Lorna Earl #TTTPLD2016 - How Networks for Learning work

How Networks for Learning work -

Building and Connecting Learning Communities

• are very complex 
• can influence learning 
• changing in thinking and practice is the key 
• locus of change 
• the correct, shared focus is necessary and needs to be understood by everyone 
• strength of engagement is important 
• distributed leadership is necessary... 
• Upload and download - consider the things that matter, issues arising, and bring into the discussion; reflect back alternatives and options 
• Shared purpose and foci for work - look through a variety of lenses 
• Collective agreement, 
• Facilitation role - bringing everyone together; 
• There will inevitably be conflict in the bringing together of communities. 
• New shared knowledge enables us to move forward, with everyone on the same page.

Learning Focus for Students and Adults

• Clear and defensible learning foci for students, Teachers and learners - look at the evidence; 
• If that's what they need - what do I need? What do we need
• Learning focus across schools and learning focus for the teachers; 
• Focus takes time and is complex; 
• Getting the focus clear and understood, 
• Avoid the doings that are not needs basis or necessary... activity trap; 
• Monitor the focus in the school and the network;
• Engage all! 
• De-privatise schools in relation to their communities; 
• Create hunger - visible as consummate learner; 
• Be aware of the distractions, how do you keep the focus!
• Prioritise and avoid the 'if only' 

Collaborative inquiry...

Relationships and Collaboration:

• Working together
• Discuss
• Give and seek
• Feel supported to try new ideas
• Feel responsible to help and support all
• Collectively coming up with something that is bigger than any of us individually!
• Feedback for growth!
• Talking openly about differing views and values,
• Dealing openly with conflicts and disagreements;

How do we create the conditions for a group to:

• talk openly
• value, discuss, share...

Facilitation as Intentional Interruption
Facilitation for change, what we actually know, believe and feel - we have to interrupt! New learning happens in the ambiguity. We have to rethink the schema. New learning is hard work.
Facilitation as interruption.
Facilitation is a role - not a person.
Facilitators as a community of practice!
How do we create the conditions to move us forward as a team?
Zone of proximal development - providing the scaffolding to move through the journey.

What needs interrupting?

• The culture of activity - from activity based to learning based.
• Moving beyond the nice-ness - separating person from practice
• Leader as lead learner as opposed to lead knower...

Sea of barriers...

• Imposter syndrome...
• Cognitive misers - mental shortcuts...
• Exception to the rule
• Risk averse

How do we ensure that the growth of us all in our role is an unavoidable consequence?

If it's not about learning what should it be about?

In a fast changing world, if you can't learn, unlearn, and relearn, you're lost. Sustainable and continuous learning is a given of the twenty-first century. Stoll, Fink and Earl (2003)

The power of feedback and feedforward...

As I journey, I am increasingly aware of the need to capture some feedback for my own inquiry.

As a team of facilitators we support each other, challenge each other, and are able to give specific feedback and feedforward to support our journeys.I live a mantra of: “if you learn, teach; if you get, give!” This has always shaped my way of being and I am happiest when I am learning, sharing, interacting, supporting and socialising. Yes, it comes as no surprise that I love socialising. I am extremely positive and just today, facebook shared a post with me that is worth celebrating… “NEVER apologise for enthusiasm”. Often I am challenged on my overuse of the word MAGIC and my rose tinted glasses. Sometimes, just sometimes, this really dents me. It makes me sad that I should repress what I am feeling, should change my language and my sharing, for the sake of others…. So, gladly, I repost this quote. I am unashamedly, unabashedly optimistic, enthusiastic, positive and extremely hopeful.

The Optimism RevolutionIncreasingly I am aware of the basic human need of recognition, affirmation, acknowledgement. I have worked with teachers over the past couple of weeks that make my heart sing, they give the most incredible feeling of joy, and hope for our learners. They have profoundly good teaching pedagogy, and they are pushing boundaries to ensure that their learners have agency, autonomy, access to learning challenges to address their experiences and challenge them. My role as a facilitator is first and foremost to hold a mirror to this practice, to allow the educators to share their stories and see the MAGIC in their journeys. Most especially, my role is to allow educators the time to talk… just talk. Sharing their story and having a willing listener is a rare privilege in our busy world. As I listen I am privileged to ask, provoke, dig deeper and empower the educator to reflect aloud on their journey. As we increasingly move to recording progress and journey, through the MAGIC of Storyhui, we can capture rare and precious insights. How do we use these as evidence? How do we unpack our story? How do we make sense of the changes within our learners; our programmes; and MOST importantly within ourselves? I see spirals of inquiry as the KEY. Inquiring, reflecting, gathering evidence, holding the mirror to our journey, our story. 

At times I work with educators who are challenged with circumstances beyond my belief, be it: temporary learning spaces, uncertain futures, facing mergers, unreliable or limited technology… Our Learning with Digital Technologies contract is rich with hope, opportunities and possibilities. Increasingly clustering for PLD is our reality. Opportunities for sharing, networking, collaborating and travelling a path together are plentiful. For years I have felt I am channeling Derek Wenmoth when I begin to talk of Ubiquity, Agency and Connectedness. Increasingly I see these as our mainstay in transformative practice. If our learning environments allow for ubiquitous access to our learning journey, anytime, anywhere, by our learners and community we have the potential to be transformative. If we have agency in our programmes, genuine agency, choice, based on our learners current reality, passions and needs, we have the potential to be transformative. If we have a learning environment that allows for connection with an authentic audience, colleagues, whanau, local and global communities, we have the potential to be transformative. Throw in a HUGE dollop of growth mindset and a whole lot of fun and MAGIC is possible. I guess it is unspoken that learner feedback and feedforward is a crucial component in any transformative environment. 

The feedback and feedforward I have received over the past week has shaped me and challenged me to go further… way further than I would without the power of someone holding a mirror to my practice. 

I acknowledge and celebrate all who take the time to give feedback. When you are up, feedback takes you higher, when you are struggling, feedback can help you find your wings, when you are down, feedback may well be the difference between you getting up or sinking. What is it that holds you back from giving feedback?  What is it that helps you give feedback?What is it that holds you back from giving feedback? 

What is it that helps you give feedback?

I know how wonderful I feel when I receive unexpected and surprising feedback. 

I know how wonderful I feel when I ask for feedback and critiquing of my facilitation.I know how wonderful I feel when I give feedback...                     





Imagine the difference we can make....

Te Reo Puāwai Māori

Whakataukī
Tūawhitia te hopo - feel the fear and do it anyway.

Kīanga - Phrases
Kei a koutou - Up to you all (3+)
He pātai ā koutou? Any questions?
He pātai tāku - I have a question
Me inoi tātou - let us all pray
Mai i te topi - From the top (start)
Kia pai tō rā - Have a good day
He whakaaro noa iho - just a thought

Kupu hou - new words
puāwai - to blossom/bloom
kaitautoko - supporter/cheerleader
tuatahi - first
Whāinga - goals
kāo/kāore - no
Āe - yes
Paramanawa - morning tea
tō - your
ahau/au - me/I
tohutō - macron
anō - again
matua - dad
mātua - parents
moumou - waste

http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/ 

Use images and word posters to support me in my journey!
Practice in our sessions.
Make whakatauki, karakia and waiata a part of our facilitative practice.
Commit to our weekly sessions, our modules, and the forum - really looking forward to seeing our relationships grow.

A huge mihi to Gemma, Anaru and Rochelle for a fabulous face to face day. From the moment we arrived til the moment we left there was a surreal feeling of openness, connectedness, willingness to take a risk, learn and grow together.  From my perspective this was due in part to some of the following:

• We had your online welcome;
• We arrived to a room set up with flexibility, space and choice of seating and groupings;
• Arrangements on our table gave a distinct New Zealand flavour;
• Friendly greetings from you all;
• Enthusiasm of participants;
• Very relaxed, welcoming feel;
• First session - the web of connectedness was amazing.  So many connections were made to set the scene for growing these throughout the day. 

Thanks to all the participants!  What an exciting journey we are on!

Mentoring video - tWOW - soooo worth a watch...

Mentoring - a conversation with Professor Sharon Feiman-Nemser from New Zealand Teachers Council on Vimeo.

Spirals of Inquiry - Transforming Learning in Schools: Extending the Network

Where to now with Spirals of Inquiry?

WOW – what powerful sessions with Judy Halbert and Lynda Kaser.  I have so many next steps and I am incredible aware of the need to make it manageable.

Read the book:

My first step is to read the book. I am hopeful that we will have online contact details of our group by then and we can start some discussion groups…

I also need to continue to work my way through the Joan Dalton ‘Learning Talk’ books as they continue to inform and shape my facilitation.

Carol Dweck PD:

I really need to upskill on the work of Carol Dweck.  Step one – reading through Nina’s fabulous notes from her session in Christchurch recently was a great start.

Joining http://www.mindsetworks.com/default.aspx and reading up and watching videos here is another step.

Viewing http://www.jamesnottingham.co.uk/media/videos James interviewing Carol Dweck is another step.

I would also like to read her book and be part of a bookclub discussion.

Deliberate acts of facilitation:

Taking the deliberate acts of facilitation into my sessions with Principals and e-leaders is a must.  We have had modeled for us supremely well, deliberate acts of facilitation.  As a team we have reflected on them and now work to make them a routine part of our practice.

Teaching as Inquiry sessions:

We all have Teaching as Inquiry sessions coming up in our facilitation roles.  How can we best take our new learning into these sessions? I am incredibly keen to collaborate with others as we create a resource to support us all in this area.  The power of the collaborative inquiry is increasingly challenging me as I am beginning to see it as the ‘best’ if not the ‘only’ way to school transformation.  The four questions are all powerful.  Supporting principals and e-leaders to embrace a schoolwide quest to identify possible inquiries might be a next step.

Sharing readings with a cluster group and empowering them to run their own unpacking of the inquiry phases might be another way of working.

Reflection:

Continual reflection on my new learning is essential.  As I enter into more PD I am increasingly aware of the need to encapsulate all my learning in not only my own personal inquiry, but shaping it in a way to support our principals and e-leaders.

Exciting times indeed….

Workshop - Transforming Learning in Schools: Innovation and the Spiral of Inquiry

WOW what a powerful learning day! 
Spirals of inquiry are part of my learning journey and I have been eagerly anticipating this PD. 
What a pleasure and a privilege to spend a day with Judy Halbert @JLHALBERT and Lyn Kaser @lkaser.

After a delayed flight from Dunedin, we received the smoothest trip from the airport through to our venue in central Christchurch and arrived just in time for the start of the day!

The day was a MAGICAL mix of content, collaboration and powerful acts of facilitation - many of which I anticipate taking into my learning environments.   And many wonderful resources to explore!

Thanks to Judy and Lyn for the journey!

We started by acknowledging tangata whenua.

Stickies on table for any questions throughout the session – attended to at end of day!

Give and go – put your ideas on a sticky, meet someone intellectually stimulating, share yours with someone and hand it on… continuing sharing… give and go!

Cwe’lep – uncertainty in anticipation of new knowledge…

Unpacking curiosity - Curiosity is important because… (we NEED to strive to know the currently unknown… see the unseen, hear the unheard, feel the untouched,) my idea in brackets... This idea was shared with another, then handed on, I received another and so on til we had interchanged many times...

No hands up… strategy – hand the mic, or talking stick to someone who shares, who then passes it on.  Important in this strategy – the recipient of mic has the right to pass it on!

Gratitude in working together…

Living in the what if… conversation, sharing, reflection, hearing new messages,

Martin Hill – environmental artist – Wanaka – http://martin-hill.com/

What is GRIT? Grit – passion and perseverance for long term goals. Grit – living life like it is a marathon, not a sprint.

Grit, then harvest and celebrate.

The Nature of Learning Using Research to Inspire Practice Edited by Hanna Dumont, David Istance and Francisco Benavides

Six big findings:

·      Inquiry based

·      Collaborative

·      Linked and coherent

·      Takes place over time

·      Professionally led

·      The ‘right’ focus

Building commitment – “clusterness”

Setting hard goals…

Heartfelt

Animated

Required

Difficult

Goals:

Every learner crossing the stage with dignity, purpose and options.
ALL learners leaving our schools MORE curious than when they arrive.
ALL learners with an understanding of and respect for bicultural, multicultural perspectives.  

Valuing family, nature, and looking forward many generations…

Resources to explore:

Mindset – fixed to growth – read Carol Dweck’s book

Effort rubric - http://www.mindsetworks.com/free-resources/

Moving from fixed to growth… what helps make the shift…

The power of Yet – allowing for potential development…

Angela Lee  Duckworth – Effort, perseverance, grit, https://sasupenn.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_06f6QSOS2pZW9qR  take the grit survey

Read - how children succeed – Paul Tough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRSBz69ubRY

Growth mindset is a start but we need more!  Be willing to fail, start over again with lessons learned.  “We need to be gritty about getting our kids grittier”.

http://thehawnfoundation.org/mindup/  Goldie Hawn – calming down strategies…

http://www.livingwell.org.au/mindfulness-exercises-3/ check out

What should we do more of, more often.

What should we do less of, more often.

Self check and regulate – with the taking on of any new initiative.

Continuum – mindfulness, relaxation techniques.

Stickability, GRIT

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar03/vol60/num06/Trust-in-Schools@-A-Core-Resource-for-School-Reform.aspx

Four big questions:

1.     Where are you going with your learning?

2.     How’s it going? Matched to criteria…

3.     Where to next?

4.     Can you name two adults in this school who believe you will be a success in life?

I am challenging myself to include question 4 in our sessions… how can we use this with our clusters?

Ten by two strategy – ten days in a row, two minutes a day – have a connection with a learner – develop a relationship

How do we apply this to our role?

Why inquiry? Why now?

What happens after our LwDT contract is over?

Systematic continuations of great practice.

Iterative inquiry, investing in continued knowledge building, and establishing coherence of learning and teaching practices across curriculum areas, show continuing improvement in gains.

The spiral of inquiry: 

Scanning – includes the four questions, but also includes speaking with the learners, and the familites.

Focusing – framing the questions – not too narrow, not too wide… Take a focus, pursue,

Developing a hunch – What’s leading to this situation?  What is it about our practice?  How are we contributing to this? (long slow hunch)

New Learning – How and where will we learn more – PD.

Taking action – what will we do differently?  Trial, sharing, error is okay, size of action is crucial… flexibility with action

Checking – how will we check we have made enough of a difference?   Four questions will be very useful again at this stage.

Powerful introduction to the spiral - working with the spiral!  Split into groups to unpack the sections:

Working with the spiral – What’s really important about this phase?

What are some specific considerations at this phase that are critical to the process.

Unpacking the phases of the inquiry – photos to come!

How can I use this in my learning environments?

Individual Inquiry Good, 

Collaborative or collective inquiry better, 

Getting started – crucial

Personalise the inquiry by talking about teacher’s own biological children.

Where are we at as LwDT facilitators – individual inquiries?

What if kids were curious?  What if kids were more peaceful?  What if our kids cared about cultures other than there own?

Inquiry to transform learning…

Spark by John Ratey http://www.johnratey.com/ read – for exercise – engagement

Nature of learning reading:

1.     Learners at the centre – and learning at the centre – self regulated learnerswe

2.     Social Nature of Learning – incorporating the social aspect of learning (sharing across schools in cluster – sharing similarities and differences)

3.     Emotions are central to learning – awareness of this

4.     Recognising individual differences and prior knowledge – valuing diversity

5.     Stretching all students – Demands hard work and effort – without excessive overload

6.     Assessment for learning…

Dylan William – Embedded formative assessment

http://www.dylanwiliam.org/Dylan_Wiliams_website/Welcome.html

Leaders of their own learning – Ron Burgers - http://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Their-Own-Learning-Student-Engaged/dp/1118655443

7.     Building Horizontal Connectedness – eg connecting with local senior home, seeds of learning,

Starting with the questions… a deep understanding of our learners and their families, the sky is the limit with creating a learning environment that works…

https://deltalearns.ca/toolkit/key-principles-of-learning/

Hot seat – use for stretching and challenging the one sharing…

Big Questions

Where are you at?

Where do you want to be?

How are you going to get there?
What do you want us to do to support you?

Spiral framework – team…

Research base behind a collaborative inquiry process

Invitational and powerful

Celebratory

Is it possible to meet all of the needs of all of the students on your own…

Gathering focus – weaving ideas together – putting in collective energy.

Convergent at checking – everybody involved

Collective action – greater energy possible

Unpacking skills that are needed to be effective.

Watch Carol Dweck videos… - effect of praise.

What good question did you ask today? To shift the focus of parents who ask “what did you learn today”…

How to talk so children will listen and listen so children will talk. http://www.fabermazlish.com/

Involve and engage community – eg 7 lots of ten minute involvement, sharing interactions, teaching visible to the communities,

Structures provided for every voice to be heard and valued.

Mixed groups with norms of respect…

“Leaving role at the door” establishing norms for how we will work as a group…

Open up thinking – think more broadly – question more, what is going on for our learners?  How do we know?

A hunch can start us off on an inquiry – use the buzz to go wide with scanning…

Mentor, coach role, supporting the inquiry process across the school.

WOW - what an incredible day!!!

Just can't wait for tomorrow's session!

And a walk tonight exploring new arrivals in Christchurch... limitless new cafes, bars, restaurants, and street art popping up everywhere...

Love this one!