Developing the Organization to Support Desired Practices

*Building collaborative cultures and distributing leadership
*Structuring the organization to facilitate collaboration
*Building productive relationships with families and the community
*Connecting the school to the wider community
*Allocating resources in support of the school’s vision and goals

 

April 27, 2016
Last spring, our kindergarten team, including teachers and DECEs, participated in a book study on Stuart Shanker’s book ‘Calm, Alert and Learning’.  While the goal of K team was to learn more about self-regulation (which we did), we were also fortunate to be part of a larger study – Sam Gardner,a doctoral student out of York University, and in collaboration with Stuart, was doing a study on how educators collaborate, and our team was one of three or four other schools/school boards that participated in the study.  Sam ‘listened in’ (both literally and figuratively, as he observed and audio-taped all of our sessions) on the conversations we had as we worked together to unpack what self regulation was really all about.
A few weeks ago, Sam returned to Riverside to share with us his findings, and to allow us to question and ponder some of the things he noticed.  Here are some of the highlights:
       *learners need a mentor/coach to draw them into deeper learning and understanding;  without that coach we tend to ‘skirt’ the issue  and/or take a jog down ‘the bunny trail’, telling stories that illustrate current topics, and often digressing without actually ever answering the question; having said that, we don’t/will not always have an instructional lead, consultant or other knowledgeable other leading us – that responsibility then lies with all of the learners in the group
     *in our current model of job-imbedded PD, we don’t always have the luxury of that coach – it is up to us as lead learners, and indeed, all learners in the community, to be cognizant and recognize when ‘drift’ occurs, and refocus through questioning and redirection to sustain/maintain a line or thread of inquiry
     *all partners in the learning conversation, particularly administrators, need to be more aware of the dialogue in order for conversations to lead to fruitful and productive learning discussions
     *during professional learning conversations, we need to learn to be comfortable to question vs make assertions, as assertions result in limited learning
     *it’s okay to engage in ‘narrative’/story telling – just be sure to bring it back to the topic at hand by asking yourself “am I ‘adding’ to” understanding or “am I ‘creating'” new understandings?
     *what we choose to say needs to be said in the context of ‘students’ doing’; therefore, we all need to frame our questions so that it places direct attention on a new aspect of the situation so that we can advance an idea that has not yet been entertained.
     *at the conclusion of an inquiry, we need to ask “what did we arrive at that we can hold onto and bring forward into subsequent settings”?
It was interesting that as he shared some of his learning with us through one small section of his report, that, as a group, we continued to ‘skirt’ and go down the ‘rabbit trail’ even as we were discussing how doing so does not lead to deeper understanding! There is definitely a safety in carrying on innocuous conversations instead of digging deeper into pedagogy, and it prompted me to reflect on the importance of establishing norms before discussions begin so that we make clear that ‘piggybacking’ on a conversation is not enough, and instead we need to affirm the value of the digression, and using it to go back into the real inquiry by questioning the ideas being brought forth.
Playing an active and participatory role in the ‘communal politics’ of professional development, while ‘necessary for some and good for all’ can and should be a work in progress for every educator at the inquiry table.  In addition, I feel that as the lead learner in our building, it is our job to ensure that our group goes deeper, makes connections, questions and wonders, in order to ‘push things around’ so that we can truly discover what ‘things’ seem promising, and, what can we do with those ‘things’ to push our learning, and the learning of our students, forward.
Thank you, Sam Gardner, for making us think about our thinking, and for showing us how and why we can enhance the conversations that take place between us to improve the culture of inquiry!
February 1, 2016
How fortunate is it to have staff members who embrace and enjoy collaboration for the purposes of staff development and school improvement !?! Today was the first PLC for our Well-being and Equity group to meet and plan supports and actions to address that pillar in our School Improvement Plan.  Before we met, we had collected anecdotal data and ‘voice’ from staff and students about what they liked about our school, and what kinds of things they would like to see to improve our school community.  Overwhelming we learned that both staff and students viewed opportunities to go outside as one of the best things about coming to school at Riverside (we are fortunate that, living in Muskoka, we have access to acres of property that include ski trails, meadows, forest, and a maple sugar shack).  They also told us that they wanted and appreciated a sense of ‘calmfulness’ at school – they didn’t like when there was ‘chaos’ (one student’s word) in the classrooms or on the yard.  As a result, our SIP inquiry question for this pillar became “What is the impact of calmfulness and outdoor learning on the well-being of staff and students?”
And as exciting as that focus is, what seemed more thrilling was the way in which the teachers on our team embraced the learning and began the process of working together on instructional development and enhancement in the “Feed All Four” area of well-being and equity.  Without question, our team began working together to problem solve what and how things can be done to clarify our wellness pillar with staff, and how to help provide their peers with professional learning in the areas of mindfulness/calmfulness and outdoor learning.  That’s not to say there wasn’t diversity of opinion.  In fact, I think we were better for the professional dialogue that came out of the discussions and helped us get to actions and conclusions. The enthusiasm in the air was palpable!  And the actions and directions that came out of their collaboration can only serve to enhance the great things that are already happening here at our school!  I think that our teachers understand that in order for us, and others, to ‘practice differently’, as Steven Katz put it, we need to ‘understand differently’.  I think that our well-being and equity teams had a good understanding and were interested, and that’s why they volunteered to be on this inquiry team.  But I also think that they can already see how their practice can be different and even more so, how the practice of others can be different, once they have a new understanding of what things like ‘outdoor education’ and ‘calmfulness’ really are.
Hurrah to our team who, by their own actions, are becoming leaders in our school!  And equally important, hurray to our instructional lead who shared with us a thoughtfully created and well planned agenda that helped to engage our team in a collaborative learning community that not only built professional practices amongst the staff on the team, but also encouraged and supported those same members as they worked towards doing the same for their teaching peers.  It’s reassuring to know that our instructional lead will work with admin and our team to support staff as they deal with making even small changes in their practice by collaborating and networking with peers staff to foster a culture of co-learning.  She prompts us and guides and makes us question previous notions of ‘what is and isn’t’ in a variety of areas.
What a great start to our end goal of improved student achievement, student and staff wellness, and making our school and classrooms equitable learning environments for all of us!