3 Simple Questions To Shape Professional Learning

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I have often heard that there are two types of professional learning experiences; a “warm bath” or a “cold shower.”  The “warm bath” is an experience that makes you feel that everything you are doing is right and just full of positive affirmations.  The “cold shower” challenges you and makes you feel uncomfortable in what you are doing currently.  There is a risk in both approaches. In the first, people think there is a need to grow, and in the latter, people could feel that they will never be good enough and just give up.  In my opinion, great professional learning should be a combination of both. Educators need to walk out knowing that they are on the right path, but that we can always get better. All of us.  It is something I continuously strive for in professional learning opportunities that I am lucky enough to be a part of but also in my learning.

Because of that belief, there are three questions that I try to ask in any workshop that I am leading.

  1. What has challenged you today?
  2. What has been reaffirmed?
  3. What will you do moving forward?

The first one is to help people embrace their discomfort. The hope is that own what they are struggling with, and they share it openly with others. (Cold Shower)

The second question is to let them know that there are things that they are currently doing that that need to be validated and celebrated. (Warm Bath)

But the last question, “What will you do moving forward?” is probably the most important.  This is what shifts learning to action.  It ensures that people do not become “over-thinkers and under-doers.”  What is most important about the last question is not the “call-to-action.” It is the ownership of the solution. Instead of saying, “Here is what you should do,” it becomes, “Here is what I am going to do” to make things better.

These questions are not only beneficial for professional learning days but in your individual development.  In this tweet from Leslie Borkenhagen, she reminded me of these same guiding questions I provided in the foreword from Katie Martin’s book, “Learner-Centred Innovation”:

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How could you use these same questions in the classroom? How would it help guide learning, while providing students an opportunity for reflection and action moving forward?

The hope from these questions is that learners walk out empowered, knowing that although there is room for growth, their strengths are still being honored.  It also gives learners the opportunity to think of their own way to move forward.

When you have ownership over the solution, the solution is more likely to happen.

To Improve Performance, Start With Your Leadership

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Whether it is in the classroom with a student, or a coach or an administrator working with the educators they serve, we can quickly start off focusing on what they can do to improve as opposed to what we can do to support.

For example, if we are concerned about the performance of the quality of learning that happens in a classroom, we may start a conversation with, “What do you think you could do differently to improve in A, B or C?”

Where we could start is with, “I want to support you to bring out your potential and develop your strengths. What are some things you see that I could do to support that?”

What does this do in the conversation?

First of all, it takes off the pressure of the person in front of you, and it focuses on you both working as a team to get better, as opposed to the onus is all on them. It also makes you aware of things that you can do to improve and support someone, which models your willingness to grow.

This is not to say there should be zero responsibility on the person you are working with, and that this process will work every time. It is about considering starting the conversation in a different place. If you start by supporting, the question, “What do you think you could do differently to improve in A, B or C?”, can now turn into something different and much more empowering. “I liked your feedback on what I can do to support you. If I do that effectively, what do you think you can do to improve in the following areas?”

We all need to grow.

We all can get better.

In this conversations where we are supporting the growth of our students and/or our colleagues, showing that you are willing to grow along with those you serve shows that this is more of a process than a punishment.

 

Teachers as Agents of Change

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I shared this post recently, “These Are The Skills That Your Kids Will Need For The Future (Hint: It’s Not Coding),” and I want to start with a quote from the end of the article first.

Perhaps most of all, we need to be honest with ourselves and make peace with the fact that our kids’ educational experience will not–and should not–mirror our own.

I was recently asked, “What is a teacher?”, and although I could easily google a definition, I think the question we need to focus on is not, “What is a teacher?” but “What is the role of a teacher?” In a time where change is happening quicker than ever, and information is abundant and everywhere, the role should be different than what it was when I went to school, as the author of the piece notes.

I have written previously about the importance of being a change agent, and talked about these five characteristics:

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I have been thinking about the idea that all teachers need to be “agents of change” as this is the norm in our world at an ever-increasing rate.  The article talks about this shift in learning:

Yet as the complexity theorist Sam Arbesman has pointed out, facts have a half life and, as the accumulation of knowledge accelerates, those half lives are shrinking. For example, when we learned computer programming in school, it was usually in BASIC, a now mostly defunct language. Today, Python is the most popular language, but will likely not be a decade from now.

Computers themselves will be very different as well, based less on the digital code of ones and zeros and more on quantum laws and the human brain. We will likely store less information on silicon and more in DNA. There’s no way to teach kids how these things will work because nobody, not even experts, is quite sure yet.

So kids today need to learn less about how things are today and more about the systems future technologies will be based on, such as quantum dynamics, genetics and the logic of code. One thing economists have consistently found is that it is routine jobs that are most likely to be automated. The best way to prepare for the future is to develop the ability to learn and adapt.

But one of the points of the article that resonated with me most was the focus on social-emotional skills:

Make no mistake. The high value work today is being done in teams and that will only increase as more jobs become automated. The jobs of the future will not depend as much on knowing facts or crunching numbers, but will involve humans collaborating with other humans to design work for machines. Collaboration will increasingly be a competitive advantage.

That’s why we need to pay attention not just to how our kids work and achieve academically, but how they play, resolve conflicts and make others feel supported and empowered. The truth is that value has shifted from cognitive skills to social skills. As kids will increasingly be able to learn complex subjects through technology, the most important class may well be recess.

Here is my contention; as the world becomes more “digital”, the importance of being “human” is more important than ever.  This means both offline and online.  Things are a lot different from when I went to school and more complex, so the role of the teacher as an agent of change is crucial if we are to truly to serve the needs of our students, now and in the future.

Is it more about what you can teach or what they can learn?

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In a workshop, an educator shared their reluctance to try some of the things that I was suggesting with students in their classroom. Luckily, I had students joining me in the workshop and asked them for some feedback. I shared a video of a student making a “Mitosis in 60 Seconds” video where they had to explain Mitosis but in a 60 second time constraint.

I asked the students, could you figure out how to make this video without the guidance of your teacher?

Their answer was “yes,” but their expression was more like “Duh!”

I expressed the following, and it was shared in a tweet by one of the participants:

Never limit a student by what you don’t know.

School should be a place about their learning not only what you can teach.

This doesn’t mean that content knowledge isn’t essential, but the hope of each generation should be that the next generation is wiser than the previous. If we limit our students to our knowledge and only what we deem necessary to learn, we will stagnate their growth as well as that of society.

It is not only okay for students to explore and figure out ideas on their own in class, but it is also necessary. There is power in being able to make the statement to a group of learners, “I am not sure how to do that, but I know you can figure it out.”

Empowerment is about developing learners to NOT need you. For that to happen, they will have to be able to create their solutions and pathways in their formal education, so we can ensure that they can do it after their time in school.

Starting With the Questions to Develop Curiosity and Better Solutions

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I first heard about the idea of “Problem-Finders” from Ewan McIntosh, and it always struck me as something we should be focusing on in education:

“Currently, the world’s education systems are crazy about problem-based learning, but they’re obsessed with the wrong bit of it. While everyone looks at how we could help young people become better problem-solvers, we’re not thinking how we could create a generation of problem finders.”

One of the misperceptions with the concept is that “Problem-Finders” and “Problem-Solvers” is an “either/or” scenario.  It is that we need to develop both skills but helping students (and educators) find problems that are meaningful to them will lead to better solutions.

How innovative will you be in finding a solution to a problem you have no interest in solving?

In “A More Beautiful Question” by Warren Berger, he talks about how asking great questions is essential for growth and progress in not only the learner but society as a whole:

On some level, we must know—as the business executive knows, as the schoolteacher knows—that questions are important and that we should be paying more attention to them, especially the meaningful ones. The great thinkers have been telling us this since the time of Socrates. The poets have waxed on the subject: E. E. Cummings, from whom I borrowed this book’s title, wrote, Always the beautiful answer / who asks a more beautiful question.  Artists from Picasso to Chuck Close have spoken of questioning’s inspirational power.

…Scientists, meanwhile, have been great proponents of questioning, with Einstein among the most vocal champions. He was asking smart questions from age four (when he wondered why the compass pointed north), and throughout his life Einstein saw curiosity as something “holy.” Though he wondered about a great many things, Einstein was deliberate in choosing which questions to tackle: In one of his more well-traveled quotes—which he may or may not have actually said—he reckoned that if he had an hour to solve a problem and his life depended on it, he’d spend the first fifty-five minutes making sure he was answering the right question.

 

I thought about this when I was recently asked how we can “teach the curriculum but still develop problem-finders within our system?”  I referred to this tweet by Wendy Johnson who shares an incredible example of how a little shift in thinking can make a huge difference in our classrooms:

Now a student might hate the content being taught but at least giving them the opportunity to develop questions is a skill that is essential to inspire and develop in all learners. But with limited time in a school day, starting with figuring out great questions as opposed to regurgitating memorized answers and solutions (as Wendy above suggests) will lead to more profound learning way beyond a student’s time in the classroom.

4 Steps to Deal with Not Feeling Supported

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Maybe you feel overwhelmed?

Maybe you feel that you are on the wrong path?

Maybe you feel there is a personality conflict?

Whatever the reason, feeling like you are not getting support from your administrator can be frustrating and can lead to a lower quality experience for your students. Not because you are not giving it your all, but as human beings, we can be worn down and that will take a toll on things. I get so many emails from teachers that feel frustrated and although I know that I do not know the entire story, it breaks my heart because I can feel the frustration from the other side of the screen.

Here is the thing…Administrators, in their heart, always want to help teachers be their best at what they do because they also want to serve students. People are learning and growing in all positions, even those that may be your “boss”.

So what can you do when you feel that you are not supported in doing your best work? Here are a few things that I would suggest.

1. Share that you are not feeling supported.

Sometimes the best path to solve a problem is a direct one. One of the things that I believed as an administrator is that I can’t solve a problem that I do not know exists.

In a respectful way, share that you are feeling you are not supported in your work and how you are feeling. Be clear on why you feel like that and why it can help.

If you hold onto it without communication it can lead to bigger problems in the future.

2. Identify ways that might help.

Again, the direct path is usually best.

Is there something that can be done immediately that might help you feel more empowered in your work? Is there something that can be taken off your plate that is not allowing you to do your best?

If you know a solution to the problem, it can help someone else understand the process that would best help. This doesn’t mean that someone should do exactly what you say, but sometimes providing solutions that make you feel supported might be something simple that someone else can do and could make all the difference.

But your solution might not be their solution. It is important to have some back-and-forth that helps both parties move forward.

Communication is key.

3. Follow-up

Now that you have worked out a plan, how will you come back and revisit how things are moving forward?

Maybe, you just needed to vent.

Maybe a plan was necessary.

Either way, administrators and teachers want to know if they are on the right path. Check later to see if things have improved or something else is needed.

4. Breathe

Nobody wants to do a bad job. Not administrators. Not teachers. No one. People feel pressure from areas that others might not be aware of, whether it is personal or professional. After you have shared your feelings and worked on ways to move forward, take a step back and try to look at the situation as an opportunity for growth, not an obstacle that cannot be overcome.

Through all this, just a reminder that a little problem left unresolved can turn into a bigger problem later. Communication, direct but respectful, can solve things quickly and should not only lead to a better work environment for yourself but a better learning environment for your students which should be the goal for every person involved in education. Any administrator that wants to do best by students knows that they have to support the people that work closest with them.

Not all problems can be solved through this approach, but very few problems can ever be solved by ignoring them.

Keep that in mind as you move forward.

2 Questions to Equip Students to Find Their Own Way

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When I was a student, the expectation of when you were sent to the office to see the principal was…there was going to be significant trouble.  It was the place you would get scolded and maybe even, yelled at, which was seen as a deterrent to doing anything wrong. Unfortunately, the obstacle did not do much for me, and I spent a lot more time in the principal’s office than I would like to admit.

When I became a principal, I hoped to create a space where students felt welcomed in my office. I did not want it to be a place of fear, and so I spent a lot of time outside of my office, connecting with students in the hallways or during recess, to build relationships. I did my best to know the name of every student because inevitably, students may be sent to see me. I believe that the worst way that you can start a conversation with a student who has made a mistake is, “What is your name again?”  That connection before a visit to the office was necessary for myself to help any student move forward.

My focus on when students were sent to the office was to ask two questions:

  1. Why are you here?
  2. What would do if you were me?

On the first question, sometimes students would not share with you why they were sent to the office immediately, so I would patiently wait. But no matter what, I would not leave that student until they answered. It was vital for me to show the student that even though they made a mistake, I was not leaving.

The importance of having the students share why they were there was for them focus on their actions than on what you are saying. Yes, I had a pretty good idea why they were sent, but I wanted them to work through it so they can focus on their action, not my reaction.

Once that was shared, I would ask, “What would you do if you were me?”

Students were ALWAYS harder with how they saw the consequences of their actions than I ever would be.  Once they shared their thoughts, I would work through it with them.

Now, for some reading this, they might see this as a “soft” way to deal with students, but in fact, I felt that students often felt more accountable for their actions through this process. I wasn’t merely delivering a punishment, but I was preparing the student to take accountability and solve their problems. I love this quote from Ross W. Greene:

This method didn’t always work immediately, but I saw tremendous improvements in overall demeanour and problem-solving skills from students through this process.  Ultimately, we want to give our students the tools to solve their own problems not wait for someone to come in and do it for them.

Innovation in Pursuit of Developing the Learner

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Here is a snippet from “The Innovator’s Mindset” that sets the stage for the book:

Speaking of success, if you are looking for answers to create higher test scores, you might want to stop reading this book. Although I understand that we still work within a system, that’s not what I choose to focus on. I believe it’s possible to have kids who are deep thinkers, creators, and innovators, and still do well on their exams, but I do not want to forsake those critical elements for the latter. Twenty-first century education is not about the test; it’s about something bigger. My focus is not on whether kids can knock it out of the park on some science test in grade three. What I care about is that kids are inspired to be better people because of their experiences in my school.

I do not believe that innovation in education and teaching the curriculum have to be contradicting ideas to one another. I believe how we teach the curriculum is the innovation.

For example, a student in your class wants to be a YouTuber, but you have to focus on teaching certain concepts within the curriculum.  So why not have the student create a YouTube video sharing their understanding of the idea? They not only can develop a deep knowledge of the concept, but we are also helping them tap into their interests.  Could you see the following video (linked below) created within the context of the classroom?  Could this also lead to student success in the traditional measures of education as well?

You might be thinking, “But then I have to learn how to create and edit videos?” to which I would respond, “Have the student figure it out.” School is a place for learning, and that means educators do not have to teach everything. In a world where information is everywhere, it is sometimes best to step aside and have the student figure out their own path than have you create it for them. Finding your way is necessary for developing lifelong learners.

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak on the “Vrainwaves” podcast and I shared about the importance of understanding learning from the viewpoint of a learner first:

The notion of being a “learner” first has shifted my thinking on education. It has helped me focus on the importance of being empathetic and thinking of the viewpoint of others, learning how to think instead of what to think, and how we create our own path in our growth and development.  We can easily lose sight of developing the person in pursuit of the score but it is not an “either/or” scenario. The innovation in education is in the process of teaching and learning, not necessarily the product.

10 Core Values for Education

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As in any profession, educators should be able to look back and think, “Why did I do that?”  If you aren’t able to do that, there might not have been much growth.

Early in my career, I remember walking into a colleague’s classroom first thing in the morning and noticing that her students were eating and had water on their desks.  I was seriously dismayed because the school rule was, “There is to be no food or drink in the classroom,” and I was not one to not follow the rules.  When I shared with her how her ignoring the rules made us all look bad, she shared with me, “It is really hard for the kids to learn when they are hungry.”  I would love to say that I got it then, but I didn’t.  I was more worried about following the rule than doing what was right by my students because, in all honesty, I thought the rule WAS doing right by my students. I feel differently now.

This all came back to me as I was discussing with a teacher how they were doing something subversive that was in contradiction with the school rules but it was helping their kids.  My stance is that the principle we should follow as educators is the following:

“Do what you can to support the growth and success of your students.”

When the rule trumps common sense, the rule is stupid.

But I know that I have always had this need to do right by my boss. I am not the “Ask forgiveness, not permission” type because I don’t want to be in that position where I am subversive to my boss and/or my colleagues. I know a lot of teachers like this as well.

So what am I suggesting moving forward? As administrators, we have to look at our policies and “rules” in place within our school and see if they are putting our teachers in a place where we are pushing them to follow the rule over serving their students.

I love the core values of the shoe company “Zappos” and the preamble before:

At Zappos our 10 Core Values are more than just words, they’re a way of life. We know that companies with a strong culture and a higher purpose perform better in the long run. As we continue to grow, we strive to ensure that our culture remains alive and well. Check out our Oath of Employment, which we use to not only highlight our values, but commit to them both as Zappos employees and as a business.

  1. Deliver WOW Through Service
  2. Embrace and Drive Change
  3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
  4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
  5. Pursue Growth and Learning
  6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
  7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
  8. Do More With Less
  9. Be Passionate and Determined
  10. Be Humble

These core values give direction but there is so much flexibility in what each value looks like and how it can be applied to serve their customers.

So perhaps creating these types of “core values” for your school or organization might be something that helps guide while encouraging each individual to do what is best for the people they serve directly. Here are ten that come to my mind when thinking about education:

  1. Do what you can to support the growth and success of your students.
  2. Grow and learn in a way that you would expect from the students in your classroom.
  3. Push your colleagues to grow along with you, but support, collaborate, and empower them on their path.
  4. Over-communication is better than under-communication.
  5. Take care of yourself so that you can better support others.
  6. Find joy in your work.
  7. Take the work seriously but never take yourself too seriously.
  8. Share your passion with others so we can help students find their passion.
  9. Find and develop strengths and talents first of your students and colleagues. Always start in the positive.
  10. Don’t just value people but also ensure people know they are valued.

What would your core values be for your school or organization? What would they create for your culture and community and how would they put your staff in a situation where they can always do what is right by their students?

Of course, there are going to be some rules and policies that are needed but my guess is that there are often too many that limit teachers instead of empowering them.

Focusing on these types of “values” helps develop wisdom and creates cultures where educators are treated as professionals and ensure they do right by those that they serve instead of shifting their focus on what “rules” they need to follow.

Providing Support Versus Enabling

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In a workshop this past week, I discussed how it is essential to create conditions where students and adults find ways to learn for themselves.  I believe that we can get caught into the trap of “spoon-feeding” where learners think something is not necessary to learn unless it is explicitly taught in a step-by-step process.

One participant made a critical point.  Is there a fine line between supporting and enabling?  Of course, we want people creating their solutions, but we also want to put them in situations where they are encouraged to do so.  I thought a lot about this and read several articles on the concept and this quote on “Supporting vs. Enabling” in relation to children:

So let’s start with a rule of thumb: support should always empower your child to move forward toward greater stability and more independence. Support will acknowledge difficulties yet not eliminate them. It’s about working with your child as he learns to overcome obstacles, manage his fears, and build confidence for the future.

As I think about this, the problem is that when people do not feel supported in education, this may lead to an environment where one might only do what they see is necessary.

So how does “support” look? 

Support means that when you take risks in pursuit of serving your students, someone has your back.

Support means providing time and mentorship to grow.

Support means adding to the person and not always adding to the plate.

My mentor taught me that there is a balance of pressure and support. If we pressure too much, people may fold. If we support too much, people may not take ownership over finding their way.  The challenge is that there is no clear distinction of when to identify each.

If we want to figure out how people can feel more supported to be successful, here is the easiest way to find out; ask them.

I am not sure where the balance of “enabling and support” lies, and I am still wrestling with the question from the participant.  What are your thoughts?  How can we better support educators in their growth and learning, while ensuring that they have the freedom and flexibility to create their way?