Gratitude as "Fuel"

I have been reading a few blog posts about the importance of gratitude  - most recently from colleague and friend Chris Wejr

Coincidentally I have made "gratitude" an ongoing focus and a personal goal of mine this year - as an administrator, husband and father.

I shared this personal goal of gratitude with the students and parents at the school to start the school year.   My main message was that I was going to be more attentive, mindful and grateful for those things in my life that I often “forget” or take for granted. I shared that I wanted to be mindful and grateful for things such as a my job, the love of family, friends, personal health and the country in which I live.

Team members add a message of gratitude to this book before each meeting

To help me maintain this focus on gratitude and to share this "gift" with the admin team, I placed a small book of “Gratitude” on my table in my office.  I then invited the team, when so moved, before our weekly meeting to hand write a note of gratitude anywhere in the book.  We have maintained this little ritual as an administrative team, and from time to time a member of the team will write in the book about something or someone for which they are grateful.

Today, this book is full of inspiring messages of gratitude.  When I need a boost, I often pick up this book and read the many personal notes of gratitude - proving once again, that gratitude often provides necessary “fuel” and motivation to take on the many challenges and goals in our lives. 

In a similar way, we have a long standing tradition the school that all staff meetings end with "Acknowledgements".  This is essentially the practice of "staff thanking and acknowledging staff".  Teachers and staff stand up and thank each other for the various ways in which they support other.  I always marvel at how uplifting those moments appreciation are for everyone.

Me writing this post serves as another personal reminder to be mindful and grateful for those wonderful things and people I often fail to fully appreciate.

And trust me, I am still figuring this one out....

The Shift Away from "Tech Talk"

The nature of my conversations about technology in education have evolved over the past few years. Ten years ago I spent much of my time convincing colleagues, parents and community members about the benefits (and pitfalls) of technology in schools.

To some degree, I am still having those conversations but far, far fewer. Today I'm having far more conversations around meaningful learning experiences for students and teachers. I’m sharing stories of how teachers and students are collaborating, communicating and creating informed and meaningful learning experiences. I’m sharing stories of how we are communicating student learning in more dynamic and robust ways, stories of how our teachers developing classroom routines and practices teaching students how to self-regulate the use of technology, sharing examples of student projects that embed technology to enhance communication and collaboration.  

Grounded in our continuous improvement plan, we are having conversations on the need for students to be better thinkers, creators and innovators.

Ironically, although I am talking less about technology per se, a byproduct of our quest to make learning that is connected, visible, experiential and empowered we have seen a significant uptake in technology across our campus. For example, in the past two years we have seen requests for technology from teachers increase dramatically. We have gone from about 60 devices to about 400 – mainly Chromebook laptops – with demand only increasing and we are also seeing more and more students being invited by their teachers to bring in their own laptops into classrooms.

Like I was explaining to someone the other day, we don't have technology plan, we have a learning plan the byproduct of which is creating dynamic and effective uses of technology.

Still Figuring It Out......

Patience: A Christmas Messsge

The following is what I shared with my school community this Christmas season:

FreeImages.com/Schoeman

Waiting is a period of learning. The longer we wait the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting.” 

- Henri Nouwen

---

Advent is a time of patience and waiting. We are reminded that in waiting for Christ’s birth we are blessed with many unanticipated gifts - most importantly getting to know Him better.

As a parent, teaching my children about the importance of patience and waiting can be challenging.

For example, here is a typical exchange at home in the build up to Christmas:

Kids: “Dad, can I open the gifts from under the Christmas tree?”
Dad:  “But it's only December 5th! You need to be patient.”
Kids: “How about just one? Please…...”
Dad: “You know that patience is a virtue!”
(And the debate goes on from there)

We are living in times when immediate results get the most and loudest attention and instant gratification is the norm. Ironically, despite this growing sense of impatience, we know that the practice of patience offers us important spiritual and cognitive benefits.

Here at school, waiting and being patient is an important aspect of the learning process. Many of us might get frustrated when we encounter a problem, concept, or skill that we cannot understand or demonstrate immediately and might choose to give up or (worse yet) sabotage our own efforts for fear of failure.

Interestingly, patience in the learning process often requires us to be very “active” in our patience by requiring us to persist and to embrace the value of perseverance, even when the waiting is longer than we'd like.

In the first four months of school I’ve seen our teachers reinforce many of the virtues of “active” patience with our students and their learning - whether in the classroom, on the field, in the gym, or on retreat. I have also seen the benefits of this “active” patience in our efforts around continuous school improvement and campus redesign efforts.

As we look to embrace more patience in our lives, especially during this Advent Season, on behalf of the faculty and staff of Vancouver College, I extend to each of you a restful and blessed holiday, a very Merry Christmas with wishes of hope, health and happiness for the New Year.

When Pedagogy & School Design Intersect

I have written before about our Vision for Learning & subsequent Dashboard of Learning and how these processes were (and are) a vital aspect of our plans for building new spaces on our campus.

Now, some two years later, we are on the verge of beginning the first phase of construction. This short two minute “fly through” video captures, to scale, the spaces we are planning to build. What is also very important is that the Learning Priorities identified by our faculty, parents and students are already being implemented so that when the new spaces are completed, our pedagogy will be able to optimize the newly imagined, designed and constructed learning spaces.  One might say that these spaces have been imagined and created at the intersection of pedagogy and design.

As you watch this video keep in mind some some of our Learning Priorities such as: Learning that is mission driven, connected, visible, formal and informal, informed and empowered. You will notice new spaces that we currently do not have such Learning Neighbourhoods, informal common learning spaces, small multi-purpose breakout rooms and a large learning commons.

Still Figuring It Out......

How Can We Re-Imagine School? An EdTalk

Recently I had the privilege of being an "EdTalk" speaker at the 2016 FISA Convention.  Below is the video of my 8 minute talk in which I attempt to answer:

"How can we best reimagine school for our students?"

Below are the slides from the presentation.

Still figuring it out....

Leadership as Incubation

I believe that a learning disposition drives improvement and innovation.

A few years ago I may have said that "things" drive improvement.  You know....things like curriculum, the Internet, tablets, computers, reading programs, discipline programs.....

Now don't get me wrong, many of these "things" have brought great improvements and efficiency to the educational landscape. 

But programs are fleeting. Curriculum changes. And while technology is changing our lives and transforming the educational and learning landscape, it's effective adoption and implementation is, at its core, an iterative process. 

And while there is a place for leadership to introduce "things", real improvement, lasting transformation and innovation is about creating systems and conditions that promote continuous learning and improvement -for all learners.

I have come to realize that I am most effective when I promote the creation of systems and conditions that promote individual and collective improvement (& not necessarily programs).

This year we are embarking on a process of continuous school improvement that is less about initiating programs and more about creating the systems and conditions for the teachers to assess the needs of the students they serve and act accordingly (which can include introducing new programs, resources, etc). 

In a sense we are embarking on a process of creating a "learning incubator".

In the business world, an incubator is a place:

designed to accelerate growth and success..... through an array of (business) support resources and services that could include physical space, capital, coaching, common services, and networking connections .

 From Entrepreneur.com

We are striving to create the conditions and systems where the working professionals are given time, supports, resources and opportunities to reflect, act and network in order to provide for the further success of our students.  

Here are a few ways we are creating an incubator for learning:

A Visible and Connected Continuous School Improvement Plan

Connecting the dots of learning...

Flowing from a comprehensive visioning process, we have now implemented a more formalized process whereby by faculty (and department teams) reflect and document their learning.  Learning goals and action plans are made visible by all in the school via our newly created "Dashboard" of  learning.  This Dashboard is publicly shared and posted for all in our community see in order that we make our learning visible, connected and networked.  We want people to "connect the dots" of learning.

Time for Learning

For the second year we are continuing with our school Learning Teams.  This year, we have added a learning innovation grant that teachers can access to further support their learning.  

Physical Space

We are currently in the process planning for renewed facilities for our students, faculty, and staff.  Some of the key design principles being implemented include: learning neighborhoods, learning commons, transparency and flexibility.

By creating some of these "conditions for incubation" we are already starting to see some new teacher driven initiatives.  For example:

• Teachers are implementing online digital portfolios for students (e.g.  Freshgrade, Google Drive, etc.) 
• New courses/programs have been created including a "Make It" class, a culinary class, technical theatre class, robotics club and the imminent launch of Google Apps for Education for students. 
• The increasing dismantling of curricular silos and replaced by cross-curricular and cross grade connections. 

At the end of the day- this process is about creating a climate of continuous learning that empowers teachers so that they can, in turn, empower student learning. 

As usual, I am still figuring it out.........

From Future Possibilties to Priorities: Inspiring a Vision for Learning

This past school year marks the first for me as principal at my school.  One of the exciting opportunities that stand before us as a community is the renewal a large portion of our campus with newer, safer and more modern facilities.  

With the exciting prospect of building newer walls and spaces, comes a much more profoundly important prospect of examining and renewing the teaching and learning culture at the school.  

Typically, the idea of building walls gets people's attention.  Given that we have peoples', attention, this year we decided to ask one basic and fundamental question:  "What should teaching and learning look like at the school in its next century?"

We spent the the first five months of the year engaging faculty, staff, parents and students in answering this important question.

The process involved surveying and holding small and large group meetings with all stakeholders. Of particular interest was the process for engaging the faculty of the school in asking them important questions about teaching (pedagogy) and learning.  

The questions were clustered in three broad categories: Delivery, Curriculum & Assessment, and Facilities.  Teachers were asked to reflect on their practice and rate where they see themselves currently and where they might want to be in the future.  For each pedagogical practice, teachers were give a 5 point scale from "traditional to transformed".

For example, in the category of "Delivery" there was a question regarding "delivery modes". Teachers were given descriptors from 1 (traditional) to 5 (transformed) for this question.  At the more traditional end of the scale, delivery was described as predominantly teacher direct instruction with little student participation while at the transformed end of the scale you saw more project based, discussion based instruction with direct instruction only when needed (see below for a the sample questions and criteria.

The results were then collected and plotted on a spider graph. The intent was to see where staff saw there practice today and where they saw their practice in the future. The graphics below are a sample of a summary of results from a few different department groupings.  You will notice that red line indicates where faculty see their practice today and the blue line indicates their future goal.

The results of this process have proven to be extremely informative. On the whole most faculty members want to move their practice to a more "transformed" place (in a thoughtful and student centred manner).

As principal, the burning question for me is: how do we help staff bridge the gap between where they are now and where they want to go?

Over the next 12 months we will embark on a process of continuous school improvement. The intent is create a system where faculty and staff can come together in a strategic way to support each other in their desired future goals.  









An important take away in this continuous improvement plan is NOT to create goals for teachers.  Instead, we will create school wide priorities based on the feedback we received. 

Our priorities will be evidence based, inspiring, future orientated, challenging and inspiring action statements that will give direction to the entire school.  From these priorities, departments, sections and teachers will be asked to create goals that make sense for them in their practice and context.  

This process is not about micromanaging action.  

It is about taking the collective future possibilities and transforming them into strategic priorities.  

It is about inspiring and cultivating action that will best serve the learning needs of our students. 

It should be noted that to support teachers and their goals, we will continue with our Learning Teams initiative (I suspect these teams will become even more focussed and purposeful!).

This process has underscored a few important points for me, namely: 

• It is a constant truth that teachers care deeply about their students and their learning needs.  
• If you create a space that allows teachers to reflect and exercise their intelligence, they will, in the main, use it thoughtfully and effectively

and

• When it comes to inspiring change, process is as important as product.

Still figuring it out.....

Learning Teams Launched

Each school year presents new and exciting opportunities for learning and growth - certainly for students - but equally important for faculty and staff. To that end, this year we have launched the Vancouver College Learning Teams.

This is an opportunity for the adults at the school to come together on a regular basis to “exercise their intelligence” in the service of the students.

Already, teams have come together to explore topics such as:

• Learning Empowered by Technology using specific apps (e.g. Notability, Google Apps, Board Maker) 
• Differentiated Instruction & Technology
• Technology & Science in the Kindergarten Classroom
• Faith Formation across the curriculum
• Problem Based Learning
• School Advisory Program 
• Assessment for Learning
• Olweus anti-bullying program
• Growth Mindset book study
• Teaching Games
• “Make to Learn”

In an effort to maximize the potential for these teams to have complete success we put in place a few parameters and "environmental" considerations, namely:

1. We created time in the day for teachers to meet. Every Wednesday afternoon is dedicated to teacher collaboration. These Learning Teams will operate during this time.

2. We asked staff to come up with Collaboration Commitments. These are the commitments team members make to each other before, during and after collaboration time.

3. We are asking teams to report out on their learning during full staff meetings - thus allowing for a cross pollination of ideas across the entire campus. This also shifts the focus of staff meetings from "information sharing" to a "learning and sharing"

4. We created a collaboration schedule that removed the Elementary School, Middle School, Senior School silos - thus allowing teachers from across the K-12 spectrum to join common teams. As a K-12 campus, it will be exceedingly important that we continue to overcome the tendency to silo and instead take full advantage of the  K-12 learning spectrum. 

5.Each teams will be provided resources, upon request, to deepen their learning experience.

Already, teachers are acting on their learning team initiatives. For example, some teachers are asking for increased student use of technology in classroom (from specific apps to increased access to devices). Other teachers are starting to incorporate Growth Mindset teaching in their classes and still others are reexamining their assessment and grading practices.

All of this is part of a continuing plan to make teaching and learning more engaging, enriching and empowered for our students and teachers.

My early sense is that these learning teams will be a great source of innovation and improvement for our learning community.

Still Figuring It Out.....

The "This Too Shall Pass"...Stall in Education Reform"

I recently attended  a Canadian Education Association regional workshop (facilitated by Stephen Hurley and Ron Canuel) at the University of British Columbia.  It was a gathering of passionate and talented people tasked with answering one question:

What's standing in the way of change in education?

This was one of a series of events, held across Canada, to study and explore answers to the aforementioned question (for more information on this exciting research click here).

The day began by exploring some of the barriers to change in education.  Participants shared many insights and ideas - identifying barriers such as:  funding models, policy decisions (school, organizational and government) , institutional memory (by all stakeholders), societal expectations, assessment models (and many more).

As we shared the many barriers to change I couldn't help but think about the long history of (failed?) education reform in Canada and British Columbia.

On a personal level, I can think of the many conversations I've had regarding BC's latest education transformation initiative (The BC Education Plan, Curriculum Transformation) and the inevitable "conversation stopping" sentiment:

This too shall pass.

The proverbial “we tried that back in..(insert year)" can be a little demoralizing when in comes to school improvement and change in education.

And yet these sentiments do cause me to pause and think about some "recent" failed reform initiatives here in BC.  For example:

• In 1987 the government of BC commissioned Barry Sullivan to review the BC education system and make recommendations for improvement.  The Commission came down with sweeping recommendations for BC's education system including such things as: cross curricular integration of content, a shift in focus from content to "learning to learn", child centered instruction, multi-age grouping of students, emphasis on school within community, more authentic performance based assessment of students and anecdotal reporting of student learning.  I came across this pdf version of the report here: It is both a fascinating and sobering read. 

• Open Classrooms.  Talk to a teacher who was around in the late 1970’s early 1980’s. They will tell you this was a good idea gone bad. The walls went up shortly after they were taken down.

• School Portfolio’s. In 2005 the government initiated a mandatory graduation portfolio for every student in British Columbia.  By 2007 the program was scrapped. More fodder for the "been there done that" camp.

These examples can teach us a tremendous amount about reform and change in education. Bottom line – it is not easy.

And yet I am hopeful that we can we learn from the past.  This is why I am excited to hear about the work that the CEA is undertaking in understanding the barriers in education reform and change.

Despite any "mistakes" made in the education reform past,  I will suggest that there may be different forces at play today that are providing a different type of momentum to the school reform movement:

This election of Pope Benedict (2005) vs Pope Francis (2013)

Mobile, Web-Based, Social Technology
The proliferation of mobile, web based, social technology is giving us access to an abundance of diverse information and people. Accessing the information is not solely dependent on "school" or the educators that work in them.


Neuroscience
There is a growing amount of brain research that is dispelling myths about how the human brain learns best. This article does a nice job summarizing some of the recent research: Neuroscience: Brain Based Learning Myth Busting

Shrinking, Shifting, Connected World
Many have written about how world has changed -economically, strategically and socially.  In a compelling and informative TED talk, Paddy Ashdown talks about the Global Power Shift. One of his more compelling arguments is that:

In the modern age where everything is connected to everything, the most important thing you can do....is what you can do with others.  

Ashdown emphatically states that the paradigm structure of our time is the network.  If we buy Ashdown's argument, then as educators we need to ask ourselves how equipped our students are to navigate this shifting world.

Some enduring constants....
Yet, despite these momentum generating forces, I would argue that there are some enduring constants in education and school that will continue to positively serve our students.

Namely that teachers, working in relationships (with students and colleagues) matter immensely and that learning is personal (individual) and social and it needs to be shared and made visible.

So moving forward I have a few questions for reflection:

• What will be the compelling reason for school as a place, moving forward?
• Will, what many see as “extra” in schools, actually become the compelling "core" of what will make school relevant?
• Will we look back twenty years from now and see this time as yet another failed attempt at change in education?

I am still figuring it out.  Your thoughts and comments are welcome......

Earthquakes, Technology & School Safety

An engineer sets up the shake table at the UBC facility 

Yesterday (April 23, 2014) a 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit the west coast of Vancouver Island here in British Columbia.

As chance would have it, the previous day I had the opportunity to visit, along with a number of administrators and teachers from the Catholic Independent Schools of Vancouver Archdiocese, the UBC Earthquake Research Facility to begin the implementation and training process for the installation of an earthquake early warning system for the 49 Catholic schools located the greater Vancouver area.

News of the Vancouver area Catholic schools early warning system has been previously written about by various media outlets.

The following diagram helps explain how the Earthquake Early Warning system works:

In short, the technology being used, detects P-waves (prior to the earth shaking) and leverages a connected communication network to notify all our schools immediately.

Learning about P-Waves from Dr. Ventura

If a P-wave, triggered by an earthquake, is detected in any one of our schools (we have 49 schools from Powell River to Chilliwack - 300 km apart) the networked technology will trigger an alarm in all our schools simultaneously.

This alarm will give teachers and students precious time to duck, cover and hold before the shaking actually begins.

There are also plans to develop a smart phone app that will be synced to the system - giving individuals earthquake notification directly to their phones.

The roll out of this warning system has already begun and is scheduled to be functional some time this fall.  As we prepare for its implementation I am left with a couple of thoughts:

1. I am grateful for individuals who leverage technology to make a positive difference in our lives
2. Mobile, networked technology can unite a system.
3. I am hopefully that the work being done by our schools can lead to greater cooperation with other schools (public and independent) to help all students and teachers - like I've said before - they are ALL our children
4. I can see how one broad early warning system across British Colombia can benefit all of us. 

Still figuring it out......

From Teacher to Learner

As we march ahead in education, navigating a changing landscape - imposed by a variety of forces (e.g mobile, web based and social technology, economic shifts, globalization, etc) - I am sometimes asked for my opinion on what will make (or has made) the biggest impact on our ability to re-image (or re-imagine) education and school.

My answer has been somewhat consistent:

A teacher's disposition as learner first, is the greatest factor in our ability to re-image school.

Which got me thinking about the power of words.  What if the word "teacher" was replaced by the word "learner"?

I believe that words are powerful:

“A picture can tell a thousand words, but a few words can change it’s story.” Sebastyne Young

This video, on the power of words, magnifies this message beautifully : So, what if we replaced the word "teacher" with "learner" in all its contexts?  Would it assist teachers in coping with some the changes occurring in education? Would it impact learning in schools and classrooms? Would it impact pedagogy? What impact would this have on students?

In an effort to have a little fun, here are a few common expression with the word "teacher" and an amended version with the word "learner":

Common expression with the word "Teacher"

1. Teacher
2. I teach.
3. I am a teacher.
4. I teach students
5. Those who can, do.  Those who can't teach.
6. I don't teach curriculum. I teach students.
7. I am a (insert grade level or curricular area) teacher.

Amended version - replacing "Teacher" with "Learner"

1. Learner
2. I activate learning for my students.
3. I am an agent of learning for my students.  Ultimately I want them to be free agents with their learning
4. I am a learner who learns with and about my students...
5. Those who can, do.  Those who can't learn.
6. I learn about how students learn.  I am an activator of learning for my students.
7. As a passionate learner of (insert curricular/content area) myself, I activate learning for my students in...(insert curricular/content area)

Is this a small, silly or superficial thing?

Maybe.

However, I would contend that, when we see ourselves as learners first we can more easily  live and embody a growth mindset for our students.  When we see ourselves as learners first, we don't see change as a threat but rather as a way of being.  When we see ourselves as learners first, we are passionate about learning and want to share that passion with our students and colleagues.

By being learners first,we can more readily allow our students to be free agents with their learning - something our children and students will require throughout their life.

Still figuring it out......

Go Study! Strategies with Impact

As an administrator, teacher and parent I have caught myself preaching about the need to study.

Certainly my own children have heard me talk about the importance of preparation, being organized and work habits.

But I must confess that while preaching about the importance of studying and preparation, I probably could be a little more specific about what effective study strategies look like.

For this I turn to John Hattie - who has compiled  a list of meta cognitive study strategies that, the research shows, are most effective in preparing students.

Here are the TOP 5 study strategies (Visible Learning, John Hattie):

1. Organizing and Transforming
This is about being organized in your thinking and making it your own.   It includes such things as making an outline before you compose or mapping your thinking.

2. Self Consequences
Students need to get to a place where they prioritize what is important - preferably on their own. In my house it might look and sound like this: "I know you want play on your rainbow loom, but is there any business you need to take care of first?" This reminds me of the now famous Stanford University Marshmallow Experiment on delayed gratification where:

the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by test scores and educational attainment.....However, recent work calls into question whether self-control, as opposed to strategic reasoning, determines children's behavior

3. Self Evaluation
Creating opportunities for students to do structured self evaluations of their own work.  Peer reviews of work are also effective in this regard.

4. Self-Instruction
Verbalizing the steps and thinking involved in a task.  In other words - "talking it through"

5. Help Seeking
Find a study partner and talk it out it with each other.  Don't be afraid to ask for help.  Ask important important questions.  Receive quality feedback.

Here are the three LEAST effective study strategies (Visible Learning, Hattie):

1. Environmental Restructuring
 Selecting or arranging the physical setting to making learning easier.  This one surprises me given that I have given this bit of advice before.  I suppose this one needs to be taken in context.  If you only provide the space without the effective strategies (see above) results are limited.

2. Time Management
Scheduling daily study and homework time.  Again, one that I have recommended in the past!  Nonetheless, scheduling time without purpose is ineffective.  Reminds me of a few meetings I have attended or even facilitated!

3. Imagery
Creating or recalling vivid mental images to assist learning.

An observation
As I think about the "least effective" study strategies listed above, I can't help but wonder if they tend to prepare students for a certain type of demonstration of learning - i.e. memorizing for the test and/or recalling of information.

On the other hand, the top 5 strategies, from what I can see, lend themselves to preparing students for learning that is multifaceted - from recalling of information to project based, inquiry driven learning.

As usual, I'm still figuring it out....

When SMART Goals become Dumb

Our schools have embraced SMART Goals (Conzemius and O’Neal, 2002) as a vehicle for allowing focused conversations around school growth in the area of curriculum, instruction and learning.

SMART Goals as a definition (and an acronym) are:

Specific: focus on specific learning needs of students
Measurable: can progress be monitored and adjustments can me be made along the way
Attainable: Goals are realistic and team members are given time and resources
Results Orientated: outcomes are observable specific
Time Bound: all done within a time frame

With this in mind I would like to throw out some personal questions and concerns about SMART Goals as I have come to see them in action.

To be clear, I'm not against goal setting.  After all, if everything is a priority then nothing is a priority.

Having strategic goals, based on evidenced need, that can be monitored, is important for any school and teacher.

However, when it comes to SMART Goals in schools, I wonder if we, at times, miss the mark.

Process over results

Recently I watched a video entitled "What Drives Winning?"  The speaker, Brett Ledbetter, shares his insights on what some of the most successful coaches in college and professional basketball say about winning and goal setting.

The most telling message from all these successful and respected coaches is that they don't set goals based on results - instead they focus on "process and character".

For example, Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics is quoted as saying:

I don't even talk about goals.  As a team we never talk about it.  The only thing we talk about is process.

You can watch the video here - it is worth your 6 minutes:

Most of the SMART goals that I have encountered usually reference student achievement results based on some sort of standardized test.  One of my discomforts is that an over reliance on test results can drive pedagogy - usually at the expense of empowered, personalized learning for students.  Teach to the test anyone?

To be clear - I am not against standards nor am I against students demonstrating success in their learning through standards. As a society we need to be sure that student learning and understanding is measured against accepted and agreed upon standards.

However shouldn't the fact that we want students to learn and improve be the default position for every educator in the world?  Do we need SMART Goals to remind us that we want students to improve?

I would surmise that the basketball coaches interviewed in the video take "winning" as the default.  Coaches and players want to win.  That is a given.

Teachers want to students to learn and be successful in their learning.  Students are naturally born to learn and want to be successful in their learning.  That is a given.

What isn't a given is the process of empowering students (and teachers) in their learning.  Perhaps SMART Goals should seek to strike a better balance between pedagogy and student results.

Am I making sense?

School Wide Fake

As a high school principal I have always felt that it would be extremely difficult to have one or two school wide SMART Goals that would be valued and meaningful for an entire school community.

Instead, we developed school wide priorities, based on legitimate evidence - that specific departments and teachers could plug into - in a way that was most meaningful for them and their students.

Take for example......Literacy.  I would suspect that most schools, at one point or another, have had some sort of literacy related goal.

Rather than have one very specific SMART goal for our school, we named Literacy, across all curricular areas as an important priority.

As an offshoot of that school wide priority, different departments and teachers were empowered to make some important decisions as to how that literacy goal could have the most impact for individual students.

Science teachers, as an example, spent a lot of time working with students on how to unpack vocabulary rich scientific text.  Some Humanities teachers discovered that they needed to spend  time assisting students with the skill of summarizing text.

Over time we identified similar priorities related to Digital Citizenship, Assessment and Grading Practices and Technology Integration (to name a few).

It was important that our school wide priorities allowed for teachers to be nimble and respond to the learning needs of each student in any given class or course.

We measure that which is easy

Sometimes I worry that an over-reliance and simplistic view of measurement causes us to measure that which is easy.

In a previous post I ask: What are we measuring in education?

Like Dean Shareski writes in this post: "I'm not anti-measurement.  I'm anti-simple"

As usual, I'm figuring things out.  Any feedback is welcome....

The Pedagogy of the Soul, New Curriculum & Catholic Schools

Given my context here in British Columbia and the imminent changes to curriculum, I have been thinking about how these changes align (or not) with the stated mission, vision and values of our Catholic Schools. 

Not surprisingly, the Catholic Church has much to say about education at all levels.  

For example, Catholic Schools around the world talk about educating the "whole child". 

In 1965,  Pope Paul VI wrote his Declaration on Christian Education (Gravissimum Educationis) where he states: 

.... children and young people must be helped, with the aid of the latest advances in psychology and the arts and science of teaching, to develop harmoniously their physical, moral and intellectual endowments so that they may gradually acquire a mature sense of responsibility in striving endlessly to form their own lives properly and in pursuing true freedom as they surmount the vicissitudes of life with courage and constancy. ......Moreover they (students) should be so trained to take their part in social life that properly instructed in the necessary and opportune skills they can become actively involved in various community organizations, open to discourse with others and willing to do their best to promote the common good.

The Holy Father goes on to write:

Among all educational instruments the school has a special importance.(19) It is designed not only to develop with special care the intellectual faculties but also to form the ability to judge rightly, to hand on the cultural legacy of previous generations, to foster a sense of values, to prepare for professional life. Between pupils of different talents and backgrounds it promotes friendly relations and fosters a spirit of mutual understanding; and it establishes as it were a center whose work and progress must be shared together by families, teachers, associations of various types that foster cultural, civic, and religious life, as well as by civil society and the entire human community.

Archbishop of Vancouver, Michael Miller, when writing  on this topic states:

The enduring foundation on which the Church builds her educational philosophy is the conviction that it is a process which forms the whole child, especially with his or her eyes fixed on the vision of God. The specific purpose of a Catholic education is the formation of boys and girls who will be good citizens of this world, enriching society with the leaven of the Gospel, but who will also be citizens of the world to come. Catholic schools have a straightforward goal: to foster the growth of good Catholic human beings who love God and neighbor and thus fulfill their destiny of becoming saints.

However, as I reflect on the above quotes and a host of articles related to this topic, a couple of thoughts stand out for me.

Curriculum & Pedagogy

Firstly, as members of the Catholic School community it is important to keep these thoughts in mind as we move forward with new curricula in British Columbia.  From my perspective, the new curriculum should be seen as an opportunity to review and reflect on our values as schools and  renew our effort to educate the whole child within the context and culture our times.

To this point, I would argue that we as Catholic educators must take the time to reflect on own pedagogy as is relates to educating the whole child.   

For example:

• Are we, like Pope Paul references, aiding  our students by "adopting the latest advances in psychology and the arts and science of teaching?"  
• How do we define "success" in our schools?  
• How are we engaging students in their learning?
• What role does technology play in pedagogy?
• What is the role of the teacher in today's information saturated world?
• Are we having discussions at the exact point where faith and reason intersect? 
• How are we teaching our students to faith filled, critical thinking men and women of goodness and service? 
• How has our educational program "adopted to the latest advances....?"

In short, if we see the new curriculum as an opportunity to renew our values in educating the whole child, we must, with equal fervor, be committed to reflecting on our own pedagogy as we look to meet the needs of all our students - as they are today.

School & Community

As we look to advances in information technology and the increasingly ubiquitous manner in which  information can be accessed, curated and published - many in education are questioning the need for the "institution of school" as a place of learning.  We can look to the proliferation of on-line/virtual schools and the recent growth of MOOC's at the post secondary level .   I have noticed more and more jurisdictions seriously  looking at "Blended Learning"  environments as alternatives to "traditional" "brick and mortar" schooling.

Again, as Catholic schools we need to pay attention and reflect on the these potential pressure points in our understanding of "school community".  Archbishop Miller succinctly summarizes the Church's teaching on this issue when he writes:

(The Church's) emphasis on the community aspect of the Catholic school, a dimension rooted both in the social nature of the human person and the reality the Church as "the home and the school of communion."...That the Catholic school is an educational community "is one of the most enriching developments for the contemporary school." 

...a Catholic school is thought of in the transition from the school as an institution to the school as a community...... the community dimension is primarily a theological concept rather than a sociological category....Vatican statements emphasize that the school is a community of persons and, even more to the point, "a genuine community of faith."

He goes on to summarize that the Church requires Catholic schools to develop community specifically related to "the teamwork or collaboration among all those involved; the interaction of students with teachers and the school's physical environment."

  

In the article Pedagogy of the Golden Dome, the author, Matt Emerson, attempts to address the issue of school community in the Catholic school context and ultimately asks whether, e-based, virtual post secondary learning environments are equal alternatives to classic school environments.  

The author argues that the alternatives should not be treated as equal and writes: 

I don't believe they should be, and the reason begins with a truth nicely captured in Gaudium et Spes: "For by their innermost nature men and women are social beings; and if they do not enter into relationships with others they can neither live nor develop their gifts" (para. 12). This social nature should, and will, continue to draw people back to campuses, back into community. There is no substitute for an immediate give-and-take, for the chance to see blank faces and quizzical looks and the enthusiasms of an "aha" moment. A non-virtual classroom allows immediate feedback and possibilities for activities and discussions that aren't available through satellites and screens. 

The author goes on to describe his own experience studying law at the University of Notre Dame:

Moreover, as humans, and especially as Catholics, we know the importance of physical space. Where we learn can be just as important as what we learn; even more, the former can influence the latter. I could have studied law online or in a plain urban area, but I would have missed out on something that became essential to me as a lawyer and educator, and most fundamentally as a person seeking truth. Studying law on the gorgeous inspiring grounds of Notre Dame shaped my heart and soul. When I walked across South Quad, past Mary and the Golden Dome, I sensed the ultimate horizon of my learning, that I was participating in something much more significant than ensuring a nice career. When I walked out of the law school and heard the bells from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart tolling for a funeral, I felt the urgency of human frailty and the gift of every breath. When I walked by the bust of St. Thomas More and into the regal space of the law library, I never failed to register what More's example had to mean for me. Soul transcends career. Faith trumps security. 

On a personal level I can attest to the power of connecting to a virtual Professional Learning Network.  However it has been when I have met those people face to face that the relationships have become more meaningful and my learning more challenged.

A few questions and thoughts for Catholic schools to consider:

• Moving forward, our schools will need to come to terms with such ideas as "blended learning" and how such ideas can co-exist with the idea of "faith community". 
• How do can we create real collaborative structures in our schools for both teachers and students to engage in their learning? 
• Does our understanding of "community" need to change given the growth in collaborative and social technologies?
• What does it mean to "come together in faith"?
• What impact does our call to sacramental life shape our understanding of community? 

Pedagogy of the Soul
Which gets me to my final point. I have come to see that what defines us, as Catholic schools, in our quest to "educate the whole child" is our ability engage and nurturing the souls of our staff and students.

I will call this the "pedagogy of the soul" and it exists when:

• Staff and students know and understand that they are loved unconditionally by God and are rooted in this love- without exception.
• Staff and students are socially engaged in the world - to be advocates for those less fortunate
• Staff and students engage with matters of faith - first with their hearts followed closely with their minds. 
• We invite healthy and respectful questioning  - being vulnerable and rooted in love and where the principles of the Catholic Intellectual tradition permeate the conversation.
• We measure our successes  as schools beyond utilitarian ends.
• Staff and students are full of joy and happiness knowing that they are rooted in Jesus and his teachings.  Like Aristotle states: "Happiness is the setting of the soul into its most appropriate spot"

I welcome any other thoughts.  As usual, I am still figuring it out............

11 Edu Myths I Encounter

As I continue in my learning "travels", I am noticing some reoccurring "myths" about students, teaching, learning and schooling.

Here is short list of  "11 Edu Myths" that I continue to personally encounter:

Myth #1: Lectures

I continue to encounter many teachers who are somewhat "meek" to admit that they use lectures in their classes.   I hear teachers sometimes declare - "this may not be a good class to visit - I am only lecturing. You should have come last week when students were presenting..."

To be clear, direct instruction (Hattie) and the use of clear instructions by teachers is a legitimate pedagogical tool when it comes to teaching.  However, not all lectures are created equally and a good lecture must be also matched with a teacher's ability to capture student voice in the learning process.

Myth #2: It's all about technology

Wrong.  It starts with good pedagogy.  The teacher matters.  Increasingly, technology can be used to engage students in their thinking.  Teachers have a role to play in triggering learning and thinking.  Technology increasingly has a powerful place in that process.

Myth #3:  Students are Internet savvy

Perhaps one of more dangerous myths in education is that students are "digital natives".  I would argue that this type of thinking gives too many adults a certain "crutch" to abdicate their ethical duty to teach digital citizenship.  I have written about this here: Scarcity at the Table of Abundance

Myth #4:   Public vs. Independent 

As a someone who has worked in the independent school system (in British Columbia) I have seen too much rhetoric "pitting one side against the other" often with stereotypical, misinformed comments  .  The more I work with folks from both the public schools and independent schools the more optimistic I am that EVERYONE is working to serve all students.  At the end of day, they are all our children.

Myth #5: Teaching to a Preferred Learning Style

As a beginning teacher, I remember the emphasis on teaching to a preferred learning styles of our students.  The modern research has now completely debunked the idea of teaching to students  "preferred" learning styles.  A study of the proliferation  of "neuromyths" in education explains the learning style myth this way:

An example of a neuromyth is that learning could be improved if children were classified and taught according to their preferred learning style. This misconception is based on a valid research finding, namely that visual, auditory, and kinesthetic information is processed in different parts of the brain. However, these separate structures in the brain are highly interconnected and there is profound cross-modal activation and transfer of information between sensory modalities (Gilmore et al., 2007). Thus, it is incorrect to assume that only one sensory modality is involved with information processing. Furthermore, although individuals may have preferences for the modality through which they receive information [either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic (VAK)], research has shown that children do not process information more effectively when they are educated according to their preferred learning style (Coffield et al., 2004). 

Myth #6: Boys and Girls

Below is a 3 minutes YouTube clip is from a researcher from the University of Notre Dame talking about the impact gender segregated classes have on academic achievement.  Bottom line?  Boys and girls are different in many physiological and neurological ways (duh!).  While there is no academic harm in gender split classes, the overall effect on achievement is "neutral".  A better approach may be to identify the individual learning needs of each student - beyond gender.
(I have little experience in this area so I welcome comments from those who have more insights)

Myth #7: More is better

More homework?  More school days?  More school hours?  More awards?  It seems that many want to equate "more" with "better".   There is a growing amount of research about the effects of homework,  year round schooling and longer school days.  My travels have told me that more is NOT necessarily the total solution in any of these areas.

Myth #8: Educators are using Social Media 

The more I visit with educators, the more I realize that I am in a bubble when it comes to the use social media to share, learn and grow.   As  a profession we need to continue to be more vulnerable with our own learning and network with others.

Myth #9: Faith & Reason

I increasingly see how many want to divorce all matters of faith from reason.  My personal belief is Catholic, K-12 schools can learn from the Catholic Intellectual Tradition that forms the foundation of many Catholic Universities and Colleges.  A definition of this tradition that resonates with me is as follows:

Perhaps the most fruitful way of thinking about the Catholic Intellectual Tradition is in terms of two aspects: the classic treasures to be cherished, studied, and handed on; and the way of doing things that is the outcome of centuries of experience, prayer, action, and critical reflection.” The treasures ...include certain classic texts, art and architecture, music, as well as developments in science and technology. When these things are appreciated as part of the Christian intellectual heritage, they are studied in a way that tends to integrate the disciplines by relating everything to the meaning of human life in its relationship to the transcendent.  

The other aspect of this tradition is the way we have learned to deal with experience and knowledge in order to acquire true wisdom, live well, and build good societies, laws, and customs. Fundamental to this process is the understanding that faith and reason do not conflict. Rather, the continued pursuit of understanding leads ultimately to wisdom. The Catholic Intellectual Tradition invites us out of isolation and into a community whose cumulative efforts contribute to the construction of a whole—a wholeness that is a Catholic hallmark. (Monika Hellwig) 

Myth #10: School is not "real world"
I hear many folks talk about preparing students for the real world.  I often greet this statement with a few questions:  What is the "real world"?  What is that makes school "not real"? How can we make it "real"?  So often schools and teachers create policies, procedures and cultures on a false sense of what the "real world" actually is.  Any discussion of preparing students for the real world requires a genuine understanding of that the current "real world" actually is.   

Myth#11: Recognizing winners and losers helps motivate students
I am not an expert in human motivation and/or psychology.  As an educator and a parent I have witnessed situations where publicly pitting one student (child) against another in the highly personal and "messy" act of learning has caused alienation, disengagement and embarrassment.

Please feel free to comment and add some of your own "Edu Myths"......

100 Days of Inspiration

I have been in my role as an Associate Superintendent for about 100 days. It's been a whirlwind and the learning curve has been steep.

But without a doubt, my first 100 days have been marked with profound inspiration and admiration for the incredible work happening within the CISVA schools.

One of the greatest parts of my job, thus far, has been my ability and privilege to visit nearly half of our 46 schools.  Whether meeting with individual principals, entire staffs, Parent Education Committees or visiting individual teachers in their classrooms - I have been completely inspired by the faith, dedication, passion and commitment to "best practice" of men and women working in our schools -  in humble service of our students.

Walking into our schools, not only do they "look" Catholic but the Gospel values permeate the hearts and minds of staff and students .  The daily actions of staff members and students embody the life giving values that honour the "whole child"- with their many and varied blessings, talents and challenges.  I am sensing a genuine and overall happiness from students at school.

I am learning things about schools that I never noticed before or even had access to.  Here is a small collection of noteworthy items happening in a few schools that caught my attention over the past 100 days:

• Learning Supported by Technology: a school's 3:1 iPad initiative, a school using Google Chromebooks, a teacher is awarded the Prime Ministers Award for  her use of technology in the classroom, and how other schools are using BYOD and other resources to empowering learning through technology
• An outdoor Kindergarten program 
• some high-school teachers moving to "grade-less report cards" 
• Schools moving to more holistic grading guidelines - placing the focus on student learning as opposed marks
• a school taking Gr. 7 students to the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre for a week  -where students actually "become marine biologists" 
• a school community (parents, staff and students) coming together to raise funds and  build a new playground
• Schools empowering students, teachers and parents to be agents of change for those less fortunate at the Door is Open and at the Agape Street Ministry
• Students in our schools learning to code and even gaining employment in the field 
• Schools using Social Media to connect with their communities- see the growing use of the #CISVA hashtag   
• Schools being intentional about the spiritual, social and emotional health of students.  Whether through programs like Second Step,  I am a gift from God or high school peer counseling programs
• Early Childhood Intervention Programs and Literacy initiatives that place an intentional focus on meeting the learning needs of individual learners at an early age.

I know that there are many more incredible things happening in our schools that I am sure to encounter in the coming months.

I have come to learn these things because my new role has allowed me to connect with people and schools on a different level.

And yet I think we are missing out on a system wide opportunity.

We need to get to a place where my "privileged" position as an Associate is irrelevant!

With today’s access to social media, we increasingly have an opportunity to tell and share our own story to a broader audience - beyond our local communities.

More importantly, as we look grow in our own faith, improve our own professional practice as Catholic school educators and enrich the teaching and learning in our school’s  we need to look to each other for support, sharing and learning.

The first 100 days have been full of inspiration.  I want others to see what I have seen.  Let's continue to create networks of learning across school communities, in an effort to share and inspire each other to continue to meet the needs of every student entrusted to our care.