Through a lot of conversations on social networks, face-to-face opportunities, and reflection, I have been thinking about some of the things that I have seen to create new and better (innovative) opportunities for learning.  This is not only in the context of student learning, but as well as opportunities for staff and their own professional development.  Below, I would like to share some of my thoughts as well as some corresponding quotes from people both in and out of education.  (I have written about this topic before, but I really wanted to focus on people specifically.)

1. Have a clear vision.

Although the term “innovation” talks about continuously developing new ideas, I really believe that it is imperative that the notion of risk-taking and continuously developing better learning opportunities for students.  The other idea is that leaders should have some clear notion on what learning could look like in today’s classroom, not simply having a vision that is not clear.  Once those ideas become clear to others, trust that those you serve will take off and make amazing things happen.  Give them the autonomy to make the vision come to life.

“If you do a good job of teaching your values and mission to the people at the bottom of your organization, then once you give them control, they will do the right things with it.” Charlene Li

2. Model what you want to see.

It is really easy to go say, “do this”, but it is more important to say, “let’s do this together”.  If you think about the way many run staff meetings, they often talk about “21st Century Learning” but do not model it when educators are present.  People rarely change because they hear something, but are more likely to grow if they experience something.  How are you making those learning opportunities something people experience?

“Meaningful change ain’t gonna happen for our kids if we’re not willing to invest in it for ourselves first. At the heart, it’s not about schools…it’s about us.” Will Richardson

3. Break it down into smaller steps.

When we have a giant vision of what “better” looks like, it often becomes overwhelming to people who are nowhere near an “endpoint”.  To help people move forward, skill and confidence have to be built along the way.  Every step closer to a vision, is great progress.

For example, if you want people to become more connected, show them ways that they can benefit immediately as opposed to focusing on all of the amazing ways they can bring experts into the classroom, help them find one single resource.  Once they see the value of that, they are more likely to make the next step which could eventually lead to the giant leap.

“The path to success is paved with small wins. Even the grandest and most glorious victories rest on a string of modest but constructive steps forward.” Robert I. Sutton

4. Help people move from their “Point A” to their “Point B”.

Everyone is at different points in their learning journey.  This is not just students, but educators as well.  Too often we offer workshops and expect people to be all at the same point by the end, but is this really honouring where people are at?  I really believe that once a teacher quits learning, they will become ineffective.  It may not happen tomorrow, but it will happen. That being said, I can easily work with anyone that is wanting to learn and get better; they don’t have to be at the pinnacle.  Start where people are at, as opposed to focusing on where you want them to be.

“Multipliers invoke each person’s unique intelligence and create an atmosphere of genius—innovation, productive effort, and collective intelligence.” Liz Wiseman

5.  Work with people 1-on-1.

One of the best things that I have done this year (in my opinion), was offer “office hours” that gave teachers the opportunity to ask me about whatever they wanted to learn.  Large group sessions give ample amounts of information, but can also be ineffective for many.  Much of the time, teachers would come to me with questions of things that they were interested in learning about, and I led them to initiatives in our division that would help them.  The big “light bulb moment” for me was this; it was not about what I wanted to teach them, but about what they wanted to learn.  It is much easier to work from that point when helping others move forward.

“To sell well is to convince someone else to part with resources—not to deprive that person, but to leave him better off in the end.” Daniel Pink

6.  Promote champions.

In education, no matter the level, it is never about “us”, but it is always about others.  It would be really easy to maintain a space where you are always seen as the “expert”, but it is more important to build systems and capacity if we want long term growth.  Sometimes, even when you know the answer, it is better to be a “connector” and show that you value the people who are already doing great stuff.  A system should never be dependent  upon one but should tap into many.

“…the world changes by dint of small groups of dedicated people.” Margaret J. Wheatley

7. Share, share, share!

“And then one day, you look up and realize that all those individual trajectories have turned into a wave.” Stephen Johnson

One of the neatest things about many of the initiatives that we have within our district is that we really focused on a few things to get to that transformative level in our work.  When sharing became the default with many educators, we were learning from so many others and really pushing the limits of our work.

A simple analogy.  Most people know that we do not use something simple like Microsoft Word past ten percent of it’s capacity (not the innovative type of software I am promoting, but the example is used for familiarity). What happens when everyone’s ten percent is different, but we all share?  Our learning grows so much when we all share what we know with one another.

“The smartest person in the room is the room.” David Weinberger

8. Model and promote risk taking.

We often talk about “promoting risk taking”, but do leaders model it?  People will not feel comfortable unless we openly share the things that we are trying to do to get better.  Every time I write a blog post, I am taking the risk of looking stupid or saying something that someone would take offensive, yet I focus on clarifying my thoughts openly since I want our community to do the same.  How can I ask it if I do not model it?

Once people see that you are doing this, they are more likely to try their own ideas and push what is happening in their own situations.  Giving people license to take risks, will more likely lead to some amazing things.

“if you want innovation, it’s critical that people are able to work on ideas that are unapproved and generally thought to be stupid. The real value of “20%” is not the time, but rather the “license” it gives to work on things that “aren’t important.” Jonathan Fields

9. Find the balance of “pressure and support”.

I have talked about this to a great extent in my blog, but I think it is important to create a sense of urgency in our work while also ensuring that people are supported.  If it is important, you will find money, and make time for people.  This sense of urgency and support will help people to move when combined, much more than if there is an abundance of one and lack with the other.

“I believe that managing is like holding a dove in your hand. If you hold it too tightly, you kill it, but if you hold it too loosely, you lose it.” Tommy Lasorda

10.  Always remember that we are in the “people” business”.

No matter how urgent things are, it never helps when we make people feel incompetent. We can have great ideas, but it is important to understand that we often do not know situations that people are dealing with in their personal lives, and what is happening outside of their work.  Ensure that you show you value what they already do, before you start pushing where they should be.  Once a person knows they are valued, they will go to much greater heights than if they never felt cared for in the first place.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

Concluding Thoughts

As we continue to work on growth and change management, working where people are and caring about them, makes them not only more open to change, but eventually want to embrace it. It is a process that needs patience, but with each small victory, many get closer to the big goal.

“Rather than viewing change as a threat and something to be feared, we will find ourselves embracing change, recognizing its potential to drive us to even higher levels of performance…”John Seely Brown

Although this is a video that will bring attention to a book that is being sold, I think that it is a great conversation starter with faculty and students.  Interestingly enough, it was released around the same time the Jeff Bliss video was being shared.  Perhaps a much more positive way to start the conversation not only on what students look for in the classroom, but also may give some thoughts on how to give students this voice and take action based on what they have said.

Student voice is important but it is essential that if we ask them to take the time to share their thoughts, that we also show progress in what they have asked.

“He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.”
Friedrich Nietzsche

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Tela Chhe

During a session I was facilitating, one of the questions a participant asked was,

How do we prepare students for a future that we are all uncertain of?

My first thought was, are we even preparing them for right now?

You look around at our world and you see everyone have a mobile device (there will be more mobile devices than people by the end of the year), yet many schools are still struggling with putting devices in the hands of students, or worse, won’t allow kids bring in their own devices.  Our students should have real time access to information, know how to evaluate it, use it, create because of it, and be able to share to an audience.  Do our schools today look anything like our world now?

If we worked with students to give them the ability to critically think, adapt, change, and connect and share their knowledge, wouldn’t they be prepared for whatever the future brought their way?

I love the notion of preparing students for the future, but I think that preparing them for their world right now is probably a good place to start.

True story…

I had an interesting conversation with a fellow educator the other day about how students are so connected to their mobile devices.  As I listened quietly, she told me about college students and how they were constantly checking their phone, rudely interrupting class with their ringers going off, and were distracted in a way that she has never seen before.

Then her phone rang.  She then proceeded to pick it up, answer, and excuse herself from the conversation.

Yup…that just happened.

So as I laughed at the irony of this, I thought about all of the ways that we vilify kids for behaviours that we do so often.

For example, I have heard complaining from adults in the staff room about students using their phone during recess and not exercising as much as they should.  All of this, while being on the same break, checking their messages, calling their spouses, and eating unhealthy treats because, well, it’s a day of the week.

I am not saying that I think kids should be on the phone at recess and not exercise, but I believe in balance.  What I do have an issue with is saying that kids should not be doing something that we are able to do.

I had a parent once tell me that kids are becoming ridiculous with technology, and then watched her pack up the kids in her mini-van, start the car, turn on her phone, and start talking while she was driving with them in the vehicle.

Those darn kids!

Back to the beginning of the story.

As the mom came back, she told me she had to take the phone call as her husband called because the kids wanted her to sing them to sleep since she was away.  The device let her do that, when years ago, she would have had a hard time being able to say tonight while she was away.

Could you really fault her for taking the that phone call? I know I couldn’t.

A superintendent was in one of my workshops with his administration team, and he raised his hand and said the following:

A lot of what you are talking about and sharing is great, but where would you find the time?

My heart sunk immediately.

Hearing the lead of an organization say that in front of his staff made what I was sharing optional.  What bothered me about the statement is that the work I was highlighting of so many teachers in our district, he acknowledged as being “great”, yet you could tell that it would never be something that he would see as a priority.

As an administrator, it is imperative that you have to be a “defender of time“, so you can’t do everything in your school, but if we were to take a look at a lot of the tasks that we do in school, do they lead to “great” or are they something we just do because we have always done it that way.  If we want to get better, we should look at what we need to do, while also what we need to get rid of.

If you look at any person that has done something awesome, the question that always comes up from others is “where did you find the time?”  It is not about time, but it is about an attitude and a way they live their life.  Most people that are really fit and in shape, don’t find the time, they make the time.  They know it is important and it is just what they do.  That’s it.  Is that any different from any endeavour?

Does every teacher have to be “great”?  Not necessarily, but I believe that this is something we should all strive for to benefit our students.  As I think of this notion, I heard this quote and it sticks out to me regarding this thought process:

“People do not fail in life because they aim too high and miss. They fail in life, because they aim too low and hit.” (Unknown)

Thoughts?

Having a conversation with a good friend and talking about my own experience, we shared some stories about leadership.  The one thought that kept popping up in my head is the notion of the “Dead-End Leader” and how life-sucking these experiences can be in our profession.

Example…

You are having a conversation with your principal talking about a new idea and they tell you all of the reasons why it won’t work.  That is essentially saying “no”, or else, “too risky for me to back it.” This puts you in the position of either not doing it, not feeling comfortable being ‘subversive’, or making it happen in spite of your administrator.

Take the same idea with the same risks, and your leader says, “I’m not sure, but have you thought about these things?”. Or saying,”I don’t know enough about this, so please tell me more.”

Great leaders continue the conversation.

They empower you.

They show trust in your ability and knowledge.

They don’t stop the journey, but make you think about your course.

This is more than great leadership, but this is also great learning.

This (for me) goes back to the question…are you a fountain or a drain?

I was fascinated by this tweet this morning from #CanEdu13:

Noticing tht @courosa is referencing his slides with #twitter handles.#endofapa #ensofmla #CanEdu13

— Mitch Champagne (@MitchChampagne) May 6, 2013

I thought about the way that our students do “assignments” and many of them still write traditional “essays” that would never necessarily reference a “tweet”, blog, or YouTube video, yet there is a lot of learning that can happen from these digital spaces, they are just not what we are used to. For example, recently talking to an educator currently finishing her thesis, she told me how she was not able to reference a “blog” as it was discouraged in her cohort.

Why?

Should we not be able to curate, assess, and evaluate information from a blog as we would from a paper?  Information often loses accuracy in many instances because it is time sensitive, and a journal takes a while to be published, as well as a book.  Is there not any relevance in the “real-time” web?

Thinking about this, I found the following quote from Henry Jenkins’ paper on “Media Education for the 21st Century”:

“Adolescents need to learn how to integrate knowledge from multiple sources, including music, video, online databases, and other media.They need to think critically about information that can be found nearly instantaneously through out the world. They need to participate in the kinds of collaboration that new communication and information technologies enable, but increasingly demand. Considerations of globalization lead us toward the importance of understanding the perspective of others, developing a historical grounding, and seeing the interconnectedness of economic and ecological systems.”
—Bertram C. Bruce (2002)

If we are looking at how people are “moved”, some are through what they have read, but many are from what they see and hear.  I am not saying to get rid of looking at “traditional” media in assignments, but how often do we encourage our students to use a YouTube video as a resource?  Is this not a skill that our students need?

I had a great conversation last night and the gentleman told me a story that I found extremely powerful…

As a teacher, he had a student hand in an assignment the day it was due, and ask him, “Is this good enough?”  The teacher looked at the student and asked him, “What do you think?”

The student looked bewildered at the teacher and thought he was messing with him.  What the teacher had explained is that the work was not for the teacher, but for the student himself.  That every single day, he has to try and do his best work to his ability, not to what he thinks the teacher wants, but to the best of his own ability.

The teacher then said to the student, “If I give you 24 more hours to do this, will you give me your best stuff?”  The student then looked at the teacher, wondered if he was serious, and took him up on the opportunity.  The next day, he showed up and his work improved dramatically, not because he was doing it for the teacher, but he was doing it for himself.

When the teacher became a principal, he told his staff the story about this student and he said, “If we are expect our students to bring their best work to school everyday, shouldn’t we model that ourselves?”

The next time I hear the question, “Is this good enough?”, I guess we have to figure out good enough for whom?