Archive for change

Teacher Leadership in Practice

04/02/2012 acts, cfe, change, learning communities, MEd, speaking No comments

This is the presentation that myself and two colleagues from my school shared today at a workshop at the ACTS Winter Conference on Teacher Leadership.

We shared our own collaborative enquiry as a case study to consider the process of collaborative enquiry in general. We then held a short discussion around the process of collaborative enquiry. Some of the outcomes from this discussion were…

  • There’s a reliance on staff in your school being open to this approach and willing to become involved. In our case, it helped that the intervention was an aspect of a whole-school policy which meant that as teachers were to be implementing this change anyway it was possible to present this enquiry as an opportunity for support.
  • Time is an issue, as always. Even with the explicit and full permission of our school, all of the meetings were twilight and most of the observations and interviews were carried out in participants’ own time. The lack of time in our case resulted in a decrease in a collaborative approach. For example, some of the approaches to evidence gathering were designed by myself and not by the group as a whole. The enquiry could always be better with more time, but what can be done in the time available is surely better than not doing anything.
  • Continuity and commitment from staff is key to the success of this sort of approach. It requires a lot on behalf of the members of the group, but hopefully the outcomes for staff make this worthwhile. These outcomes include improved relationships between staff across the school

Why we’re trying twitter

04/02/2012 active learning, cfe, change, science 3 comments

I mentioned on #PedagooFriday…

Been experimenting with the use of twitter in the classroom this week! #PedagooFriday #plbio
03/02/2012 7:50 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@fkelly
Fearghal Kelly

Some folk were asking for a blog post on this, so I thought I’d try my first ever screencast!

The very helpful post I mentioned is here.

“Good Practice”

31/01/2012 change, reflection 2 comments

I’m not sure about “good practice”. I haven’t been for sometime now. I used to think sharing good practice was a great idea, but I’ve slowly gone off it. I think this is partly because it rarely had much of an effect on me. In fact, if it had any effect at all it tended to be a negative one…i.e. something along the lines of “I’d never be able to do that”, or even worse “who do they think they are?” Of course, I would never say any of this out loud. I would nod and smile like everyone else and then get back to my own mediocre practice!

This perhaps isn’t surprising. Watching someone else’s practice will do little to change your own as you’re only witnessing the end product. You’re not seeing their context and the many ups & downs and small changes they made along the way in order to get to where they are now. Take the Australian Open Final this Sunday for example. I watched some extremely good tennis practice there…but I doubt I’m any better a tennis player as a result. In order to learn from them I would need to spend time with them and get to know how they got to where they’ve got to and begin at the beginning myself. Much of this relates to the excellent book I’m reading at the minute, Bounce [thanks to @dukkhaboy for the recommendation].

Syed points out that it’s the power of practice which makes people good at what they do. So, tell me about your practice. Tell me about how you ended up where you are. Tell me about the context, educational values and literature which have influenced your approach. Tell me about when it all went wrong and what you did about it. All of this will help me to relate your practice to my own and might just get me thinking, “do you know what, I think they’ve got something there…I’ll give that a try myself.”

Or in other words I suppose, start a blog!

Image by bourgol

Making Learning Real

10/01/2012 cfe, change, science 2 comments

I’m quite inspired by Ewan’s idea of a problem finder curriculum, but I’m not entirely sure how to get there to be honest…however it has encouraged me to persevere with trying to give my pupils’ greater ownership over their own learning, and making their learning more real.

I know it’s nowhere near the idea that Ewan’s proposing, but I have made a couple of recent attempts to use the web to make learning a little more real in my classroom. The first was with an Intermediate 1 Biology class who were about to learn about body temperature. As a parent, I felt that the learning might seem more relevant if the pupils were to produce a website on body temperature for new parents – something I remember being quite anxious about first time round. I knew I’d use Google Sites for the actual creation of the sites, but I didn’t feel that the pupils would buy into this completely with the horrific URLs which Google Sites uses. So I bought a domain name to try and help with this…mybabystemperature.info

You can view their sites by following the link above. The pupils really engaged with the task, many of them taking the responsibility of producing a real website with an actual audience quite seriously.

I’ve since followed this idea up with something similar, but this time the site can be used with a wider range of classes: biologyrevision.info

As you’ll see, I’ve already begun to use this with Standard Grade classes as well as Intermediate 1. Once again, the pupils seemed to really enjoy producing something which is “real” and has an actual audience. And the beauty of Google Sites is that they can collaborate and review in private and only publish once they’re happy with it.

I’m looking forward to finding better and ever more challenging ways of opening up learning in my classroom…

The uncomfortable truth about Curriculum for Excellence

05/01/2012 cfe, change, Featured, reflection, secondment 8 comments

The problems facing Curriculum for Excellence have finally been identified. Carole Ford demonstrated them clearly in her recent article in the TESS.

If you know me your jaw may well now be on the floor. What? Fearghal agrees with Carole Ford’s piece!?! No, rest assured, I haven’t done a U-turn. No, I don’t agree with her points at all, but I think she unintentionally demonstrated why CfE is struggling to gain traction in so many parts of the country. Obviously there are many issues such as support, time, funding etc.; but perhaps the greatest barrier is the support for school leaders in understanding the change, which then impacts on their ability to lead the changes in their schools.

There are many points in her piece which I disagree with, but I’ll pick out a small sample to illustrate my point. In reference to literacy and numeracy she says:

pupils who fail to develop appropriate levels of literacy and numeracy skill in primary school rarely make good this deficit later in the educational process. The CfE solution to this is not, as one might expect, to focus attention on the primary years of schooling but to place responsibility for both onto secondary teachers. Thus we have physics teachers teaching literacy and French teachers teaching numeracy

I find this statement to be shockingly inaccurate for two reasons. Firstly, CfE is continuing to place a strong focus on literacy, numeracy (& health and well being) in the primary stages as well as secondary. And secondly, secondary teachers should not be ‘teaching literacy’ in place of their subject specialisms – but rather using their subject areas as contexts to develop these skills where appropriate. Throughout the broad general education the intention is to improve young people’s literacy and numeracy levels – this is not the sole domain of primary teachers, as any secondary teacher will tell you (bemoan)! Whilst there may well be a number of secondary schools around the country which are requiring their staff to be ‘teaching numeracy’ in place of their subject area, I would argue that this is not the fault of CfE, but of the school leaders who have misinterpreted the documentation.

She goes onto use a similar argument regarding interdisciplinary learning:

interdisciplinary learning, advocated by CfE, is a whole bone of contention in its own right. Why is taking a teacher out of his comfort zone a good thing? Do you wish to be treated by a doctor who is operating out of his comfort zone? The logic of interdisciplinary learning is that I will make better progress in German if the teacher is not fluent in German but pretty good at French or Spanish. In the language of Homer Simpson, “D’oh!”

It’s surprising that an article which criticises the lack of evidence presented to support CfE only itself contains a quote by Homer Simpson, but anyway, interdisciplinary learning. I personally don’t believe that interdisciplinary learning is the holy grail one might think it is if you listen to certain people, but I still think the quotation above misses the point. Interdisciplinary learning is not supposed to be about French teachers teaching German. It’s supposed to be about providing young people with opportunities to see their learning in a more joined up way and be beginning to make connections between the artificial barriers we’ve created between the subjects. This is a skill which I always say marks out the top candidates in Biology, and it is one which is becoming increasingly relevant in today’s world.

Once again, there may well be many teachers out there having to teach a subject outside their comfort zone under the banner of interdisciplinary learning and CfE, but I think Carole Ford is inadvertently highlighting an issue with her colleagues – not Curriculum for Excellence. Don’t get me wrong, I think there are many barriers facing the implementation of CfE, but not all of them lie with the policy documents or the national agencies – as demonstrated by this article.

#LearnMeet

22/10/2011 cfe, change 2 comments

Following my post this morning, I got an interesting reply on twitter from Don Ledingham;

@ We are thinking about setting up an event for staff to develop such a framework for EL Any ideas how we can give teachers ownership?
22/10/2011 8:18 am via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite
@donjled
Don Ledingham

I was, of course, very intrigued and replied as follows;

@ Wow. A cracking question can I give it some thought? We should also ask how we can give learners ownership too? Event for them 1st?
22/10/2011 8:20 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@fkelly
Fearghal Kelly

This has since snowballed on twitter and has now evolved into #LearnMeet, which is beginning to look something like this;

My Idea for 1st #LearnMeet is a central Edinburgh venue, for senior pupils (S6) to give their ideas and opinions. Held after school hours.
22/10/2011 6:17 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@rjnicolson
Ruairidh Nicolson

I’m struggling to say what I think on all this, especially in 140 characters – so I thought I’d try a wee blog post instead…I’d like to start by saying I have nothing against the suggested format for a LearnMeet proposed above by Ruairidh - it could be great and I’d be encouraging our Seniors along. However, I think this is disjointed from the original discussion.

I really like Don’s idea, and I think it’s important that pupils and parents have opportunities to input into this framework…but this needs to be done as part of the system. Schools and Local Authorities need to continue to increase the opportunities for a wider range of stakeholders to formally input into the direction of learning and teaching in schools – but this needs to be taken seriously and carried out properly. If the students and parents consulted are to feel as though their opinion really matters, they need to be giving it in an appropriate context…which can of course be augmented by social media, but not entirely reliant on it. And if those who will be developing the framework are to take this input seriously, they need to be confident in the mechanism by which it was acquired…i.e. not in a fringe, twilight event with a small selection of our learners.

I think I would frame this process as updating East Lothian’s Teaching & Learning Policy, which as far as I know hasn’t been touched since 2007. I would certainly be wanting to involve as many pupils, parents and staff as possible in the process through a combination of physical face-to-face groups and online engagement with a clear outcome/framework produced as a result…

A framework for learning & teaching

22/10/2011 cfe, change, Featured, learning cycle, reflection 2 comments

The current trend of giving a document a title which doesn’t match its contents is not new. Building the Curriculum 3 is guilty of this too, a ‘framework for learning and teaching’ it is not. As far back as April 2009, I’ve shared on this blog how I used my interpretation of this document to try to develop a pedagogy which would meet its aims and principles. Arriving at this interpretation was not easy, and I’m sure others have arrived at different ones. The subsequent implementation of this interpretation has not been straightforward either. It’s quite difficult to develop and change something as complex as your approaches to learning and teaching in relative isolation. All of which leaves me with little surprise that many practicing teachers across Scotland are still at a bit of a loss as to what Curriculum for Excellence is supposed to mean for them and their learners beyond the content in the Experiences and Outcomes and the infamous changes in approach to assessment.

It is for this reason that I think the introduction of the learning cycle model and learn2learn at my school is being so positively received. This actual framework for learning and teaching is filling the vacuum left by the Curriculum for Excellence documents by providing teachers with something concrete to build learning experiences around. The implementation of the model is also being supported by those who’ve helped develop it – and crucially – use it day in day out. I’ve already begun to demonstrate how this approach relates to the literature and my experience of using it so far suggests that it has a positive impact on learning (in its broadest sense). I’m also finding that this model is in no way restrictive and actually provides vast potential for development of practice – but in a focused way.

I think all of this provides us with lessons on how to move forward. It’s not, as some would argue, that all secondary teachers are resistant to change. It’s that they need clear guidance and support to make change. In an ideal world we’d all be able to develop our own practice collaboratively based on literature and evidence, within very broad guidance – but this is just simply not realistic. Can Scotland now learn from past mistakes and develop the guidance which will actually impact on classroom practice and the crucial support to make it happen? I hope so, but I have my doubts.

Do the project first!

30/09/2011 active learning, cfe, change, science 2 comments

In June of this year I was lucky enough to attend the Cramlington Learning Festival, something I’ve already mentioned on here.

One of the sessions I attended was led by the inspiring Darren Mead, who shared his Project Based Learning mantra with us: “Do the project first”. In other words, if you’re going to set a project for students to complete then we as teachers should be trying it first and showing this to the students at the outset. Darren showed us one he’d done. Whilst it was impressive that he’d gone and spent all that time making his project, one of the things that really surprised me at the time was that it wasn’t perfect – at one point his young son was doing the camera work! On reflection, I think this is fantastic. It would be potentially devasting to show the students unobtainable perfection and then ask them to try to do their own projects…

As we’re redesigning our S2 courses currently, we’ve been trying to diversify the opportunities for learning and assessment – and using these to help engage the students in the topic. For example, in our new Genetics & Reproduction topic we’re planning to ask our students to produce a documentary aimed at couples who are planning to try for a baby at the end of the topic. We’re going to share this task with them at the start of the topic, but use this to structure the actual lessons:

The six questions in the list slide provide the titles of each of the lessons in the topic. But, since Darren’s session I’d been thinking…should we be trying this first? Should we have a go at producing the documentary and ask the pupils to assess it before we start the topic…so a colleague and I went for it – remember, it’s a long way from perfection – but deliberately so…

We’ll let you know how it goes…

Educational Values

22/08/2011 cfe, change, MEd, reflection No comments

I wrote recently about the strange feelings I went through when changing practice in a way that shouldn’t have been strange at all, and I’m still mulling this one over. I’m beginning to come to the conclusion that it is all to do with our educational values as teachers and the status quo bias.

I’ve just started reading a book that has been sat on my bookshelf for ages – Nudge. In it the authors introduced me to the concept of ‘status quo bias‘:

The status quo bias is a cognitive bias for the status quo; in other words, people tend not to change an established behavior unless the incentive to change is compelling.

That is certainly something I recognise in my own practice, and I’m sure I’m not alone. So, what gives us this compelling incentive to change? This can obviously be many things…to save us time?…financial?…better results…?…better behaviour? But even then, sometimes these rewards simply aren’t enough to change our deeply ingrained practice as teachers. Which is where our educational values and beliefs step in. We will only make these perceived big leaps if we have a clear understanding of our educational values and a desire to bring our practice in line with these. You’ll see therefore why I like the following quote so much from James & McCormick (2009):

The tensions and dilemmas that teachers face and their struggles to bring their practice in line with their educational values, whilst coping with pressures from outside, were a strong feature of their learning in the classroom. Some appeared content with ‘going through the motions’ of trying out new practices but a small proportion (about 20%) ‘took them to heart’ and, with a strong sense of their own agency, tested and developed these ideas in their own classrooms in creative ways. The challenge for us was to find out what kinds of support within and beyond schools would allow the twenty per cent to grow to nearer one hundred per cent.

This, in many ways, is what my first module of the Chartered Teacher programme was all about way back in the first half of 2008…and I’m only really getting it properly now. This is why we need to stop rushing around looking for new ideas which we’ll never really embed properly, but take the time to examine our educational values and then develop our practice accordingly. Although it can feel like a waste of time in our ever busier lives, it’s crucial.

It’s the only thing that actually really works.

A short history of Curriculum for Excellence

13/08/2011 assessment, cfe, change 2 comments

With Curriculum for Excellence moving into its second year of “full implementation” and the new National Qualifications looming ever closer, I thought it might be useful to look back and reflect at how we got here.

Curriculum for Excellence, of course, has its roots in the Scottish National Debate on Education in 2002. This was lauded at the time for managing to tackle the many challenging issues outstanding in the Scottish Education system by bringing on board a large number and wide range of stakeholder groups. But what instigated such a debate? Ultimately, this had been brewing for some time. The teaching profession had been growing increasingly restless with the pace of change in education in the late 1990s. Large numbers of teachers were increasingly engaging with educational literature and trying out new practices in their classrooms. Too often they were finding that they came up against the barriers imposed by an outdated curriculum and model of assessment. This growing realisation that the system was no longer best meeting the needs of the young people in their classes and their unpredictable futures, was being increasingly expressed by teachers in public.

This growing disquiet coincided with devolution and the teachers’ professional body, the GTCS, took advantage of this timing to press the newly devolved administration to look at this issue. There soon followed the debate which provided a clear mandate for change. The GTCS proceeded by commissioning a Curriculum Review Group to make recommendations for change. This group again represented a large number of stakeholders, but of course had strong representation from practicing teachers. The review group consulted extensively on the precise nature of the changes required to ensure a curriculum and assessment structure which would allow teachers to work with young people in their classes to develop the capacities they’ll need in the 21st Century.

The GTCS commended the review group’s report to the Education Minister of the time who accepted it’s recommendations in full and enjoyed considerable cross-party support. In addition to outlining the changes required, the review group had also made recommendations as to how these might be achieved. An evidence based approach to the reforms was suggested and accepted and the GTCS applied and received funding from research councils as well as the Scottish Executive to take this forward. The GTCS commissioned hundreds of teachers to work in partnership with a specially formed group of Scottish Educational researchers from four Universities. These teacher/researcher groups developed and evaluated practice which was documented and shared with the wider profession. Each project culminated with a research paper, an executive summary and ten minute video. This collaboration not only helped to develop the approaches to teaching and learning in conjunction with the new curriculum, but also provided a deep professional learning resource which was widely received by the profession – and is still developing today.

As a result of all these changes, and the buy-in received from the profession throughout, secondary schools then began to demand changes to the qualifications also. It quickly became apparent that if the SQA didn’t make substantial changes to the entire portfolio of qualifications available to schools, that they would begin to look elsewhere. The thought of Scottish pupils being entered for non-SQA qualifications was too much to bear and the SQA of course followed suit and has now commenced a large program of reform to meet the developing needs of the secondary school market.

And here we are today with a teaching profession which is leading the way in improving learning and teaching, a curriculum which is fit for the 21st Century and a qualification model which will be soon ready to meet the needs of Scotland’s young people.

This post is almost entirely fictional.

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