The Glut of Overwhelming

A while ago I posted the picture (l) on Facebook with the comment “‪My bedside

reading library is growing. Need to get to it.” The photo (r) could be added too

with a similar comment, how ever I have read some of these.

The amount of information and therefore knowledge that is out there is over-

whelming. There are many more books I would like to add to my library but if I
can’t get around to reading them what is the purpose. Show? To be honest I
usually fall asleep 15 minutes after sitting down with a book. Much the same
can be said to the number of articles I have bookmarked/tagged  from social
media. These however also fall prey to different problems. Graze or skim reading,
Skim Reading is the New Normal or the butterfly defect. Education is Not a
Question of Belief. This post is guilty of these (probably most of mine are).
These two mentioned articles could be cause for their own posts.

The question I ask myself “If or when I get around to doing all this reading am I
able to comprehend and absorb therefore learn from all that lays before me?”
Or feel “I have forgotten ½ of what I’ve learned.” Some would say if I actually
learned it I won’t have forgotten it. Maybe there is truth to that. There is a line
of conversation these day in Education, “what is education and Learning?” Are
students learning or just memorizing what they are being taught?

The amount of information out there creates another problem for me. I keep
looking for more and then become frustrated with my failure to accomplish
the initial task of reading the information let alone learning. A true benefit of
learning is sharing that knowledge. If nothing else through my posts if I am
unable to share my knowledge, at least I am showing my path of learning.
(Ironic that is the name of my Blog)

Maybe I need to follow some of this advice, How To Stop Wasting Your Life,
and tackle that Glut. As I write this I sit in front of the TV, unfortunately it is on.
As I now publish, it is off.

Thoughts To The Future

I wish I could connect my laptop to my brain as I lie in bed. As soon as I go to write down my thoughts off they go and seldom return resulting in a less vibrant post then envisioned.

We have been having a lot of conversations within AMDSB & beyond about learning, student voice and what schools should look like. This has been facilitated by Will Richardson. He does disturb but if people are open about their thinking wonderful things can happen. Will Richardson is one of many people I consider part of my PLC on twitter and social media.

Getting back to learning, student voice and what school should look like, we need to define learning, teaching and education. What is the difference? Is our education system teaching the students or are they learning. 10 Principles for Schools of Modern Learning

Are schools and education stagnant? How can that be with everything changing all around? Information is all around us and at our fingertips. Well, education is stuck in the past and any change is frowned upon because that is not the way it was done and we are uncomfortable with change. Most of us only remember what we didn’t like about certain classes but do you now embrace the change that could have changed that experience. This is why education change, reform or whatever you want to call it takes so long, usually 20-30 years, or one or two generations of students. It takes the students who were the beginning of the change to become parents or teachers to champion the change.

Student engagement in their learning continually declines throughout time in schools. Only about 30% of secondary students are engaged in their learning. Why is this? There are too many reasons to list. Ask students what they want that would make them engaged and teachers what they need to make their students engaged and many are the same. So as a system we need to start putting conditions is place to allow these changes. The ideas may come from the roots but the change conditions need to be implemented from the top to allow the roots to grow. This article is an interesting read, Making Lessons Fun Does Not Help Children Learn

Look at the discussion around math skills and knowledge these days. Unfortunate too many people have become polarized in their belief with no adaptation to blended delivery. Is rote learning for memorization for speed of recall? Is problem solving absent of formulation? How does a teachers knowledgeable of math play out against their knowledge of how to teach math? The questions go on and on. This statement came across the day “Early math skills are a strong predictor - even more so than reading skills - of later academic achievement and success in the labour market. ( Anne Stokke)". Valid or not?

What needs to be taught, what should be taught in schools? Maybe we can all agree on subject areas but what within those subjects. Curriculum documents are complicated. What is the purpose of that subject and the strands within it? One frequently sees the questions about where are cursive writing and life skills in the curriculum? How or where does cross/integrated subject teaching come into play?

I could make this post long or have gone deeper into the conversation but I will leave it here for now.

This is not a research paper or thesis,  just my thoughts as I grow. Learning doesn’t end with the answer but the grows with the next question.

'IT' Has Begun

The writing of this post is overdue but recent events have persuaded me to write it. 

During the recent Provincial Election Campaign it was stressed that although individual Trustees may have political affiliation, the Ontario Public School Board Association (OPSBA) does not. OPSBA advocates for Public Education no matter what political party is in power or forms the Government. This advocacy may take different directions depending on the Government.  In some cases we will be or are heading in the same direction but by different pathways.

Here are the Political Parties' Educational Platforms for the recent elections. Education Platform & 2018 Provincial Election

Previous Governments have done good and bad things for Education on various fronts. The vague PC platform coming into the Election made some cautious. That cautiousness is becoming reality. Globe & Mail  newspaper article.

Those of us in the Education System can only wait and see what unfolds. Do we need to brace ourselves? Advocacy will continue at the Board and Provincial level.

Trustee Reflection 18-02-13

 A common thread in education lingo these day. “In Learning it is not what question you answered today but what question did you ask.” 

The most important thing we as Trustees do, our Strategic Plan. AMDSB’s:

We will

Create Positive, Inclusive Learning Environments

And 

Maximize Outcomes for Students

By

Engaging our students, staff, families, communities and our world 

Inspiring with evidence-informed teaching and learning

Innovating through the creative potential of emerging technologies

Guided by Principles of

Equity, Character & Stewardship

The strategic plan sets the direction. On the surface and on the ground what does that look like for/to us as trustees? 

Do we as trustees reflect upon the plan to see where every decision we make fits into it? “We are doing for the students” is not enough. The alignment of the BIPSAW to the Plan allows us to see the many areas that an administrative decision can impact. Do we reflect back, Review, follow up to see how those decisions are materializing? Are they having the goals/results we anticipated? Then there is the SIPSAW. The grassroots on the ground version of the plan.  And then we can’t forget the Ministry’s plans (documents) Growing Success and Achieving Excellence. Within all these plans are various priorities, themes, visions, initiatives, strategies, goals, indicators, etc, etc.

Here is an excerpt from the book Fighting for Change in Your School by Harvey Alvy. (P. 2)

“Tyack and Cuban (1995) define reforms as ‘planned efforts to change schools in order to correct perceived social and educational problems’ (p.4) At the same time, they insist that change ‘is not synonymous with progress. Sometimes preserving good practices in face of challenges is a major achievement, and sometimes teachers have been wise to resist reforms that violated their professional judgement.’ (p.5) Sirotnik (1999) maintains that most reforms are ‘about whatever is politically fashionable, pendulum-like in popularity , and usually underfunded, lacking professional development, and short lived’ (p.607-608) , noting that too many reformers focus on ‘mandates and accountability schemes’ while overlooking context, commitment, and the resources necessary to implement change. Sirotnik contrasts reform with renewal, stressing that reforms have a beginning and an end (e.g. teaching leads to students’ scores) whereas ‘renewal is not about a point in time; it is about all, points in time-it is about continuous, critical inquiry into current practices and principled innovation that might improve education ‘ (p.608)”

I ask these questions. Can any of these plans exist without the others? What would alignment, integration and implementation look like if one or if two or if even three plans were removed? Which plan has the most impact on student learning? What is the relevancy of these plans? Where does accountability lie and by whom to whom?

Engage Inspire Innovate .... Always Learning. Are they more than just words? 

I have asked my questions now I need to answer them.