Barossa District Conference 2008

1. Barossa District Conference 2008 Developing Professional Learning Communities Margot Foster State Manager Learning to Learn Curriculum Services DECS

2. Where to today?Why and what of PLCs • moving from traditional approaches to adaptive learning • getting to know PLCs • focussing on what’s important • finding our compelling questions • forming our PLCs

3. Building learning community. . . What is the quality of the experience you wish to have at this conference? How much risk are you prepared to take? What level of engagement will you commit to? How surprised are you prepared to be? How responsible will you be for building community? How prepared are you to contribute to other people’s learning?

4. Classroom Curriculum Coverage Top down – teacher telling Expert led – answer giving Timetable bound Children's/students’ work as product oriented Staff/District Meetings Information Coverage Top down - conveying DECS messages T and D – expert led, answer giving District structures bound Products/packages dissemination oriented Traditional district/staff approaches reflect traditional ‘transmission pedagogy’ Your feedback said you wanted more than this – PLC is a responsive trial – from instructive and imposed approaches to a more constructive and participatory one

5. CLUSTER FEEDBACK – FEBRUARY 2008 Consider a situation when the learning was really meaningful to you. What made it a successful experience? • Preschool Directors • Interest based • Research projects • Hands on • Relevant • Time to explore • Develop relationships • Content motivates • Torrens Valley • Needed major focus for learning • Strategic  served a long term purpose • not directed • Range of modes reading, doing, talking, socialising • You like the people your with. • North Barossa • Small group, discussion, not being talked to • When there’s a need • Meaningful • Challenging • South Barossa • When everyone had a common goal – important • Time • If it’s important you will make time • Relevant, ownership

6. What do you see as potential problems and constraints with Professional Learning Communities? • Torrens Valley • Distance • Large groups – difficulty of common available meeting times • To be given the value needed – so that the meetings are not hijacked by external agendas. • That leaders contribute the time to do it • Getting information back to the whole – how do we share without it becoming competitive? • Not being able to select your own PLC based on interest or site needs. • Preschool Directors • Time for part-time staff • Funds to cover self or relief staff • Time – distance/venue • Changes to district – maybe • South Barossa • Distance • Time • Mutually convenient time • Everyone in the group making it a priority • Sites not in the District next year • How groups are constructed • Identifying a shared focus • North Barossa • Forming groups • Time Leaders’ Day – new learning – don’t want to lose • Clusters falling over • Don’t want to reduce Leaders’ Day – enjoyable – they work

7. What are some possible solutions? • Torrens Valley • Phone linking, Centra (distance) • PLC time given for success • Some sort of accountability • Whole group ownership of the learning • Caring for all preschools, primary, secondary • Preschool Directors • Car pooling • Larger sites contribute funds to cover TRT expenses for part-time sites or come from District Leaders’ fund • Move between sites for meetings • South Barossa • 1 day/term DL for info; the other day for PLC – useful if you want to visit sites • Don’t have to meet in sites • Centra, technology • Plan ahead • Commitment, make it a priority • Needs base might be a better way to form groups • Finding those compelling questions – maybe work we have to do • Groups are dynamic anyway • Lighten workload – link to DIAF? • Work smarter • North Barossa • Using Leaders’ Day time for PLCs? • Leaders’ Day – system, new thinking and cluster/PLCs being built around that • Meaningful to you

8. working as professionalsworking as learnersworking as communities

9. being a professional “Can you imagine doctors allowing the Minister for health telling them how to conduct their professional work?” ‘Professional’ has connotations • professional language • professional research • professional debate, practice, code of conduct • and? Provocative proposition Many pre/school cultures are ‘technical’ rather than professional. Where’s yours?

10. ‘Intelligence’ arises in relationship and the ‘feelings’ of learning are key.Etienne Wenger Communities of Practice

11. being a learner • not knowing stuff – only small part of it \ • Adaptive learning – horse dies get off • Know it deeply – eg felt meaning, being something rather than knowing the words • Knowing the words doesn't mean you know it – you just know the words parroting anf understanding are very different Go into deep learning and pedagogy mid morning

12. Adaptive challenges go beyond our current capacity or current way of operating. So it may be connected to DIAF or not – don’t let that constrain you

13. The Feelings of Learning Learning, of whatever kind, is an adventure. A problem exists for which there is currently no ready-made solution. A challenge is posed for which the requisite skills are not yet established. A plan is disrupted by an unanticipated event. In each case the effect of what one does next is uncertain. Sometimes this uncertainty is purely exhilarating; but sometimes the possibility of incompetence or incomprehension is threatening. The continuing engagement which learning requires may be dangerous. The urge to withdraw and protect yourself becomes stronger. This emotional tolerance constitutes the first ‘R’ of learning: resilience. Recognise that your PLC work should be challenging Professor Guy Claxton

14. Defining a PLC A professional learning community is: • an inclusive group of people, • motivated by a shared learning vision, • who support and work with each other, • finding ways, inside and outside their immediate community, • to enquire on their practice and together learn new and better approaches that will enhance all pupils’ learning.Stoll et al 2006

15. What we know about PLCs • There is no blueprint for an effective network • No one set of arrangements or one particular type of organisation is necessarily better than another but successful PLCs have some common characteristics

16. Successful PLCs • Form around a compelling issue • Focus on student learning • Create new opportunities for adult learning • Plan and manage for success

17. Professional Learning Communitiessource materials for school leaders and other leaders of professional learning Booklet 1 Creating and Sustaining a Professional Learning Community translate it from single site to leader group • Read what you can in 8 minutes • Final Word Protocol - identify the critical sentence/idea • Groups of 6 – share your critical quotes 1 minute each • As a group, identify one of these which has implications for PLCs to feed back Booklet 5Exploring the idea of PLCs – characteristics and processes

18. Adapted from Harpaz 2002

19. Unravelling this ‘identity’ of teaching and schooling is the biggest challenge in school reformbecause everything works to maintain it as the dominant story. The prevailing paradigm sticks. Learning to Learn found that

20. Introducing the Draft SA Teaching for learning framework Learning to Learn Curriculum Services DECS

21. School Reform – An exploratory study of the impact of student centred learning in primary schools (SA)Dr Chris Goldspink University of Surrey UK Research Questions: How do children experience learning differently where a student focused approach is integrated into the school culture and the curriculum adopted is consistent with constructivist assumptions of learning? What are the collective outcomes of such change in terms of student achievement measured according to both traditional academic measures, meta-learning criteria and indexes of student wellbeing? Summary of Findings and Conclusions The school which had undertaken considerable cultural transformation and pedagogical change in a manner consistent with constructivist principles of learning was reflected in the differences students experienced in learning. In particular: • They enjoyed greater choice in what to learn • They enjoyed greater choice in how to learn • The learning was more social • The learning was less class centred • The teachers were more interested • However, students enjoyed slightly less choice about who to work with. These differences contributed to statistically significant: • Higher meta-cognitive/thinking skills • Higher ‘on task’ behaviour associated with greater interest and less boredom. • Higher happiness and satisfaction • Higher social functioning • Higher disposition to learning • Higher observed thinking skills • Overall higher wellbeing • These students also performed more strongly on the test of problem solving/thinking.

22. a mutually informing relationship Teachers’ wisdom of practice Expert referenced

23. Learning to Learn Pedagogy Framework Task Force 2007 Andy Polis Teacher Aberfoyle Hub PS Lynn Hall AEU Marcus Knill AEU Johanna Wills Teacher Alberton PS Leisel Underwood Teacher Alberton PS Teresa White Co-ordinator Aldinga PS Leah Kennewell Principal Ascot Park PS Gail Holland Deputy Principal, Banksia Park IHS Monica Boehme Teacher Callington PS Gill Jenkins Teacher Cranston Street Kindergarten Barbara Reinfeld Learning Inclusion Senior Years DECS Caty Morris Primary Years DECS Jacqueline Stratfold Learning to Learn Jill McDonald Middle Years DECS Jillian Jordan Improvement Co-ordinator DECS Katrina Spencer Quality Improvement, DECS Margot Foster Learning to Learn Penny Cook Birth – Age 8 DECS Robyn Barratt Learning to Learn Senior Years Margaret Creeper Early Years DECS Mandi Dimitriadis Teacher Golden Grove PS Peggy O’Connor Teacher Hackham West PS Jacqui Cain Co-ordinator Hewett PS Tamra Waye Co-ordinator Highgate PS Marion Coady Principal, Mt Barker HS Jim Jackaman Assistant Principal Nuriootpa HS Tina Delchau Principal O’Sullivan Beach PS Nancy Shaw Teacher Paringa Park PS Anne-Marie Shin Principal Pennington JPS Gail Wood Teacher Pimpala PS Sharon Morris Teacher Primary Years David Bentley Teacher Salisbury North West Schools Dr Judy Peters Senior Lecturer UniSA Dr Rosie Le Cornu Senior Lecturer UniSA Wendy Stevens Teacher Woodcroft Heights Preschool

24. We need a pedagogy framework which is not just about kids or the ‘technical’ act of teaching – it has to respond to all of us as learners.

25. Learning for Teaching - Teaching for Learning DRAFT South Australian Teaching for Learning Framework Teacher learning Domains of action Pedagogical elements

26. Learning for Teaching - Teaching for Learning DRAFT South Australian Teaching for Learning Framework Teacher learning Domains of action Pedagogical elements

27. Learning for Teaching - Teaching for Learning DRAFT South Australian Teaching for Learning Framework

28. Messages from‘Everyday Creativity’ • Change your perspective • There’s never one right answer • Reframe- problem as opportunities • Break the pattern • Train your technique • You’ve got to care

29. What we know about PLCs • There is no blueprint for an effective network • No one set of arrangements or one particular type of organisation is necessarily better than another but successful PLCs have some common characteristics

30. Successful PLCs • Form around a compelling issue • Focus on student learning • Create new opportunities for adult learning • Plan and manage for success

31. Compelling Ideas • What are they? • What’s compelling for me? • What would evoke my passion/my deep interest? • What do I have hunches about re student learning that have significance at my site that I’d like to delve into more deeply? • Is there an area of my leadership for learning that I’d like to explore with trusted colleagues? • Cautionary Tales • Quick fix and blame - L2L • Never fall in love with your first idea - Inquiry

32. Finding our compelling ideas • What wakes you up in the middle of the night? • How confident are you in the quality of learning experienced by learners across your site? • What one thing do you believe would make the most difference for your learners at this time? • What one thing do you believe would make the most difference for your staff at the moment? • How do you change cultural norms? How do you deal with resistance? • We’ve come this far as a site, now what?

33. District PLC agreements Expectations of each other • PLCs formed around a compelling idea – need to balance for workability, therefore minimum membership 3 - maximum 6 - all involved including district staff • PLCs meet in terms 2, 3 (minimum of 1 day equivalent) and in term 4 in second half of the term for sharing PLC learning and review • District Meetings – now only once per term in week 8 with short sharing time built in • District Staffsupport– support PLCs through connecting, resources scouting, sounding board Strongly encouraged • Across levels of schooling • Site visits – focus on using colleagues’ eyes to look at core business of teaching and learning • Use multiple learning processes – readings, site visits with data collection, reflection,

34. DAY 2 – Working as a PLC Reflections from yesterday Truth or Lies 2 truths, 1 lie - triads

35. Where to today?Making your PLC work for you and the group • Your inquiry question – getting explicit • Developing protocols for effective learning • Researching processes and resources to proceed • Developing your learning plan • PLC starting points check out

36. The Feelings of Learning Learning, of whatever kind, is an adventure. A problem exists for which there is currently no ready-made solution. A challenge is posed for which the requisite skills are not yet established. A plan is disrupted by an unanticipated event. In each case the effect of what one does next is uncertain. Sometimes this uncertainty is purely exhilarating; but sometimes the possibility of incompetence or incomprehension is threatening. The continuing engagement which learning requires may be dangerous. The urge to withdraw and protect yourself becomes stronger. This emotional tolerance constitutes the first ‘R’ of learning: resilience. Recognise that your PLC work should be challenging Professor Guy Claxton

37. LEFT HAND COLUMN GIZMO Listening to the Left Hand Column • What about my staff/team/site? • Can I work with this group? • Are they prepared to put in enough to really support my learning? • Can I swap groups? • Is this going to work… time, travel, focus? • Do we have anything in common and do we need to have? Keep the questions up front - monitor for comfort Living with uncertainty - what can you leave, what not Doubt – uncertainity – learning

38. Professional Learning Communities source materials for school leaders and other leaders of professional learning Find Booklet 6 Investigating the culture of your Professional Learning Community Taking your PLC focus into your site context Useful questions and activities Pages 4, 5, 6 and 7

39. Developing Protocols The kind of talking needed to educate ourselves cannot arise spontaneously and unaided from just talking. It needs to be carefully planned and scaffolded. bMcDonald et al, 2003 Without a doubt - TRUST is vital….. By having another principal observe my conversation with one of my teachers, I can only hope for improvement on my part, or better yet, on both our parts. Principals need to take an approach that says, "I have nothing to lose", by inviting constructive criticism from a colleague. ….I am hopeful that your networked learning groups prove beneficial. With principals truly working together in this manner, you cannot go wrong. Sean Fitzgerald, Principal - Woodland School, Appleton, Wisconsin USA

40. Collaboration Learning is at the heart of school reform… an important aspect of this learning is that it occurs in collaboration as people work together to make sense of their world. Ershler et al, 2001 What are the essentialelements of collaborationfor you?Left Hand ColumnAppreciative Inquiry Individual Knowledge Shared Knowledge

41. Safety Although not all members of the group felt themselves to be taking risks, those who did felt that they would have found it really helpful to have access to the experience of others who had tried something innovative. Courage to take risks needs to be underpinned by a sense that the risk is worth taking…. Dadds & Hart, 2001 What rules and protocolsneed to be in place to support learning and risktaking for you?eg airtime, contribution Individual Knowledge Shared Knowledge

42. Learning Learning is best when it is participatory, proactive, communal, collaborative, and given over to constructing meanings rather than receiving them. Bruner, 1996 How do you best share and receiveknowledge?eg through conversationby reading, reflection Individual Knowledge Shared Knowledge

43. Individual Knowledge Shared Knowledge Three fields of knowledge Practitioner knowledge - we start from what people know, the knowledge that people bring to the table Publicly available knowledge – the theory and research publicly available to be drawn into learning The knowledge we create together – through collaborative inquiry Jackson 2004

44. Inquiry Reflection is a fundamental necessity, because there are no simple prescriptions concerning what ‘best’ educational practice might be. That is what makes the job both so interesting and challenging. Berlak & Berlak, 1981 What processes will best support your PLC to develop an inquiry stance? Inquiry Individual Knowledge Shared Knowledge

45. Actions Protocols demand an equity of voice, contribution and benefit for learners.Protocols ensure that collaborative learning and reflection is followed by action.NCSL 2005 Network Facilitation: the power of protocols How will you incorporate this learning into you work?What commitments will you make? Individual Knowledge Shared Knowledge Action / Growth

46. Example PLC / Protocols • Invitational • Suspending Judgement • Leaving and learning • Process

47. SYSTEMS INQUIRY GIZMO From compelling idea framing a question • What is it we want to explore and why? • What assumptions sit beneath this issue? Criteria: • Is this a worthwhile question? • Is it relevant to all PLC members? • Am I personally committed to it? • Will it support learners, my site, and my own learning? • Does it have the capacity to impact upon my practice? • Will this stretch me as a leader (does it feel scary)?

48. A possible model for site visits • Agree on focus- what do we want to learn about? • What process will best achieve this? [discussions, study group, observations, shared readings, review processes, mentoring] • Schedule visits – put dates in diaries today • Host to coordinate the day’s program and activities • Do we need any other contact? (emails, phone, coffee) • Develop visit program- a possible model: • Tour site with host, clarify focus and processes • Team undertake observations, meet together to discuss • Team provide feedback and comment. Discussion time with host • Problem posing, group inquiry process or discussion time • Debrief and feedback , plan next contact and visit • Provide pre-reading, data or information for first visit • Provide feedback after the visit to the DD / IC • Start now with copy of focus or questions for district to collate

49. How to be a critical friend… • How could you challenge someone in a stuck or negative position in a positive and proactive manner? • What sentence starters might help? • What concerns you the most? How will you deal with this? • How will we sustain the energy? • How will we maintain contact? • How will we celebrate successes?

50. MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGE GIZMO FOLLOW A STUDENT GIZMO DECS Self Review Tool & Rubrics PHOTO VOICE GIZMO Final Bits Resources and support • District Team • Each other • Websites eg NCSL • Tools Sharing the Journey • End of year expectations • Ideas and tools