Today it has been four years since I first started my blog, “More Than Just Knowing Stuff”. The title was chosen to reflect my philosophy of education, that is, that it is more than just knowing a whole heap of stuff, but rather being able to learn, grow, reflect, experience, challenge thinking and collaborate. It was about the deeper emotions of learning and the fulfillment you feel when you are really immersed in something, whether it is something you love or something that challenges you and makes you wonder.
With 2011 being a fast train ride for me I wasn’t able to reflect and share some of my experiences and learnings as much as I would have liked.
Thought Leadership was something I first heard about at the Apple Distinguished Educator institute back in March 2011. As a new ADE we were able to choose a focus of interest for our four day workshop. Having started by Masters in School Leadership, I decided that Thought Leadership would be of most benefit. However, I really did not know much about this at all. It wasn’t a term that had been used in my time as an educator.
There was quite a few of us ADEs who took an interest to this topic and I teamed up with two others – Bruce Fuda from ACT and Ray Nashar from Victoria. After a jam packed four days and lots of creative energy, we were able to produce a short video capturing what we felt was our understanding of Thought Leadership.
Thought Leadership was first coined by 1994 by Joel Kurtzman and used to describe interview subjects for his magazine who had business ideas that merited attention. It grew as a term in the business world and we can probably associate Steve Jobs as one of the well known thought leaders of our time.
However, I am still yet to hear this term used in the field of education even though as leaders we aspire to create a vision for our schools that provides the best possible service for our clients (our students). We think strategically and align our resources to make things happen, we build commitment and following, and aim to make a difference. We showcase our successes and share our challenges.
So are we thought leaders?
Do we have the ability to make brave and courageous steps forward to ensure the education of students and ultimately our community?
I think we are … and we do…
Do you?
Here is a webinar that that Ray and I delivered for ICTEV
2012 was described to me as being a year of good luck. My school council president is Timorese and he told me that it was going to be the Year of the Dragon. This apparently brings good luck, but as I have also researched possibilities of a wild and exciting year too. For me personally, I believe the year will be a good one. My life seems to go in cycles and it seems that it is back on track, especially in the health department. As for my school, which what my school council president was referring to, I think we are due for some good luck.
My school is a small inner city school in Flemington. It is a lovely school with a rich culture and history. It has a strong community feel, as many (or rather most) of the children come from the neighboring commission flats. The school has been going through a period of change and educational growth. Its focus on improvement has been noteworthy.
In 2011 we began a 1:1 iPad program for our Year Preps. This is continuing in 2012 with our Preps and Year 1s all being part of the program. The community love this program and are keen to see it grow. Ideally we would love to see it grow throughout the whole school. This would mean that all 83 of our students would have access to mobile technology, that will provide them the tools to be able to learn at school and at home. Something that our community would otherwise not be able to provide.
This brings me back to my Year of the Dragon…as a principal I want to see my school and its students prosper and do well. My role is to create a school environment that allows for this to happen. With the help of our dragon I am sure, as my school council president says, we will have some good luck and our school will flourish and continue to grow in its endeavours. We will build upon our identity and share our unique stories on our blog site.
2011 was certainly a big year for me. A year of much learning and growth, of change and challenge, and new beginnings. When a new year begins you don’t always know what it will bring you. It could be filled with highs, lows and everything in between. My year began with not quite the high I would have liked but it certainly evolved into a very rewarding and productive one.
It began with a tooth ache and sleep dentistry.! This was to be the beginning of a two and a half year stint with braces. I have now had mine for 9 months. This certainly was not in my plans for 2011!
My school year began on an interesting note as well. I returned to work, as usual mid January, only to receive notification that my upcoming operation (a follow up from the year before) was to be scheduled at the end on January, the day before the teachers started back at work. Five weeks later I was back at work and trying to work out what new plans and decisions had been made, as well as where my new office was!
Whilst on leave I found out that my application for my Masters In School Leadership was accepted. This meant I would be going back to uni after nearly 25 years! Doing my masters was something I had thought about for quite some time, but the timing hadn’t been right before. Having children, a home extension and new jobs, didn’t allow much time, physical space or head space for study. I am half way through my studies now and have thoroughly enjoyed everything I have learned and the challenge it has brought me. I recommend it to anyone thinking of doing their masters in the future.
At about the same time I also found out that I was successful in my application as an Apple Distinguished Educator. Once again it was something I had considered applying for in the past but wasn’t quite sure of the process. This year I did apply and was pleased to be chosen amongst many other applicants. As a leader, I know my influence has been strong in many aspects of ICT but also in good education. Much of this has included the use of Apple products and pedagogy.
By this stage I was into my second term of the year. I had been at Manor Lakes College for just over two years and my role was constantly evolving and taking shape. The college was growing bigger and bigger with over 50 classes and well over 100 staff members. We grew to seven assistant principals and we were heading towards our senior years, with year 10 beginning in 2012. I became more interested in my own principalship and began applying for positions.
By mid year I had begun at Debney Meadows Primary School as the new substantive principal. This was a time of excitement, apprehension and a huge learning curve. I have now been a principal for 6 months and would not look back. It is rewarding, exciting and challenging every day. I am more connected to my students now and feel that I can make a difference. For someone who likes to continue to grow, this has been perfect for me.
Amongst the busyness and the craziness of the year I have also continued my interests in the ICTEV as the council secretary. This interest also led me to being nominated to be on the ACARA technologies advisory panel. So amongst trying to study, learn how to be a new principal, I also needed to focus and advise on the new Australian Curriculum. I must admit, this did challenge me to find the necessary time. The advisory group is a well rounded group of people with loads of knowledge and experience in curriculum.
Both professionally and personally I have grown in 2011. My year has been a bit like being on a fast train ride, trying not to miss all the stops and all the scenery. I’m not sure how well I have achieved everything this year, but I know that I have got through to the end smiling
Stories engage, inspire and help make meaning of events and ideas. Over the last few months I have been reading and hearing more about the way a story can support the way we learn and teach, and how it can help to create an identity or an image. Much of my thinking and learning lately has come about through two areas of my professional life. One is through my studies, my Masters in School Leadership, and the other is through starting at a new school in a new role. One has given me the research and theory, whilst the other has given me a window into histories and cultures of the school community. Together, they have helped me to see the power of story.
Last weekend I had my 30 year high school reunion. I think back to this time, the people, events and beliefs that shaped me. I reflect on who I was then and who I am now. Have I changed in the eyes of my school peers? Do they still hold onto memories of me from 30+ years ago? I wonder this because as I began to talk with my fellow students I realised just how much of the memories and early stories led the conversations. What perceptions did people have of me? What perceptions did I have of them? Did I really say I wanted to illustrate children’s books as a career?
Recently I watched the 2005 Steve Jobs commencement speech at Stanford University. I was moved by his three stories, particularly his first. Again, it made me think about the events and people that help to shape our lives, and how the stories we share help to build the bigger picture of who we are.
My interest in stories is growing. The narratives that shape a culture, a school, a community. They can be powerful vehicles for developing perceptions and values. Of growing identities, pride and connectedness to something, someone, somewhere.
Chimamanda Adichie, a novelist, “tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.” It resonates well with me and deepens my curiosity in the meaning we make of such stories.
I’m not sure if it is just me, or if it something that other people are noticing now too. Sometime ago for me, early 2000s, we were exploring how children learn, pushing the boundaries about the way we teach and taking note of theories of learning. We probed children’s thinking, questioned them for understanding and sought multiple ways of knowing our students and helped them know themselves as learners too.
There has been much systemic work over recent years about what good teaching is which has overall supported schools in developing more consistent approaches to learning, and as a result reduced the divide between classroom to classroom practice. This has been happening in areas such as Literacy, Numeracy and science. As a result there have been many improvements in student achievement across my region, as represented by national and state data.
More recently now, there has been, what I believe, a re-emergence of the desire to learn more about learning. Exploring thinking and meta-cognition to enhance the learning experience and achieve intellectual engagement is something that is becoming, I hope, a new direction of professional learning. My studies in the Masters of School Leadership have been fabulous for bringing much of this thinking back to the forefront. What I am excited about, is that in my own professional learning networks, this too is being discussed and highlighted more.
Howard Gardner
Today I listened to Howard Gardner speak about the new edition of his 1991 book, The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think and How Schools Should Teach, looking at school reform from the perspective of cognitive science at Learn Central. What resonated with me was the notion of misconceptions and the difficulty children have in being able to apply and transfer the material learnt in school to other situations or problems. In other words, are they learning for the test or for understanding?
The recording of the talk on Learn Central is here.
Click on the picture of Gardner to read his bio.
I am curious to know what others are noticing, if anything, about the move in emphasis, especially for professional learning. I also now wonder if ICT will be embraced more as a means of learning and achieving understanding. Again a throw back to the early 2000s (for me)!
It’s been an exciting couple of months for me but unfortunately I have not been able to add to my blog. Whilst completing my first semester of my Masters of School Leadership and doing my day to day job of AP, I decided to apply for a principal position. To say I was busy at this time is a little bit of an understatement. I chose to apply for principal positions at the same time as writing an essay, reflection and presentation for uni, and during report time at school! However, I managed and was able to win the job of principal of Debney Meadows Primary School.
It is now my third week and I have to say I am very happy that I was chosen as the substantive principal.
Since beginning this blog, I have reflected on my growth, my experiences, and my continuous learning. I look back now at my very first post and this is what I said -
Welcome to my new blog about learning. Here is where I am hoping to reflect and gather some great ideas that support my philosophy of where our education should be going. To me learning is not just about knowing stuff, but being part of a global world and being able to communicate, think and solve problems independently and with others.
If I think about what I said on January 5th 2008, I think I have been quite faithful to its intentions. I have continued to explore the future of education, challenged my own views, interacted with numerous educators around the world and problem solved on many different levels.
As a principal I will maintain my blog and continue to reflect on my learning, as I am sure that this next chapter will provide me much scope for that.
Even though this is not about my journey with education, ICT or leadership, it is my daughter’s journey in her creative endeavours. Last year she was cast for a part in “Wordless” a short film by Dir. Lisa Kappel, a student at Victorian College of the Arts. It was filmed locally here in Melbourne and was entered into the SoHo International Film Festival. Just recently it won the audience award for short film. (I think I have that right!)
You can see my daughter, Tammy, very briefly in the following trailer. She is the one on the couch with the main character.
I think film is such a powerful medium to tell stories. It is something that, as a teacher I have enjoyed introducing to my students, and have delighted in watching their creations. This time I delight in seeing my daughter as part of the story.
I am often amazed at the great things happening in schools with the use of ICT and social media. Today I came across a wonderful clip from Abbot and Costello that was used in a class blog to stimulate discussion about the processes of maths, problem solving and right and wrong. The responses from the students demonstrated their thirst for inquiry and questioning, and their ability to reflect on each others’ responses. I am sure this maths conundrum was a hot topic of conversation the next day in class.
I loved the clip so much that I thought I would add it to my blog here to remind me of the fun you can have with numbers!
To begin our course our first unit has been on Inner Leadership – Understanding Self and Others. There are many leadership courses that are around, some which I have participated in, but rarely do they ask you to look deeply into the person you are (leader or not). Within the first few classes of this course, we were asked to share ‘wounding stories’. Many of these stories related to work experiences as well as personal. We then had to write about our own experience and relate it to our readings. Some of these being -
As a reflective person, I have really taken to this unit. I have enjoyed the reading, the reflecting, discussion and writing. I have enjoyed learning from others’ experiences about their challenges and their “wounding stories”. These stories are usually the non-discussibles, as Barth describes, in the work place. We don’t like to bring up feelings and hurt, as we are expected to look calm, collected and in control. So to discuss these challenges in class has been quite unexpected yet intriguingly comfortable.
A Ted Talk by Brene Brown seemed to fit well with my reading and reflections. Brown is a research professor in human connections and explores concepts of vulnerability, courage, authenticity, shame and worthiness. It is well worth watching -
Now off to do some more reading, reflecting and writing.
