Posts Tagged ‘learning’

This was reported on Mashable today and I thought it was worth sending out to this blogs readers!

Teachers already use Skype to connect with other classrooms around the globe, bring in guest speakers without asking them to travel, and take virtual field trips. Now, Skype is making it easier for them to do so.

The company launched Skype in the Classroom, a dedicated teacher network, on Tuesday. Using the platform, teachers can create profiles that describe their classes and teaching interests. They can also search a directory of teachers from all over the world by student age range, language and subject.

Since the beta version launched in December, about 4,000 teachers have signed up. Many of them have used the network to coordinate Skype projects with other schools. Teacher Kara Cornejo, for instance, used the directory to find five partner classes for a “weather around the world” unit she was coordinating for her fifth-grade class in Missouri.

“We use Skype all the time in my classroom. … I always had to find teachers over Twitter or some other resources,” she said in a video about her experience. “Now to know that Skype has their own directory is awesome.”

A “project” tab in the new version of Skype in the Classroom allows users to post and search for projects that, like Cornejo’s weather project, require collaboration. A map that shows teachers by location is also a new addition to the site.

Accommodating teachers is a natural move for Skype. Several independent sites have already established Skype teacher phone books, class collaboration directories and virtual language exchange programs to accommodate the growing number of educators who are using the videoconferencing platform as a learning tool.

“We saw that growth, and we wanted to find a way to support that community,” Skype spokeswoman Jacqueline Botterill says. “There are a number of online platforms that were trying to galvanize those communities, but they’re quite fragmented and disparate, so we’re trying to create one place where teachers can come together.”

http://mashable.com/2011/03/30/skype-in-the-classroom/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29

I recently had an email conversation with a friend of mine in the USA who asked me what I meant when I told her that one of the areas we are now working in is “culture shifting schools”.  As I wrote my reply I had to really think about what our vision is when we work with schools. I thought it worthwhile to share with you what I wrote.

“To fill you in a little on culture shifting in schools … I recently wrote an article which addresses the shift in paradigms that is occuring at the moment (Age to Age article below in the blog list). In its essence we are moving into a new paradigm in the world and it is important to realise that people are still operating, thinking from, and acting from the old paradigm when new ideas are being brought in. This means we must first shift their context before bringing in new actions, structures, etc.

If we had to work with a new school (where we chose where to begin rather than if they just employed us for a specific task!) I would first find out if they have created a real vision for their future and uncover what they are building (what are they aiming to be best in the world in). It is critical for the school leadership team to have clarity in this as quite often we have found that schools have visions but quite often they are locked away in a drawer somewhere and it purely exists as words on a website or piece of paper to be brought out when someone asks.

From there we would have them describe what it would look like when that is delivered upon. This is important as the leadership team must be clear about what the entirity of the goal is and means. In fact, exemplary schools do this quite well.

Being clear about what it looks like, feels like, what things would be in place when that vision is accomplished, we would then look at where they are now against this future and then look at two things
1. What barriers would be in the way between now and the future
2. What projects (who, what, when, where, why) could be created to get from now to the future

Much like in “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, we can explore Level 5 Leadership, Having the right people in the right places, confronting all the brutal facts, and building a disciplined team, disciplined thinking, disciplined action.

We would then work with them inside of truing all their systems, teaching, processes, etc against this future such that they are delivering on them. I have seen many strategic plans that have great visions and ideas but their plans DO NOT address the constant measuring of the set actions against these visions. How do they know that the end result is definitely going to be that vision expressed in the world?

It is at this point that schools can assess what programs, professional development, staff resourcing and requirements, and so on are needed. What we have found is that it gives REAL clarity and direction to a school so they don’t beat around the bush so much when they are out to build the school they wish to build. It gives a context and direction that every stakeholder can understand.

Just to end this blog … one thing we have discovered is that schools are a wealth of experience and knowledge … they don’t need to spend huge amounts of money to get outsiders in to tell them what to do. Once they have clarity … it becomes about harnessing the extraordinary people who are already there. The answers are all there in the communities!

Until next time!

Some of you know that I was an Engineer by education. I love my science and maths and I always did well in them at school and university. Given this I was very excited when I saw three articles flash their way across my screen today and I thought I would share them with you.

These articles are for all you science and maths teachers who are looking for new ways to engage your students and make learning more interactive and easier! Two of the articles can be found at the www.aalf.org website.

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Interactive Simulations to Develop Higher-Level Science and Math Skills With Your Laptops

Author: Scott Garrigan, School of Education, Wilkes University | March 8th, 2011

How can you best engage students in higher-level science and math activities to prepare them for an unimaginable future filled with the fruits of nanotechnology, biotechnology, and genetic engineering? Most teachers and textbooks don’t address these topics that can capture the imagination of young minds. PhET, NetLogo, and Molecular Workbench are three teacher-tested simulation systems that hundreds of thousands of students use to learn the most challenging concepts in science and math.

PhET Interactive Simulations (http://phet.colorado.edu)

Imagine building a skateboard park to study the conservation of energy. PhET’s Energy Skate Park simulation lets students see and graph changing kinetic and potential energies as their skater rips down the steep starting ramp, powers through a loop, and survives daring jumps. Students learn basic physics as they create the most thrilling skate tracks they can imagine. They learn proper science terminology and measurement, too. Here’s a link to Energy Skate Park with 25 teacher-designed lesson plans and translations of the simulation in 30 different languages: http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/energy-skate-park.

PhET interactive science simulations, developed at the University of Colorado at Boulder, provide 200 interactive models that cover most science and some maths classes from elementary through university levels. Each sim focuses on one science or maths concept, and it allows students to change key variables to see how the model responds. Teacher-developed activities and lesson plans accompany each of the simulations.

PhET addresses both core curriculum and emerging science. Sims like Glaciers, Masses & Springs, pH Scale, and Salts & Solubility address traditional concepts. Students explore cutting-edge concepts through sims like Molecular Motors, Quantum Bounds, Stretching DNA. Some interactive simulations designed as construction or game activities are Gene Machine, Build an Atom, the Radioactive Dating Game, and Electric Field Hockey.

Maths simulations like Equation Grapher, Curve Fitting, Calculus Grapher, and Plinko Probability allow students to engage with maths ideas in ways are not possible with paper and pencil. Professional development or coaching shouldn’t be needed for PhET because each simulation is focused on a single science or maths concept and extensive lesson plans are provided.

NetLogo: http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo

Third graders use NetLogo’s Climate Change model to visualise how individual carbon dioxide molecules reflect infrared rays back to Earth to create a greenhouse effect. Across town, eleventh graders use NetLogo’s Weak Acid simulation to model and calculate how weak acids affect pH differently from strong acids. NetLogo includes 200 pre-programmed simulations that cover most areas of science and some areas of maths such as probability. Each simulation includes clear directions for student and teacher, an explanation of the contribution of each variable, and suggestions on how students may extend the model.

Like PhET, students engage in exploring science relationships by investigating the effects of key variables. Unlike PhET, NetLogo simulations provide more accurate and more flexible models that students can explore more deeply. They can modify the models, and they can even create entirely new simulations using the built-in NetLogo computer language and interface components. Students can also design individual and networked educational games with NetLogo.

The NetLogo designers have created sequences of simulations to create a comprehensive Gas Lab, Probability Lab, and Genetics Lab to promote deep understanding of complex topics that are otherwise difficult to study. NetLogo excels at agent-based modelling to explore emergent behaviour, and it is used by university researchers and governments as well as by K-12 students to study complex relationships.

“Agents” are independent objects such as individual molecules in a gas, an individual rabbit in a population study, or an individual person in an AIDS epidemic. This kind of experiment can only be modelled by “running” the simulation rather than by applying a mathematical formula to get a “right answer.” NetLogo simulations include the same kind of random variability that affects behaviour in the physical world. The system helps students understand the importance of relationships rather than fixed answers for complex problems.

Molecular Workbench (MW) (http://mw.concord.org)

Advanced science students use several Molecular Workbench nanotechnology modules to learn the quantum mechanics that drive individual atoms and molecules to self assemble in future manufacturing operations. The twelfth graders use MW’s built-in “camera” to capture the outcome of their model and the built-in report generator to record their observations and explanations. When they finish, they submit their project reports through the MW system to their teacher for grading. Across town, fourth grade students run MW’s Evolution Readiness simulations to learn the scientific processes involved in natural selection.

Like PhET and NetLogo, MW supplies the science classroom with hundreds of simulations carefully designed to meet the needs of today’s K-12 learner. Teachers find MW’s interactive models invaluable to teach difficult concepts from quantum mechanics, nanotechnology, biotech, and genetics that are not addressed well in traditional textbooks and lab experiments. MW was created at the non-profit Concord Consortium, and their team of educators, researchers, and programmers create new modules every year to address emerging K-12 needs.

Each module contains scaffolded lessons to guide middle and high school students step-by-step through an interactive learning process in which they complete projects that can be used as performance-based assessments. Teachers and students can create their own simulations and activities. Molecular Workbench has been nicknamed “Word for Molecules.” MW was designed to provide molecular dynamics simulations to help learn concepts in physics, chemistry, and biology, and it has been enhanced over the past decade to simulate atomic, sub-atomic, and fluid behaviour as well as Newtonian mechanics. My favourite is a nanotechnology self-assembly tutorial that I’ve used to help hundreds of teachers experience the kind of “ah-ah!” moments that their students can get through Molecular Workbench activities.

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Communicating The Way Mathematicians Do

Author: Nils Ahbel | March 8th, 2011

I’ve been a mathematics educator for over 20 years and have always kept abreast of the latest technology. There are many excellent tools for investigating mathematics, but until recently all the available tools forced users to use the computer or handheld keyboard, which is clearly not the way mathematicians work. Unlike the subjects of English and history in which a QWERTY keyboard is an excellent interface, mathematics and science are at best clumsily communicated via a traditional keyboard. For that reason, we preferred paper and pencil or marker and whiteboard. On the other hand, interactive whiteboards and tablet PCs represent an environment in which mathematicians and scientists can easily share their ideas electronically. Fortunately, software has begun to emerge that recognizes handwriting so the software is simply a natural extension of the stylus or marker.

One such piece of software with which I have been working is FluidMath. This software has improved my teaching experience immensely. In particular, the software lets me write anywhere on the page and will recognize my handwritten math expressions and equations and turn them into graphs and tables quickly without thinking about or navigating the user interface. From my perspective as a math educator, I feel my work has greatly benefited from these capabilities. Everything on the FluidMath page is dynamic so, for example if you change a function, the associated graph, table, and solution change as well. Variables can be associated with sliders, so the environment is incredibly dynamic. Both graphs and sliders are created by a one-stroke gesture.

Click here to see video demonstration 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vREuu7fGorA

The FluidMath software platform also includes a broad and general-purpose Computer Algebra System (CAS). The Common Core Standards Initiative (1) lists CAS as an appropriate tool when solving a mathematical problem. CAS has been getting more attention in textbooks and will, in my opinion, continue to see increased emphasis. The teacher or student interfaces with its CAS through handwritten input via the screen of the computer in order to do mathematical computation or graphing. With Fluidmath, the tablet PC is not used as a substitute for manipulation skills, but rather as a tool for investigation. This change in perspective is incredibly important – it helps students be mathematicians and not just learn mathematics.

Click here to see video demonstration 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOmt2R79sPA

In sum, I see the advantage of this software for 1:1 educators as three fold. First, the handwriting recognition is outstanding. Second, FluidMath uses standard mathematical notation so teachers and students alike need not learn any new syntax as you would with almost any other mathematical software. Third, the dynamic nature of this software means mathematics no longer need be a ‘paper and pencil’ subject but it can now come alive.

Based on my experiences, FluidMath in conjunction with tablet PCs make the learning of mathematics more effective, more engaging, and more enjoyable.

(Note that this software is not yet on the market but is scheduled to be released in the near future. For more information, visit: www.fluiditysoftware.com )

I have realised over the past 6 months how few schools are actually clear about what their long term vision is. Part of the impact of this lack of vision and disciplined building of this vision is that schools can quite often be focussed on things that disperse their power and ability. They become like a thirsty person wandering in the desert – going from one mirage to the next. Teachers become inured to change and morale can suffer.

In an increasingly competitive educational and financial environment, and as part of the paradigm shift occurring as we move further into the Information Age, it has become critical for schools to be clear and focused in their vision and actions. Even more so is to develop a culture of disciplined people, disciplined thoughts, and disciplined actions.

There are a number of steps to this process including

• Empowering Level 5 Leadership (as Jim Collins speaks of in “Good to Great”)
• Getting the right people on the bus – getting a strong core group of leaders within the school who will be the team who will take responsibility to create and build the vision within the school community
• Creating a hedgehog concept for the school
• Creating clearly what it means, what it feels like, what it looks like when that hedgehog concept is accomplished
• Creating the non-negotiables as you move forward
• Confronting what is actually the current state of the school – what is working, what is not against the vision, mission statement, or hedgehog concept.
• And so on

What I want to share about this blog is how we worked with a leadership team at a school to create the hedgehog concept and began the process of uncovering their collective meaning, vision and actions to deliver on that vision.

A Hedgehog concept is idea that Jim Collins shares about in his book “Good to Great”. The idea comes from the story that the hedgehog succeeds because is only good at one thing – it rolls itself up into a ball with its spines outwards and it is protected against any dangers (such as foxes who have to come up with many strategies to succeed but rarely ever do). What Jim Collins found is that the most consistently successful organisations follow this concept as well. They adhere fanatically to their vision (Hedgehog Concept) and ignore taking on anything not consistent with it. This gives them an ability to remain focussed and able to develop consistent structures, approaches and culture.

There are three elements to the hedgehog concept:

• What can you be the best in the world at?

•      Understand what you can and cannot be the best at

•      Let your abilities, not egos, determine what you attempt

• What drives your economic engine?

•      What has the greatest impact on your economics (reputation for a school)?

• What are you deeply passionate about?

•      Great organisations focus on those activities that ignite their passion

You can see in the diagram below the result of doing this work with a school.

Some of the discussion that raged as the leadership team created the 3 elements was fascinating

• In distinguishing what they were deeply passionate about the team really cottoned on that this was not just a statement for students or learning but their bigger vision for all people. They wanted everyone (teachers, students, parents, etc) involved with the school to be exceptional, inspired and passionate. We toyed with the idea of “the best they can be” but distinguished this was limiting. How do we even know what people’s best is? We toyed with extraordinary but that is a quite oft used word that has lost its meaning for many. This led to exceptional – an exception to the norm.

• The team wanted to be the best in the world at building learning communities. I confronted the group this week to define what that actually meant. In the first few minutes of discussion it was interesting to note that different people had different conceptions about what that meant or looked like. WE spent most of the session doing the work to be really clear about what that meant. Here is what they created:

Groups of people with a common goal / vision

Working collaboratively (learning from and together)

Removing mediocrity

Developing 21^st century social competencies

Inspiring passionate and exceptional people

• The leadership team had to define some not-negotiable items in the shifting of the school to deliver its vision. These included:

o   Working collaboratively

o   Removing mediocrity

o   Passion and Professionalism

o   High levels of literacy and numeracy

o   Making informed decisions on student learning

o   Developing 21^st century social competencies

o   Every child matters

o   All aboard or not on board

In the whole process it became clear that as questions and ideas arose it pointed to that certain structures, systems and thinking had to be embedded in the staff (including having the staff plan for delivering social competencies first and then strategically looking at the content to be covered and discussing how the content be used to develop the competencies).

The homework the leadership team is now working upon is to become clear about what each aspect of the hedgehog concept means and what it looks like. They will also share with another staff member who they consider to be a leader within the staff community. The purpose of this is to start enrolling the staff in a future being created and to ignite feedback and leadership. Finally, against the future and vision they have created, they will outline where they are now in that journey. This will allow us to plan the steps to achieve that future.

As we forge our way deeper into the Information Age we’ll actually have more and more online (or cloud) resources available. There is a wealth of educational resources already out there so I have gathered some of the one’s I have seen recently that might be of interest to my readers. Items were sourced from Mashable, EdNews, and a whole range of websites.

Rather than type them all out in the blog I have simply attached a downloadable word document that has all the links in them!

Web Resources for Teachers

Have fun!

Adrian

I thought I would do a very quick posting this week and point you to a range of useful articles I have recently found

1. 7 Fantastic Free Social Media Tools for Teachers

If you haven’t registered yourself on Mashable.com then do so. It is a great way to keep up to date on the latest in tech stuff. I have added the first part of this article but go to the link for the rest!

The possibilities for social media tools in the classroom are vast. In the hands of the right teacher, they can be used to engage students in creative ways, encourage collaboration and inspire discussion among even soft-spoken students. But we’ve already made our case for why teachers should consider using social media in their classrooms. What about the how?

Even when people say they want to incorporate social media, they don’t always know the best ways to do so. It’s especially daunting when those efforts can affect the education of your students.

To help, we’ve collected seven of the the best classroom tools for incorporating social media into your lesson plans.

http://mashable.com/2010/10/16/free-social-media-tools-for-teachers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29

2. Neuroscience, Health and more

I have also registered to receive ScienceDaily updates (sciencedaily.com) which keeps me up to date on the latest science news from around the world. It collects and sends me summaries of the latest research in a wide range of science arenas such as neuroscience, breakthroughs in nanotech, research into climate change, and so on. Now, I love it mainly because I am a bit of tech-head at heart (hey! you don’t get 3 degrees in science and engineering without being a tech-head), however it reinforces hwo qucikly the world is changing and shifting. It keeps my thinking and presentations fresh and up to date – especially when I talk to Science teachers.

Here are some recent articles I found interesting:

Young Teens Who Play Sports Feel Healthier and Happier About Life
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100922082330.htm

Brain’s Impulse Control Center Located
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100921151009.htm

The Fancier The Cortex, The Smarter The Brain?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090717104623.htm

Brain Activity Differs For Creative And Noncreative Thinkers
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080129170702.htm

3. New York Times Education Section

The New York Times Online has a great education section worth reading at times

4,100 Students Prove ‘Small Is Better’ Rule Wrong
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/education/28school.html

Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?_r=3&ref=general&src=me&pagewanted=all

4. The Age Education Section

As does The Age in Melbourne.

Teachers told to take control
http://www.theage.com.au/news/education-news/teachers-told-to-take-control/2007/09/14/1189276985702.html

What links and websites have you found useful?

Recently in preparing to talk at the NSW Department of Education and Training Conference I thought about what would be necessary to think about if we are preparing young people for the 21st Century.

One of the topics that came up for me was school architecture. I visited Rowellyn Park Primary recently and had a walkthrough of their new school building with the principal and teachers. One of the conversations that came up was about thinking about using the new space. What a number of the teachers had discovered upon visiting other schools with open learning spaces, was that some teachers had begun to block off areas to limit the space. It brought up the point that we really need to rethink how we use space and how we develop students to respect and be responsibile for the way the space is used.

Given this and further discussions I have discover an article which i thought I would share with you from ESchoolnews.com on design recommendations that American Architects are making to school designers and school districts. This article si 4 years old but highlights the importance of thinking about school design and use!

Here is the article in full:

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2006/10/01/eight-key-school-design-recommendations/?ast=41

Here are eight key principles for effective school design in the 21st century.

The National Summit on School Design, convened by the American Architectural Foundation and Knowledge-Works Foundation, recently brought more than 200 participants from around the country to Washington, D.C. After discussing several school-design topics, summit participants agreed on eight key principles for effective school design in the 21st century. These are:

1. Design schools to support a variety of learning styles. Not all students learn the same way, studies show. In designing new schools, stakeholders should reexamine the idea of the traditional classroom setting and focus instead on new kinds of environments that can support student achievement. This requires greater flexibility to accommodate a range of learning scenarios, both inside and outside of school.

2. Enhance learning by integrating technology. Besides the use of technology tools in classrooms, recent advances also allow schools to better control heating, cooling, air flow, and noise and to improve communications with stakeholders. Consult students about what kinds of learning technologies they’d like to use in school, summit participants recommended–and don’t forget to train educators in their use.

3. Foster a “small school” culture. Though the size of a new school should be determined within the framework of a community’s needs, vision, academic goals, traditions, and economics, there are important benefits to developing a “small school” culture that fosters close relationships, participants said.

4. Support neighborhood schools. Look for ways to preserve neighborhood schools whenever possible, participants urged. Neighborhood schools allow many students to walk to school; strong neighborhood schools boost property values for nearby homeowners; and preserving neighborhood schools reinforces the link between the school and its community.

5. Create schools as “centers of community.” Many school districts are building schools that serve as the hub, or central resource, of the entire community. In these cases, the facility is used not only as a school but as a location for other community services, such as recreational centers or performing-arts spaces–fostering greater public support and playing an important role in the community’s health. If you choose this route, however, make sure you consider policies and design elements that will ensure the safety of students.

6. Engage the public in the planning process. This process should start early, participants said, allowing for community feedback long before final decisions are made. The process should include all school and community stakeholders, recognizing minority opinions as well. It might help to start with a “visioning process,” in which stakeholders agree what the school’s role in educating students and serving the community should be.

7. Provide healthy, comfortable, and flexible learning spaces. Summit participants overwhelmingly agreed that school leaders should strive to improve the quality, attractiveness, and health of their buildings. Research and experience have shown the impact of spatial configurations, color, lighting, ventilation, acoustics, and other design elements on student achievement. Far from luxuries, these elements can affect students’ ability to focus, process information, and learn.

8. Consider non-traditional options for school facilities and classrooms. Explore options for employing underused civic, retail, and other adaptable, non-school spaces, participants urged. Many cities have community assets such as museums, colleges, research labs, and other institutions that offer the potential for experiential learning and real-life applications of lessons.

I just returned from running workshops in Queensland and the group of teachers and I had a fantastic discussion around safety, connection and learning.

Let me tune you in to how we got into it by reproducing a bit of the morning of the Advanced Inquiry Workshop.

Our brain is designed to to ensure the safety and survival of our bodies. So it is always scanning to ensure that the body is safe. Given that survival and safety is paramount for the brain … the learning environment must be safe.

But .. are our learning enviroments safe for the brain?

Fear is the foremost inhibitor to learning and growth. The brain, however, cannot distinguish between fear of failure /getting things wrong / making a mistake in a peer environment vs fear of dying or suffering injury. Research has shown that the physiologically they produce the same body reaction. This is understandable because the environment that we exist in has evolved from the dangers of survival out in the wild to the dangers of survival in the modern world.

What this points to is that we must go beyond looking at physical saefty issues like bullying or many of the overt factors that create an unsafe environment for learning. We need to also look at the systemic structures that the brain will interpret as a danger or survival issues.

One of the unfortunate byproducts of a content focussed traditional school environment is that we have created an environment of wrong / right, good / bad  … a breeding ground for fear. Students over time adapt by unconsciously becoming passive learners as a way of mitigating this fear as they haven’t yet learnt the skills to mitigate the fear using their pre-frontal cortex or reasoning part of their brain to reframe their perception. By the time we become adults many of us have not developed the capacity to mitigate the emotions and feelings that fear drive up – notice how public speaking is still feared more than death!

When I shared that with the teachers that I had a face to face example of the passivity that our education system breeds with a large group of first year pre-service teachers only last week … they began to share about their experiences of students from year 8 onwards and how they developed themselves to overcome the fear suppressor with the students.

Social networking research indicates that unless the individual has very strong self-confidence and wherewithal to go against group behaviour (the fear of speaking up and being wrong or humiliated) they will be passive and go along with the beliefs of the groups they are in. A simple example of this is how we can be chameleon like when we are in different groups of people. Fitting into a group is a survival technique that is fundamental to design of the brain in most species.

So a learning environment must be safe and develop the self-confidence of the child to question, to challenge, to develop their own place in the world. Young people must learn how to fail and learn from those experiences without fear of consequences for failing (e.g embarrassment, teasing, bullying, etc).

How do we create this?

Well the very best teachers practice it all the time. They know that they must be connected on a deep level with the students. They actively build a safe environment. They share their lives and create mutual respect. They honour their word. They consistently role model behaviour and relate to the students as their learning partners. They create environments where it is Ok to fail and make mistakes. They sometimes ask the students for feedback so they can improve their ability to deliver lessons that are more inspiring or have the students learn better.

Even more than this … why inquiry learning is becoming a more spoken about learning approach is that it is not about right or wrong, good or bad … but it allows students to discover and voice opinions and try different things out in an environment of discovery.

You might realise my point by this time. Unless we move from a content focussed paradigm which is all about passing the test, getting things right, etc .. we will not be preparing students for a world that is profoundly changing.

If we want our students to be self-confident, risk-taking thought provokers who adapt to an ever changing social and technological environment then we need to shift OUR paradigm of education.

The leap isn’t large … but it is becoming more and more urgent.

In last week’s blog we begun a discussion about developing leadership whilst student’s are learning. This week we explore, what John Maxwell calls “the quickest way to developing leadership“.

F.F. Fourneis, in his wonderful exposition Coaching for Improved Work Performance, discussed four common reasons why people do not perform the way they should:

1. They do not know WHAT they are supposed to do
2. They do not know HOW to do it
3. They do not know WHY they do it
4. There are obstacles beyond their control

Despite that this was originally written about work circumstances it is apparent that this can also be said about students in a school situation.

The first two reasons are normally dealt with reasonably well within a classroom environment. We provide excellent explicit teaching on the WHAT and the HOW of doing specific tasks. Having well designed assessment rubrics go a long way to providing students with what they need to show that they have develop knowledge as well as skills and capacities.

Reason three, the WHY, is sometimes not addressed well in classes but can be developed with well designed “tuning in” sessions and linking to the students’ understanding in other areas. A strong WHY will have the students engaged, passionate and enabling strong transference of skills AND knowledge.

Reason four, however, is poorly dealt with by many schools, and in fact most people rarely develop the wherewithal to overcome the obstacles that life throws at them unless their survival is at risk!

[Interestingly, a social psychologist at a conference once shared with me how in a survey he performed of his clients he discovered that 6% changed their unproductive habits from advertising, 17% from an emergency (e.g. heart attack, cancer) while over 70% because a close friend or family member nagged them until they changed!].

One can consider that one major aspect of leadership is the ability to overcome obstacles to achieve the goals you set out to achieve. You look at any successful individual and you will find that they failed many times before they succeeded and what made them successful and leaders in their areas was that they learnt how to overcome or get around obstacles (the youtube video below gives some examples of this).

John C Maxwell in his book Developing the Leader Within You suggests that there are only two things that allow for powerful problem solving and leadership: the right attitude and the right action plan.

Given the importance of attitude to being a leader, next weeks blog will go in depth about the right attitude. At this point I just want you to consider that in a content focussed curriculum and school environment the right attitude of students is to give what the teachers want and what the assessments ask for that will give them the best marks. This does not naturally develop leadership.

With respect to the right action plan John Maxwell outlined the following process to develop the problem solving approach that will give people the ability to tackle the obstacles they face

1. Identify the problem – quite often we attack the symptoms not the cause. Identify the real issues that lie beneath the symptoms
2. Prioritise the problem – quite often we become stopped because we seem to have too many problems or things to deal with. Being able to list the issues and them prioritise them will allow students to grapple with the reality of the situation and learn how to deal with what is most important first
3. Define the problem – defining what is the problem you will tackle (e.g. a critical question the students will tackle in an inquiry learning project) gives direction to the solution process. Maxwell discusses 4 steps to this aspect
   1. Ask the right questions
   2. Talk to the right people
   3. Get the hard facts
   4. Get involved in the process
4. Select people to help you in the process – I have observed that many people try to solve problems on their own and get stuck. What I have found is that the answers always lie in community. Consulting as widely as possible will allow for solutions that you, as an individual, have never thought of.
5. Collect problem causes
6. Collect possible solutions
7. Prioritise and select the best solutions
8. Implement the best solution
9. Reflect on and Evaluate the solution

You have probably noticed by now that this process IS the process of project-based inquiry learning. Pure inquiry learning, where the students choose a critical question to research and then go about in a discovery approach to answer their question, requires the skills and capacities I have just outlined.

What I ask you to reflect on is … how are you developing your students in the above process EXPLICITLY? Do you have rubrics that the students fill out to train them? Do you have particular practices you use in the class to do this? Do you have specific templates where the students can ritualise this process?

Feel free to comment on the blog!

Next week .. developing the right attitude!

It is interesting when you start reading out of your field how many interesting ideas one discovers that are applicable to education.

Ken Blanchard is one of the world leading experts on management and leadership. He is the author of a series of books called the “One Minute Manager”. He, and his team, have sold millions of books and empowered managers and leaders in a range of industries worldwide in simple and effective approaches to developing leadership and managing their organisations.

In “Leadership and the One Minute Manager” I discovered an interesting table (see Figure 1 below) where the One Minute Manager discusses “Situational Leadership”. The principal behind the approach reminded me greatly of how inquiry–learning, project-based learning can be designed to empower and develop skills in young people. It actually reflects the essence of what Bertram Bruce from the University of Illinois pointed out about the stages that teachers must go through to develop skills in leading inquiry learning (Figure 2).

Figure 1

The table outlines the relationship between four developmental levels and the four leadership styles that a manager / leader would use with the person in that developmental level.

1. Directing – for people who lack competence but are enthusiastic and committed. They need direction and frequent feedback to get them started.
2. Coaching – for people who have some competence but lack commitment. They need direction and feedback because they are relatively inexperienced. They also need support and praise to build their self-esteem, and involvement in decision making to restore their commitment.
3. Supporting – for people who have competence but lack confidence or motivation. They don’t need much direction because of their skills, but support is necessary to bolster their confidence and motivation.
4. Delegating – for people who have both competence and commitment. They are able and willing to work on a project by themselves with little supervision or support.

So if one was going to develop independent learners who are responsible for their own learning teachers would need to use a variety of leadership styles. Teachers would also need to ensure that the students develop competencies and skills. They need to have the basic knowledge as well as the skills to use that knowledge.

Figure 2

However, how many teachers become stuck using one leadership style? Some are all about directing. Some are all about supporting or coaching. If a teacher does not use the appropriate leadership style to the student (and it gets even more complicated because students can be in different developmental levels for different subjects … and the One Minute Manager actually shares a story about this) then we can actually be counter-productive to learning.

What do you see? Tell us in the comments section of the blog.

Next week we will discuss another aspect of leadership … how do you actually set up your teaching to develop leadership.