This week I was invited to bring one of my students to The Ministry of Education's regional SIM (Schools in the Middle) meeting to participate on a student panel. The purpose of the panel was to bring student voice into discussions on education. These grades 5 and 6 students were outstanding as they shared their insights. Our Dundas Central representative was articulate and thoughtful in her responses. I was so proud of her. She distinguished herself on that panel.
I was invited to come back for the second day without my student to participate in discussions. The group is made up (as far as I could tell) of various people from the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat and 8-10 school boards from the region whose participants were primarily cluster principals, consultants and lead teachers.
My two primary reactions to this event? Relief and respect.
For the first time I was allowed to peer through the window into how administrators have experienced the broad system change that our province has gone through. And you know what? All of the struggles, questions, frustrations, concerns, confusions, and uncertainties that we've experienced as classroom teachers going through this process, they too have experienced. It was such a relief to know this. It would have been so much easier to go through this process of change had those at the system level simply acknowledged that they too have found it to be challenging, that they too were doing this as trial and error and learning as they went, that they didn't have all the answers.
A seat at the table made me aware of just how broad the redesign of our school system has been. There actually has been a vision of what our schools would become based on solid research of what makes an effective learning environment. It also made me aware that the process has been as messy and experimental for administrators as it has been for us. Each board and school is taking the ideas of effective practice and developing their own methods of implementation. Everyone has been working on construction sites, learning from failures and successes along the way.
Some really exciting and interesting discussions occurred over the two days. There were skyped presentations from various schools and boards who shared success stories, practices and awareness that this is being done by experimentation and refinement of process as learning occurs. There was an Open Space session where we brought our questions and engaged in meaningful discussion. We sat at cross board tables and shared practices. I learned so much and my respect for the process, the administrators and the vision grew tremendously.
Even though most of the people present are not participating in the global social media discussions about education, the topics of discussion were the same. This was reassuring. There is awareness at the system level of what needs to be in place and a sincere commitment to becoming better at supporting teachers and classroom practices as we move forward.
There is:
1. Awareness that listening is better.
2. Awareness that voices have to be heard.
3. Awareness that we can't be told into understanding.
4. Awareness that conversation is the key to relationship building, insight development and willingness to move forward and develop better practices.
5. Awareness that this has been a process of trial and error and everyone has learned along the way.
6. Awareness that there have been many challenges.
7. Awareness that there has been incredible growth in practice led and developed by teachers during the
implementation of TLCP
7. Awareness that initial attempts to bring about change and in particular, the school review process,
were awkward.
8. Awareness that top down doesn't work.
9. Awareness that there is a change curve and that everyone is at different points along the curve. There are the risk takers and experimenters who are willing to give it a go and see what happens; there are also the methodical adopters who need to move slowly and carefully in order to gain understanding; and of course there are the resistors who see no need for change because what they are doing works.
Most of all there is:
8. Awareness that conversation is the key to moving forward.
9. Awareness that conversation is the key to moving forward.
10 Awareness that conversation is the key to moving forward.
Two questions arose several times during discussions. How can we get our teachers to trust us? Why are some teachers still resistant to this process? I took the opportunity to share my insights on how I have experienced this process of change and why I think barriers are still present. Teachers have yet to be full participants in the conversation. The kind of event I experienced that day is not being created for teachers, except for Edcamps which teachers are organizing themselves outside of Board practices. Without a voice, we continue to feel that our expertise, knowledge and skills are not valued. A sense of respect for teachers as highly skilled professionals with insights to share is still missing. Implementation is still being experienced as top down, "Now we want you to do this." It truly makes me wonder why, if there is awareness at the Ministry level of the importance of conversation and questions, Open Space isn't being used as part of our professional development model.
Here's an example. On Professional Development Days the agenda is set for us. It is decided from above what the discussion topic will be, what it is we are expected to learn and what we are to produce to prove that the discussion occurred. Oh, the ironies! This runs counter to everything we know about learning and to what we are expected to be doing in our classrooms. In terms of system change, this may have been necessary as the introduction of new practices requires training. What hasn't been created yet though, is space for teachers, consultants and admins to have an open and honest conversation about where we are at and to simply share our experiences and insights about this journey. We are continuing to experience change as top-down decision making that we must react to. And so teachers remain wary of the process or disengage or worse, implement resentfully. This is no different from what causes students to disengage in classrooms.
What if instead, at our next PD day or staff meeting teachers came with their questions and had time to discuss openly and honestly what they feel needs to be discussed in order to move forward. Or better yet, what if a full Edcamp model happened where parents, students, community members, administrators, teachers and educational assistants came together for discussion. It would be powerful. It would be freeing.
Curious for me is why teachers aren't claiming their voices. With the whole world open and transparent because of social media, why aren't more teachers taking the initiative and sharing what they think? It's puzzling, because claiming your voice, as long as it is done thoughtfully and with the goal of adding to the conversation, is powerful practice.
If there is a sincere desire to build relationship and develop from the bottom up, then space must be created for it to happen. We need time as a group to reflect on where we are at in this process. How we've experienced it. What questions we have. What we're struggling with. I think there also needs to be a public acknowledgement and celebration from those who have pushed us through this process. It doesn't help that the one public conversation the Premier has initiated with us is - you make too much money, we're going to cut your benefits and take away your sick days. How's that for relationship building?
What if instead the message had been something like this:
For the past 10 years our school system has undergone tremendous change. We've asked a great deal of teachers and administrators during this process. It has been difficult, there have been challenges, we've made mistakes along the way but we've also had incredible successes. And these successes are due to the hard work of our teachers. Teachers have been asked to implement new practices, experiment with new ideas and abandon much of what they have traditionally done in classrooms. We've asked them to do this because research shows that these practices lead to better learning environments and greater student success. Thank you for being willing to do this. You've worked hard. We've learned a great deal because of you. The practices you are developing are becoming so highly respected that they are now being imitated around the world. The journey is not yet over, there is still more change coming, but we wanted to let you know how much we respect you for what you have accomplished.
And one final thought, with all of this change, with all of the money that's been poured into education, with the millions spent on standardized testing and standardized outcomes, with all of the adult decision making of how students will learn, are students actually engaged and passionate about how they are learning? Perhaps it's time to ask them.
I was invited to come back for the second day without my student to participate in discussions. The group is made up (as far as I could tell) of various people from the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat and 8-10 school boards from the region whose participants were primarily cluster principals, consultants and lead teachers.
My two primary reactions to this event? Relief and respect.
For the first time I was allowed to peer through the window into how administrators have experienced the broad system change that our province has gone through. And you know what? All of the struggles, questions, frustrations, concerns, confusions, and uncertainties that we've experienced as classroom teachers going through this process, they too have experienced. It was such a relief to know this. It would have been so much easier to go through this process of change had those at the system level simply acknowledged that they too have found it to be challenging, that they too were doing this as trial and error and learning as they went, that they didn't have all the answers.
A seat at the table made me aware of just how broad the redesign of our school system has been. There actually has been a vision of what our schools would become based on solid research of what makes an effective learning environment. It also made me aware that the process has been as messy and experimental for administrators as it has been for us. Each board and school is taking the ideas of effective practice and developing their own methods of implementation. Everyone has been working on construction sites, learning from failures and successes along the way.
Some really exciting and interesting discussions occurred over the two days. There were skyped presentations from various schools and boards who shared success stories, practices and awareness that this is being done by experimentation and refinement of process as learning occurs. There was an Open Space session where we brought our questions and engaged in meaningful discussion. We sat at cross board tables and shared practices. I learned so much and my respect for the process, the administrators and the vision grew tremendously.
Even though most of the people present are not participating in the global social media discussions about education, the topics of discussion were the same. This was reassuring. There is awareness at the system level of what needs to be in place and a sincere commitment to becoming better at supporting teachers and classroom practices as we move forward.
There is:
1. Awareness that listening is better.
2. Awareness that voices have to be heard.
3. Awareness that we can't be told into understanding.
4. Awareness that conversation is the key to relationship building, insight development and willingness to move forward and develop better practices.
5. Awareness that this has been a process of trial and error and everyone has learned along the way.
6. Awareness that there have been many challenges.
7. Awareness that there has been incredible growth in practice led and developed by teachers during the
implementation of TLCP
7. Awareness that initial attempts to bring about change and in particular, the school review process,
were awkward.
8. Awareness that top down doesn't work.
9. Awareness that there is a change curve and that everyone is at different points along the curve. There are the risk takers and experimenters who are willing to give it a go and see what happens; there are also the methodical adopters who need to move slowly and carefully in order to gain understanding; and of course there are the resistors who see no need for change because what they are doing works.
Most of all there is:
8. Awareness that conversation is the key to moving forward.
9. Awareness that conversation is the key to moving forward.
10 Awareness that conversation is the key to moving forward.
Two questions arose several times during discussions. How can we get our teachers to trust us? Why are some teachers still resistant to this process? I took the opportunity to share my insights on how I have experienced this process of change and why I think barriers are still present. Teachers have yet to be full participants in the conversation. The kind of event I experienced that day is not being created for teachers, except for Edcamps which teachers are organizing themselves outside of Board practices. Without a voice, we continue to feel that our expertise, knowledge and skills are not valued. A sense of respect for teachers as highly skilled professionals with insights to share is still missing. Implementation is still being experienced as top down, "Now we want you to do this." It truly makes me wonder why, if there is awareness at the Ministry level of the importance of conversation and questions, Open Space isn't being used as part of our professional development model.
Here's an example. On Professional Development Days the agenda is set for us. It is decided from above what the discussion topic will be, what it is we are expected to learn and what we are to produce to prove that the discussion occurred. Oh, the ironies! This runs counter to everything we know about learning and to what we are expected to be doing in our classrooms. In terms of system change, this may have been necessary as the introduction of new practices requires training. What hasn't been created yet though, is space for teachers, consultants and admins to have an open and honest conversation about where we are at and to simply share our experiences and insights about this journey. We are continuing to experience change as top-down decision making that we must react to. And so teachers remain wary of the process or disengage or worse, implement resentfully. This is no different from what causes students to disengage in classrooms.
What if instead, at our next PD day or staff meeting teachers came with their questions and had time to discuss openly and honestly what they feel needs to be discussed in order to move forward. Or better yet, what if a full Edcamp model happened where parents, students, community members, administrators, teachers and educational assistants came together for discussion. It would be powerful. It would be freeing.
Curious for me is why teachers aren't claiming their voices. With the whole world open and transparent because of social media, why aren't more teachers taking the initiative and sharing what they think? It's puzzling, because claiming your voice, as long as it is done thoughtfully and with the goal of adding to the conversation, is powerful practice.
If there is a sincere desire to build relationship and develop from the bottom up, then space must be created for it to happen. We need time as a group to reflect on where we are at in this process. How we've experienced it. What questions we have. What we're struggling with. I think there also needs to be a public acknowledgement and celebration from those who have pushed us through this process. It doesn't help that the one public conversation the Premier has initiated with us is - you make too much money, we're going to cut your benefits and take away your sick days. How's that for relationship building?
What if instead the message had been something like this:
For the past 10 years our school system has undergone tremendous change. We've asked a great deal of teachers and administrators during this process. It has been difficult, there have been challenges, we've made mistakes along the way but we've also had incredible successes. And these successes are due to the hard work of our teachers. Teachers have been asked to implement new practices, experiment with new ideas and abandon much of what they have traditionally done in classrooms. We've asked them to do this because research shows that these practices lead to better learning environments and greater student success. Thank you for being willing to do this. You've worked hard. We've learned a great deal because of you. The practices you are developing are becoming so highly respected that they are now being imitated around the world. The journey is not yet over, there is still more change coming, but we wanted to let you know how much we respect you for what you have accomplished.
And one final thought, with all of this change, with all of the money that's been poured into education, with the millions spent on standardized testing and standardized outcomes, with all of the adult decision making of how students will learn, are students actually engaged and passionate about how they are learning? Perhaps it's time to ask them.
Heidi, thank you for this honest and insightful piece. I have had similar experiences when working with groups beyond the school level. I have found that both district and ministry offices are filled with folks that really care about what they are doing, are aware of what the research is saying, and are working hard to get that message out there.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the missing piece has been the voice of the teacher. The way that initiatives are communicated and implemented does reinforce a sense that information and strategies need to be "pushed" at teachers. Not enough teacher voice being "pulled" back into the flow!
I fear that if the tide does not turn soon (and there are strong reasons to believe that it will) we are going to lost a whole generation of teachers who remember what it was like to have a voice.
There are excellent things going on in the schools that I visit. There is still passion and love for the work. But teachers need to have the opportunity to share that, have that work and voice valued and feel that they (we) are part of the process for change.
In Ontario, where according to the McKinsey Report, we are on the way to being an outstanding school system, it is time to honour and raise those voices!
Thanks for the resonance on this one!!!
stephen
Hi Stephen,
DeleteThank you for taking the time to add your voice to this discussion. These are things that need to be said and that should be part of the public discourse. I think we have an incredible opportunity to build something remarkable - if all voices are included. We don't need yet another Literacy Inservice in order to shift us forward. We need open, non-judgemental conversation, the kind of conversation that takes place on a summer's day sitting under a tree.
It helps to hear about another perspective of the process, but I feel frustrated that there wasn't/isn't more trust. Too many times leaders have acted like they had the answers when they very clearly didn't. There was no spirit of 'we're all in this together, what do you think?'. There was a lot of defensiveness, lack of direction and openness. When are we going to be given our due respect as professionals?
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. I would say that the feeling of a lack of trust is a common experience for many educators. I would agree that when the changes began there was definitely not a sense of 'we're all in this together'. I think that at this point it is incumbent upon all of us to find ways to shift into different modes of interacting. One thing teachers could do to advance the process is to network more - speak directly with decision makers - find out what's behind the decision making. Networking is one thing that teachers don't practice, yet it is an essential skill. Building communication bridges is the responsibility of everyone.
I agree Heidi. I think that's one of the great powers of Twitter. I feel supported by other teachers, so more sure of myself to speak out. I get feedback on my thoughts and opinions. Recently, a blog post I wrote on EQAO lead to an exchange with a superintendent in my board about EQAO which left both of us better informed. It helps teachers to have a louder voice and makes it easier for leader to hear it.
ReplyDelete