Learning maps: capturing the essence of our learners

Becoming an effective future focused educator is a deeply human experience. That's how i have grown to see education. Imagine a curriculum that is focused on students learning more about themselves than subjects. A curriculum that enables our schooling systems to nurture learner identity, thinkers, community. I see this as a very real possibility considering the first half or our current NZC. However how can we ensure that our teaching practices are focusing on our learners needs in a manner that effectively captures their learning progression?

I am interested in how our education system is becoming more personalised. One area that is intriguing is assessment. In my experience to personalise assessment of learning we need to design assessments that capture more than the easy measurable quantitative data but also the more qualitative learning progressions.

For the last month I've been learning about learning maps with Brian Annan and Mary Wootton from Infinity Learn. 

• Low tech (easy and effective with pens & paper) 
• Enables educators and learners to explore learning experiences as a narrative 
• Student advocacy is promoted
• Encourages Ss to talk about their own learning in relation to people,places,tools and interactions
• Promotes personalised learning, networking & constructivist concepts
• Provides a holistic view of learners
• Learners self identify areas that could be altered for increasing learning success
• It promotes student centred decision making regarding their learning 
• Learning maps are positive focused

I have chosen to implement learning maps into my learning advisory,(my LA is a vertical home room class with students from yr 9-13), as a result I feel that i have already developed a stronger sense of advocacy. This is really helpful considering this is still my first term here at Lytton High.

Im excited by the opportunities that this kind of assessment provides for our students. The discussions that I have already experienced in my LA are more focused on personalised learning, student ownership of learning and sharing experiences. Points of interest that i thought about during last night workshop relate to identifying when learning is seen as isolated occurrences, passive vs active learning and sustainability of learning. 

Isolated experiences:
Many of my learners saw interactions between them and others,places,tools P,P orT as separate events. They drew themselves in several places around the map instead of having the P,P or T surrounding them in a mindmap style. I wonder if this reveals how the learner sees these interactions as separate events and not as a part of a network of learning?
Passive vs Active:
Arrows showing interactions were mostly pointing towards the learner therefore they saw themselves as passive in their learning. 
Sustainability
How embedded is the P,P or T in the learners network? If this is a node with several interactions then for me this might indicate that this aspect is significant for the learners experiences and more likely to remain so in the future. People,Places or Tools that are nodes with fewer connections might be more tentative in the learners current experience.. these may need to be analysed further to explore if this can be used more or worth reducing. In what I know about Mason Durie's Tapa Whā model, I see as opportunity to explore the information to gain an insight into our students hauora or essence. This is another aspect that relates to the sustainability of our learners learning practices.

I wonder which digital technology will best capture these narratives and images? This will be something i will explore no doubt as i continue on with these maps. 

Overall learning can be difficult to capture at anytime , but i feel that using Learning maps are a strong step in the right direction if we are to develop truly effective assessments for a more personalised education system.

The why on why.

 I took a leap this week...I participated in #ldrchatnz for the first time. I know i'm my own worst enemy at times choosing to exclude myself from groups that i feel are concerned about matters that i feel I know very little about. This week I chose not to limit myself by listening to this habit.
As a teacher I am seen as a leader, and as a teacher I encourage my students to explore, learn and practice leadership skills, therefore not to challenge myself as I challenge my learners is contradicting a deeply embedded value i have as a person.

Leading has been in the forefront of my mind for most of my 5 yrs of teaching. During my time at Te Karaka Area School, under the guidance of Karyn Gray, leadership became in my mind less about status and more about action. Here learning to lead was nurtured through a culture of inquiry, reflective practice and trust and as I result i feel excited about sharing and nurturing leadership in those around me. It is an amazing legacy I know many others in Karyn's new kura (Haeata) will have the opportunity to experience.

In my new and exciting role as educator at Lytton High School, I am surrounded and supported by a team of educators that are exciting, experienced and engaging in a substantial transformation in the education experience. Wiremu Elliot (our Principal) said that many people likened this transformation to trying to upgrade a plane while its flying.. I liked this following response.. "we're not upgrading... we're completely redesigning our plane into the USS Enterprise! We need a system that will meet our learners needs in more than just  the environment we are familiar to... they are entering something that is unknown..we need to think multi-dimensionally."

Yeah.. I know I am exactly where I am meant to be.

A question came up during #ldrchatnz about resources and experiences. I saw this as an opportunity to think deeply about my initial weeks here at Lytton. I wanted to best articulate why I devoted almost 2 weeks towards talking about learning to learn, skills and thinking as opposed to content, achievement standards and credits. I felt  our learners understood enough what I was attempting to communicate. I know this because of the positive response i have received and continue to see from our Lytton learners and fellow staff. But until this morning I believe I hadn't accurately captured the ability articulate the connection between the what, the how and the why. 

Simon Sinek's ted talk about the golden circle has helped me to better understand the dynamics not just between the what and the why but also helped me to connect the apparent disconnect between the two halves or our New Zealand Curriculum document.

This Golden circle concept of action/ engagement is an insight that I want to share with others around me to nurture leadership as it has been with me. 

First and foremost I thought of my learners. We are currently developing sustainability projects based on the design thinking process. As an essential part of this process we use our empathy though connecting with our friends, whanau, and community members about what environmental issues are having an impact on our community? This is then followed by the ever important why do you feel this is? or why do you feel it is important? questions for the deeper sharing.  I liked how Simon explained the what zone in our brain. To me i saw a link to this and learning at a superficial level while the why results in action/behaviour... and no wonder why we at times struggle with articulating why they do what they do!! haha... 

As I learned about the golden circle I knew our learners would immediate see the value in this knowledge. In learning about our learners both in LHS and TKAS, I know many want to understand more about the why instead of the what. Perhaps is is a universal need for all learners. This is an example of the type of knowledge that is in my opinion transformative... perhaps even threshold concept quality of knowledge. This has been a profound insight for me.

I've also seen a link between the the Golden circle concept and our use of the NZC.

There are teachers that see the document from the what zone first (in my opinion these are the teachers that open the NZC from the back..) and those who see the document from the why. I'll het back to this... I see how our NZC needs to be understood better by all of us involved in education. I feel that i am now better equipped as an educator and leader to connect with those around me in an authentic, genuine way and that's awesome... 

Following this video I watched a spoken word poem by Prince Ea. Im adding this to the blog as an opportunity to explore the golden circle concept to the labels we place on people in our society.

Ive learned that many of our learners admire the messages this poet shares therefore well worth using for developing discussions in learning and very relevant to the why on why.

To block or not ...

A practice I have witnessed in our kura is the practice of removing either accessibility to devices or accessibility to sites that are seen as a potential distraction from learning.

This in my opinion is a practice not founded on the value of nurturing the capacities of all learners to think and act with developing independence. Here’s why...

Digital technology (DT) in a relatively short period of time has deeply embedded itself into daily life for most of society. Society has crossed a threshold in relation to DT and once crossed there is no turning back as such. What this means is that modern day life and society is now highly digitalised and its dependence on DT will continue to grow. The digital world is quickly becoming as relevant to lives as the physical world historically has been. For our learners to gain valued skills they must learn to manage tasks within this digital environment.

The New Zealand curriculum key competencies are an identified set of skills and capabilities that promote the development of individuals that are confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners.  

Clearly these potential distractions will continue within our digitalised future society. The practice of blocking these distractions is not going to best support our learners to become self-managing, confident citizens. We are effectively undermining valuable learning opportunities for our learners by creating disconnected learning environments for the sake of student efficiency.

Secondly removing accessibility to digital devices as a punitive (band aid) approach that isn’t addressing the cause of the problem. Questions need to be asked of all members of the learning community.

·      Why is this a distraction to their learning?

·      How can we tap into this already established engagement tpo benefit their learning?

Removing accessibility to devices or sites without consideration of these questions effectively undermines the importance relevance, connectivity and shared information is for learning in 21st century. It is comparative to removing the learner from a stimulating classroom because they aren’t paying a full attention to the teacher.

How do we address the issues? Promote improved time management skills through a series of closely monitored goal setting and reflective practices. Teaching must include not just subject oriented content but a mix of explicit teaching and modelling of key competencies  that promote self management, relating to others and thinking.

At TKAS our team has constructed a poutama for leadership that includes how our Ss manage their time and devices. This poutama emphasises how our learners all demonstrate the attributes we value at times however the consistency of these values being demonstrated is the difference between the status of Guided learner and Self directed Leader.

Our Ss are placed into the levels according to conferences we have which include student self evaluation and teacher discussions. These status are updated every few weeks and students are moved along the poutama based on the criteria being met. Therefore learners are encouraged to actively manage their learning and as a result gain a status of leadership that is recognised as valued by our learning community and whanau.

This is an often messy process and needs to be monitored effectively for its relevance towards learning to be maintained but after a few terms in use it appears to be making a positive difference towards the development of Ss that are confident, connected, actively involves lifelong learners.

Note:

The primary professional obligation of registered teachers is to those they teach. Teachers nurture the capacities of all learners to think and act with developing independence, and strive to encourage an informed appreciation of the fundamental values of a democratic society. Code of ethics for registered teachers.

Social Media in teaching and professional development

The use ofd social media has been an uplifting and supportive network for me professionally for over a year. I have experienced a range of discussions through this forum that always leaves me energised and inspired to challenge my own practices and thinking. Based on these experiences, social media has become embedded into my practices as a key tool for my ongoing professional development. My intention for this blog is to elaborate on how social helps me to become the best teacher I can be. In Aotearoa (New Zealand), teachers are required to practice and evidence a set of teaching criteria over a set period of time. These criteria are called practicing teacher criteria or PTC’s.

In my opinion social media supports teachers in meeting our PTC’s through many varying ways. For the sake of brevity I will only focus on two.

The attributes I see as being linked to social media are Connectivity and Collaboration. I have used a Facebook page for sharing professional readings between TKAS staff over the last year. The purpose of this page was for staff to have a forum for reading, sharing and storing researched articles relating to education, to connect with each other online in a professional capacity and to generate a pool of resources that could be used for learning in our MYSY community. The most rewarding moments occurred while team teaching when we were able to refer back to these readings and potential applications within our day to day practices. What I have learnt is that through sharing our professional readings we as a team keep focused on a shared vision.

• PTC# 1. Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga 
•  PTC#4. Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of personal professional practice 

 Over the last 12 months Twitter has become a key tool for my own professional development. What I have experienced through Twitter (#edchatnz in particular,) is continued exposure to a wide range of current practices and professional opinions. These aspects have helped me to keep track of relevant discussions regarding current practices and professional readings. The discussions that occurred here were less directly related towards specific day to day practices (which facebook was helping with,) but instead more towards modern pedagogical concepts and general applications. In a way I feel that Twitter is providing me with a sounding board for my own growth that I would otherwise not have. 

• PTC# 1. Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga 
•  PTC# 5. show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning 
• PTC#12. use critical inquiry and problem-solving effectively in their professional practice 

What has become apparent is while I’ve have used both these forms of social media in similar ways there are some key differences in the audience. Through Twitter I was able to connect with colleagues that were from a wider audience. While on Facebook the connection was mainly focused on staff/colleagues. In both instances I feel that critical thinking of my own practices and researched informed practices have increased because of the connections and collaboration achieved through social media.

Raising Teacher Collaboration both within and beyond our school walls.

Along with its well researched benefits for students collaboration is promoted as a key tool for effective Professional Development in NZ education. There are increasingly new ways to develop effective professional collaboration. Two methods that have grown in popularity over the last 24 months are in my opinion are #edchatnz and Educamps. Firstly for over a year I have been participating in professional discussions through #edchatnz on twitter. My perspective on this is that professional teams need at least one person to be connecting with professional forums from beyond their own learning community to keep updating and refining their practices and ideas. What I have experienced through #edchatnz is precisely that, continued exposure to a wide range of current practices and opinions. These aspects have helped me to keep track of relevant discussions regarding current practices and professional readings. Secondly I’ve attended 2 educamps. My first was #educampalmy in which i attended in person and the second #educampwelly, I watched through streaming. In both instances I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I experienced in #educampalmy was passionate discussions about modern practices, connections made through social media being re-inforced through kanohi kei te kanohi, sharing of ideas and co-constructions of new strategies. Educamp Welly was a more limited version yet still worth the time joining in through stream. While streaming is not really comparable to being at an educamp in person, streaming allowed me to contimue connecting with like minded teachers and leaders in real time from a distance. Upon reflection I feel these methods for promoting collaboration have been remarkably effective in developing a sense of professional camardery and ongoing inspiration. However I see this practice as potentially resulting in a satisfying sense of collaboration with colleagues from afar, which has clear benefits, but this distance can limit the opportunities for growth that can be gained through collaboration. What can I do better to raise the effectiveness of the collaboration currently used within our immediate learning community? What I would like to do is focus upon one teacher in our learning community and encourage them to join me on any of the social media based forums I plan on using this year. Recently I read a blog by Rose Maceachern about critical friendships (this blog was recommended to me by an #edchatnz tweeter). I see this professional practice as a real opportunity to develop in a more personal and professional way. Developing a partnership based on common goals and values is exciting and scary. As stated in the blog, the ultimate aim is to develop these critical friendships both within and beyond the school we are working in. I see this as a relevant goal for our own learning community. Promoting practices that are based on mutual respect,trust, critical thinking and partnership is a powerful and growth enhancing practice that will ensure that we develop effective collaboration both within and beyond our learning community.

One word for 2016

Connections: I am more than what you see...I am who I help and who I ask help from, I am what I create and what I destroy, I am who I love..

This year I am challenging myself to move out of my comfort zone again. I am focusing on making connections throughout both my professional and personal life aiming for that seemingly illusive state of lifestyle balance. The links with food is my commitment towards my foodie passion. I feel that my passion for food is only expressed when we have special occasions and for me that's not enough. I feel like thats not allowing me enough opportunities to master the skills. I'm committing myself to developing skills in charcuterie, pickling & preserving. I am passionate and somewhat skilled in cooking on an open fire. This is very likely to be included into learning programs at some stage this year. I'm calling this Kaiology. The study of Kai (Māori for food). The ecology/sustainability references relate to my passion for nature and the layers of connections that establish complex and yet balanced/harmonious systems. So much disharmony has caused a disregard to this balance. How does this relate to teaching? For me its about Ako. Ako (reciprocity) is about recognising the valuable learning opportunities that exist when we interact with others. The truth is the learners make me the teacher I am and my learning practices make those around me my teachers (whether they are aware of this or not) E-learning represents the new opportunities that have developed in this amazing age we live in. I am passionate about education and the potential we can achieve through the effective utilisation of technology to enhance our local and global connections. This is something that excites me and drives me to explore new ideas and critically reflect on common conventions. Finally and perhaps most importantly I am challenging myself to make new connections with my learners whanau (family) beyond what I have achieved so far. This is scary and exciting.. I need to not listen to my self doubts and lack of confidence and make the move..Thankfully we have a focused and likeminded team of teachers who feel the same as me. In his research paper Macfarlane, (2015) writes about how student success = whanau success. This is an amazing connection for me. For some illogical reason I was limiting the opportunities for learning by not fully utilising the value our surrounding whanau hold. This year we are inviting our learners whanau to create a list of contexts we can draw from for our learners inquiries. I feel confident enough in our practices to deliver an integrated curriculum within a set of contexts that are determined through co-construction with whanau and students. I don't really know what to expect but I am hoping an increase in these connections will be beneficial for our learning community..I am genuinely looking forward to making these connections. References. Macfarlane, A. H., & Macfarlane, A. (2015). Ngā tapuwae o mua mō muri : Footprints of the past to motivate today ’ s diverse learners, 20 (2), 27–38.

One word Goal

At the beginning of this year we were asked to identify one word that we will use for inspiration. I had just recently watched Sir Ken Robinsons ted talk titled "How to escape educations death valley." We were given a range of materials to create an artefact based on our one word. This was the presentation I gave at a staff presentation.