Distractions.

My role involves leading change in our school to make the paradigm shift from traditional to 21st century learning.

Leading change can be full of distractions. This is particularly challenging for school leaders as we facilitate change. As school leaders lead their teams down different pathways they are constantly lured by a variety of different temptations. Funding for different ‘y’ initiatives here, professional support for ‘x’ initiatives there. These are all very tempting. And often we find ourselves wanting to take bites of these apples. As tasty as they may be, increasingly I am discovering they may not always be in the best interest of our school, children or community. In this reflection I would like to talk about some of the insights that I have learned this year and how my leadership is changing as a result of this.

Stick to the vision. Simple but true. Prior to this year playing out I did not truly grasp the importance of these words. The vision is what ultimately guides us. It is our destination. As part of my NAPP programme this year I shadowed Kevin Choromanski, Principal of Pomaria School. He discussed how he has not accepted funding as it did not fit with his school’s vision. Initially upon hearing this I was confused. Why would he reject funding for his school? Surely this would benefit him and his staff? Would they not be better off with more cash? As I expressed my thoughts and asked my questions, Kevin explained that funding is not free, there are conditions and requirements that come with it. If those conditions are not compatible with the school’s vision then ultimately that funding would not benefit his school or community. This was a far cry from my initial opportunist mindset set that required me to take advantage of all the freebies available to me but it makes sense. It is the job of the leader to find suitable funding. If funding is made available but is not relevant then it is the job of the leader to find funding that is relevant. This can be achieved in a variety of different ways which I will not go into here.

This idea was also reinforced by Michael Fullan in Stratosphere where he discusses distractors (p. 70)  - meaning, the things that can take our attention away from what we really want to achieve, our vision. This again reinforces the notion that leaders need to keep focused on their vision. I have found this to be a real challenge as it can be contrary to human nature. For example, I suffer from ‘kid in a candystore’ syndrome, meaning I want everything and I want it now. I can be this way with change as well. A vision gives me comfort in knowing where I am going and it gives me a sense of place. This clarity helps when talking to colleagues about our direction. I had a conversation with a colleague who wanted funding for a particular technology. Rather that saying, ‘sounds good, let’s do it.’ I found myself going back to our vision and Strategic plan. I started asking questions like: how will this investment fit in with our vision? How will it help us to achieve personalised learning for students? Having all this clarity is good for leading change, without it we can end up going round in circles.

Finally, I would like to refer back to a workshop I attended with Cheryl Doig (content here). She emphasised how future focussed leaders are essentially the filters, sifters and selectors of information. With the vast amount of information out there (particularly on the internet), it is easy to get distracted and overwhelmed. This goes back to the ‘kid in a candystore’ idea where someone can be so overwhelmed with all the content that they do not know what they should be focusing on.  With this being increasingly the case it is even more important for leaders to have the skills required to ‘filter the distractions’ from this vast sea of information.

Distraction are everywhere. They come in the form of funding, gimmicks (the latest tech fad - everyone’s got one so we need it), and information.  As leaders, this can be difficult terrain to navigate. It is important to have that vision, focus and keep going forward.

The Twitter Fuss.

I have just attended two days at the #edchatnz Conference at Hobsonville Point Secondary School.

For a great many at this conference it is all about twitter. I have had a twitter account for a number of years but I have never really understood the power of twitter until I saw the power of it here at this conference. When I first used it (2009), I thought of it as a way of staying connected to my favourite bands. Like finding out about gigs and album releases. But it is so much more than this. It is a way to stay current, a way to connect with professionals across Auckland, NZ and the world. It is a way to be part of the conversation. I still progress forward nervously in the twittersphere , and a little unsure about whether I am using it correctly but I shall progress forward nonetheless. I move forward with the understanding that twitter is a powerful tool. I am beginning to be part of the conversation.

What I have started doing on twitter:

1. I am starting to follow people, gotta get them numbers up!

2. Resources! Oh the resources! Rather than just isolating yourself with a google search and going through the fist five results, people put things out there that they recommend. The person that tweets new content is (I assume) putting it out there because it is good, thought-provoking, interesting, all of the above. I am already discovering things, great things: articles, resources - so much content, so little time.

3. Connecting with people you admire:

As I continue to explore and develop Modern Learning Pedagogies (MLPs) that are relevant for the context of my school. I thought what more could I learn from HPPS? A school that has developed some great MLPs. I decided to get out there, I tweeted @AmyMMcCauley about what HPPS are doing with PBL (project based learning). Not only did she respond but she sent me a link to her BLOG which now gives me a wealth of information to help develop me thoughts and ideas on modern learning. Like I said twitter is good, thought-provoking, interesting, all of the above.

I hope to set the twitter fire at my school so that teachers and professionals I work with can start to see what all the fuss is about.

Thanks #edchatnz

Thomas.

Owning What You Don't Know.

The other night I was out to dinner with some friends to celebrate a birthday.

I have always been a fan of dinner conversation. I do have to watch myself, though, as I tend to be a talker. Rather than thinking before speaking, my ideas tend to come out all at once, in one big sloppy mess. Thinking then speaking has never been a personal strength. For me, these two skills are not mutually exclusive. They happen all at once and this sometimes leads to me tripping up over my tongue as though it is a root anchored firmly in the ground.

At dinner, aware that it would probably be at my own expense, I decided to discuss one  inadequacy -  my inability to pronounce words correctly - with my friends.

My friends and I started a band in our first year out of University. We were called The Domino Effect, hoping that such a moniker would make fans fall in love with our music. Rather than our music having a “domino effect,” however, our music had “NO effect!”.  That sad situation did not stop our passion! We were made of sterner stuff.

One day, during a practise, we were in the middle of rehearsing a song. This song was called, “Different Similarity,” which I pronounced as “Different Sim-u-larity.” Pronouncing “similarity” like this was not a huge sin and I think I had managed to get through my life saying it incorrectly because people were generally too polite to correct me. Either that or they simply didn’t notice. However, within the context of this particular band practise saying “sim-u-larity,” sounded out of place.

“Did you just say ‘sim-u-larity?’ " inquired Tim, “with a ‘u?’

Oh, the shame, I thought. How can I save face? I felt that my artistic integrity was being questioned because I was mispronouncing words.

“No,” I said. “You must have misheard me, I said in a pale attempt to deflect all blame onto him. Responding to my defensiveness our other bandmate, Yohan, responded, “yeah you did.” He pointed to a lyric sheet saying,“look, he spelt it wrong too!”

The shame I felt! I was sure I had assessed my own pronunciation of the word against my older sister growing up. That is how I measured all of my language. I would listen to her and then imitate words I was unfamiliar with based on the model that she provided. I was sure she always said it the way I just had. How could she mislead me in such a way? After agonising about this for a few moments, I did what any self respecting musician would do in this situation - I blamed her. Not out loud to my friends, of course, but in my head. It was an unforgivable sin on her part, leading the young - and therefore more gullible - astray.

In relaying this story to my friends at dinner, Sophie commented, “and this guy is teaching our children!” Now this comment was meant as a joke but it did get me thinking about the perception out there that the teacher needs to be the bearer of ALL knowledge.  It is funny that,  as a teacher, I constantly feel the need to defend myself in these situations by talking about what education in the 21st Century means or going in depth into modern learning pedagogies, OR by giving the recipient a verbal essay of my personal teaching philosophy. . . Which is essentially what I did.

If I learned one thing from this, it was this: We must OWN what we do not know. For us to learn, we must not be afraid of what we don’t know, regardless of how simple the information is perceived to be. Saying ‘I don’t know’ can be very empowering for the individual who utters those words. Firstly, it gives that person the opportunity to learn. Secondly, you begin to realise that other people do not care if you don’t know and by simply admitting it you create an opportunity to learn through discussion and explanation. Finally, in the words of . . . (if anyone can find an appropriate quote to go here, by all means, please let me know)