Finding inspiration from outside

I think it's important to draw inspiration (in whatever you do) from outside your normal circle. 
My principal often shares snippets of wisdom he has gained from watching or reading about the All Blacks. The All Blacks don't really do it for me, but I did really enjoy watching the interview with Rally NZ driver Hayden Paddon on Sunday.

Find the link here.

Three things I took away from this:
1) You might be the face (or leader) of something but you're only as good as your team.
2) Trust within a team is essential.
3) To achieve your dream you need planning and foresight (his co-driver described it as the 'video inside his head')

I would love to sit in his co-drivers seat for a squirt around the block!

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?

Current-Desired Reality Check-in

Refining my goals:
(Changes I have made)

1   
Was: Seek Feedback - constructive 70%/ positive 30%
Now: Seek transformative feedback (not just information) that requires action to grow leadership.
How? Ask specific questions, engage in professional conversations.

2   
Was: Honest conversations regarding priorities and balancing responsibilities
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.

3   
Was: Make time for professional reading 
Now: Activate my professional reading
How? Write about it, record my synthesis, record my what now, and talk about it.

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.

Leadership

Leadership, like swimming, cannot be 

learned by reading about it.

- Henry Mintzberg