Playing catch up here, and not a lot of time to write, so just some quick thoughts (I say that now, it will be 2,000 words until I’m done rambling) on recent (?) #etmooc webinars…
My biggest takeaway from the Networked Educational Leader session led by @gcouros was a comment made by Bernard. Sorry, Bernard, I did not catch your last name or contact info! He said,
We network by passion, not by proximity.
Yes. With the rise of social media and genuine online communities forming around passions of all kinds, there is no reason why educational leaders should limit themselves in terms of how and with whom they network. This is a topic that I examined by surveying ed leaders about the types of professional development in which they were engaged, and how beneficial those experiences were. My posts about this are here and here. My state department of ed. wasn’t thrilled that I blogged openly about my disastisfaction with our state’s principal’s development program, but thankfully they are listening to the feedback of practitioners and will be working to include more opportunities for networking in future development programs.
What do educational leaders want? To collaborate and network with other leaders. The time set aside for peer-to-peer discussions during PD sessions were reported to be the most valuable aspect of the program. However remarks also indicated there was not enough time provided for these important interactions! No educational leader wants to go at it alone. Leadership is isolating enough. We now have the tools to connect one another and our schools in powerful ways. Let’s use them!
Dave Cormier’s session, along with some discussion of PLCs in Dean Shareski‘s session, led me to consider how we’re structuring teacher learning teams in our schools and the effectiveness of those approaches. Awhile back I tweeted a request for a PLC log resource. This request sparked Dean’s attention and some others chimed in. Take a read and think about what’s being shared here:
So getting back to Dave’s session contents on Rhizomatic Learning, one of the principles he shared is, “Learning is about preparing yourself for uncertainty.” If learning is about outcomes that are already defined, then you’re not learning. Communities of practice are something we all want to exist in our schools. But can we force it? No. Can we control it? No. Because like a rhizome, this type of learning is messy, and it can go in any direction. Learners have to experience and explore for themselves. When we put a bunch of teachers in a room together, hand them an agenda that the principal or other admin. created FOR them, and say, talk about THIS during your gathering today, it is highly unlikely that true learning will occur. Do I think we need to look at student data? Yes. Do I think it needs to be the focus of every professional team meeting? No. Because where’s the learning? I wonder how many teachers leave those meetings and think, “I really learned this today, and here’s how I’m going to go back to my classroom and apply what I learned. AND, I’m PASSIONATE about what I learned at our meeting. I’m so glad we were able to explore my interests and passions in this field.”
Yeah… probably not many, especially in teams who are just starting to know, understand, and appreciate one another. (FYI, all of this applies to learning in the classroom, too. How do you know your students are learning? Are you dictating the process for them, or allowing it to run its course for each individual?)
Dave suggests these five steps to succeed in a MOOC: 1. Orient 2. Declare 3. Network 4. Cluster 5. Focus. What if we allowed our teachers to flow into natural learning teams where true collaboration can occur, rather than always group them by grade level or content area?
Can we allow our teachers to network locally by passion and trust them to make the most of their collaborative time together, because it’s what’s best for kids? I believe so. Some teams will need more nurturing than others, and that’s okay. But if we’re always mandating the learning outcomes, the learning will be marginal at best.