What Matters Most in Learning, Teaching and Leading
Andrew (Andy) Jones / Facilitator
Learning Science:
Context is key ... professional practice, colleagues and community in our setting is pivotal when looking at development and change.
Sharing a short story with a beginning, middle and end (2 minutes) about someone in our community that we have made a difference for is very powerful in summing up what we are in education for ... acknowledging that we have and do make a difference. This would be a very valuable activity to carry out with staff and teams to keep us in the positives!!
Episodes for Learning
- What are we talking about here? School improvement research and practice
- What makes you say that? Leading evidence-informed teaching practices across the school
- Teachers make the Difference: Teacher learning and the science of professional learning
- Team work makes the Dream Work: Enhancing teacher collaboration
- Being Clear: Coherent and Intelligible
- Are you paying Attention: Mindful Leadership
Mindfulness is the new BLACK!!
Why the School as a Learning Organisation?
- Who Killed Nokia? They were big and now almost extinct! Why? The leaders weren't listening to change ... APPLE arrived on the scene .... Apple leaders were programmers ... involved in how the systems work. In Nokia the leaders were removed from the systems. In school we need to make the decisions as we know education, we are at the front of change, we are an integral aspect of the puzzle ... we make the difference to the future here and now ... we are part of the change. We also have an interest and investment ... we are connected.
Just because you sit on a toilet does not make you a plumber!
What do we as architects of learning want for our learners?
- To keep the wonderment of learning alive ... intellectual and emotional ability to engage on society...
- Connectivity, with each other, their community and beyond.
- Creative, Curious and Innovative
- To keep the love of learning alive ... confident, connected, active learners.
- Happy ... knowing where to go when the going isn't going right.
- To have choices.
- To be resilient, ... This is a direct correlation to mental health.
- To be good humans ... to add value to their community! This is what creates self esteem, self worth
- To know who they are!! To feel valued, listened to and that they matter
- Passionate and kind.
Leading International Trends in School Improvement
- Teacher level leadership
- Networked Improvement Communities
"Communities of Learning are struggling to find the leaders and teachers to lead these. Failing as they have been imposed from Top Down" ... These are Andrew's thoughts.
In Medicine ... the leaders growing the concept are in medicine ... In education it is the Ministry telling us how to run these, they are not teachers, principals or leaders in education.
How do schools Improve?
- High quality teaching practice
- Powerful Home / School Partnerships
- Educational Leadership
- Professional Development
- Teacher Teams
Teacher-Level or Middle- level School Leadership
'Teachers who maintain classroom-based teaching responsibilities, while also taking on leadership responsibilities outside that of the classroom.'
Leading Ideas
Most systems that invest in their school invest in principal leadership ...
The STRENGTH of the Middle Leaders
- Managing the stresses/difficulties - wellbeing/impact
- Changing relationships with peers and administration-identity
- opportunity for increased positive feelings and professional growth
- Harnessing the potential of an untapped resource- career teachers
ALL / MST support the development of teacher leaders, leading from the classroom empowers the teachers.
The classroom teacher has the integrity among their colleagues as they are doing the 'mahi' ... a leader that leads from the classroom are facing the challenges in the room alongside their colleagues, they are in the reality of today's classroom.
Teachers as Leaders / Collaborative leadership for Communities of Learning / Vincent Anfara.
The Stresses of Leading is REAL
What is Mindfulness?
- Mindfulness is about paying attention to the present moment with openness, curiosity, and without judgement.
- Present in your body
- Paying attention
- Building a positive culture with deliberate actions, acknowledging the importance of all in the team, the community and the class.
It's not whale music, caftans and candles ...
This app is a possibility for the school to follow. There is a free education programme for the whole school to follow.
Is there merit in providing our students with this tool? ... Nathan Wallis believes that teaching our students the practice of mindfulness is the best gift we can give them for their future!!
Acknowledge our feelings as feelings and not out reality!
Sharing this app with families to support them and their children at home is also a worthwhile practice.
4. Teamwork makes the Dream Work
Children grow into the intellect that is around them ... the teacher has a significant impact on this in their modelling and the values that they engage in and give students exposure to.
Teacher Collaboration
- Connections
- Inclusiveness
- Collective Conversations
- Collective Ownership / efficacy
- Improvement
- More than cooperation
- the union of ideas
- SHARING
- Respectful nature of the relationship
- Interdependence- creating new knowledge - valuing others
- Relational trust
- Synergy - connections
- 'We'
- Goal directedness / purpose / focus
- Collective understanding
- Bringing it together!
Lyn Sharratt ...
Collaboration is ... goal-directed action that empowers teachers and leaders to construct new knowledge together, that builds and shares understanding about practice and most importantly, that outlines specific strategies for improving the quality of students lives.
What is the nature of teacher collaboration in our schools?
I am noticing...
I am wondering ... A way to share thoughts and ideas to encourage growth ... prompting conversation ... thoughts on a topic.
I am noticing ... stronger teacher relationships in our HUBs and am wondering is this a reason for the shared consistency across the school not being as strong?
I am noticing that we are very predictable in our school for children and wonder if this is a barrier to them learning to adapt to change.
Collective Efficacy is the most powerful aspect to improvement across the school ... the leaders and teachers in the school have a shared understanding of what we all believe!!
Peter Senge: Mindfulness as Key for Personal & Organisational Learning (Chap 3)
The health of the community is reliant on the whole community ... if one aspect is not strong the other areas are affected.
Peer Observation...
We often watch the teacher during an observations ... learning is invisible, observing the learners is key to knowing what is being taught and how effective the teacher is.
Ask the learners the questions...
- What are you learning?
- Why are you learning this?
- How will it help you in the future?
A wondering I have after my time with Andrew is why am I in education?
What difference am I making or wanting to make?
What do I believe and want to see for my school, my students, my team?
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