Archive

• Defining Play

  January 22, 2015 6:51 PM Comments Off on Defining Play

  Sister Valerie Van Cauwenberghe became a school principal in London, Ontario in the late 1960’s, just as the release of the Hall-Dennis report, Living and Learning, was threatening to affect a seismic shift in the way that public education in that province was to be imagined and constituted. Although the report left very few of the foundational stones of the public education system unturned, it was the move towards a more child-centred approach that most will remember as being the defining spirit of the time.

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• Getting to ‘the How’ of Systemic Change in Education

  January 14, 2015 12:22 AM Comments Off on Getting to ‘the How’ of Systemic Change in Education

  Six diverse education stakeholders dig deeper to get to ‘the how’ of education systems change.

  http://vimeo.com/113944705

• Using Design to Listen Deeply to Our Students

  January 9, 2015 7:40 PM Comments Off on Using Design to Listen Deeply to Our Students

  Do our children run into the school in the morning as quickly as they run out at the end of the day?—Milton Chen, Edutopia

   

  

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• Design-Based Research

  December 3, 2014 5:42 PM Comments Off on Design-Based Research

  As the issues and problems that define contemporary education become increasingly complex, our collective need for new knowledge and innovative solutions for practice in diverse educational contexts increases. Yet classroom teachers and school leaders often struggle to see any meaningful connection between educational research conducted in universities and their real-world, complex and contextually rich experiences of teaching, learning and leading in schools.

  It is clear that creating knowledge that addresses learning, teaching and leadership issues and challenges cannot be addressed by laboratory research alone. Increasingly, educators are demanding that educational research addresses the theory-practice gap by producing knowledge that directly informs or arises from complex problems of practice. This article describes how design-based research – a collection of methodological principles and approaches to studying innovative educational interventions in complex, real-world settings – bridges the theory-practice gap.

  Design-based research (DBR) was developed by educators as a response to the gap between basic and applied research practices,¹ and to the lack of meaningful impact of educational research in educational systems. The reality is that innovation in education tends to be sporadic and discontinuous.² The majority of experimental and correlational research in education fails to generate, sponsor or sustain innovation in practice. Sustained innovation is the goal of design-based research.

   What makes design-based research different?

  Ann Brown pioneered design-based research with her rigorous real-life experiments in early childhood classrooms. As president of the American Educational Research Association, Brown³ argued that research on learning should be undertaken in real classrooms with real students and real teachers who are provided with technology and professional learning support. In the past 25 years, Ann Brown’s methodological approaches have provided a foundation and paved the way for the development and spread of design-based research throughout academic disciplines.

  Design-based research (DBR) and action research both fall within the diverse continuum of participatory educational research methodologies. These methodologies are informed by a theory of knowledge that holds that meaning emerges and is enacted through the co-participation of researchers, practitioners and participants in social, cultural and political contexts. DBR has its roots in educational technology research and is also related to design research approaches in engineering, computer science and architecture.

  One principle that sets design-based research apart from other forms of educational research is the commitment of researchers to develop solutions to educational problems in collaboration with practitioners. Researchers and teachers collaboratively design research-informed learning experiences for students and then study the impact of these designs on learning. DBR is intentionally interventionist and researchers work closely with educators on understanding complex problems of practice, and on the collaborative design, development, implementation and evaluation of research-informed innovations in authentic learning contexts.⁴ Informed by theory and aiming to contribute to theory (as well as to educational innovation), DBR goes beyond merely developing and testing particular interventions.

  Drawing upon contemporary learning theory, design-based researchers acknowledge that learning, cognition, and knowing are irreducibly co-constructed and cannot be treated as isolated entities or processes. Teachers matter. Learners matter. Context matters. Learning is understood to be a collective endeavor distributed across the knower, the environment and the activity in which the learner participates, rather than an entity located only within the individual thinker.⁵

  Key principles that differentiate design-based research from other forms of participatory research, like action research, are:

  • the requirement for a well-defined problem with a research-informed design solution; 
  • the testing of theory in real-world contexts; and 
  • the contribution to theory and practice in addition to local impact.

  How design-based research unfolds

  McKenney and Reeves⁶ outline three phases to the design-based research process:

  1. analysis and exploration; 
  2. design and construction; 
  3. evaluation and reflection.

  Analysis and exploration: The research team focuses on problem identification and diagnosis. In one study that a doctoral student and I am involved with, we engaged with classroom teachers to work collaboratively with them to solve a problem – in this case, the problem was low student engagement and the solution proposed was to engage students in the design of digital games.

  Analysis included a review of the research literature on student engagement, situated learning and digital game-based learning to gain insights into the problem and identify what is known about solutions for increasing student engagement and sponsoring learning.

  In the exploration phase, we collaborated with the practitioners in the school to better understand the educational problem to be addressed, the school and classroom context and the needs of stakeholders, such as teachers, learners, parents, community partners and school leaders. Part of the analysis stage includes the identification of short- and long-term goals for the design solution, such as student teams designing digital games as part of engaged learning experiences and the teachers developing new pedagogical practices and competencies.

  Design and construction: The research team considers available knowledge about the problem and potential solutions in order to design the solution to be tested, as well as a coherent process for implementation and evaluation.

  In response to the problem of low student engagement, the proposed design solution was to provide students with opportunities for discipline-based inquiry in technology-enabled learning environments – in this case, designing and building digital games. During the design and construction phase, we worked together to articulate the core ideas underpinning the design solution and develop guidelines for actually building the solution.

  The construction phase takes the design idea and actually develops and begins to implement the solution, often through an iterative prototyping approach in the classroom with feedback cycles to continually refine and improve the solution. In the study example, the research team worked with the two teachers to develop a problem-based inquiry approach for students to design and build digital games within core academic subjects. Students were supported in forming design teams, choosing specific ideas and content for the games, learning design and storyboarding approaches, learning the software to develop the games, and in building the digital games in teams, as well as in developing and testing the digital games with student peers during the development stage.

  Evaluation and reflection: In this stage, the research team gathers data about the impact of the innovation as it is implemented through iterative cycles of the design in order to determine local impact. The researchers and teachers work together to develop the data collection and analysis methods and timelines, both for evaluation and for the implementation. In our example, we worked with the teachers to identify the different phases of the project and to implement the digital game development with students during the school year. The outcomes and lessons learned during the project can inform a second cycle of implementation with students in subsequent semesters. The evaluation cycle began with the initial planning of the design solution, and carried through with each phase of the implementation. Multiple forms of data, including observations, surveys, interviews, and examples of student designs, prototypes and completed games, were collected during the project.

  The evaluation cycle includes gathering data based on short- and long-term goals for the design solution, and uses the data to inform ongoing modifications and improvements of the design solution in practice. In our example, the research team used initial findings – on user experience, student engagement and effectiveness for learning – to provide feedback that informed daily and weekly teaching practices and plans. While data is used for summative reporting, DBR also uses data in a formative manner to inform the next steps in instruction, next steps in design and next steps in research. During this phase, the research team focused on impacting practice locally, and also on making contributions to theory more broadly through publication and knowledge mobilization. With regards to building digital games, the evidence sought to demonstrate changes in student engagement, as the students built and tested their digital games, as well as to produce reliable knowledge that contributes to theory on student engagement and situated learning in technology-enabled learning environments more broadly.

  In some design research projects, the aspiration may be to achieve large-scale implementation of an educational innovation across a school, a school jurisdiction or a province. In many design-based research projects, the goal is to develop design propositions or theories that can inform the development of innovative interventions by others.

  Design-based research arose out of the need for educational research to better meet the needs of educators, to impact practice, to be intentionally interventionist, and to focus on interactions and their effect in real-world contexts. In contrast to case study research that focuses on “what is” in education, the best DBR is driven by a vision of “what can be.” Guided by a vision of yet-to-be-realized possibilities, DBR is characterized by emergent goals for learning – goals that arise and evolve in the iterative cycle of design and research that focuses on the continual improvement of learning in today’s classrooms, with real learners and with real teachers.

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  Design-based Research Principles

  Design-based research:

  • Involves iterative cycles of design, enactment, analysis and redesign 
  • Involves disruptive, innovative design solutions and/or interventions in practice 
  • Relies on collaboration between researchers and participants in real-world contexts 
  • Aspires to solve real-world, complex learning problems by studying learning in complex, naturalistic settings 
  • Is oriented toward sustained educational innovation 
  • Focuses on continual improvement in the process of designing and adapting an innovation for learning 
  • Studies the interactions between learners, content, criteria and context 
  • Is informed by research and aims to inform research with sharable theories and design principles 
  • Utilizes multiple methodologies and mixed methods 
  • Uses data in both summative reporting and in a formative manner to inform the next steps in instruction, design and research 

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  EN BREF – La création de savoirs liés aux questions et défis d’apprentissage, d’enseignement et de leadership ne peut provenir uniquement de recherches en laboratoire. De plus en plus, les éducateurs exigent que la recherche en éducation aborde l’écart entre la théorie et la pratique et génère des connaissances éclairant des problèmes complexes de pratique ou en découlant. L’article décrit comment la recherche-design – un ensemble de principes et d’approches méthodologiques destiné àétudier les interventions dans des cadres réels complexes – comble l’écart entre la théorie et la pratique.

  Photo: Courtesy Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board

  First published in Education Canada, November 2014 

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  1 While basic and applied research approaches are both important in education, each has a different purpose. The goal of basic research is to develop generalized knowledge and theory, often using experimental or correlational designs in controlled or “laboratory” settings. Applied research focuses on pragmatic needs and issues in education and is carried out in authentic “field” settings and contexts, often using mixed methods and qualitative designs.

  2 C. Bereiter, “Design Research for Sustained Innovation,” Cognitive Studies, Bulletin of the Japanese Cognitive Science Society 9, no. 3 (2002): 321-327. http://ikit.org/fulltext/2002Design_Research.pdf

  3 A. L. Brown, “Design Experiments: Theoretical and methodological challenges in creating complex interventions in classroom settings,” The Journal of the Learning Sciences 2, no. 2 (1992): 141-178.

  4 S. Barab, A. Arici and C. Jackson, “Eat Your Vegetables and Do Your Homework: A design-based investigation of enjoyment and meaning in learning,” Educational Technology 45, no. 1 (2005):15-21. http://sashabarab.com/publications.html

  5 S. A. Barab and K. Squire, “Design-based Research: Putting a stake in the ground,” The Journal of the Learning Sciences 13, no. 1 (2004): 1–14.

  6 S. McKenney and T. C. Reeves, Conducting Educational Design Research (New York, NY: Routledge, 2012).

• Bridging the divide

  December 2, 2014 6:57 PM Comments Off on Bridging the divide

  How do we bridge the divide between research and practice? It’s a question relevant to many disciplines. In medicine, for example, there is always a frustrating lag between new research evidence about what treatment is effective (or not) and actual medical practice; similarly, recommendations based on research conducted in the laboratory may not be practical or effective to implement in the context of real-life conditions.

  Action research (and its various spin-offs, such as design research and collaborative inquiry) marries research and practice from the get-go. It’s a natural fit for the field of education. When educators are research collaborators, testing and refining approaches that are of direct relevance in their classrooms and bringing the results back to the research table, there are benefits beyond knowledge-building: in professional development, sustained classroom innovation, and improved teamwork within and across schools.

  Still, participating in action research is a big commitment. Teachers already have so many demands on their time and energy; schools are already stretched thin with their human and material resources. Is it really worth the trouble?

  For Ellen Fritz, it definitely was. In her article, “The Problem with Physics,” (p. 19) she writes: “Action research eternally changed me. I wish this experience for every educator.”

  In Manitoba’s Lakeshore School Division, a similar profound effect was noticed across the division as a result of a multi-year design research initiative. Authors Sheila Giesbrecht, Janet Martell and Leanne Peters report (p. 16):

  “There is a renewed energy in all of the schools across Lakeshore School Division… Exploring data, undertaking action research, engaging in educational experiments and embracing open and flexible mindsets has become common practice.”

  Like any worthwhile endeavour, action research can be a challenging and at times frustrating process. But it’s also a powerful tool, with the potential to kick-start professional growth and true educational innovation. In the pages that follow, you will find overviews of the research process and examples of action research projects that led to real change in Canadian public education. Perhaps they will inspire you to “take action.”

  Write to us!

  We want to know what you think. Send your letters or article proposals to editor@cea-ace.ca, or post your comments about individual articles on the online version of Education Canada at: www.cea-ace.ca/educationcanada

  Photo: Dave Donald

  First published in Education Canada, November 2014

• Addressing the Knowledge-Doing Gap

  November 18, 2014 3:47 PM Comments Off on Addressing the Knowledge-Doing Gap

  One of the main barriers to turning knowledge into action is the tendency to treat talking about something as equivalent to actually doing something about it.—Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton, in The Knowing-Doing Gap

  

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• A Parent Advocate’s POV on What’s Standing in the Way of Change in Education

  November 9, 2014 3:52 AM Comments Off on A Parent Advocate’s POV on What’s Standing in the Way of Change in Education

  Fredericton parent Jeannine St. Amand explains the value of gathering education stakeholders to discuss change.

  https://vimeo.com/110512054

• A Teacher’s POV on What’s Standing in the Way of Change in Education

  3:48 AM Comments Off on A Teacher’s POV on What’s Standing in the Way of Change in Education

  Winnipeg teacher Chris Harbeck explains how student-teacher communications could be improved with technology.

  https://vimeo.com/110510640

• A Business Leader’s POV on What’s Standing in the Way of Change in Education

  3:45 AM Comments Off on A Business Leader’s POV on What’s Standing in the Way of Change in Education

  NB innovation leader David Alston shares his vision for what schools should become.

  https://vimeo.com/110510641

• A Vision for Canadian Education

  October 19, 2014 2:59 AM Comments Off on A Vision for Canadian Education

  A variety of education stakeholders share their visions for what school could be like.

  https://vimeo.com/109283558

• CEA: The Honest Broker for Change

  2:55 AM Comments Off on CEA: The Honest Broker for Change

  Participants of CEA’s ‘What’s standing in the way of change in education?’ workshops explain the value of these events.

  https://vimeo.com/109283553

• What’s standing in the way of change in education?

  2:52 AM Comments Off on What’s standing in the way of change in education?

  Teachers, students, administrators and other stakeholders share what they think is standing in the way of change.

  https://vimeo.com/109283617

• Manitoba’s Frontier Division

  September 19, 2014 11:12 PM Comments Off on Manitoba’s Frontier Division

  As the chief superintendent of Frontier School Division, I love to tell people about the work our division is doing across Manitoba in the area of community development. To understand our efforts to develop the leadership capacity of residents in the communities Frontier School Division serves, it is important to gain some insight into the nature of the Frontier School Division.

  A common term used to describe our division is “unique,” defined as “being one of, being distinctive and being without a like.” This certainly fits Frontier.

  While we share similarities with other school divisions, our unique characteristics are clearly apparent. Our geography covers over 440,000 square kilometers and we are mandated to provide educational services to all children wherever they live, no matter how remote.

  We encompass 40 communities spread out across Manitoba. Each of the communities we serve has unique characteristics. While most are populated with peoples of Aboriginal ancestry, there are vast differences between the aspirations, cultural identities and often the languages of each community. For example, our division encompasses the Cree, Dene, Oji-Cree, Saulteaux/Ojibway, Dakota and Metis people.

  I can say with some certainty that we are the only division in Manitoba that operates a formal bus route with a snowmobile and sleigh (Stevenson Island). In Disbrowe, Ministic and Stevenson, community residents are hired as boatbus drivers to transport our students. Frontier is often perceived as a northern division and we do gain a great deal of our identity from the North. What surprises those unfamiliar with our geography is that we have schools as far southeast as Falcon Beach in the Whiteshell and the Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation in southwest Manitoba.

  Our 42 schools range in size from five students in Disbrowe (Red Sucker Lake) to 1,100 students in Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre (Norway House). We provide housing in many communities, operating over 300 housing units, as well as water and sewage treatment plants.

  Frontier provides educational services to 14 First Nations, with each partnership governed by an Education Agreement reflecting the First Nation’s aspirations. Our services require the participation of both the federal and provincial governments because many of our communities include children who fall within both funding jurisdictions. Approximately 54 percent of the division’s revenue comes from the federal government, while school taxes provide around 2.5 percent. We employ approximately 600 education staff (teachers, principals, vice-principals and consultants) and 900 support staff.

  Home-grown staffing

  Historically, our division has faced the challenge of attracting the necessary staff to maintain educational services and in some instances, our teacher turnover rate was as high as 25 percent. For many years we received minimal interest in advertised positions.

  Another challenge facing Frontier is building a teaching population that is reflective of the people we serve. Thirty years ago, only a few teachers of Aboriginal ancestry worked in our division. The communities demanded more teachers who were reflective of their population. Responding to this imperative, in cooperation with Brandon University, we pioneered the Program for the Education of Native Teachers (PENT) program.

  PENT students work in divisional schools from September to April, then attend Brandon University from May to July, in a repeating cycle lasting six to seven years. To date, more than 400 local community members from across Manitoba have graduated as teachers. The PENT program, which is ongoing, has made our teaching population much more reflective of the makeup of the people we serve, significantly reduced teacher turnover and has built leadership capacity within our communities.

  Our school division also faced the challenge of finding qualified support staff from within our communities for a whole range of positions. It became apparent that if we wanted staff with particular qualifications we would have to take on the responsibility of providing the training.

  As the need for counselors grew within our schools we established a counselor training program, with the result that the school division now has fully credentialed counselors. We followed a similar model for librarians, bus drivers, and to some extent, educational assistants.

  In all of our training programs, our focus has been on identifying community members who have the desire and raw potential to be successful. We support and enhance applicants’ initial educational levels and concentrate more on their desire, character and potential to do the job. Critical to the success of our job training model is that once an individual is hired, the division continues to give as much support as possible to ensure their success. Our expectation is that, in a reasonable period of time, candidates will gain the full academic qualifications for the job. We call our approach to hiring “building our own.”

  Frontier is the main employer in many of our communities. Our division can take a great deal of the credit for training hundreds of people to become certified teachers, counselors, librarians and administrators. We have “shared our wealth,” contributing significantly to many other organizations and school divisions that have hired people in whom we have invested. For the most part, we do not begrudge providing this service and sharing with the rest of the province!

  Frontier School Division covers most of Manitoba and serves 42 schools ranging in size from five to 1,100 students. The question for Frontier is: how do we ensure the unique voice of each community is heard?

  Ensuring community voice

  In addition to adding enormously to the training levels of people within our communities, we have had a significant influence on developing the leadership capacity in thousands of individuals throughout the division. To a large extent, this has been the result of our three-tiered model of governance.

  Respect for the aspirations of each community lies at the heart of our school division. The question for Frontier is: Within our vast geography, how do we ensure the unique voice of each community is heard and the wishes of the people are respected?

  The answer lies in the three-tiered governance model established in The Public School Act (PSA). Being founded in legislation gives the school committee real authority, real responsibility and a strong voice of local control from the community. It also lies in our continual emphasis on building the leadership capacity of the hundreds of community members elected to provide community leadership for the local education system.

  Every four years, while divisions hold school board elections for, on average, 10 trustees, Frontier conducts an official election for approximately 229 school committee positions throughout all of our communities.

  Tier One: The Local School Committee of Trustees

  At the heart of our model of governance is a group of five to seven elected members in each of our communities, called the Local School Committee. Approximately 229 individuals serve on 40 school committees across the division. Their role is established in the PSA, which gives the committee authority and responsibility for their mandate. Each committee operates under an approved constitution, terms of reference and code of conduct.

  The elected members of the school committee provide direction and advice to the principal in six main areas. School committees are involved in all staff hiring and evaluation, recommending capital projects and facility improvements, and budgets. Committees also help develop policies, procedures, programs, and activities at the local and divisional levels.

  As a school division, we have complete commitment to the local committees and expend significant time and resources strengthening this system. School committees are trained on interviewing, school assessment instruments, record keeping, basic accounting and the legislation that governs the school system. Committees are required to conduct business with formal meeting procedures. We employ four governance support officers (GSOs) to provide necessary training to support committee members in fulfilling their responsibilities effectively. GSOs are an important resource to help school committees resolve internal issues and to support their crucial relationship with school administration.

  Through committee participation, thousands have discovered their leadership potential while influencing the education of children and adults within their communities.

  Tier Two: The Area Advisory Committee

  The Frontier School Division is divided into five regions based largely on geography. Once a school committee is elected for each school within a region, a member is elected to represent the community on their Area Advisory Committee (AAC). The Division has five AACs made up of 50 members.

  Area Advisory Committees meet three or four times yearly, helping to provide communication with the Frontier School Board of Trustees. Similar to school committees, AACs operate under a legislative framework, an approved constitution, terms of reference and code of conduct. AACs play a major role in the development of policies, procedures and programs, and are responsible for regular reports about their local schools and communities. They are forums for important regional issues to be identified.

  Tier Three: The Central School Board of Trustees

  Once school committees have elected representatives for the Area Advisory Committees, each AAC elects two members to sit on the Frontier School Board. The Board is comprised of ten members and operates under the same legislation as all other provincial school boards.

  Expectations for the individuals who sit on the Frontier School Board in terms of their personal commitment are very high. In addition to two days of board meetings per month and committee work, trustees actively participate on the AAC and their local school committee. Given the geographic location of many of our trustees, attending a one-day meeting often involves two or more days of travel. Participation on the Frontier School Board has been a life-changing experience for many of the trustees who have served our division.

  Each February, the Frontier School Division Board hosts a School Committee Conference. Local school committees participate in a range of sessions and professional development activities to support them in their governance responsibilities at the local level. The conference also showcases programs taking place across our division. Here, our hundreds of committee volunteers can meet and be inspired by colleagues doing the same kinds of work throughout the province.

  “Let’s do it and see what happens”

  In the many conversations I have had explaining the importance of our governance system, a common comment is, “How do you accomplish anything?” Despite the complexities of carrying out our mandate, our experience has not been of paralysis but one of innovation, community commitment and loyalty to the division.

  As a division, we believe the individuals who have the biggest stake in the local schools and communities are the people who reside there. The legislated requirement that the system be responsive to local input has enabled us to be highly active in community development, because that is what the local communities have demanded.

  Local communities have wanted training programs for local people. They were not content to see outsiders being brought in to take away jobs when jobs were scarce. The division responded to the demands of the communities by shaping programs reflective of the aspirations of each community. Many of the division’s flagship programs, such as our student fiddling program, started because one community wanted something done and their requests were respected.

  When ideas come forth, our response as administrators is, “Let’s do it and see what happens.” Is everything successful? Of course not – but we have been successful enough to receive recognition from the United Nations for our gardening program, to have had our student fiddlers play for Her Majesty the Queen of England, to have trained hundreds of teachers of Aboriginal ancestry, to have given thousands of our community members opportunities to realize their leadership capacities, to have enabled communities to develop local community histories used in the school curriculums and most importantly, through our collective engagement with the communities, to have generated hope where hope had been in short supply.

  As I lie awake at night, I weigh the challenges our system presents and agonize over mistakes made. I ask myself, is it worth it? Does the system deliver what we promise?

  I then have to put our many successes on the other side of the scale: I have to put the Elders there, who never thought they could have a meaningful role in their school; I have to add the individual who left school in tenth grade and is now a qualified teacher; I have to put the single parents who became professionally trained counsellors.

  I have only to remember the look in the eyes of the hundreds of local governance volunteers who have enormous pride in the contributions they are making to their community, and then I can feel at peace with the work we do. Once I weigh all these things, I can sleep at least for a few more hours… until my phone rings again!

  This article was first published in the Manitoba Association of School Superintendents Journal 14, No. 2 (Fall 2013). It has been edited to fit Education Canada’s editorial requirements.

  Illustration: Dave Donald

  First published in Education Canada, September 2014

  
  

  EN BREF – Couvrant plus de 440 000 kilomètres carrés, la Frontier School Division du Manitoba est chargée d’assurer des services éducatifs à tous les enfants, où qu’ils vivent, même dans les lieux les plus éloignés. Administrant des écoles d’entre 5 et 1 100 élèves et desservant des collectivités comprenant six peuples autochtones distincts, Frontier a mis au point une structure de gouvernance unique en son genre et des programmes d’apprentissage locaux grâce auxquels chaque collectivité peut exprimer ses aspirations, les écoles peuvent répondre aux besoins des collectivités locales et les membres des collectivités peuvent obtenir la formation et le soutien requis pour exceller comme dirigeants et membres du personnel. Tant par l’offre d’hébergement que d’usines de traitement des eaux usées en passant par l’établissement d’un parcours d’« autobus scolaire » par motoneiges et traîneaux, Frontier a suscité un modèle créatif et localement adapté de ce que peut être une communauté d’éducation.

• Personalizing Education

  10:53 PM Comments Off on Personalizing Education

  As our modern economy shifts from the industrial era to an age of knowledge workers, we increasingly need an education system that teaches students to work in collaborative teams, master higher-order knowledge and skills, and creatively solve complex technical and social problems. For this kind of education to be possible, we need to be able to customize instruction in order to address each student’s unique learning needs.

  In the last few years, many innovative educators have been leveraging technology to make this type of educational experience possible. They integrate online learning in their traditional schools to create new instructional models that are collectively referred to as “blended learning.” Sometimes people fear that online learning in schools will lead to a dehumanizing experience, where students are constantly plugged into devices and teachers are just passive monitors. In contrast to this conception, the leading pioneers in blended learning find that technology allows student and teacher interactions to be more meaningful and personal.

  For example, high-quality blended learning frees up teachers from some administrative and instructional aspects of their jobs so that they have more time to focus on creating high-value learning experiences for their students. These teachers spend less time lecturing and more time mentoring and coaching. They offload basic instruction to online tools and resources so that they can focus their efforts on developing students’ critical thinking skills and fostering their character development. Additionally, blended learning allows students to take greater ownership of their learning.

  Examples from the field

  CARPE DIEM

  In 2005, Rick Ogston found himself looking for a new campus for Carpe Diem Collegiate High School, the public charter school¹ he had founded in 2002. The owners of the church facility that the school had been renting were selling the property. Finding a suitable school facility was a challenging task, but Ogston seized it as an opportunity to simultaneously transform the school’s instructional model and provide a more student-centered form of education.

  The moment one walks in the door of a Carpe Diem school, the differences from the traditional classroom model are apparent. In Carpe Diem’s school in Yuma, Ariz., the center of the building is a large room filled with individual computer stations. On the periphery of that room are breakout rooms where teachers lead collaborative workshops.

  Every 35 minutes, the students rotate among the computer stations and the breakout rooms according to individualized learning “playlists.” On the computers they learn using Edgenuity software, with paraprofessionals on hand to assist them if they get stuck. The software adjusts to the students’ learning needs by letting them test out of lessons they have already mastered, and provides them with rich video content of real teachers to explain the concepts they still need to master. In the breakout rooms, a face-to-face teacher reviews or applies the material introduced online through discussions and projects. The teachers are also aided by the software’s teacher dashboard, which alerts them when they need to intervene to help a student.

  This model allows Carpe Diem to achieve noteworthy results. In 2010, Carpe Diem’s school in Yuma ranked first in its county in student performance in math and reading. Businessweek recognized Carpe Diem as one of the top high schools in America in its 2009 report, and U.S. News & World Report gave Carpe Diem the same recognition in 2010.

  With online learning as the backbone of Carpe Diem’s instructional model, the role of teacher is substantially different from that of traditional teachers. Carpe Diem’s teachers do not have to present every single concept their students need to learn. Instead, they focus on figuring out how to intervene when students are struggling and how to push students to deeper understanding. Ogston explains that when online learning is used to provide basic instruction, teachers then get to do the exciting part of teaching, which is making the content applicable and relevant to students’ lives.

  Blended learning affects not only how Carpe Diem’s students learn, but also how teachers and students interact with each other. As Ogston said, “When you’re leveraging technology like we are, people want to look at us in terms of technology. But the secret sauce is not the technology, it’s the relationships.”²

  Carpe Diem’s teachers are able to spend more time working with students in small groups and on an individual basis. Carpe Diem’s online learning software also helps teachers better understand their students’ learning needs. The data generated by the software lets teachers know on a daily and hourly basis exactly how students are progressing in their learning and alerts them when they need to intervene. As one student describes it, “Here the teachers know where you’re at exactly, so if you have a problem they’ll talk to you about it and they help you with it.”³

  Carpe Diem’s model also fosters longer-term relationships between students and teachers. Each school has one teacher per subject for all students in grades 6–12. As teachers work with students across multiple years, they get to know their interests, their career goals, their families, and their individual learning needs. They also get to see their students’ growth across their entire high-school experience. Luis Vanhook, one of Carpe Diem’s teachers, says that seeing students grow across multiple years “is the most beautiful part about my job.”⁴

  SUMMIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS

  A number of years ago, a group of parents from the San Francisco Bay Area came together to re-imagine the public middle and high school experience. In 2003 they founded Summit Prep, a charter school with the mission to prepare a diverse student body for success in college and to be thoughtful, contributing members of society. Today, Summit Public Schools operates six middle and high schools and enrolls 1,600 students. Its schools are some of the best in California, as they score consistently well above average on state tests and have over 96 percent of their graduates accepted into at least one four-year college or university. In 2011 Newsweek listed it as one of the top ten most transformational high schools in America.

  Yet despite these successes, Summit’s leaders noticed a few years ago that many of its graduates were struggling to complete college. To address this problem, they began thinking about how to better prepare students with the content knowledge, cognitive skills, habits of success, and real-world practice necessary to succeed in college and as adults in 21^st century society. What resulted was an innovative blended-learning model that aimed at helping students become self-directed learners.

  To create its blended-learning experience, Summit had its teachers spend a summer writing out the learning objectives students needed to master each year and then developed online assessment items for measuring mastery of each of those learning objectives. The teachers then curated playlists of free online content – including articles, websites, videos, and web apps – to cover each learning objective. With these tools in hand, they redesigned their physical space and their instructional time during the school day to create a unique, student-centered learning experience.

  Instead of assigning students to individual teachers and sending them to learn in separated classrooms, Summit’s students work in large, open learning spaces, and its teachers work as a team to serve the students they share. When students arrive at school, the first thing they do is power on their computers and sit down for an hour of “personalized learning time.” During this hour, they work through Summit’s playlists in order to master their personal learning goals for the current week. The playlists offer them multiple learning resources that they can choose among for learning the concepts they need to master. Once students feel they are ready to pass a learning objective, they go to their teacher to get the assessment for that objective unlocked. After taking assessments, they see their results immediately, along with a detailed explanation of their performance. This short-cycle feedback loop gives students actionable data on their progress that allows them to feel ownership over their learning. After the hour of personalized-learning time each morning, students then spend the rest of the day working with their teachers and fellow students on project-based learning activities. This gives them needed opportunities to apply what they have learned in a relevant, off-line context.

  Summit’s blended-learning model has radically changed the roles of its teachers and their relationships with their students. Because teachers no longer spend the majority of the school day planning and delivering large-group instruction, they focus instead on developing personal, deep relationships with students as their mentors. Each mentor has stewardship over 10 to 15 students and meets with them at least weekly to review their progress toward their learning goals. Mentors also act as academic coaches, college counselors, family liaisons, and advocates for their students. School leaders knew that when they changed their model to put students in charge of their own learning, mentors would be vital to help them make progress toward rigorous but attainable goals.

  For teachers, another benefit of Summit’s blended-learning model is that it relieves them from the siloed isolation of traditional single-teacher classrooms and gives them valuable opportunities to learn from each other. Emily Swegle, one of Summit’s teachers, says that co-teaching at Summit has allowed her to develop a trusting relationship with her co-teacher in which they each draw on their unique experiences and expertise to give each other ideas and constructive feedback.⁵

  Summit’s founder, Diane Tavenner, acknowledges that when Summit first switched to a blended-learning model, the shift was difficult for teachers, but ultimately proved to be rewarding. “Teachers first had to mourn a little bit because they have this image in their mind of who they are, and now it suddenly looks a bit different. But our model has more of the stuff that teachers got into education for. There’s more meaningful one-on-one work, more opportunities to get to know their kids very well.”⁶

  The future of personalized learning

  Schools like Carpe Diem and Summit offer a promising glimpse of what our education systems might look like in the future. They are showing that personalized education is about not only personalizing the instruction students receive, but also the ownership students feel for their work and the relationships between teachers and students. Fortunately, we live in a unique time in history when the technology finally exists to make this kind of personalized education possible.

  Not many teachers or school leaders have the operational freedom to create blended-learning models that are as radically different as those found at Carpe Diem or Summit. But many educators from around the world are finding creative ways to implement blended learning within their existing classrooms and schools. Some are setting up computer stations within their classrooms and then having students rotate in small groups between teacher-led instruction and personalized online instruction. Others are finding ways to leverage their existing computer labs to create tighter integration between what students do during lab time and what they do in their other classes. Still others are finding ways to “flip” their classrooms by assigning students to learn core concepts online for homework and then refocusing class time on applying that learning to solve problems, work on projects, and collaborate with their teachers and classmates. In all of these cases, educators are leveraging technology to create innovative learning environments that better address their students’ needs.

  Making the shift to blended learning

  Blended learning is a powerful enabler of personalized instruction, but the shift to high-quality blended learning is no small task. It is not merely a matter of purchasing devices and licensing good online learning software. Major shifts in aspects of school operations are often required, such as the schedule of the school day, the grouping of students, the roles and responsibilities of teachers, classroom procedures, classroom management strategies, classroom culture, and the architecture and layout of the physical learning environment.

  Because blended learning is still a relatively new phenomenon, resources and best practices are just now emerging from the field. Fortunately, as more and more schools experiment with blended learning, successful models are providing lessons that can help streamline the planning and design processes for other schools that are looking to make the shift. Even so, the work of developing a successful blended learning model requires significant research, planning, collaboration, and reflective execution.

  For more information on blended learning, please visit: www.christenseninstitute.org/blended-learning

  ---

  Photos: courtesy Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation

  First published in Education Canada, September 2014

   

  EN BREF – L’apprentissage hybride, un modèle pédagogique novateur, intègre l’apprentissage en ligne à l’enseignement en personne afin d’engendrer des possibilités d’apprentissage personnalisé pour les élèves. De nombreuses écoles primaires et secondaires utilisent l’apprentissage hybride pour transformer les environnements éducationnels à l’école et pour aider tous les élèves à mieux se préparer aux études supérieures et à l’environnement de travail du 21e siècle. Un apprentissage hybride de qualité libère les enseignants de certains aspects administratifs et pédagogiques de leur travail de sorte qu’ils peuvent se concentrer davantage sur le mentorat et l’encadrement de leurs élèves. Il peut également aider les élèves à acquérir plus d’autonomie en tant qu’apprenants et engendrer des liens plus personnels entre les élèves et leurs enseignants.

  ---

  [1] Both of the schools described in the article are U.S. charter schools. They are publicly funded and operated by private, non-profit organizations. They have open enrollment for any students living within their geographic areas, they do not charge tuition, and when they receive more applications than they can accommodate they admit students based on lottery.

  [2] Frederick M. Hess and Bror Saxberg, Breakthrough Leadership in the Digital Age: Using learning science to reboot schooling (Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin, 2014), 19.

  [3] Ian Murray, Carpe Diem Learning Systems (video, 2013), 7:14. http://carpediemschools.com/videos/

  [4] Ibid.

  [5] Silicon Schools Fund and Clayton Christensen Institute, Case Study #1: Teaching in a flex model at Summit Public Schools (video, 2014), 7:56. www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/ssf-cci/sscc-teaching-blended-learning/sscc-blended-case-studies/v/sscc-blended-summitteach

  [6] Hess and Saxberg, Breakthrough Leadership in the Digital Age, 156.

• A Virtual Window

  9:42 PM Comments Off on A Virtual Window

  “Human beings were born to be in a community. We were born to create and share elements of our experience of life through art and through storytelling. We have been coming together in communities from the beginning of our existence.”

  – Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant in Humanize¹

  When I was in elementary school (over 30 years ago), my mother would often stop by the school before or after the day to see how things were going. In our small town, the school was the hub of the neighbourhood. Parents were often physically connected to the school community, as many were able to visit; however what took place within the classrooms, aside from the monthly newsletter, was mostly kept between the teachers and students.

  A new era

  Fast-forward to 2014 and we see a different world. When my own children enter elementary school, my job commitments will rarely allow me to stop by their school and be a part of their life there. Due to a changed economy and social norms, most parents now work outside the home and few have the opportunity to stay home and be a consistent part of their child’s life at school.

  On the other hand, parents now have an enhanced drive to “see” what is happening in their children’s classrooms and schools and they are more engaged in decisions affecting their children’s education. Although I will not physically be able to visit the classroom, I will want to stay in touch and would rather not wait to get a thick newsletter about events that occurred weeks prior.

  Many parents and families strive for a strong home-school connection, but traditional structures can hinder this process. However, with the use of social media, we can not only create new avenues of connection to the school, we can actually enhance these connections in such a way that our families can have stronger relationships with the school and become more engaged and involved than ever before.

  Share the stories

  The stories of education in the mainstream media are often dominated by school rankings, test scores, political conflicts, and mistakes that occur in our educational organizations. Through a variety of social media tools, schools can change this lens and become the chief storytellers of the school. By providing small, frequent windows into the great things that are happening within their walls, schools can engage families and build an online community that works to enhance the physical school community. Sharing photos, videos and posts of the small stories that happen in a school can help parents and families to see and feel the culture of learning and care of the school. The photos that are taken can include students (with the proper media consent) but can also be of staff, student work, bulletin boards, reminders, and/or public events. When the school opens digital windows and becomes the chief storyteller, we can share the real culture of the school and create a sense of pride in the community.

  When small events have a big impact

  I have been at my current school since January and during this time, we have tried to create an online presence to help share the many positives that we are privileged to see each day. With the help of a dedicated teacher, we have created a new web page, school success blog, Facebook Page, Twitter account, and YouTube channel. Through these avenues, I am able to share with the community the learning and caring culture that I get to see as I visit classrooms.

  We recently had a student who had been wearing her lost tooth on a necklace her teacher had given to her to ensure that it went home to the tooth fairy. Unfortunately, the girl fell outside, the container popped open and the tooth landed in the gravel. She was quite upset when we were unable to find it, so I suggested having the principal write a letter to the tooth fairy that could be placed under her pillow in place of the tooth. The student and I drafted a letter and before I sent it home, I took a photo of it and posted it on our Facebook Page. (The vast majority of items that we share are from the staff at James Hill Elementary, but on the rare occasion I do share something that I have done as a principal, so parents can know a bit about who I am and what I stand for.)

  The crazy thing about this tooth fairy letter is that, unbeknownst to me, a Vancouver radio station saw it on our Facebook Page and reposted it on their page, which was then picked up and shared by a number of media outlets worldwide. This small moment now became a positive global story about our school. This experience emphasized for me that we need to share these stories more often. We know actions like these happen all the time, so the fact that this story spread so quickly revealed that there is a lack of public awareness of how often school staff members take the time to care for students. Social media cannot change school culture on its own; however, through a quick post or Tweet, families and community members can see some of the caring acts that so often go unnoticed. They can engage online with the school in ways that can help build important relationships.

  A “window in” for new families

  Many new students nervously enter our schools each year. Along with the new students, many new parents also become part of our school communities. Prior to the use of social media, new parents often had limited access to information about the school. Now, families can do virtual tours, catch up on updates, interact with other families, and begin building relationships with people within the school community. When many of the typical questions are answered on the website and through various platforms – questions around school safety procedures, codes of conduct, year and day schedules, school supply lists, or how to raise a concern regarding their child – the anxiety is lessened and the relationships are strengthened.

  Trust is so important in working with our families. Families are bringing their “everything” to our schools. When we provide more transparency (including both the successes and challenges) and make information about the school accessible, we help build trust. By sharing who we are as an organization, we can create an open relationship with both our new and experienced parents.

  From communication “to” to communication “with”

  We can also use social media to engage in dialogue around events and issues at the school. In the past, some schools have become very effective at communicating to parents through newsletters, websites, and notices sent home. Now, we need to move to a goal of communicating with parents, through platforms that allow and encourage two-way dialogue. Social media is a great place to start, but it is important to use it to engage with readers, not just to push information (though providing information is still very important). If we post information or a link and a question arises, it is very important to respond. When we respond, we show we actually listen and are working to increase communication with parents.

  A few years ago, there were concerns with students being placed in split/combined classes. In response to these private questions, I wrote a post on our Facebook Page with a few thoughts on combined classes. Parents responded with questions of their own and these led to quite a powerful dialogue on some parent anxiousness around combined classes. We were able to truly listen to concerns and respond in a meaningful way so that we helped to create better understanding of how students are placed in classes and how we can improve combined classes at the school. It would have been easy to broadcast the information on a static website, but posting it on Facebook allowed for respectful dialogue on an issue that was causing some concern in the parent community.

  There is often the worry, when opening up discussion on social media, that there will be inappropriate comments posted online; however, this is rare and insignificant compared to the positives of social media. When we model an open, respectful environment, people maintain this culture during online communications.

  Parents may not always comment publicly online, but by showing that we encourage feedback, we create an open environment whereby parents know that important issues can also be discussed in person, privately. By focusing on communication with parents, we not only increase our engagement online, we also foster enhanced face-to-face relationships with our families offline.

  Start small

  For many people, the idea of using social media is overwhelming. With so many options, it’s hard to know where to start. There is no one best way to communicate with families; we must find out where our parents are and meet them there. However, because social media is a stream, posted items can be missed and, therefore, a website and/or a blog is needed to have a home for the information we share.

  In my experience, the following have been the most successful:

  1. A school success blog: On our school website, we have added a blog that we update each week. We have moved beyond the newsletter to an online blog called “10 Good Things To Talk About” in which we share ten positive stories from the classrooms at our school. This success blog helps both parents and staff to see into our classrooms and, in effect, creates a more positive school culture. In addition to the “10 Good Things,” we share upcoming events and important information on the blog. The school blog replaces the newsletter, so there is no extra time spent writing and it reaches a wider audience as it can be shared in many more places. The blog can also be printed off for those who do not have Internet access.
  2. A school Facebook Page: We are nearing the point in which the majority of our parents use Facebook. Facebook can be used to share images and videos of learning at the school as well as to post interesting links to articles and videos on educational change. As not all parents will use it (nor will all users see the posts), Facebook cannot be our sole method of communication.
  3. A school Twitter feed: Although fewer parents use Twitter, there are a growing number who do and it can be a great way to share the story of the school and interact with parents.

  Some schools have also seen great success with YouTube, Flickr, Instagram and Remind101 (text messaging). The key to getting started with using social media is… to just start. Explore with the school blog and let input from the parents and community help guide the next steps.

  Timesaving Tip

  • Use the IFTTT.com website to create “recipes,” so that when you post in one place, it also posts in another. For example, when we post to our school blog, it can be set up to also post to Facebook and Twitter automatically so that no extra time is required.

  We are in a new era of parent communication and it is time to move beyond the newsletter to a more interactive and engaging approach. By using technology to meet parents where they are and participate in dialogue around their child’s education, we can build community and effective relationships both online and in person.

  Photo: courtesy http://jameshillelementary.com

  First published in Education Canada, September 2014

   

  EN BREF – Nous vivons une nouvelle ère de communication avec les parents. Le moment est venu d’aller au-delà du bulletin de nouvelles et d’adopter une approche plus interactive et mobilisatrice. Grâce aux médias sociaux, nous pouvons non seulement établir de nouvelles avenues pour créer des liens avec l’école, mais aussi pour les rehausser de façon à ce que nos familles puissent avoir des relations plus solides avec l’école ainsi que s’engager et participer plus que jamais. Dans cet article, l’auteur examine des façons efficaces d’utiliser les technologies et les médias sociaux pour « raconter l’histoire de l’école » et tenir les parents au courant, au moyen de canaux multiples.

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  1 Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant, Humanize: How people-centric organizations succeed in a social world (Indianapolis: Que Publishing, 2011).

• Students Tackle Tech

  9:19 PM Comments Off on Students Tackle Tech

  Our school had no Wi-Fi, but it was coming. The impact of the impending Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy was beginning to stir students and teachers, who were both eager and nervous about changes to policy and practice. Staff were concerned about student behaviour and academic dishonesty, and students were concerned about cyber-bullying and access to technology. School administrators were interested in student and staff input into the development of a school technology policy. The time was ripe for students at my school to have a voice in policy development. Problem-based learning (PBL) seemed the perfect vehicle for engaging this participation.

  Problem-based learning involves using a problem to trigger students’ interest in a topic and to act as a motivator to learning and inquiry.[1] It can lead to increased student achievement and improved attitudes toward learning.[2] Originally a learning model developed by Dr. Howard Barrows at McMaster University for the study of medicine, PBL has been adopted in education because of its ability to foster 21^st century skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity, and decision-making.[3] Problem-based learning requires the teacher to move away from a teacher-centered approach and to act more as a facilitator or tutor supporting student exploration of a problem through inquiry.

  In the PBL project I designed, students were encouraged to use an inquiry model to investigate and create meaningful suggestions that a school committee could examine prior to the development of the school’s technology policy. I wanted students to feel empowered by their own research data, so I approached administration to request their participation in a research poster presentation session where students would share their research findings on the implications of student access to Wi-Fi at our school.

  The process

  After learning about the social science inquiry method, students focused on our learning goal, which was to explore the implications of the implementation of school-wide Wi-Fi. Students developed research communities and began discussing how Wi-Fi would impact stakeholders. Initially stymied with such an open-ended learning opportunity, students took time to query technology’s impact in schools and eventually began surfacing the challenges and obstacles for students, teachers and parents. This took a lot longer than I had expected; I had to recognize that PBL is a process that requires time and support. Focusing on our learning goal and not sweating the small stuff was key. Eventually, authentic research questions that connected students to their topics began to emerge. Students asked the following questions:

  • What are the economic implications of a BYOD policy for students at our school?
  • Can cheating be prevented when students have access to their own technology in the classroom?
  • Can technology in the classroom improve teaching methods and increase student engagement?
  • Will students experience an increase or decrease in cyber-bullying with greater Internet accessibility?

  Students were supported with direct instruction on research methods and provided with tools like organizers to help them with their inquiries. Working collaboratively, students engaged in primary data collection and analysis using quantitative or qualitative methods. To further create a transparent and authentic learning experience, students co-constructed assessment criteria and engaged in peer assessment as a means to provide feedback prior to the development of the final research poster and session. My role was to support, ask questions, provide guidance and listen enthusiastically to their creative approaches.

  The results

  The student research findings were not only relevant to the student body of our school, but were also in line with research on the use of technology in Canadian schools:[4]

  • Not everyone can afford a smartphone.
  • Cheating is common both with and without a technological device.
  • Fifty percent of students use an electronic device for schoolwork.
  • Most students feel comfortable approaching an adult about cyber-bullying.

  Students made the following suggestions to the administrator who visited during the poster session:

  • Schools should provide access to technology for those who cannot afford it.
  • Consistent guidelines about technology use should be reinforced to emphasize digital literacy and citizenship.
  • Teachers need support to help overcome discomfort with technology and to increase their knowledge of how to use technology in the classroom.

  My class was pleased by the fact that their voices were heard and satisfied with their ability to contribute to policy development at the school level.

  Students’ responses to the PBL experience were positive and showed the intended outcomes of increased motivation, collaboration and critical thinking. In her final reflection, a student expressed her feelings of empowerment; she liked how the research “allowed me to present my ideas to a higher authority… and… to not only learn about the topic in question, but also help me improve my learning skills.” Another student noted, “It allowed me expand my arsenal of collaboration methods… and gave me a new respect for problem-based learning.” One student suggested that her greatest learning was “the ability to analyze and interpret the various aspects of a research topic.”

  Although some students struggled, they still noted benefits of PBL. Issues around failing technology, absent team members and lack of time were noted as key frustrations. One student described how her group had to overcome the “problem of picking a specific topic” that could be managed in the given time. Another student stated, “Overall I found that the material and skills we have been learning in class is really what got everyone through the project.” Even when the task was challenging, students were able to apply their skills and knowledge to impact the BYOD learning environment for future students.

  Implementing PBL requires planning and program consideration. Attention needs to be paid not only to skill development, but also to the development of content knowledge,[5] with clear steps for students to collate and reflect on all the learning that goes on during the project. Teacher training and collaboration before and during the project’s implementation is also important.[6] Without the support of my colleagues and administration, this endeavour would have been overwhelming.

  ---

  Resources

  For practical tips on implementing PBL in your classroom, check out Jennifer Nichols’ post, “10 Practical Ideas for Better Project-Based Learning in Your Classroom” on TeachThought: www.teachthought.com/learning/10-practicalideas-for-better-project-based-learning-in-your-classroom/

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  Photo: iStock

  First published in Education Canada, September 2014

  
  

  EN BREF – L’instauration de la méthode de l’enquête dans les écoles secondaires peut constituer un défi, mais lorsqu’un problème significatif se pose, tel le passage à une politique « prenez vos appareils personnels » (PAP) dans une école, l’apprentissage par résolution de problèmes (ARP) peut constituer le moyen pédagogique indiqué pour engager les élèves dans la co-construction de leur environnement d’apprentissage. Des élèves d’un cours de sciences sociales de 12e année ayant travaillé pour relever les défis de l’ARP ont vécu les avantages d’un engagement accru et d’une contribution significative à l’élaboration d’une politique au palier de l’école.

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  [1] Steven W. Whitcombe, “Developing Skills of Problem-based Learning: What about specialist knowledge,” International Journal of Continuing Education & Lifelong Learning 5, no. 2 (2013): 41-56.

  [2] Clive Agnew, “Evaluating Changes in Learning and Teaching,” Journal of Geography in Higher Education 25, no. 3 (2001): 293-298; Gabi Jerzembek and Simon Murphy, “A Narrative Review of Problem-Based Learning with School-aged Children: Implementation and outcomes,” Educational Review 65, no. 2 (2013): 206-218.

  [3] Laura Greenstein, “Beyond the Core: Assessing authentic 21^st century skills,” Principal Leadership 13, no. 4 (2012): 36-42.

  [4] Dianne Looker and Victor Thiessen, “The Digital Divide in Canadian Schools: Factors affecting student access to and use of information technology,” Statistics Canada, no. 81-597-XIE; The Canadian Council on Learning, “The 21^st Century Cheater: Academic dishonesty in Canada’s schools,” www.ccl-cca.ca/ccl/Newsroom/Releases/20100706AcademicDishonesty.html; Omar El Akkad, “Canadian’s Internet Usage Nearly Double the Worldwide Average,” The Globe and Mail, March 8, 2011, www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/tech-news/canadians-internet-usage-nearly-double-the-worldwide-average/article569916/

  [5] Eric Pawson, E. Frounier, M. Haigh, O. Muniz, J. Trafford and S. Vajoczki, “Problem-based Learning in Geography: Towards a critical assessment of its purposes, benefits and risks,” Journal of Geography in Higher Education 30, no. 1 (2006): 103-116.

  [6] William Alexander Moylan, “Learning by Project: Developing essential 21^st century skills using student team projects,” International Journal of Learning 15, no. 9 (2008): 287-292.

• Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

  June 9, 2014 4:49 PM Comments Off on Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

  It was the first week of classes and the Chemistry 11 students were busy reviewing the core concepts from junior science. Most students were sailing through the review because of the strong junior science program in our school. Randy, on the other hand, was a different story.

  (more…)

• The “This Too Shall Pass”…Stall in Education Reform

  May 22, 2014 6:20 PM Comments Off on The “This Too Shall Pass”…Stall in Education Reform

  This content has been re-posted from Johnny Bevacqua’s blog at: http://figuringitouted.blogspot.ca/2014/05/the-this-too-shall-passstall-in.html

  ---

  I recently attended  a Canadian Education Association regional workshop (facilitated by Stephen Hurley and Ron Canuel) at the University of British Columbia.  It was a gathering of passionate and talented people tasked with answering one question:

  What’s standing in the way of change in education?

  This was one of a series of events, held across Canada, to study and explore answers to the aforementioned question (for more information on this exciting research click here).

  The day began by exploring some of the barriers to change in education.  Participants shared many insights and ideas – identifying barriers such as:  funding models, policy decisions (school, organizational and government) , institutional memory (by all stakeholders), societal expectations, assessment models (and many more).

  As we shared the many barriers to change I couldn’t help but think about the long history of (failed?) education reform in Canada and British Columbia.

  On a personal level, I can think of the many conversations I’ve had regarding BC’s latest education transformation initiative (The BC Education Plan, Curriculum Transformation) and the inevitable “conversation stopping” sentiment:

  This too shall pass.

  The proverbial “we tried that back in..(insert year)” can be a little demoralizing when in comes to school improvement and change in education.

  And yet these sentiments do cause me to pause and think about some “recent” failed reform initiatives here in BC.  For example:

  • In 1987 the government of BC commissioned Barry Sullivan to review the BC education system and make recommendations for improvement.  The Commission came down with sweeping recommendations for BC’s education system including such things as: cross curricular integration of content, a shift in focus from content to “learning to learn”, child centered instruction, multi-age grouping of students, emphasis on school within community, more authentic performance based assessment of students and anecdotal reporting of student learning.  I came across this pdf version of the report here: It is both a fascinating and sobering read. 
  • Open Classrooms.  Talk to a teacher who was around in the late 1970’s early 1980’s. They will tell you this was a good idea gone bad. The walls went up shortly after they were taken down.
  • School Portfolio’s. In 2005 the government initiated a mandatory graduation portfolio for every student in British Columbia.  By 2007 the program was scrapped. More fodder for the “been there done that” camp.

  These examples can teach us a tremendous amount about reform and change in education. Bottom line – it is not easy.

  And yet I am hopeful that we can we learn from the past.  This is why I am excited to hear about the work that the CEA is undertaking in understanding the barriers in education reform and change.

  Despite any “mistakes” made in the education reform past,  I will suggest that there may be different forces at play today that are providing a different type of momentum to the school reform movement:
  
  Mobile, Web-Based, Social Technology

  The proliferation of mobile, web based, social technology is giving us access to an abundance of diverse information and people. Accessing the information is not solely dependent on “school” or the educators that work in them.

  Neuroscience
  There is a growing amount of brain research that is dispelling myths about how the human brain learns best. This article does a nice job summarizing some of the recent research: Neuroscience: Brain Based Learning Myth Busting

  Shrinking, Shifting, Connected World
  Many have written about how world has changed -economically, strategically and socially.  In a compelling and informative TED talk, Paddy Ashdown talks about the Global Power Shift. One of his more compelling arguments is that:

  In the modern age where everything is connected to everything, the most important thing you can do….is what you can do with others.  

  Ashdown emphatically states that the paradigm structure of our time is the network.  If we buy Ashdown’s argument, then as educators we need to ask ourselves how equipped our students are to navigate this shifting world.

  Some enduring constants….
  Yet, despite these momentum generating forces, I would argue that there are some enduring constants in education and school that will continue to positively serve our students.

  Namely that teachers, working in relationships (with students and colleagues) matter immensely and that learning is personal (individual) and social and it needs to be shared and made visible.

  So moving forward I have a few questions for reflection:

  • What will be the compelling reason for school as a place, moving forward?
  • Will, what many see as “extra” in schools, actually become the compelling “core” of what will make school relevant?
  • Will we look back twenty years from now and see this time as yet another failed attempt at change in education?

  I am still figuring it out.  Your thoughts and comments are welcome……

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  For more information and to get involved in CEA’s ongoing What’s standing in the way of change in education? national conversation, please visit http://standingintheway.ca and follow @cea_ace and #CanEdChange on Twitter.

• What’s Standing in the Way of Change? It Better not be Culture.

  May 21, 2014 9:59 PM Comments Off on What’s Standing in the Way of Change? It Better not be Culture.

  This content has been reposted from Scott Slater’s personal blog at http://scottslater.org/2014/05/17/culture-of-change/ and does not necessarily represent the opinions of his employer.

  ---

  The CEA’s What’s Standing in the Way of Change in Education workshop series across Canada brings together a variety of stakeholders and innovators including students, parents, university deans, teachers, trustees, K-12 and university administrators, superintendents, and Ministry of Education administrators, and tasks them with determining what is standing in the way of change in education, and how to work around or eliminate the barriers.

  In the Vancouver session, which I had the privilege of attending on Wednesday May 14th, it seemed most participants agreed on three challenges in particular.  Below, I share what I took from these discussions.

  1. Mindset

  Those who are in positions that can implement change may not have the mindset to do so.  They may be married to what they currently do, either to maintain tradition, to please parents who might resist change, out of fear of the unknown of might lay ahead, or fear that adopting new practice will make “old” practice and the practitioner look bad.  The idea of “best practice” is not helpful.  It suggests that there is one best way of doing things and switching the term “best practice” to “effective practice,” is perhaps a small but important step in inviting change.  Bruce Beairsto noted this Mindset is not so much a barrier or roadblock in the present or future, but an anchor dug into the past that slows or halts change.

   

  2. Process

  The BC Education Plan articulates many important goals for education:  personalized learning, flexibility and choice, learning supported by digital access, etc.  Even if the goals of change were understood to mean the same thing and agreed upon by all 40 000 teachers in BC, as well as administrators, School Board Office staff and Trustees, there is no clear process to implement change, and the process might look different depending on what form of change it is.  One of the strengths of education in BC is that teachers, schools, and districts, have a high degree of autonomy to personalize and contextualize learning experiences to best meet the needs of unique students and communities; needs that might be different elsewhere.  Interestingly, this strength is a weakness in implementing change rapidly.  This decentralized system is thus designed to satisfy context-specific needs, but also makes implementing systematic change difficult.

  Further, innovators have relatively small spheres of influence.  An innovative teacher in a classroom has a huge impact on the many students they teach, and a district with a culture of innovation has a major impact both on students and educators, but classrooms, schools, school districts, and even universities, are relatively small spheres compared with the system as a whole.  For systemic change, who is to bridge these spheres?  The Ministry of Education’s Education Plan makes no connections, that I am aware of at least, between K-12 education and university, and coordination, particularly with respect to changing assessment practices, must occur between grades 11 and 12 and university entrance requirements. There is a separate ministry, the Ministry of Advanced Education, responsible for Universities.  Who is responsible for bridging the gap between K-12 and University?

  While there are great benefits to a decentralized, diffusion model of change (described by Chris Kennedy here), it does not promote the quick implementation of systematic change.  In my opinion, it is better to do things well than do things quickly, so if speed is the cost for well-implemented, personalized and contextual change, perhaps it is worth it.

  Peter Drucker noted that “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” and Jordan Tinney has written on this topic in relation to the hit television show Downton Abbey, explaining culture’s inescapable role causing change. The show shares the change of the place of the aristocracy in the UK, including how an aristocratic family interacts with each other and with servants and other “commoners.”  There are some major events like World War One that accelerate change, but for the most part, change happens in small decisions:  a daughter’s decision to wear certain clothing or disagree with her father, a butler’s tolerance of certain behaviour, a decision to marry a commoner, and for the family to slowly accept that commoner into their circles.  Occasionally, important laws such as female suffrage cause major changes, but it is for the most part, small decisions happening among relatively small actors that slowly shift and are then shifted by culture.  In a decentralized system, culture, more than process, shapes change.

   

  3. Support

  A third inhibitor of change is that many believe there is not sufficient support for educators to develop their skillsets, perhaps in inquiry, assessment, and self-regulation.  This support might include time for professional learning, support from collaborators or mentors/coaches, or learning resources such as books or technology tools that support professional learning or student learning.  Further, if class composition is becoming more challenging, even if an educator hones their skillset, there is, or might be the perception, that educators cannot make full use of their skillsets because they simply do not have enough time to offer their skills to such diverse learning needs.  If educators do not feel supported, financially and with sufficient human resources to meet the needs of learners, this third inhibitor of change – Support – can lead to the development of a mindset resistant to change.

   

  Culture

  It seems clear to me that if mindsets, process and support are identified as challenges to change, it is absolutely vital that classrooms, schools, districts and the Ministry of Education in general, must support a culture of innovation, written about by Chris Kennedyhere.  Culture shapes mindsets, it permeates all spheres of influence, and it inspires educators to overcome limitations of support.  In a Downton Abbey model of change, which we seem to have, all innovators with influence must develop their convictions and take action if they wish to be leaders. And as this work cannot be done alone; educators must work together to develop shared convictions and take shared action to implement change.

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  For more information and to get involved in CEA’s ongoing What’s standing in the way of change in education? national conversation, please visit http://standingintheway.ca and follow @cea_ace and #CanEdChange on Twitter.

• Architecture and Education – What’s standing in the way of change in education?

  May 5, 2014 10:07 PM Comments Off on Architecture and Education – What’s standing in the way of change in education?

  What’s standing in the way of change in education? It might be the physical space of schooling.

  https://vimeo.com/94069247

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