Archive for the ‘Future Learning’ Category

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What is the purpose of a school website?

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Last week our local paper included an advertisement for school open evenings. It is getting to that time of year when schools are vying for new students for 2011. In preparation for these open nights each school listed their contact details, including their website addresses, the idea being that you can find out more about the schools you are interested in. It’s all about marketing.

I was interested in finding out what was happening in all these schools. One process I use to do this is the web walk, a type of learning walk which involves looking through a site looking for key statements and ideas that provide information about the school:

  • What does it stand for?
  • What does it focus on?
  • Is it an ongoing ‘story’ or just updated for marketing?
  • What does it tell you about the benefits of attending the school?
  • Does it mention learning (you’d be surprised the number of schools that don’t)?
  • Is there any evidence of student voice?

My passion is leadership for the future so I was particularly interested to see whether there was any collaboration between staff, students, school and wider networks and whether the learning seemed to be future focused. So here is what I found…

Out of the 11 school sites I looked through 9 had up to date newsletters and term calendars. The sites had information about the structures of schooling – the buildings, the curriculum learning areas, the rules, the board of trustees…  I was hoping for more. I wanted to see the visiosn connect with ideas around key competencies, rich tasks and global projects. I wanted to see the odd glimmer of teachers being active inquirers. I wanted to see a glimpse into what might come next…

I see the challenge of schools for the future as articulating the processes of learning and collaborating with the world. While this may be happening in some of these schools, no evidence presented itself during my web walk. There is still a focus on students being involved as house leaders and school councillors. Nothing wrong with that (depending what the role involves and what is being achieved)….I just want the and… how have we moved on to really engage students in meaningful learning? Are they participants or observers? Give me examples of students having input into their learning and giving feedback to the school. 21st century learning was supposed to start 10 years ago. Have I missed it?

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Co-creating Deep Change

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Deep change occurs when stakeholders are involved in the process, that is they have a chance to co-create the change. The process should include continuous conversation – both discussion and dialogue.

This co-creation occurs when leaders:

  • consider the needs of diverse groups;
  • involve stakeholders in the conversation from the beginning, rather when a draft plan has been written;
  • continuously communicate – where we are at, where we are going next, why we are going there?
  • use group processes to maintain transparency; and
  • allow all voices to be heard as a pathway to commitment.

    • Peter Senge describes commitment as being easily confused with compliance. People comply because they want to be part of  team. While it is easy to tell if people are apathetic or non-compliant, it is less easy to identify true commitment. True commitment is not ‘buy-in’, which suggests a transaction, nor is it only enrolment (by choice). True commitment occurs when people want the change and are prepared to make it happen. Not all stakeholders will be at this level of commitment, however moving from mere participation to co-creation is likely to result in greater commitment.

    Recently I came across the website of public engagement specialists Involve. They list nine principles of effective deliberative public engagement:

    • The process makes a difference
    • The process is transparent
    • The process has integrity
    • The process is tailored to circumstances
    • The process involves the right number and types of people
    • The process treats participants with respect
    • The process gives priority to participants’ discussions
    • The process is reviewed and evaluated to improve practice
    • Participants are kept informed

    This resource can be downloaded from their website. They make the comment that you should not pretend to involve people if you have already decided on the outcome or if their input will not be used. This breaks trust and will negatively influence any further conversation. Deep, committed change will not occur.

    Co-creation is not always easy nor does it always lead to consensus. Dialogue, conflict and respectful debate should be encouraged,  rather than a group think mentality. If we are developing innovative organisations for the future we have to be up for a challenge. What do you think?


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    Pushing beyond 21st century rhetoric

    Sunday, March 7th, 2010

    I heard this from a student last year, following conference discussions about 21st century learners. His comment, “Don’t you realise that we are here now?” This reminded me that the changes needed in education are urgent, yet ongoing. We need to look to the future and get on with making changes.

    This comment led to me facilitating two World Cafe events at the learning@school conference. The people who came to these sessions were ones who had been listening to the hype of 21st century learning, teaching and leading for some time and who wanted to challenge themselves and others to move forward. The World Cafe format allowed time to slow down, engage in dialogue and leave with some personal and professional ideas for the future.

    Some of the overheard discussions during these sessions included:

    • Where is the expectation that things will change?
    • Just because we can’t do it doesn’t mean we should stop others from doing it.
    • I’m looking forward to being made redundant as a teacher.
    • If you believe in it you prioritize time.
    • I don’t think it’s written anywhere “Thou must do it alone.”
    • Schools should be laboratories for life.

    Many of the comments focused around the need for changes in teacher practice and increasing the role of students in their own learning. If we really want to transform education we need to start with teacher change, otherwise students will not have a greater say. For teacher practcie to transform across an organisation school leaders must be committed to the transformation and lead by example.

    One World Cafe participant jotted his thoughts clearly on a post-it, as shown below. I liked the quirky idea of a post-it on an iphone and also the call to personal action. I don’t think it is suggesting we will get change by riding over top of people. We know we need to build trust and gain commitment. We also know we can’t go at the pace of the slowest.  The time for educational leaders to step up is now. We need to move beyond the rhetoric and start taking action. We could even involve students in the plan…

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    The growth of ebooks

    Sunday, January 24th, 2010

    The Horizon Report 2010 suggests that ebook technology will develop rapidly over the next two years. Perhaps by the end of this year we may see the sales of ebook readers tripling and a 200% increase in the sales of ebooks. The technologies surrounding ebooks will improve significantly, with an exponential increase in e-friendly apps, use of touchscreens and the development of user-friendly interfaces.

    This year I am launching a series of ebooks to explore these developing technologies. The first of these is a series on Talking the Walk: Walking the Talk. These are for educators who wish to use a learning walk process to develop their pedagogical leadership skills. Aspects of the Kiwi Leadership for Principals that are highlighted in this book include relationships (since these underpin learning walks) and the power of context. Leading change, problem solving, culture, pedagogy, systems and awhinatanga are also key strands throughout this book series. Talking the Walk: Walking the Talk also relates well to the Leads Other for Learning section of the ACEL Leadership Capability framework which you may also want to explore further.

    Talking the Walk: Walking the Talk experiments with flip book technology, giving the look and sound of the pages of a book as they turn over. You can read it online or download as a pdf. Adding embedded audio and video will be the next stage in my learning. If you come across new ideas and tools that I could use please let me know. Ebooks are on the rise!

    You will find more information about the content of  my first ebook on the News! page and can place orders at the Store.

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    Here and now learners..

    Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

    At the Pegasus Conference in Seattle recently we were lucky to have some school students attending. The discussion was about the needs of 21st century learners, learners of the future, millennial learners… One of the students made the point that they are learning NOW and so we should be focussing on the here and now learners as well as having an eye on the future. The urgency is now to push for the changes that we have been suggesting for some time, rather than something new, some radical change in the way people learn.

    We know what learning is about so why do we persist with irrelevant testing, focus on sitting and listening, and teaching just in case? We are great at talking about learning needs but not so great about practising what we preach. So here is the challenge – go find a student, go find the youngest person in your business …listen to what they have to say about their needs, their experiences, their future. Be curious. Ask questions. Reflect on what they say and what this means for you and your organisation. I am off to do exactly that. Watch this space for further information on reverse mentors and how they can be a great catalyst for personal and organisational change.

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    Posted in Business, Change Management, Education, Future Learning, Innovation | 2 Comments »

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