), virtues of self regulation (patience, self discipline, tolerance of frustration/disappointment) and epistemic/learning virtues (determination, curiosity, creativity and collaboration)
• of course, all these things interweave and even sometimes conflict each other. Balance is key
• John Dewey was ahead of his time, "the teacher becomes a partner in the learning process, guiding students to independently discover meaning."
• learned helplessness arises in students who not not given the opportunity to think of intelligence expansively. They lack resilience and resourcefulness.
• successful intelligence is to think in three different ways: analytically, creatively and practically.
• approaches (such as Building Learning Power) do not work if they are simply bolted on to another restrictive approach.
• using colours to highlight mistakes (and not fixing them for a student) means the student does the thinking about it and how to fix it - building a discussion around 'good' and 'silly' mistakes. This has created a greater feeling of playfulness and adventure in their writing
• interesting analogy: Children sitting around like baby birds with their mouths open, ready for the teacher to bring them the worms - we need to teach them to get their own worms. Learning isn't just an outcome, it's a process.
• re-defining pedagogy - should we more often be referring to it as 'Instructional Design'
• a teachers main task is to notice the impact of their teaching on students' learning and achievement. They need to talk less and listen more
• we need to be so careful with our use of the word ability - it is easy for it to become a synonym for 'talent' or 'intelligence'. Create learning groups that are genuinely fluid and regularly changed
• getting into a state of flow is an optimal learning experience. There needs to be three things for this to happen: task is sufficiently demanding and engaging, learner has enough skill to tackle the task, and time.
• talking about learning is good. If learners see what is going on as they are learning, the better they will be able to apply it to different contexts

What if education were less concerned with the end-of-year exam and more concerned with who students become as a result of their schooling? What if we viewed smartness as a goal that students can work toward rather that as something they either have or don't? 

-Ron Ritchhart

The book also covers the significance of others in the learning environment. "Little or no learning will take place unless the learning environment is trustful and the others who are significant to the learner (parents, teachers, coaches, etc.) model the desired outcomes."

This is backed up with other key points:

• Hattie says helping students to develop habits (curiosity and collaboration) works better when teachers model these
• culture is set by the leaders of the institution and what is around in the environment, even before the teacher walks in
• it is essential that teachers develop and share a common language of learning with students and the parents/community.
• thoughtful environments encourage a focus on big ideas. The learning offered in them captures the interest of students and provides them with some degree of autonomy and choice
• we have to expand staffrooms, as well as classrooms, and consider how teachers are trained and subsequently developed.
• new teachers become socialised by 'old-timers' into semi-conscious views and habits. "For expansive educators, it is vital that the community of practice of a staffroom is also a living, evolving community of enquiry."
• Hattie makes explicit connections between teachers undertaking professional enquiry and the benefits that transfer to student learning.

"A teacher can never truly teach unless she is learning herself. A lamp can never light another flame unless it continues to burn its own flame."

-Rabindranath Tagore

These last few points made connections to another video I watched today. This is Kath Murdoch and her thoughts on teachers can (or can't) teach inquiry.

All of this together basically says to me that a good teacher is prepared to, and will, let go of control.

One final thought: 

Education has to change. It has to engage the energies and intelligence of all young people. It has to respond to their anxieties about the future, and to help them develop the mental, emotional and social equipment they will need to thrive in a complex, challenging and exciting world. Here's hoping, as David Price says, that the seeds of Expansive Education that we have explored in this book will continue to germinate strongly and to populate the earth!

- Claxton, Lucas and Spencer (Expansive Education authors)

Is music at a crisis point in NZ Schools?

I came across a very interesting pod cast from Radio NZ that was pointing to a crisis underway in NZ Schools where music education is not as accessible to students as it once was.

I have very little musical background - the only musical experience is what I got at primary school, where we were one of the fortunate schools to have a specialised music teacher. I remember very little but the things that stand out for me was excellent singing tuition for the whole school (and an auditioned choir), a lesson on what notes looked like and their associated letters, and I remember at one point a friend and I entered a competition where we had to compose music. She was quite musical and learnt out of school and I just tagged along really. At some point I guess I must have learnt some basic instrumental skills like the recorder.

At college, we had to learn a few notes on the recorder and play a song for an assessment. Other than that though, I also have very little recall of what we did. 

I would call myself pretty much musically inept.

The podcast here has two people being interviewed. Tim Carson represents the view that there is a crisis, and Lisa Rodgers represents the MOE.

At about 13-14 minutes MOE representative claims that music in schools is fine in all the schools she's visited. That means more than just singing, but having learned enough that a child could compose a basic piece of music. Clearly she's never been to some of the schools I have experience in. I do believe there is many other teachers like me who flounder around to do our best to be able to teach the basics not only of singing, but also of music. And we do so with very little confidence. 

Schools are funded to deliver the curriculum through their operations grant, however, the individual needs for schools means that subjects like music often get pushed down the list of priorities. There is a continual need to rethink how we can engage in the literacies (including maths, as it's a language too) through arts subjects. They are critical to the development of the whole child and providing exposure to many elements. Schools need advisors and funding for development not only in music (although I think that seems to be the area of least confidence) but also in the general area of The Arts. 

I am fortunate to be working now in a school that values the arts and music education and I look forward to learning what I can from our lead mentor in music.

2016 Current/Desired Reality

3 Great Steps:
1   Seek Feedback - constructive 70%/ positive 30%
2   Honest conversations regarding priorities and balancing responsibilities
3   Make time for professional reading (learning environment goal and Innovation Incubator)

Behaviour expectations in an open learning space - do they differ?

I'm very fortunate to work within a team that put great emphasis on Professional Development and Learning. This means working with some very high calibre people in their fields. 

Prior to induction, I had actually never heard of this particular guy who was going to be leading our day, but now I know him as 'the behaviour guy'. I was really keen to hear his thoughts on managing children within an open learning environment, as that is one of the challenges when making the transitions. 

It didn't start as well as I hoped though. By morning tea time I was a bit gob-smacked to be honest. He admitted himself that he had probably offended a number of people in the room, and I was one of them. 

He started the day giving one reason why he believed NZ results in PISA assessments were going down. (PISA results, in my opinion, reflect a very small 'slice' of education and do not account for the other great things that kiwi kids are getting opportunity to grow and develop in. But that's a different blog post!) He backed up his one reason with six points, most of which go against my beliefs as an educator in an Innovative Learning Environment.

1) Distraction. He's right - there's a lot of distraction. These children are living in the most stimulating era ever. We should be channeling those distractions into pulling information from a variety of sources, not preventing our kids from, well, being kids. I'm sure Sir Ken Robinson would back me up on this one, as he refers to it as the ADHD epidemic in this video (about 4 mins in).

2) Social Shift in Authority. Again - yes! Children are given voice and agency in their learning because research shows it gives the children more ownership and engagement in their learning (and related tasks).

3) Lack of clarity in Practising Teacher Criteria. Here I would ask the question, if we were to tell every single teacher more precisely, how to manage their students, then how do ensure that the teacher is catering for the individual needs of the students and community?

4) Innovative Learning Spaces. Well I'm here and I'm doing it. 

5) Collaboration. What?!?! He did say that collaboration was a good thing but it creates a challenge. Collaboration is a core value at school, and as a necessary skill in an ever-changing world I won't be giving up on this 'challenge'. 

6) PB4L. I would have liked him to expand on his thoughts a little more - I think I would probably agree with him on this one. I have a small amount of experience working in a school that was starting a PB4L journey. There was some great data beginning to emerge that would lead to better monitoring and a more pro-active approach, however, the behaviourist slant was less than desirable for me. 


Fortunately the day got better and I was able to get quite a big take-a-way from it.

He spoke in depth about the importance of gaining full attention when working with students - large or small groups. This has been a focus for our team as we have started the year, and I can really see the benefits of calling a group to full attention before giving an instruction, or reading or speaking to them, or sharing with them. Full attention is the state when the noise level is almost silent and a very high number of students are listening. It has been found that when full attention is at it highest, on task focus is also higher for follow up independent work.

As we move into more small group work, my goal will be to ensure that the group I'm working with CAN be and are in a full attention state. I highlight the word 'can' because it is reliant on so many factors - Can the children see what they need to? Is there anything 'extra' that will limit their distraction for this point in time? Is the outer noise level appropriate? Can the children have my full attention or do I need to attend to other groups too? 


On task focus is really important for our children's learning. The speaker talked about better focus led to doing more work, which resulted in better learning. I'm still pondering this one - I don't know that MORE work is the answer. Perhaps better QUALITY.  

Although I left feeling a little deflated, I'm really pleased I've been challenged and have spent some time thinking more about what I do actually believe leads to good learning.

Revisiting Nigel Latta's School Report

I love the freedom that the holidays brings when it comes to late night TV. It's a shame that this programme was on so late (even though it has been on before). Nigel Latta's has some excellent points and it was refreshing to watch again - I only hope many parents across the country also did. 

If you only have time to watch a bit - watch it from the 30 min point. 

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/nigel-latta/s1-ep2-video-6037627

• Decile does not equal quality
• National standards do not equal progress
• Expect kids to achieve more and they do
• Teachers do not have to know everything - it is more freeing for students to know that

And backing up my last post about finding The Element:

• 'Soft subjects' are hard, and require thinking
• 'Soft subjects' are critical - what would we do if we didn't have panel beaters and trades? 
• It's ok to be a kinesthetic learner.
• Vocational learning is valuable learning
• Keeping kids in school for an extra year or more will improve life chances by a tremendous amount - keep them there and keep them engaged!
• Giving hierarchy to certain subjects (maths, english, science) means we won't get our entrepreneurs and services 
• "There are lot's of way of being excellent."
• The NZ curriculum is a powerful document because it talks about more than just content.

Discovering 'The Element'

I've owned this book for a few years now. I found it in a second hand bookshop at the ferry terminal in Auckland. At the time I thought, 'that looks like a good read,' but every time I tried to read it, I got to a certain point and switched off. Clearly, I wasn't ready for it's message. After finishing the past year though and being surrounded by the positivity of mindshift, it was time for me to give it another crack - and I'm really pleased I did. I think that it was a great way to sum up everything I had consciously and unconsciously learnt this year about the future of education and the children that we are teaching. 

The importance of the element, I believe, is far deeper than happiness. It is what is going to make things happen, make things change in an ever developing (and complex) world.
The book defines The Element as "the meeting point between natural aptitude and personal passion."

Below I have listed some of my take-aways from the book:

• Sir Paul McCartney recalled in an interview that he had been through his entire education without anyone noticing that he had any musical talent at all. Even in the hierarchy that was English and Maths during his education era, this astounded me and made me wonder if that could happen in a school today - I know that I would struggle to pick out a student who had specific talent here, so do we have enough musically talented teachers, evenly spread from Y1-Y13, that each student would definitely come across at least two or three during their education? What about other areas - do we have enough talent seekers to inspire, mentor and coach across a wide range?
• "Many of them (children) will certainly have jobs we haven't conceived yet. Isn't it therefore our obligation to encourage them to explore as many avenues as possible with a eye toward discovering their true talents and their true passions?"
• The book places emphasis on The Element requiring passion, not just natural aptitude. It is possible to be very good at something, but not feel like it fills you with joy. 
• Intelligence comes in many, many, many kinds and combinations too. If it weren't for this a number of things would never have been created - ballet, abstract painting, hip-hop, design, self-service checkouts.... They all require different abilities.
• "A lot of my work with organisations is about showing that intelligence and creativity are blood relatives. I firmly believe that you can't be creative with acting intelligently. Similarly, the highest form of intelligence is thinking creatively."
• Working in your Element is being in a zone that means your 'work' becomes effortless and time becomes something you no longer 'feel'. Using a thinking style that comes naturally to people things become easier. The example used was that of his daughter who was unable to recall information from lectures. However, being a visual person, when she mindmapped the timelines and information she was able to recall, with understanding, everything she needed to. It's important that we give our students multiple ways of 'digesting' the same information. 
• "To make the Element available to everyone, we need to acknowledge that each person's intelligence is distinct from the intelligence of every other person on the planet, that everyone has a unique way of getting in the zone, and a unique way of finding the Element."
• Part of finding your Element, is finding your Tribe. This point was a great reflection for me as it has helped me to articulate why the move I made at the beginning of 2015 was such a significant one for my career. Although I've enjoyed every other teaching job I've had, and each has contributed a great deal to the teacher I am today, I feel now that I have found my tribe, I have found the ones that speak my dialect. 
• Creative teams are able to achieve more together, than they can separately. Three key features of intelligence enable this: they are diverse, dynamic and distinct.
• Diversity stuck out to me more than any of the others. It speaks about different sorts of people that compliment each other and I know that is something that has been considered greatly in building teams and workgroups within my school. It has such an importance to raise the level of achievement.
• When elaborating on the feature of distinction, I found it interesting that a creative team was compared to a committee. Committees don't require everyone's full attention all of the time and the people are usually only there to serve a particular interest. A creative team, on the other hand, is there to get a specific job done in whichever way it needs to. This made me think about my role as a BOT member and the continuum of management to governance. I can see similarities between the BOT that manages / is a committee and I suspect there may be a number of boards operating in this manner...
• I found the section on 'groupthink' fascinating, where intelligent and well-meaning people were willing to give up their thoughts and beliefs based on what their peers were saying. My thoughts were exactly as it was written: "It raises questions about our ways of education and and the values that guide our conduct." We must allow our students opportunities to think for themselves and to be proud of their beliefs.
• The roles of mentors: to recognise, to encourage, to facilitate and to stretch. It is this last one that I think is the hardest one to achieve, particularly in a primary school setting where teachers are often a 'jack of all trades, master of none.' Because of this, they must seek whatever assistance is required to continue to mentor or to pass the student on to. Mentors "take a unique and personal place in our lives... open doors for us and get involved directly in our journeys...show us the next steps and encourage us to take them." Heroes don't do that.
• When you look at people who have done well for themselves, including the stories throughout the book, there are a number who didn't do well at school. I wonder if the changes that we're making going to encourage them stay and do well? Is that going to benefit them? Or will it just lie 'the problem with education' elsewhere? Is the change happening in the primary sector and halted by the secondary or tertiary?
• "The key to this transformation is not to standardise education but to personalise it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions."
• Should we stop thinking about school as separate subjects and more as sets of disciplines. "The idea of disciplines make possible a fluid and dynamic curriculum that is interdisciplinary."
• People need the right conditions to grow - they need synergy with the people and environments around them. It is the job of our schools to do that. "For all our futures, we need to aim high and be determined to succeed."

I am the type of person to reread books (or rewatch movies) and pick up something new every time. I will be adding this one to my 'revisiting' pile.