Where the Magic Happens – A Metaphor for Leadership

These days, we seem to be questioning almost every aspect of our public education system.  Change is coming, there is no doubt about it.  Why?  Because public education still resembles too closely what it was when it was first invented.  The world has changed and as the British Columbia Education Plan suggests, the way we teach our children should change too.  So why is change taking so long?  There is no easy answer to this question.

I don’t hold the belief that everything about public education needs to change, we do good work with kids, but we do need to leave behind the 19th century and move on with the 21st century.  What would school look like if we started from scratch?  Would we group children by age or would we have a home base for some learning and different groupings for other learning?  Would we make kids take disconnected courses, or would we allow them the opportunity to do independent project work where they could demonstrate competencies and skills in a multi-disciplinary environment with a coach?  Would we average out their learning and give them a mark, or would we give them feedback as they learn and help them set learning goals to reach for mastery of big ideas and learning standards?  Would we partner with the community and use real life problems and challenges to develop creativity and critical thinking or would we give them a text book (real or on a tablet computer) and have them simulate these same skills?  Would we ask all kids, introverts or extroverts, athletes or scientists, artists or leaders, to all learn in the same way or would we design different learning opportunities, etc.

The answer, to me, lives in realm of leadership.  Teacher leaders, parent leaders, student leaders, principals, community leaders, all have a role to play in building a shared vision of change in education.  Leaders must be able to bring people together and build a shared vision of what today’s students need.  I saw an image recently on the internet that resonated with me and it kind of represents the leadership challenge we face in public education: (author unknown)

Public education has been in a system wide “comfort zone” for a long time.  The day after I saw this drawing, I viewed a TED talk that illustrated this idea beautifully.  Composer Eric Whitacre wanted nothing to do with singing in a choir when he entered university but was talked into it by a friend.  He left his comfort zone and the rest is, as they say, history. (Click to hear more about this story, well worth it).   To move a stuck system forward, leaders need to focus on the space between the two circles.  The leadership challenge is to  clear a path that is compelling, supported and purposeful and to build a vision of what can be.  Transformation will happen classroom to classroom, school to school, community to community.  How do we work together and work with children and with parents and with community to get to the magic of learning in today’s world?  I am absolutely convinced that shared leadership at all levels is the key, and perhaps, stepping outside of our collective comfort zone.  In the words of the students from Mrs. Wick’s  9 and 10 yr old class in our school, “we don’t know what it is going to look like yet, but it is going to be awesome!”

Higher Learning

When it comes to navigating the information rich world of social media and blogs, putting on your critical thinking lens is a must.  I recently read an online article that struck me as particularly troubling as it perpetuates the myth that what matters in learning is the A, B or C on the report card. The article is called “University of British Columbia lowers the academic bar.”  One of the many leadership challenges in the work of transforming public schools into places of wholehearted learning is helping the public to re-think some old ideas that have become part of our education DNA.  One of these ideas is the belief that letter grades and percentages are an accurate reflection of who we are as learners.

Rethinking something that is as deeply intrenched in our school experience as grades and assessment will be a tough sell as it is hard for most to envision an alternative.  A sobering thought is that if education were the medical field and letter grades and descriptive feedback were both separate treatments to a life threatening condition, letter grades would be discontinued tomorrow.  The difference descriptive feedback makes in learning compared to letter grades and marks is that powerful.  So why don’t we just make that change?  It is beginning to change slowly but society still values sorting.  The Fraser Institute’s ranking of elementary schools is an example of this sorting mindset and it sends the wrong message to the public about what really matters in learning.

The article referenced above in my view, is based on the this same old fashioned sorting mindset and it refers to the university’s changes to their admissions policy as “an embarrassment.”  While I am no expert on admissions policies at British Columbia universities, the policy changes the author is highly critical of, if I am interpreting them correctly, seem quite forward thinking.  If UBC is saying that marks don’t always reflect a student’s true ability to achieve and to learn,  that students who may depend on spell checkers could be brilliant, that a child who begins a course with a 30, ends with a 98 and has an average mark for the term of say 64 is a very capable learner and perhaps it is the grading system that is broken, then, bravo UBC.

How then, do we help the public to abandon the sorting mindset and embrace change?  Engaging parents, students and the public on new ideas and beliefs about learning in the 21st century is critical.  The BC Education Plan website has done a very good job in starting a provincial conversation about the future of learning in this province.  Why is this important?  Because learning isn’t a competition.  It is a growth process that is dynamic and lasts a lifetime and it is for everyone.

Technology and Pedagogy – A Package Deal

I admit it, I have become a bit of a Twitter nut, primarily because of the rich professional learning that has resulted.  There is so much to learn about schools and change.  There is however, something I am finding increasingly troubling and that is the number of blogs, videos, articles, etc, promoting technology in ways that don’t really move learning forward.  There is brilliant work happening with technology in education, but some is just not hitting the mark.  The notion that simply putting an ipad with an electronic textbook in every student’s hand will transform learning and motivate students is the wrong message.  I don’t see this as a particular problem in British Columbia as most of the advocacy for technology here, in my view, is well balanced with learning coming first.  However, there is a problem with how some are viewing technology in education.

Recent blogs I have read describe how the ipad could help transform learning by allowing students to record homework instructions, assignment deadlines and lecture notes with their voice.  They also describe students watching videos of lectures, using e-texts and then completing electronic worksheets on the device.  These are not necessarily bad things if done in proper context of flexible learning but generally speaking these are the kinds of traditional practices that we need to move away from.  Simply doing them on a computer does not transform learning and suggesting it does is misleading to the public and to parents.

Student learning can be transformed with the help of technology.   The problem, is that in many blogs, technology is presented as a panacea in isolation of a larger vision of pedagogical change.  In my view, there is very little difference between students sitting in rows with paper texts and worksheets and students sitting in rows with an ipad and e-books.  This is not transformational change.  In education we are at a significant crossroad where innovation in pedagogy (theories of teaching and learning) and innovation in technology are both critical ingredients for the change that is needed and the relationships and interactions between the two are quite dynamic.  The key to transformation comes down to engaging students in their learning.

We need to focus more on understanding the underlying pedagogical changes that are necessary like formative assessment, project based learning, flexible personalized learning environments, inclusion, instructional groupings, organization of schools and classrooms, grading practices and homework policies to name a few.  I believe that there is urgency for the public education system to become far more relevant to today’s learner.  It is our biggest challenge.

So, my caution is that in a connected world there is access to information everywhere and on everything, be careful what you pay attention to.  This is why competencies such as “critical thinking” and “inquiry” are such important 21st century skills for our students.  If we use technology to promote the same old thinking about school that has existed for 200 years, we will be no further ahead, we actually could go backwards.

note: I wrote the draft of this blog on Feb 8 and then attended the “Targeting Technology for Maximum Student Benefit” in Vancouver.  I was pleased to see that the overwhelming message was pedagogy first, then, ask how technology can bring learning to life.  They are both critical but we must start with learning.  Search for the hashtag #bcedusfu on twitter to view the 850 tweets about this engaging presentation in downtown Vancouver on Feb 9,2012 or visit Chris Kennedy’s “Culture of Yes” for more information.

Yours in Learning,

Paul Lorette

Important Conversations

Have you ever had a conversation that felt like a turning point?  I had one this week with a small group of parents from our school who are interested in talking about learning, change and schools.   We had a long discussion about a photo (left) that was posted on Twitter last week.  The location and author is unknown.  We looked at the photo and I asked the group how they felt about it.

There were varied reactions to the message on the image but the discussion was important as was the unintended outcome.  Everyone agreed that being late for class is a problem that negatively impacts learning.  Everyone agreed that loosing 10% on late homework was not OK.  Some questioned why homework is being marked at all.  Some felt that some students might think twice about being late, and others felt the entire concept of the sign is not conducive to an engaging learning environment.  Do we want students to be on time out of fear or because the class is such an engaging place to be?

Several issues emerged in our talk, including homework, grading practices, classroom tone, engaging students, and engaging parents.  One of the most valuable outcomes of the conversation was a recognition that we all come with different backgrounds, experiences, learning styles, and points of view, hence the varied reactions to the sign.  Some might see the message as a good way to motivate, others might be shocked, and anywhere in-between.   This led to an “aha” moment for the parents.  The importance of parent engagement vs. involvement became clearer.  One of the parents put it this way:

“If we (parents) are going to be a key part of the development of a new vision of learning,  there is a need to engage more of our parents and educators in these kinds of discussions so that we can better build a common understanding and vision of how our schools need to change.”

The conversation also illustrated the importance of ownership.  We are all learners and when there is ownership, learning rises to an entirely different level.  Now that the parents “own” this vision of deeper parental engagement, the invitation to other parents will be far more compelling and meaningful then if it only came from school administration.  Our team is looking forward to attending the upcoming EdCamp on Vancouver Island, and they are determined to engage more parents, together with school staff, in talking about learning.  Their idea: host an EdCafe or mini EdCamp in our community this spring.   They are focused, determined and optimistic about the opportunity to celebrate what is working, to reflect on what isn’t, and be a part of the change that is beginning to sweep the education world.  A great conversation.

Grades and Learning

The use of letter grades and percentages has become a hot topic in education and it was the main topic of our School Planning Council (SPC) meeting this morning at our school.  Letter grades and marks are well known to most anyone who has gone through the public school system.  They  have been used for generations to communicate how well a child is learning.  The problem is, letter grades and percentages are not good indicators of how well children are learning, they only serve to sort children into different categories and they do very little to engage kids in learning.  “Did I get an A?  Did I get a C+”?  “That’s good enough”, or, “that’s not good enough”.  We know that the use of letter grades as feedback during the learning process does not improve learning and does not engage students.  The use of letter grades or marks may inhibit deeper learning for many students.

I was thinking about this while watching my son at his speed-skating race on the weekend.  In sports, generally, the only time we keep score is for the purposes of competition.  When it is practice time, there is a cycle of coaching and feedback, no measuring, no keeping score. ” This is what you did well”, “this is what you can work on for next time”.

In most cases, when a child receives an assignment back with a mark,  they will not look beyond the grade.  When a child receives feedback such as “you used lovely descriptive language in your writing which shows great improvement”.  “You can further improve your sense of voice in your writing by experimenting with figurative language in your next writing assignment”.  “Here is an example to help you for next time”.  This kind of feedback is specific and students understand what they can do to deepen their learning.  When descriptive feedback is used along with clear “criteria” and clear “learning intentions”,  students become far more engaged in the process and take increased ownership in their learning.  Providing both marks and the feedback is not a solution as the child will still look no further then the grade.

When schools stop using marks on daily student work and use only descriptive feedback, how can we ensure parents have enough information about their child’s learning?  Is there a right time and place for marks, perhaps end of term or end of year?  Could you live without marks and letter grades if you were confident that learning was improving?  These are key questions we need to engage in with parents.  I am re-posting a video  from an earlier blog.  What do you think of what these middle school students have to say?  Please share your thoughts, they are important to us.

Yours in Learning,

Paul Lorette.

Parent Engagement and Change

In my role as principal, it is my job to oversee the day to day running of our school. It is also my job to have two way communication with parents about school vision, current ideas about education and learning and then work together to find ways of making sure our school provides an engaging learning environment that will serve our students well into their future.  This can be challenging work when the world around us is changing at a phenomenal pace.   The other day I read a blog post called “Here’s what I would do” where the author, David Warlick made the following suggestion:

Establish a group, representing teachers, staff, administration, students, and community. Invite a “guru” or two to speak to the group about the “Why” of transforming education.  Video or broadcast the speeches to the larger community via local access, etc. The group will then write a document that describes the skills, knowledge, appreciations and attitudes of the person who graduates from their schools — a description of their goal graduate. The ongoing work of writing this document will be available to the larger community for comment and suggestion. The resulting piece will remain fluidly adaptable.

This resonated with me as it has been my goal this year to engage with our parents on topics of change and 21st century learning.  When I consider the notion of the kind of student we want to “graduate” from our K-7 school, in my conversations and interactions with parents, what seems to matter most is that our children’s experience in school should build their sense of belonging, of being capable, of being a learner, being believed in and being confident in themselves.  They should leave us excited and confident about their next level of learning and be able to advocate for themselves as learners.

It is critical for families to have increased engagement in our schools, in ways that help us to better understand how to build our school vision and our education plan for the future.   Transforming learning will require us to work together more then we ever have before and in different ways.   Change and innovation in learning are needed, and we really must make it happen together.  What skills and competencies should our students have after grade 7?  What do you think?

Yours in Learning

Paul Lorette.

Student Voices on Learning

Ryan Massey and I produced a short video featuring students from kindergarten to grade twelve.  We asked the students, “if you could give one piece of advice to the school district on how to improve your learning, what would it be?”  We showed the video to all the principals, vice-principals and district staff.  We were so impressed with what the kids had to say we decided to share it with you.