Sliced Bread

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All students reflect as part of our college Reflection, Organisation And Reading programs. ROAR not only involves using a learning log (diary) to plan, record homework and organise assessments, it also encourages students to consciously record how they best learn. With fine tuning and more realistic goals, I think ROAR, a 4 year old program, will improve further in 2009.

My question however is, how do staff reflect on their profession? I assume they do, I’m just not sure how. Maybe we could introduce a staff learning log and model this reflective practice?                                                           

Jeff Cobb’s thought provoking question What have I learned at work? on Mission to Learn keeps resonating. I especially like these questions

Does what I am doing right now (i.e., having a conversation, participating in a meeting, completing a routine task, etc.) increase my knowledge or skill level in any significant way? How?

What might turn this activity into more of a learning experience? What do I need to do to make that happen? What could my employer do?

What could I add into my activities for today that would provide for a learning experience?

What could I take out of my activities that does not contribute to learning and would not really be missed?

An interesting set of questions which I have answered sporadically since April. Some answers alarmed me. Talk about “stuck on the wheel” and in the massive “same old same old rut.” I needed to change, hence the toe dipping web2.0 experiment before me.

I see future positives, but still question the change rate of the massive edubureaucracy I sometimes feel stuck in. It is responsive, but at a glacial pace. DET NSW really needs a dose of Usain’s speed, to gain  momentum for the hurdles ahead. 

In“Leading A Digital School” , Mal Lee, said,

Only when the vast majority of Australia’s teachers are using the appropriate digital tools as a normal part of their everyday teaching, and are provided all the requisite development and support from the school and system leaders can Australian education begin to assist enhanced national productivity

The key words, in red, need to have bipartisan, enequivical political support across all tiers of government if Australia as a nation is to be fair dinkum about advancing 21st century learning in schools.

In amongst the questionable tangents of the blogeratti there is a growing alignment of dedicated learning professionals striving to  deblinker administrators, policy makers and governments. Those that do not listen, change and innovate do so at their systems, and learners, peril and decline. 

I’ll leave the last word for Jeff as he says it so well;

I’d go so far as to suggest that:

1. Individuals who become conscious of their learning at work and take charge of their learning at work will be by far the most successful in today’s economy.
2. The primary focus of learning professionals should be helping individuals become conscious of their learning and take charge of it.

…if you undertake the exercise above and discover that you really are not learning much on the job, it may be time to look for a better job. The second is that, if you are counting on your employer to understand the new dynamics of workplace learning and help you out, you may be waiting quite a while.

Lauren’s recent post keeps resonating strongly. As a non ICT teacher the gizmos and jargon and ‘makemesoundimportantbuzzwords’ Lauren speaks of leave me cold. Thats why I like her blog so much.

I see and can appreciate the powerful learning web2.0 offers but my core question has always been why learners learn and how do they do it best? 

… students articulated what powerful learning was for them and as a school and as teachers we responded.  We reevaluated where our goals were.  We had to change the goal which said “we want to integrate more technology” to “we want to teach powerful inline with our students needs”  elearning was a term no longer used in the middle years at our school and the pressure was off and the power boundaries changed as well. 

Reflection time was an essential part of every class and teachers developed goals with the students for the next lesson.  Teachers did have to integrate technology but it was from the students needs, each class had student mentors who assisted in making powerful learning possible with a multitude of technologies.  As a group we had moved beyond teachers always having to know the how and the what but assisting with the why ! All this without elearning or eteaching? Who would of thought?

Just like many teachers do, ask your student learners and they will tell you how they best learn. Mark said at our recent staff meeting, student reflection through the SOAR and ROAR programs is important, makes a difference and needs reinvigorating. I agree. 

Deep reflection must be integral to genuine learning, not ‘big brotherish’ or rushed or tacked on or imposed or checked as a punitive measure. It should also be modelled. I’m glad our college is further developing student reflection in all years. Give ownership, choice and real motivation to engage and learners will. I’ve always preferred carrots to sticks, if you like. 

I like blogging because it is a conscious reflection when I choose and on what topics I choose. No one so far comments on or probably reads my posts for that has not yet been my intention. I am clarifying my ideas on education in the digital age and starting to build a PLN of other learners who also think deeply about why they teach and how today’s learners best learn. Technology is just the tool.

I’d be interested in how an Australian version of Rate My Professors that Mark Pesce spoke about recently at the Sydney TAFE conference would be received. If such an aussie site launched it would flatten the gulf between the ‘font ofallknowledgeoldskooltypes’ to connected 21st century educators. Radical? yes. But think of the implications. This would be genuine reflection for students on something that is vital to them. Maybe other learners would then race to engage more with web2.0, if only to check their ratings. (I am joking for those NOT sure, hey MP!) Maybe “Rate My Expensive Expert Keynoter” should launch first. 

Why is Bored of Studies the hit it is? Not a lot different to the reasoning behind Rate My Professor. Ownership of a voice, responsibility to contribute ethically, discuss shared learning experiences, display digital citizenship and be purposeful in helping others. Most teachers hate BOS or are wary of it and DETNSW blocks it but there are quality learning resources amongst the sometimes questionable rest. These gems are worth digging for and actually teaches students many of the questioning skills of using the web purposefully.

As learners I’d like to know what questions do you reflect on? How do you personally reflect? How do students reflect on their learning at your place? Are you receptive to others reflecting openly on topics of their choice?