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mixing pallet

Weaving passions with work

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Shannon Vulu

mixing pallet

A continuous personal goal of mine is to follow my passions so that work isn’t work. Work became fulfilling for me when I began visualising myself doing the kind of things I enjoy — being creative. I have been visualising a ‘dream role’ as such, and set small steps to begin moulding this and making it part of my ‘business as usual’.

A quote that has stuck for me is “if you look after your reo, your reo will look after you”. I liken this to your passions. If you look after your passions, your passions will look after you.

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computing

Computer science and the benefits of learning to think like a computer

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Tara Fagan

computing

Programming a computer means nothing more or less than communicating to it in a language that it and the human user can both “understand”.  And learning languages is one of the things that children do best. Every normal child learns to talk.
Why then should a child not learn to “talk” to a computer?

 

Seymour Papert, Mindstorms (Papert, 1980)

I love technology. I love how it can provide access, make tasks simpler (most of the time!), and provides us new ways to connect, engage, collaborate, and learn.

I have been tinkering with technology since my childhood Commodore 64. My interest in coding, along with technology, grew when I became aware of how technology can help people access information. In a previous career, I strung together some basic lines of code in dBase iii to develop an automated database. It removed the barrier of needing to know how to operate the complicated menu system, making it easier for users to search the database contents. Information was being made accessible through coding and computers. While I was not a programmer, I had opportunity to play with ideas and realise the benefits that technology affords.

When I heard of coding in education gaining momentum around the world, I took notice. I looked at how this was being introduced and, more importantly, why it was being introduced.

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planning

School charters — walking the talk

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Jo Wilson

planning

In recent months all New Zealand schools have been reviewing and developing their charter document for 2016– 2019. The charter is the Board of Trustees’ number one policy document, and sets the future direction of the school by outlining the school’s vision, values, and strategic goals. This process creates a wonderful opportunity for community engagement to discuss and explore the way education is changing, and the aspirations and needs of the community. It promotes clarity, fostering shared understanding of what the school is trying to achieve.

Stoll, Fink and Earl (2003) talk about schools having three types of future — a possible future, a probable future, and a preferable future. In terms of possible future, anything is possible. A probable future is best described as, if you keep doing what you've always done, your future will probably be one that is comfortable and one that you know.  In contrast, a preferable future is when you take charge of the type of future you want; review where you are currently at; explore possible options for development; select the preferred path, and strategically plan to achieve your desired future. The charter review and development process provides schools with the opportunity to identify their preferable future.

This process can, at times, appear to be a daunting task, with school leaders unsure of where to begin. Reviewing what is currently in place provides a framework for the initial discussion. The following questions provide examples of how to facilitate this dialogue with community, Board of Trustees, staff, and possibly students.

  • Is the current vision relevant and meaningful to our students, staff and community?
  • Does it clearly outline what we are trying to achieve?
  • Does it guide and determine our decision-making?
  • Is it explicit and evident in what we say and do?
  • Does this signal that we are preparing students for their future?

For example, if we say that our vision is to develop confident connected lifelong learners, we need to consider what this would look like, sound like, and feel like in our school. What does this look like for students, for teachers, for the community, and the board? Is this integral to our everydayness — at board level, leadership, teaching, and learning programmes? How does this vision guide decision-making? What are the implications in regard to strategic goals, resourcing, and the design of learning spaces?

Simon Sinek uses what he calls the Golden Circle (illustrated below) to highlight the importance of placing our vision and values at the centre of our planning, building outwards to the principles, and then practices from there. He refers to the centre of the circle as the ‘WHY’, suggesting this should always determine what we do as we build towards our preferred future. Dr Julia Atkin explores this in depth in her paper From Values and Beliefs about Learning to Principles and Practice.

What, How, Why?
Image: Derek Wenmoth

Taking time to unpack the principles and practices associated with the school vision and values promotes clarity through shared understanding of expectations. For example, if the school values collaboration, and believes that this is integral to enacting the vision, then time needs to be spent to clearly identify the associated principles and practices. The following questions provide suggestions for facilitating this dialogue:

  1. What are the deliberate acts of teaching that support collaboration?
  2. What are the deliberate acts of leadership to support collaboration?
  3. What resources can we draw on to foster collaboration?
  4. How can we design our learning spaces to promote collaboration?

 

The process of reviewing the school vision, values and strategic goals sets the future direction for the school. It breathes life into the identified preferable future, taking it from words to actions by providing opportunities to explore meaning and clarify expectations. Investing time in this process, involving all stakeholders, promotes ownership of and commitment to enactment of the vision and values. This ensures that schools will indeed walk the talk of their school charter.

 

References
Atkin, J. (1996) From values and beliefs about learning to principles and practice. Available online

Sinek, S. (2014) Start with the why. Available online

Stoll, L., Fink, D., & Earl, L. (2003). It’s about learning. London: Routledge Falmer.

If you would like support in developing your preferable future, CORE Education has a team of experienced facilitators who can support you.

For further enquiries, contact Mary-Anne Mills.

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Posted in
goldfish

The goldfish and the gate

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Dr Lachlan McLaren

You might have seen the study last year that claimed our attention span was now less than that of a goldfish. You may have also watched a movie for over an hour. How does that work?

goldfish

We all know, generally, what it means to pay attention. But hold on, what is attention? How do we pay it?

In some of my research I was faced with the same question. What is attention? One way of thinking about attention that I liked was written by Daniel Kahneman in his book, Attention and Effort (1973). He talks about attention as a limited resource. It is the amount of effort, or cognitive capacity, someone allocates to a task. It has focus and intensity.

The focus part, is the focus (haha) of this post.

If we think of attention as a limited resource, perhaps that explains why we talk about paying attention. We talk about it like other things some people see as limited, like money, and time.

Rightly or wrongly, phrases such as, pay attention, conjure up images of exchange. Usually, when we pay for something, we’re expecting to get something in return. Think about it in a teaching context. If you are expecting people to pay you their attention, what are you giving them that is worth spending their attention on?

Because attention is limited, we can’t pay the same amount of attention to everything at the same time. Sometimes we have to choose the focus of our attention. Some researchers describe this choice about what we pay attention to as a gateway. If something gets through the gate, we pay attention to it. (How much attention we pay is the intensity part, by the way).

gate

Now, you might be thinking about how you get through the gate? Well, give yourself some credit, you probably know most of that already. People have been paying attention to you for years. But here is a recap:

  • Relevance is near the top of the list for opening the gate. Would you pay for something you don’t care about?
  • So is novelty. How many times have you paid for something just to try it out?
  • Estimated effort and estimated enjoyment are also up there. Would you (willingly) pay for something you thought wasn’t going to be enjoyable, or that you thought would be too difficult to even use?

So, the next time you find yourself talking about people not paying attention, have a think. Their attention is probably doing just fine; you just have to figure out how to get that gate open.

 

References:

Kahneman, D. (1973). Attention and effort. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Images sourced using PhotosForClass.com
Goldfish: Gullfiskur by úlfhams_víkingur (2009) under CC
Gate: Gate To Beach by Tracy Hunter (2008) under CC

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Posted in
Red team chess

Red Teaming school change

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Greg Carroll

Red team chess

I wrote a while back about getting out of the ‘education echo chamber’ and challenging ourselves with people who may think differently or come from a different perspective than us. One of the links in this post was to RedTeams.net, who are counter-insurgency and security specialists. I find the whole concept of ‘red teaming’ fascinating, and those I work with will often hear me talk about trying to ‘break ideas’ and thrash plans around while they are still in their formative or concept stage. Red teaming has evolved from the historical Vatican concept of the so-called  devil's advocate – someone whose job it was to try and break ideas or plans, or to argue from the opposite perspective to the status-quo or accepted doctrine. The counter perspective was seen as essential to coming to good decisions and decision-making, just as actively seeking multiple perspectives is central to effective change in education contexts today.

One of my current favourite reads is Micah Zenko’s ‘Red Team — how to succeed by thinking like the enemy’. It outlines the whole concept of Red Teaming, and gives examples from a number of different fields across military and business arenas. He begins by observing:

Institutions — whether they are military units, government agencies , or small businesses — operate according to some combination of long-range strategies, near-term plans, day-to-day operations and to-do lists. Decision-makers and other employees do not simply show up to their jobs each morning anew and then decide then and there how to work, and what to work on. The existing guidance, practices, and culture of an institution are essential to it's functioning effectively. Yet, the dilemma for any institution operating in a competitive environment characterized by incomplete information and rapid change is how to determine when it’s standard processes and strategies are resulting in a suboptimal outcome, or, more seriously, leading to a potential catastrophe. Even worse, if the methods an institution uses to process corrective information are themselves flawed they can become the ultimate cause of failure. (pg: xvi)

To me, that sounds very much like the dilemma schools and centres face each and every day, particularly at this time of the year as they are refining and confirming their strategic planning and day-to-day ways of working for the new year. It also reflects closely the understandings we have about the work we do in Learning with Digital Technologies to support schools and clusters to implement their plans and goals, but with a specific e-learning lens. Planning, making strategic choices, change management and ensuring the smooth implementation of actions promoting change towards agreed outcomes are all crucial elements of what we support schools and clusters to do.

Zenco (in Chapter 1) also describes six critical factors to the effectiveness of any Red Team programme. Once again these things will sound very familiar to anybody who is involved in school leadership or change management. With a specific school or centre context, these factors could look like:

  1. The boss must buy in: The support and engagement of the leadership in the entire programme and its outcomes is the most critical single factor in schools, centres and for Red Teaming.
  2. Outside and objective, while inside and aware: Those leading or supporting any programs or changes must be aware of the culture of the organisation and effective ways of engendering change within it. They must also understand who the official and unofficial leaders are and who it is most effective to work with and through to get the desired outcomes.
  3. Fearless sceptics with finesse: Don’t make assumptions — check them, break them, challenge them, and change them. Dance carefully around and between the things and people that may be blockers or impediments to change. Work carefully and skillfully with those people who may not be as on-board as others.
  4. Have a big bag of tricks: If one strategy doesn't work effectively, good change leaders always have other ways of getting things to happen. They will know who the effective people are to collaborate with, and what strategies are most useful to work with them to get the change they desire.
  5. Be willing to hear bad news and act on it: Once again, effective leaders will be constantly reviewing and checking that they are on track for the outcomes they are seeking. They will be prepared to make changes along the way, and, if necessary, refocus their efforts in ways that will promote the long-term outcomes and gains they are seeking.
  6. Red team just enough but no more: You can over plan! At some point you need to get on with it and implement change, not just plan it and think about it. Fullan often quotes an inverse relationship between the overt ‘quality’ of strategic planning and the ‘quality of the outcomes’.

Redteams.net has a moto of “Plan, execute, vanish”. Again this has a strong education parallel:

  • Plan well and for all contingencies.
  • Do what you planned, and said you were going to do.
  • Re-focus your change management attention and get on with the next thing when you have achieved your goal/s.

So, as you reflect on 2015, and really begin to ramp-up your school or centre development in 2016, what elements of Red Teaming can you include?

  • Do you actively try to break goals and plans while they are at the formative and intellectual stage so you are less likely to be surprised by something you never thought of?
  • Do you actively seek out the wacky and weird ways things that may go wrong – because they often do?
  • Do you seek the perspectives of those you disagree with or ask the dissenters for their ideas?
  • Do you over or under plan?
  • Are you even planning and actioning the right things, the ones that will have the greatest impact?
  • Do you over-labour things and not move on to the next thing you need to do?
  • What will you do if your plan does begin to falter?  Can you bring it back on track because the challenge you are facing is something you have already considered?

What other questions do you need to ask yourself to ensure that you achieve the things you aspire to for yourself, you students and your school/centre this year?

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