Learning Services teachers partnered with classroom teachers to focus on an individual student they were concerned about, developing a deep understanding of that student's needs and exploring some learning tools and strategies to support that student in moving forward.
A team of us are getting reading to present this work at the Learning Forward Conference in Vancouver next month, so we've been reviewing and reflecting on our journey. Personally, I've been thinking about my role as an educational leader, and thinking about ways to support teams in continued exploration, in finding ways for last year's learning to sustain itself, How can I help professional development conversations from last year to become sustained pedagogical practice in the future?
Without exception, the most successful teams shared two key elements:
Not just as data, but as a learner, as a person, as a member of the classroom and community.
2. REAL COLLABORATION.
Regular, open, focused, goal-oriented, data-supported collaboration.
The evolution of the individual teams was really interesting to watch. When we did our initial introductions in the fall, I asked everyone about their students, so that we could figure out what tools and strategies might be helpful to explore for them. I was told things like:
- He's stubborn but likable.
- She doesn't attend, isn't connected to other students, won't accept help.
- She has VERY ingrained habits, no initiative for academics.
- He is constantly negotiating, shutting down and not trying.
When we checked back in at the end of May, the same students were described in this way:
- He's attentive, kind, empathetic and gentle. Always seeking connections (with peers).
- She is developing the courage to take risks, is an independent and active learner.
- Visual spatial skills are a strength, she is proud of her attendance and math skills.
- He's creative and has a good sense of humor. He has lots of oral knowledge and self esteem is happening. He has his own identity and accepts his autism.
At no point during the year did I ask people to move to a strengths-based lens. People were not asked to look for strengths, or to "focus on the positive." I didn't point out that focusing on deficits or challenges made it harder to help these learners. A strength-based approach just grew. And was celebrated.
What was responsible for this shift? How did these teams grow to know their learners so deeply, and move them so far over the course of a school year?
I believe it was learning how to collaborate meaningfully and regularly. Each time we got together as a larger learning community, people were asked to provide an update on their focus student. They were asked to identify areas where their student was having success, and areas where lagging skills were still of concern. There was a team of us facilitating the large-group sessions, we divided up the questions and focused on areas we thought would be of value to the teams.
At first, it was difficult. Much of the feedback focused on work habits, attitude toward learning, and learners' challenges. Undoubtedly this was partly due to the first session happening fairly early in the year, but we could also tell that people had chosen their focus students because they really were seeking some new ideas and strategies. These were hard kids to figure out. If they hadn't been, they wouldn't have been chosen for the project.
The team of four (myself, our SET BC District Partner, our Technology Teaching and Learning Resource Teacher, and the SET BC Consultant), poured over the information we'd been given, and determined that the best place to start was with some whole-class tools for instruction. We needed to help the teams have a way to include their focus student, along with everyone else, into the instruction and lessons. For this second gathering, we focused on whole-class lessons with Kurzweil, using Google tools and online math resources, and a few flexible iPad apps.
Next was some more data collection, to see which of these tools had landed, and which ones needed more support or adjustment. After a survey of participants, we worked to narrow the questions more specifically, visited some classrooms, and tweaked our suggestions/supports in a more individual way for the teams. We also spent some time considering big ideas and core competencies, and borrowed heavily from Shelley Moore's website resources (blogsomemoore.com).
We talked lots about "All, Some and Few" as a planning framework, considering the importance of EVERY learner in the room being part of every lesson. Not in an adapted, or a sit-with-an-EA at the back kind of way, but in a "we-picked-a-starting-point-everyone-can-launch-from" kind of way.
By our May wrap-up, people requested some specific instruction with more of the Chrome tools and extensions, and were excited to share the progress made by their focus students. We weren't fishing for questions or guessing at which strategies to share. The teams came with specific questions to support the learning and collaboration that was already occurring.
Do I believe these four sessions were magical opportunities for collaboration? No way. But I do believe that bringing people together over time encouraged them to talk in-between the sessions. There was no way to respond to the surveys and questions without talking to their colleague. Specific questions in terms of identifying strengths, lagging skills, and questions around what teaching strategies and resources would support them, encouraged teams to work together to encourage next steps. Folks wanted to have things to celebrate when they got together with the large group. No one wants to be the team that's got nothing to celebrate. The only way to show forward movement and success was to work together to create it.
Like most change processes, we hit an implementation dip. When we got together in January, there was more than one team who weren't sure what they were going to share. A couple of the students had started off well, but had slipped into old patterns, or non-attendance or frustrations. But this was a collection of highly professional, dedicated, empathetic educators who weren't stepping away from a challenge. The teams dug in and worked together to make sure they had some news to celebrate for our April gathering. They poured over student assignments, reflections & observations to find the spark or connection with their learner. They looked for new ways to reach their focus students and engage them.
It worked. Regular, focused conversation about the students and their successes let us focus on the lagging skills in a proactive strength-based way. All of the students in the project had successful experiences in their classrooms. The teams noticed that the whole class benefited from the strategies being explored. Teaching for "all" as a way to include the case study students meant teaching for "all" in the classroom as a whole.
As for my original question: How can I help professional development conversations from last year to become sustained pedagogical practice in the future? I have a plan. I'll keep going. I'll keep getting to know teachers and learners. I'll keep offering support and strategies where I can. I'll keep seeking ways to provide educators with opportunities for ongoing, sustained, focused collaboration. And I'll remember the lessons learned from this project. These learners, and their teachers, have so much to be proud of. This learning community truly understood THEY ARE ALL OUR KIDS.
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