Jul 12 2009
Embrace Learning in Community
Scott McLeod encouraged bloggers to consider contributing to Leadership Day 2009. He asked for blogposts about effective school technology leadership. It is a great way to encourage administrators to look at what it means to prepare students for the 21st century. It also helps them see how to utilize technology systems to make their organizations more efficient and effective.
At the core of a successful school is a strong mission, a visionary leader, and a supportive staff committed to student success. In thinking about leadership, I must take a moment to tell you about a leader at my school. Jody Graf came to us just a couple of years ago. I first met her when our district sent a few of us to the ASCD Conference in Chicago. It was the first year teachers were sent to a conference and she had just been hired as an administrator. Early on, I had a sense of her passion for preparing students for the 21st century. I could see that she valued people.
Not long after, she became the executive director of our charter school of 150+ teachers and 3,200 students. As director, she walked into a school environment that was productive, but not without its challenges.
In a few short years, Jody has tackled what she referred to as the “elephants in the room,” those issues that had been tiptoed around. She established an open-door policy and encouraged round-table discussions where staff and teachers could have honest discussions, while offering solutions for improvements. Action teams were set up to tackle issues. Successes were celebrated. Conversations were opened for all parties to share ideas. This was an important step to prepare our staff for innovation to take over.
Here are three things I learned from her leadership in the process:
- When all stakeholders take ownership in the school’s mission, passion becomes infectious.
- We practice good leadership when we become transparent, exposing thoughts and positions on issues with an open-door policy.
- We can increase student engagement and academic success when we personalize learning for students, provide time for reflection, and facilitate learning opportunities with relevance and meaning.
Now that there is a culture of trust, my director can walk us through her vision for empowering our students and teachers with technological skills for lifelong learning. Until recently, most of our teachers not know about wikis, educational uses for blogs, or web 2.0. (I know. And I was right there with them until 9 months ago.)
We are on a mission to bring all of our 150+ teachers and staff to a level of technological proficiency and shared commitment for innovative learning. Part of our school will be turned into a virtual learning academy. We plan to establish teacher proficiencies (NETS). We hope to remove traditional textbooks and replace them with project- and inquiry-based learning models. We are at a turning point for change.
Last year, our school set up class offerings twice a month in the areas of technology tools and web 2.0. A good effort was made, but many teachers claimed they had never heard of these tools before and didn’t know where to start. They took a class, and were left to figure it out. They (we) were overwhelmed.
In a state of wanting to learn more, but being overwhelmed, I set out to create my own professional development. From this experience, I have a bit of advice to share with the leaders of my school, and others who may read this as well.
Embrace the conference experience.
Find a way to send teachers to conferences. If your school is not a position to do this, at least support them with time off to be able to attend. At the recent NECC09 conference, I grew professionally more than I had with hours of PD at my school. It is a great way for teachers to learn from each other, and to catch a gimpse into what other classrooms are doing.
Embrace online professional development.
Give teachers control to establish their own professional development. There are an amazing amount of valuable resources available to teachers. This can come in the form of online classes, interview series, or webinars. It may mean reading blogs and reflecting, or attending virtual workshops and sharing the experience with others. Let teachers take ownership and create their professional development.
Embrace free and open source tools.
Here are a few places to look: K-12 Open Source Community, MIT Open Courseware, and SchoolForge.net, FOSS in Education, NCOSE, and K12 Open Tech.
Embrace transparency.
Give teachers the freedom to be honest about where they are at, while encouraging them to grow. Provide an environment of transparency and trust.
Embrace networking and learning in community.
We all know how we feel when we come home from a conference. The passion that comes from being around innovative educators is contagious. Your teachers and administrative staff can experience this daily – for free. How? By participating in online networks such as Classroom 2.0. Teach them how to use twitter, to share ideas and network. Create a social network for them to be connected with each other. I started one at my school for parents and teachers, and it has been nothing short of amazing! Embrace the social networks that are available. Encourage teachers to learn in community.
Photo Attribution: Addo Elephant, by exfordy
