Compare and Contrast...

I put my hand up to "convene the French programme" at an upcoming regional Language teachers day conference. Here are a couple of reasons:
- to help out
- to keep in touch with the local Language teachers community
- to share experiences gleaned from a range of professional learning opportunities
- to further support my conviction that this model of Professional Learning has seen better days


This is comparing and contrasting the traditional Subject Association Conference day with the Unconference day, educamp style.
Both are intended to be "for teachers by teachers" (the only "both A&B" of the Venn Diagram)

I have attended a range of subject associations conferences in NZ and abroad, four educamp and one Ignition. I have previously been a convener,  helped organise Week End d Immersion the upcoming Fransème and put together FrenchCamp 

Convening for a day's conference involves:
- Attend committee meetings
- Go over what was has been done traditionally and that was deemed "to work"
- Follow it to the letter (including mail outs, venue booking, catering, establishing conference fees, finding sponsorship, finding/inviting a "flash" keynote speaker, collecting fees...)
- Convince teachers in your network to present "something spectacular" "their excellent practice" to fit in one of the "lines" of the programme,  ask them to take a day of school, plan relief,  ask SLT for relief ($300), pay for their conference fee (because there is not enough money to invite them),  travel to the venue, send a bio and a presentation outline by a certain deadline, convince them "it's good for their CV"
- Exchange countless emails with the committee, hope that there are enough registrations to break even, ensure that all is on time for the programme to be published
- Decide for others on a programme for the day, plan all its aspects
- Meet and greet the presenters on the day, intro them when they start, thank them when they are done, give them a bottle of wine and a handwritten card of thanks.
- Decide on how /when to give the Evaluation form that is so hard to ellicit from attendees at the end of the day.
- Use the few evaluation forms returned to continue to do mostly the same, as some "will always be moaners" and "it is hard to please everybody"
- Count on attendees to come and expect to be given "a presentation"
- Count on listening a lot
- Count on listening to "experts"
- Expect no media coverage
- Expect tech to be limited to dedicated workshops
- Expect limited access to resources, if shared online, to those who have paid their conference fees
- Timetable of sessions reinforce silos (I ll never know what the Japanese teacher or the Maori teacher have to say, I ll just run from one session to the next, just like at school from one lesson to another)
- Opportunities to network and exchange ideas beyond the programme or about the programme are limited to morning tea and lunchtime
- Go home tired after another day

Organising an unconference involves:
- Pick a date on a week end, the self directed learner knows when it is worth giving up a precious day off for quality professional learning
- Whip up a google form, send the link via a range of social media
- Share the list of attendees and watch it grow by word of mouth
- Tap shoulders or just wait till someone offers their school as a venue
- Check the numerous website offering tips on coordinating a flow of activities to make the day go smoothly, start a google doc and watch the contributions grow
- Just check there is wifi and heating is on
- Organise a bowl for koha and coffee
- Ask people to bring a plate or to walk to a nearby café
- Rightly assume that all come to share something and ask something, prepared to talk, present off the cuff, take hard questions
- Count on participants to come and give, and share experiences: the good, the bad and the ugly
- Count on exchanging, collaborating a lot and maybe even critic and argue!
- Count on co-constructing knowledge and understanding
- Expect extensive social media coverage
- Expect online resources shared and open to all
- Expect tech to be embedded to communicate beyond the event and to support learning
- No need for evaluation: if people stayed on and did not vote with their feet, consider all got something out of it
- Expect to read many reflections and blogposts on what has been learnt, shared and questioned by participants
- Go home enthused after another day

So if the question is "What's next for Learning Languages?" I would argue that those who have traditionally provided Professional Learning opportunities start thinking about Professional Learning in the context of both the NZC and of the current era.  Professional Learning is not something a teacher should be expecting to be organised for them and to receive passively by turning up but something that the teacher would go and get in their own terms, when they are ready, when they need it, that is accessible, in a range of authentic contexts, that they reflect on and share,  just like the learning of our students in the classroom.
To continue to ask a few to focus huge energy and effort on providing costly Conference days which value is determined in terms of attendance and on the spot evaluation is too big an ask when the alternatives abound. Subject Associations, hand over the learning to the individual teacher,  by empowering them to share their practice openly in an environment conducive to exchange and conversation. Create the right climate and accompany change.

Which way back to the Drawing Board? - Part 2

MyPortfolio is the tip of the iceberg! Upon establishing how my involvement with MyPortfolio developed, I now want to attempt and take stock of how it has impacted my understanding of education in the New Zealand context (and beyond?), my personal and professional growth, my interest in Professional Learning  and generally speaking my own Learning. There is a lot in my kete, and it is pretty messy...

Where am I now? 
Being a MyPortfolio trainer has allowed me to fill many gaps in my knowledge and understanding of teaching and learning (not an easy thing to admit but my reality nonetheless...)

- an ePortfolio makes the learning process visible to whom it matters most: the user
- an ePortfolio is user centred
- it helps develop a sense of individual purpose, self direction, achievement, over time
- it provides a space to gather all sorts of information in a same place: links, images,  files etc which are either gleaned in different places or at different stages of development (drafts, notes, productions...)
- it allows to share this information, files, reflections with others and invite their input.  Its online nature lets you connect with others and that contribute to collaboration.
- it supports a reflective approach to learning: through revisiting things in one place it allows the user to step back and think about what s/he is doing
- it stores work that is in progress and keeps it when investigation for more/different info is taking place
- its ongoing use favors:

    > the development of digital competences (use of webtools, effective research, file/resource management, content creation, use of tags, understanding attribution, creative commons, leaving comments and feedback, participating in an online community and associated behaviours, digital footprint... _
    > exploration and curiosity!
An ePortfolio approach (MyPortfolio use) supports the intent and vision of the NZC. 
An ePortfolio approach supports a socio-constructivist pedagogy, authentic learning based on learners' experiences,  group work, trial and error,  learning by doing, where the learner takes responsibility for their own work: an education is not something that one receives, it is something one acquires.
So that is that in a nutshell for the teaching-learning"ah ah" moments.

Here are some of my learning and some of the observations I have made while training teachers to use MyPortfolio:

- Always start by having the group talk about the "Why?" and work back to "How",  massaging in "supporting questions" if/when necessary.
- Have plenty of examples: teachers like to see what it looks like! But dont show them all at once, insert them when the need arises  (And throw in some whizzy tools!)
- Make sure there is a final product: teachers want to be able to have something to show for for their time involvement (in this case a first page, with a few artefacts and a journal entry shared to a friend or to a group for feedback)
- One size does not fit all! Skills, interests, purpose, pre knowledge, contexts, infrastructures are different everywhere! This was particularly a hard one to get around with the time constraint (90 min) the content (presenting the space as a reflective tool) the format (guided discovery) of the Taster Sessions. For half day workshops all of this was extended and the day workshops enabled a lot more conversation and exchange sometimes around the Why but mainly around the How! (This is the object of a concluding remark to follow)
eg: I went over time often, and no one ever rushed out ;-) ! That is my very own measure of the willingness to engage all the teachers I have worked with so far have effectively displayed!  I discovered that teachers did not always see the reflection as the primary buy in, so I weaved it in after presenting the group function (teachers primarily interested in seeing how they and their students communicate on this space for assessment purpose for instance). I saw with my own eyes there is a huge discrepancy in the level of skills required to perform a range of basic steps on a computer which at times hindered the guided discovery approach.  The least skilled the least likely to work within a small group thus the need for me to take time during the training to show one skill (eg: embed external media) to one person and this person teaches others during the session.
- emphasis is put on the importance to start with a small concrete step and build on it, to be strategic about it and start with the end (the why!) in mind. And if necessary to spend more time on the why. 
- Stepping into the eportfolio world ("What I can do" rather than "what I know") both students and teachers are learners need to own their criteria for success. Hence a departure from traditional practice and process for teachers and their students...

Following this immediately by a list of assumptions born from observations that I can not back with hard evidence but that are surely feeding my interrogations!  (Yet to support some of these generic observations you may want to cast an eye on Cathy Wylie's Secondary schools in 2012 Main findings from the NZCER national survey ).

- Use of ICTs is developing. Is it a part of a school strategy? Is there evidence of it effecting students' learning in any given school? Is there any supporting PD?
- How do teachers move from being internet consumers (the model students get) to content creators?
- Equipment and internet access vary a lot from one school to another one learner to another. What to do to lessen the divide?
- Words used to describe actions are not always accurate (eg: I am an early adopter= I have an eportfolio account, we are implementing = we have played around myportfolio at department level, our students create content = they have shown me their powerpoint made from the template I gave them, my principal wants us to use myportfolio across the school= my principal is justifying allowing the 1/2 day PD, I follow a teacher as inquiry cycle to inform my teaching=  my professional goal is to implement level 3 ncea etc.) How to ensure terminology use describes a reality?
- Strong focus on NCEA and assessments load: is this concealing at times the teaching and learning changes brought in by some of the AS (eg: .3 in the Learning Languages area)?
- The idea of collaborating across schools is welcome but effectively not done that much. How to move to from a "sharing resources" culture to "sharing experiences and big ideas"?
- Online discussion forums to ask questions are used tepidly (the groups started in myportfolio training are not used,  many myportfolio users contact me via direct message rather than post a question on a forum...) Which is a vastly different from the rich conversations and exchanges I witness on say Twitter (eg: #edchatnz) (totally voluntary) or through dedicated NZ educators forums (eg: VLN) where the conversations are either brought on or kept going by dedicated facilitators.
(Tom Whitby in this recent blogpost summed up eloquently and aptly what I merely sensed:
"There is now a new gap in education. In a system riddled with too many gaps, this is not good news. Technology and social media specifically have provided tools that enable educators to connect, communicate collaborate and create. That ability makes a difference in individuals. It enables reflection and relevance. It is also creating two groups of educators, the connected, and the unconnected. The discussions of the connected seem to be focused on the future and moving toward it. The discussions of the unconnected seem to be steeped in the past with little or very slow-moving forward movement." This is a different conversation and blogpost altogether but it still matters as an eportfolio/myportfolio use hinges on the same principles.
-  How to move from Professional Learning to be considered as something that ought to be provided/received to something to go and get? 

Last but not least of my learning from being a MyPortfolio trainer and involved in the French Teachers' Community:

- Digital literacies play a more and more important role: digital competences and skills need some sort of recognition
- There is a need for a strategic approach to elearning in every school, developed from the Why? and the pedagogy it aims to support/enhance, with criteria for success bought it worked towards by all staff and
- Individual Professional elearning needs (How?) to be identified from professional learning goals which are in line with the school strategy
- Ongoing Professional development plans need to support the strategy.
- All of the above is necessary for the teachers to engage fully and meaningfully, in support of  personal and professional motivation,  into revisiting their pedagogy, their skills in a supportive environment.

Phew... yes I have learnt a lot.
With no community support budget for MyPortfolio as it stands, plenty of individual teachers wanting to know more but have no access to PD budget, heaps of colleagues who have started and wonder about the next step, what am I going to do with all this?

Responding to your latest ICOT musings

Bonté divine, Pascale,

SOLO - Is this Relational or Extended Abstract?

That ICOT conference has certainly generated a lot of reflection and analysis on your part! In a way it vindicates what you question the worth of in your latest post. 'Conference or Not?' I know there's evidence out there to show that this 'magistral' model isn't the most effective way of shifting thinking and leading to change but I'm still a fan, as long as what those speakers have to say is really mind-shifting or expanding. Conversation with colleagues is all very well but it has to have a catalyst and I think that could well be the presentations. What would be best, perhaps, is to follow each presentation with an opportunity for discussion. My problem with wave upon wave of presentations is that there isn't enough time to digest them before rushing off to the next one, the result being overload and loss of concentration. So maybe a judicious combination of presentations and time to wrestle a bit with the ideas immediately afterwards would be the best model. The evidence points to the fact that effective professional learning is an iterative process, offering multiple opportunities to revisit and develop ideas in a supported environment. I think this is a good argument for school-wide PD as the revisiting can be on-going and more or less scheduled as well as informal. However I think that subject teachers also need to get together between schools to adapt generic ideas to the particular constraints of their subject.
If I consider my shifts in thinking, and there have been a number, as you know, I have to admit that  most of them occurred as a direct result of having listened to an inspirational expert at a conference or teacher-only day.  What I'm not sure of is how my shifts in thinking > practice have been taken into account in research into what constitutes effective PD. Have I been left out of the equation?? (Boo hoo!) The trouble with such research is that it looks for fairly immediate results and a clear sign of cause and effect whereas with me, and I'm sure many other teachers, an idea is sown, it may sit around for yonks in the soil of my mind waiting for the right time to germinate and lead to a definite mind-shift and resultant evolution of practice. Sometimes the link is hard to make as the process tends to be a long one. There is necessarily an element of sychronicity about it too. The idea may reappear in a different context and generate the connections necessary to get that idea back into your mental 'in tray'. Good ideas have a habit of popping up in a timely fashion when you're most receptive to them and also when you have time to process them and adapt them to your particular situation. Like you, I'm a great convert to the power of the internet to disseminate new and exciting ways of bringing education into harmony with change taking place in the wider world. I'm also heartened by the democratisation of knowledge sharing. In our newly-created on-line professional communities (our PLNs) we can be invigorated both by acknowledged experts and each other. When we could and do watch/hear these experts on video, is there any real need to see them present in person? Is ICOT an anachronism? It certainly costs 'la peau des fesses' to attend, but fortunately non-attenders can follow on Twitter, through blog posts and YouTube clips. As far as you and I are concerned, will this blog conversation equal our face-to-face discussions? It won't be the same as there's more time for 'recul' between posts but it will leave more of a footprint that we can return to.
Now for a response to your other items:
Change or Die.
As you know, I've always favoured a wider picture approach and tend to apply the broad brush to things, trusting that if I've got the vision sussed then the details of how to move towards it will fall into place. This reminds me of SMART goals which were all the rage a few years ago. Personally I could barely contain my indifference to them. I've forgotten exactly what SMART stood for but it was all about dissecting ones goals into do-able, measurable, achievable segments so that we could tick them off as we achieved them. How systematic!! How bean-counting!!  YAWN!! As I have said, iconoclastically, since when did a SMART goal have what it takes to make you leap out of bed in eager anticipation? (Actually, I think I might have plundered that from some other thinker but I can't remember who)  If there's no associated vision, which is too often the case, the overall purpose can be lost sight of. I'm very interested in this contrast between management and leadership. For those firmly entrenched in the management camp I can't see 'influencing people's beliefs' as high on their agenda. It's more about making sure everything is tickety-boo and that students are being acquiescent in their correctly-worn uniforms. Numbers of Schols and NCEA results seem to be a major preoccupation and there is little questioning as to whether those results represent anything worthwhile in terms of equipping students for life after formal education. The NZC gives schools a mandate to consider the bigger societal picture and ERO should be making sure that this is at the core of the school culture.
'I have changed'. You sure have!! When I first met you in 2001 at the first NCEA jumbo day at Hamilton Girls High, I have to admit to having found you somewhat dogmatic in your approach. While I admired your confidence and obvious skill in helping your students to become good writers, I was surprised at your fairly strongly-expressed distaste for teaching literature, which I loved teaching. I might have even said to myself that Pascale and I could never be on the same wave length. How wrong I was. Over the years, and particularly during our collaboration I've watched you undergo a 'sea change' (fortunately not into 'something rich and strange' like 'thy father' in Shakespeare's 'Full Fathom Five.....'!) so that now you are a veritable sponge and vector for new ways of looking at education. Your growing uncertainty has been ultimately enriching, both to you, me and your colleagues, as it has led you to challenge the status quo. I think I've always been uncertain, and I certainly am at the moment as I prepare to return to the classroom. What is interesting is that in many ways I don't think I've changed a great deal (which may seem to contradict what I said before about my mind-shifts but I'll come back to this in another post). The recent exposure to the good ideas of Ken Robinson, Guy Claxton, Ewan McIntosh, John de Mado to name but a few, have served to vindicate what I've been feeling all along but was perhaps too reticent to articulate. Listening to them has given rise to a succession of 'eureka' moments when I've come to realise that I wasn't really out on a limb. Strange to say, although I may not have succeeded in changing many people's minds when I was teaching prior to 2006, I did feel reasonably supported in my iconoclasm. I remember saying to my principal 'If I had a scheme it would be a piece of fiction'  as no planning document could predict, much less dictate, what would take place in my classroom. If I'm teaching in a diagnostic way I'll be responding to the needs of the learners and how can those be factored into a programme before they've arisen? It would have to be very skeletal. The other thing that I was bold enough to say was that 'Bad' documentation didn't equal bad teaching and 'good' (read 'compliant') documentation was certainly no guarantee of good teaching. He had to agree.
Getting back to your change - should you systematise your approach? If you think it will help you in some way, go for it. As you know, I'm not systematic and I've passively resisted system mongers during my whole career and will continue to do so. A modicum of method in ones approach is no doubt necessary for coherence but I've had it with systems for which I can't see the justification. But I know that's not what you mean. You mean marshalling your thoughts. Collating all these wonderful ideas into some sort of synthesis that makes sense to you and deciding what how you're going to use them. The Extended Abstract phase - which brings me to.......
SOLO Taxonomy
This is a neat way of classifying learning stages that I will certainly be trying to incorporate into my teaching. I loved the lego analogy and will be showing this wee video to students to illustrate the idea. I think it would be relatively simple to use as a yardstick for students to understand where they are and identify the next steps. I'll be pondering on that one and adding it into the mix.
It would be good to talk to Fiona Bamford to see how far she's got with matching it up with her French teaching. Craig Perry and Fiona are right when they say that finding a common vision/  language/purpose doesn't happen overnight and that there may be hurdles. Guy Claxton would say 'so much the better if there are' as they create opportunities to hone the Magnificent 8 qualities. Maybe for NZ we should christen them the Magnificent No8 Qualities! Isn't that what we're trying to do - help students to develop their No8 débrouillardise (along with lots of other dispositions of course!)?

Well, that about wraps it up for this Sunday night. I've got so many things I'd like to talk about but 'y a pas le feu!'
A très bientôt
^. .^
=+=