Category: Student-centered Learning

Above and Beyond: 3 Things that Teachers Must Do to Get “Good” at the #PYP

Above and Beyond: 3 Things that Teachers Must Do to Get “Good” at the #PYP

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As a PYP Coordinator, I am involved in the recruitment of teachers and their subsequent professional development. I’m always designing and redesigning the “induction” of new teachers into the PYP, reconsidering what it is that teachers need to get “good” at in order to become successful in understanding and delivering our framework.. You see, I think becoming a PYP educator requires you to have basic teaching skills as the basis of your pedagogical prowess on top of other frames of thinking around how students learn best. You have to go above and beyond certain professional requirements in order to be effective in using the PYP framework. 

Being the nerd that I am, I brainstormed a list of key teaching capabilities that I think make up the tool-kit of a PYP practitioner based upon the 2020 Programme standards and practices and this graphic from page 43 of Learning and Teaching:

Just in this graphic alone, there are 20 practices that PYP teachers need to develop competency in. But where do we begin to support the transition of thinking and planning like a PYP teacher?  After reflecting on this list, I think there are 3 main skills that teachers need to get good at in order to become proficient practitioners: 

  1. unpacking standards/curriculum and developing questions to explore, 
  2. creating learning opportunities that foster content knowledge, and 
  3. listening for learning. 

Although each of these areas deserves its own blog post, I will summarize what these foundational competencies mean to me. 

Competency #1: Turn Objectives into Questions

I am starting with this because it is the most pragmatic skill to develop and encapsulates 2 main aspects of our framework: concept-based learning and inquiry. That being said, it isn’t  necessarily easy to wrap your head around this but it is the heart of what we do when we develop students who thirst for understanding the curiosities of our world. 

Whether we are looking at a “boxed” curriculum or examining our content standards, we have to be thinking about the questions that live in them. Writing these questions down and then prioritizing them helps us to create a scope and sequence for the learning. We then use these questions as the basis of our daily or weekly learning objectives.

Let’s look at an example from the Common Core Grade 3 English Language Arts Reading Standards:

Phonics and Word Recognition:

Although I believe there are many ways to develop teacher questions, I always like to model how we can teach using Key Concepts by using them as the basis of brainstorming teacher questions:

Key Concept Key Question Teacher Question
Form What is it like? What is a prefix? What is a suffix?
Function How does it work? How do readers decode multi-syllabic words?
Change How is it transforming? What happens to the meaning of a word when we change the prefix? 
Connection How is it linked to other things? How can identifying the base word help us decipher the meaning of a word?
Causation Why is it as it is? Why does Latin form the basis of our language? 
Perspective What are the points of view? How are English words spelled differently in different English-speaking countries?
Responsibility What are our obligations? What are some ways we can remember irregular spellings of words?

As you can see, this is NOT an exhaustive list of possible questions from those standards, but it helps to start the generative process and cultivates a lot of discussion into what students need to be able to know, understand and do to acheive mastery in this standard (phonics and word analysis). 

Competency #2: Teach Learning rather than Content

One can say that the Approaches to Learning (AtLs) are when we put the Learner Profile in action. So targeting this skill in our teaching craft is a vital component of our PYP practice.

Personally I think philosophically everyone agrees that we have to teach students HOW to learn, but putting the Approaches to Learning into practice feels a bit like roller skating on a dirt road at first. Moreover, this can be a really big shift for some teachers, especially for teachers in the intermediate grade levels who feel committed to covering the content in a discipline. So practitioners have to develop an understanding that the content becomes the context for learning HOW to learn, rather than merely acquiring knowledge.

We can use the example above with the 3rd grade ELA standards, extending this exercise in creating teacher questions with exploring what AtL is the focus/ could be the focus as we learn this. As we begin to ponder the AtLs, it also supports the practice of “split screen thinking”–that a lesson’s objective is a combination of the disciplinary knowledge/skill and development of the attributes of a learner. 

Answering the question, what AtL is the focus/ could be the focus as we learn this? really depends on the goals of the unit of inquiry and what feels authentic during the learning engagements. Determing whether or not to target Social Skills, Thinking skills, Communication Skills, Self-Management Skills or Research Skills is also great fodder for a robust planning meeting. 

Using the previous teacher question chart, here’s what this might look like:

Key Concept Key Question Teacher Question What AtL can be developed?
Form What is it like? What is a prefix? What is a suffix? Communication Skills: Students can define and give examples of prefixes and suffixes. 
Function How does it work? How do readers decode multi-syllabic words? Thinking Skills: Students can use word attack strategies to read and spell words.
Change How is it transforming? What happens to the meaning of a word when we change the prefix?  Thinking Skills: Students can analyze parts of words to understanding the meaning of a word.
Connection How is it linked to other things? How can identifying the base word help us decipher the meaning of a word? Social Skills: Students can work in partnerships to examine words and identify the base word’s meaning. 
Causation Why is it as it is? Why does Latin form the basis of our language?  Research Skills: Students can take notes and share their understanding of Latin’s influence on the English language.
Perspective What are the points of view? How are English words spelled differently in different English speaking countries? Social Skills: Students can work in groups to generate a list of words that are spelled differently.
Responsibility What are our obligations? What are some ways we can remember irregular spellings of words? Self-management skills:

Students can come up with 3 ways that we can remember irregular spellings.

I’d also like to add that is excercise is a great scaffold for developing PYP assessment practices. When we consider which AtLs will be the focus, then it makes creating learning goals and success criteria more straightforward for teachers. 

Competency #3: Listen More than Speak:

They say that you have to learn to walk before you can run. Well, this skill is in this same line of thinking: You can’t develop a penchant for student agency until you can be student-centered in your approach to learning, and you can’t be student-centered unless you value their voice during classroom learning. 

I think developing this practice requires intention and being honest in answering this question after learning engagement:

What do we know about our learners that we didn’t know BEFORE this learning engagement?

Not only does answering this question help us to build our listening muscles, but is an essential component of teacher reflection and how we approach assessment in the PYP. We need to cultivate the skill of listening for learning in order to unearth possible misconceptions and analyze what needs to be the next step in the progression of conceptual understanding. If teachers dominate “air time” then we can’t make informed decisions. In my opinion, this is a precursor skill to documenting learning and helps PYP practitioners create structures to make thinking visible in the classroom. 

In summary, I think if you want to get good at the PYP you have to develop your competencies to Question, Support, and Listen for learning.

I’m curious, if you are a seasoned PYP practitioner, what do think are the first steps and entry points for new-to-PYP or early-career PYP teachers? Share and add to this discussion!

Keeping Optimistic When in the Vice Grip of Crisis

Keeping Optimistic When in the Vice Grip of Crisis

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herding tigers

I’ve heard it said that we either make our decisions based on fear or out of love/passion. Fear is based on avoidance, anxiety, and maintaining current paradigms. Whereas love and passion are based on change,  potential, and new paradigms for a new world. In leadership, we need to balance both. 

Although I cannot speak for ALL schools, as I talk to others in different parts of the world, it feels like schools, especially private schools,  are caught in a vice-grip- the pressures and challenges of our teacher community coming from one direction and those of the parent community squeezing in from another perspective.  For example, communities in Brazil are grappling with re-opening businesses to keep the economy chugging along, but hasten to re-open schools. And there is a good reason for this since our transmission numbers are still high. However, from the parents’ point of view, it seems morally wrong to open bars and clubs while we fail to provide access to schools to educate children. I totally get that and I agree that this pandemic is bringing up misguided values in our societies. But there is this other issue–health and safety which has really hardly been addressed. Humans are highly social creatures so demanding that they remain distant from one another seems unholy for this extended period of time. Why is the best we can do is still to wash our hands and wear a mask? I can understand and appreciate why teachers are apprehensive to come back to face-to-face learning. Teaching isn’t a career with high occupational hazards; it’s not like when you join the military, you can expect to die when doing your duty. Teachers are public servants who haven’t considered these types of risks before, especially since their pay does not reflect the value that they offer society. Because of these competing ideas, it’s hard to find a way forward when all of us need to figure out how to co-exist with COVID and do what’s best for the long-term.

As I reflect on the uncertainty of these times,  schools are confronted often with challenges from a fear-based perspective. Fear of losing student enrollment…..fear of increasing anxiety and depression of community members…. fear of the inadequacy and outdated teaching methodologies…fear of going back to school with Draconian classrooms…..fear of learning loss and conceptual gaps…….fear of ….(fill in the blank)

These are issues that suck the oxygen out of the room. Somewhere, in the midst of this crisis, we have to find some hope and reach for the “blue skies”. 

As a curriculum coordinator, there are so many of these things that I can’t impact. I have no control of, but then again, who in leadership does these days? So I am reminded of this prayer that has been posted on my refrigerator for ages: The Serenity Prayer. This is great advice for times like these: accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

So when I look at those fears, I wonder if I have any power to change these things and if I do, what might be those actions. I think that everyone is working at their full capacity, but I wonder if there are some tweaks worth making in order to address the needs of our community and who might be those people that could be of support. Hmmm…

But what if we move into a more proactive approach? What if we looked beyond this pandemic and start to move into more visionary thinking. This is where I would prefer to spend my energy–in a state of enthusiasm and passion.

Lately, I’ve been enthralled by Dan Heath’s book called Upstream in which the main premise is how to solve problems before they even happen. Some of the most interesting phenomena he details are the concepts and barriers to change:

  • Problem blindness: I don’t see the problem or the problem seems inevitable. 
  • Lack of ownership: That’s not my problem to solve.
  • Tunneling: I can’t deal with that right now.

As I read that, I thought about all the systematic changes that we need to make in education. Equity issues, outdated curriculum, and standardizing the heck out of our students’ souls. But we fight over banal issues like should we teach cursive handwriting? Seriously? THIS is important?

I just have to shake my head when I hear that. 

So many issues are floating to the surface right now that are more worthy of our attention and focus. But maybe we have “problem blindness” or feel powerless with a lack of ownership and tunnel vision. But what if, instead of looking at the standards as our compass for student achievement and commiserating about learning gaps, we looked at those as a reference guide. Instead, what if we could address “heart gaps”, using the Sustainability Development Goals to direct our outcomes? What if solving these issues became the student focus instead of test scores?

Okay, SDGs too political for your school? What about happiness? Surely that is a neutral topic. If you aren’t going to empower learners to change the systems of the world, then why not bring more joy to the planet? I admire the work of Project Happiness Global who’s goal is to impact 10,000,000 lives through developing kindness, mindfulness, and all the other tools to bringing out the best in us, and our society. When organizations cooperate with schools, then we can get change happening. Looking at schools in New Dehli, India, it is inspiring to see how they are really projecting new possibilities for our world. Personally, if our children learned these skills early, I think the SDGs would take care of themselves because no compassionate human being would be able to tolerate people languishing with poverty, a lack of wellbeing or education, nor could they stand by passively and watch out earth be destroyed.

So, as I keep one foot present in the current trauma of this reality, another foot is planted in the future–the future I want to build for our school community and for the world at large.

Recently, we have been involved in strategic planning and one of the goals we have set is to be a “learning hub for excellence”. I love this goal! But we don’t have an expanded description of “excellence” yet and those indicators that we could measure for its achievement. We have defined traditional hallmarks like higher “quality” teachers and creating more professional development opportunities for our teachers in our community and around the region. But I feel that if we only judge success in traditional academic ways, then we have really missed an opportunity to be worthy of admiration. We have to include our mission, which is based on developing “compassionate agents for a better future”. I think we need to really unpack that and reflect on whether the decisions we are making during this pandemic are getting us closer to that goal or further away. We need to be pulled by our vision instead of being pushed by the pain of shattering paradigms. So, I’m still lingering on how we can establish Post-pandemic “New Normals” and thinking about what S.M.A.R.T. goals we can create in order to achieve our school’s mission and the larger mission of the IB. This nagging for a new normal helps me to generate optimism and hope. The time is ripe for change and we must look to the horizon beyond this crisis to see an improved state of education.

What about you? How might you stir your heart and move your mind to envisioning a future world that works for everyone?

Post Pandemic: “New Normals” Worth Developing

Post Pandemic: “New Normals” Worth Developing

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What is education?

Childcare?

Job Training?

Citizenship Development? 

It seems like so many countries are grappling with the purpose of education, trying to balance the risk of bringing kids back to school. It is a critical moment in time when we really can evaluate our guiding principles in our societies. In so many ways, globally we are undergoing a “dark night of the soul”, deep in introspection as we reflect on all the incongruent “normals” in our educational systems. 

I digress for a moment……

I like to explore the word education semantically for a moment. Its Latin origins, mean “to bring out; to lead forth”.  The root implies that our intelligence is innate and can be developed.

When I think of this definition, I wonder what this global crisis has revealed about our educational systems? 

Inequity between public and private education–YEP!

Teacher-Driven models of education are not sustainable or appropriate online–YEP!

Misguided or completely absent set of values in our systems?–YEP!

Inadequate training and professional development of our teachers, particularly in using technology in our instruction–YEP!

More care and concern are focused on our current-day economy than designing a more equitable future?–YEP!

But the most disturbing is the lack of organizational leadership and creative problem solving since the best we can do is hole ourselves up in our homes until this thing blows over. This fact right here is the absolute reason why we have to look carefully at our educational systems and make changes as we create more agile and dynamic schools. We can’t keep educating our future generations to look for answers outside of themselves–we need an “all hands on deck” approach that involves integrated and collaborative communities of problem-solvers. 

When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you do not blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need more fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You look for reasons it is not doing well. You never blame the lettuce.

-Thich Nhat Hahn-

Now is the time to seize upon this opportunity to make constructive changes in our schools and educational systems. When we look at our current crop of “lettuce”, I feel a powerful and urgent need of changing minds and hearts when it comes to reconstructing education. 

Purpose: Develop our Humanity

The International Baccalaureate is one of the few frameworks that actually defines who we want our students to become as a result of their learning. In a nutshell, we want to make “good humans”.

This shouldn’t be an exception, but should be a rule in ALL of our schools.

Yet so many schools still reflect a factory-model, industrial age approach to learning. In which when the system “spits them out” at the end, they have a conforming pattern and standardized base of knowledge. This is in direct opposition to what we know about our human design. Every aspect of who we are is unique and essential.

As educators, we must question the directives of our national and local authorities in order to change these definitions. We must demand to infuse our policies to account for improvements in our humanity, rather than look at defining our systems by creating subordinate and compliant masses who keep our economies chugging along.

But even if we can’t get change within our higher authority, we must be willing to be way-showers and make changes in our schools that move away from these vestiges of this outdated paradigm.

This graphic is from Bold Moves for Schools, ASCD, 2017, H.H. Jacobs and M.H. Alcoc and provides consideration of the areas in which our schools can shift from the traditional factory-model paradigm to a more fluid and contemporary model of education.

Teachers shouldn’t be waiting for leadership to make these changes. The level of complexity that it takes to make this shift is almost prohibitive. Teachers must dream and co-design with school leadership so that this is a thoughtful and collaborative grass-roots effort. Schools can’t restructure without a teamwork and ingenuity.

These shifts are not minor, these are transformational. We are providing structures that empower learners and create real-world applications that act as “training wheels” for dealing with challenges.

I hear Gandhi in my head …

It might take time but with collective and persistent patience, we can create a new future for education.

Redefine: Indicators of “performance” for evidence of learning

I remember a time when the standardized testing craze was contagious. I can recall a day when one of my Kiwi friends was lamenting that New Zealand was embracing the American antidote for education with school grading based upon students’ achievement on the general skill-based tests.  As she was explaining the new direction that the NZ education system was going, her cheeks turned red with emotion. I had to sigh, remembering my own experience and stress of teaching to a test. 

However, many schools get “graded” on student performance. The word performance implies some action or behavior that demonstrates a specific ability.  Learning, on the other hand, is a process, an accumulation of knowledge gained through experience that changes behavior. Although there is a thread that links the two, we often confuse student data as an indicator of learning, when, in fact, it is really the other way around. Learning can only be demonstrated by actions taken by students of the skills they have acquired.  Because of this, learning describes this innate capacity to “bring forth” our intelligence and creativity.

After this COVID crisis dies down and we return to our school, we must broaden our definition of performance that goes beyond knowing the “answers” to knowing the “problems” so that students can predict potential threats to our societies and create proactive solutions that innovate and address these areas of concern. It’s less about demonstrating knowledge and more about awareness.

A colleague of mine recently pointed out that there is not one standard in their national curriculum around discrimination and oppression. This is an example of how we censor reality.

Our national standards are helpful in understanding the cognitive milestones that we expect for numeracy and literacy, but they do not really reflect the “standards” we want for our humanity: kindness, resilience, cooperation, generosity, appreciation, curiosity, and joy. Content knowledge no longer holds the capacity for future success. We need “heart-based” standards and, as educators, model and facilitate the growth of emotional and situational intelligence.

Our students’ performance may not be as measurable and easy to assess when we focus on this area but I believe that we can still observe “learning” when students can manage conflict, articulate concerns, and self-manage their learning, returning home inspired and energized. Instead of knowledge, HOPE can be an indicator of performance standards.

Imagining New Normals

These are the “new normals” that I believe is worth striving for in a post-pandemic era of education: Value-based Goals for Education, Restructuring Systems of Learning, and Creating New “Performance Standards”.

When I consider the root meaning of “education”, I can’t help but contemplate what I wish to “to bring out; to lead forth” as a result of this experience. As difficult as this time is, we must lean on potential and think of the possible good that can come out of this experience.

What do you believe should become “new normals”? What do you hope to dream and scheme about as we reconsider the purpose of education?

Muted? Student Voice during Remote Learning

Muted? Student Voice during Remote Learning

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“Go ahead and remain unmuted during our Zoom meetings.”, Tonya Gilchrist informed our cohort. “I find it’s easier for people to share ideas and ask questions that way. But if you have background noise, then please mute yourself”.

At that moment I was confronted with a reality that I hadn’t considered before: what it means to mute someone online: psychology and emotionally. 

For most of us who teach or have a meeting online, muting “participants” is usually the first thing we do when they come online in order to conduct your meeting uninterrupted and distraction-free. We often don’t provide the choice to do so and if noise does creep into your meeting, then you immediately scramble to find its source and mute it, lest your wise words fall on deaf ears.

And so, when Tonya shared this essential housekeeping rule, it got me wondering if remote learning has made us more teacher-centered or student-centered in our pedagogical approaches.

I’m thinking teacher-centered. 

And here’s why.

I have a folder full of schools’ Online Learning Plans/Academic Continuity Plans. Whatever you want to call it, those were designed for learning in a crisis. From Argentina to China, to New York to Vietnam, none of them considered the importance of student conversations when we went online. Globally we worried about teachers disseminating information to their students, providing them with the systems and tools to do that; all the while ensuring that students had access to that information—not to each other. The tools we insisted upon, were ones that made it easier for teachers to assign work and talk with students. Whether we went with Google Meets or Zoom, SeeSaw or Schoology, Google Suite or Microsoft–the focus was on an urgent need to explain the content and cover our standards.

Sure students probably found ways to connect with each other–that’s not the point I’m trying to make. It’s that, we, in education, didn’t think enough about the peer-to-peer interaction when we went online. We have thrown out social constructivism and used more didactic approaches to validate the “quality” of our education. 

And now that we are facing the possibility that the next school year might have a continued online component, we need to re-examine those “emergency learning plans”  and not only think about “the standards” but to think about pedagogy. We cannot just plop our classrooms online without providing students with access to each other’s minds as a core component of learning.

And so it gets me wondering if what makes remote learning so exhausting is the lack of interaction. There’s little exchange of our energy and enthusiasm for learning among our community of learners. How might we re-design the learning experience if we go into Phase 2 of our Academic Continuity Plans? I think we need to be debating the merits of apps and platforms that encourage student voice and collaboration like FlipGrid and Explain Everything instead of using our teachers’ creative energy on BitEmoji Classrooms. We need to stop pining for the past, teaching like we are in crisis, and start developing learning for our future.

I’m wondering what else have you noticed that should be reconsidered in your school’s version of online learning 2.0?   This isn’t a time to bury our heads in the sand but to engage and debate in critical conversations. Please share your ideas!

#PYP Exhibition: The Role of Mentors

#PYP Exhibition: The Role of Mentors

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We often say that Exhibition is more about the process over the product, but we rarely recognize or value the relationships that the students have as the foundational piece of that process.

In the early weeks of December, we sat down as a team and created an essential agreement about the PYP Exhibition.  Two fundamental questions that had to be answered was “Who gets to be a mentor?” and “Who gets to choose the mentor for the students?” Answering these questions became the heart of our philosophy and approach to the PYP Exhibition. That 45-minute discussion has made all the difference.

With the COVID-19 outbreak, schools across the globe are scrambling to prepare students to conduct a virtual PYPx. No matter the online platform, there have been some really lovely guidance given and support in a variety of PLNs. Recently I listened to a webinar that shared the 5P framework as the basis of launching a virtual PYPx.

 

5p.jpg
Source: Toddle, Conducting the PYP Exhibition Virtually

As I studied this, I realized that our conversations about Exhibition mentors mirrored this and have been the hinge point to our students’ success. You see, we challenged the notion that mentors should be assigned, and furthermore, no single person would be eliminated for consideration. Parents, who can be well-meaning but interfering, often are asked to sit out on Exhibition. However, we saw this as a major flaw in our thinking. We wanted these mentor relationships to be authentic, real, and purposeful. So, in February, we had a parent meeting to enlist them as mentors.

But there was a catch.

The students got to determine their mentors based on the needs they have and the expertise that mentors might possess. mentor quoteAnd, no mentor was “fixed”. It was important that students do not see adults as the master of their inquiry but as an advisor. Just like in real life, we turn to those who can provide insight into an issue or problem when and as we need them. We didn’t want students to rely on one person, but to know that there was a multitude of “experts” out there who they could turn to for support.

So, although we had no previous knowledge of this 5P model, we intuitively have followed it by providing complete student agency over the PYP mentors.

Prior to our parent meeting, the team created spread-sheet signup, in which mentors could provide their skill sets so that students could make thoughtful choices. They also created a “Mentor Guide” that laid out the expectations of their role:

The mentor’s primary role is to act as a guide and a resource in the accomplishment of specific tasks during the Exhibition process. A mentor can help students to set and meet their goals in the following ways:
● Be available for meetings with different groups, one at a time, as they request
through email during the Exhibition process;
● Help students set goals;
● Encourage and support the efforts of the students by honoring their ideas, but
pushing them to look deeper at the issue;
● Suggest resources to be used in the inquiry;
● Ask probing questions to help facilitate student inquiry, such as, “Have you
thought about …” and “How does this connect to your learning goal(s)?”;
● Guide students with making phone calls, writing emails, scheduling/conducting
interviews, and collecting any needed materials/resources;
● Help students interpret difficult information;
● Coach students in time management and organization;
● Encourage reflection through discussion and logging progress; and
● Ensure that written consent from parents, teachers and the principal is obtained
for any off-campus visits.

Should students need a mentor, you will receive an email inviting you to the meeting through Google Calendar. You will have the option to agree to or decline the meeting.

As you can see, their role was broad. Flexibility was crucial in their ability to support. If one mentor couldn’t be available, the students could turn to another. In fact, students were encouraged to do so. In this way, the loudest voice in their head would be their own, who would guide the research they conducted and the action they took.

Once this expectation was set, then it became a necessity for students to become skillful in time-management and collaborative digital tools. Google calendar became the cornerstone and the students have become quite masterful at it. When we went online on March 18, we had just launched our school’s Exhibition unit. The ink on the page for their central ideas and lines of inquiry had barely dried. Aside from that, they were trained on GoogleMeets. Now, on May 2nd, the students will be showcasing their learning on Zoom.

Since we have been online, Exhibition has been organic. No one was there to hover over them like we would if we were at school. Every step of the way has been decided by them. They’ve initiated every mentor conversation. They’ve brainstormed their actions and debated which technological tool to use. They’ve given each other feedback and are modifying their presentations as I write this blog. Of course, the teachers provided them with the Exhibition guide and encouraged them through the process. They had class meetings to check-ins where they were in the process. But it is validating to know that emphasizing and clarifying mentor relationships has created a positive and productive PYP Exhibition.

During dress rehearsals and the day of the Exhibtion, mentors were assigned but that was due to Zoom licensing issues and the need for one of us to be the “host” in order to turn the reigns over to them.

It is hard to describe how excited I am for our students. Not because I am amazed and overwhelmed by the depth of their research and knowledge. Yes, there is that. But is who they have become as a result of this process that makes my heart swell. Offline or online, I know that this is the essence of what makes the PYP Exhibition a true rite of passage.  Developing proficiency in understanding when I need help and who I can turn to will be an evergreen skill for them. That is true autonomy which will serve them well beyond the memory of this inquiry. And, it is that self-awareness which I admire most in them as they emerge from this experience.

self-knowledge.jpeg

As we reflect on this year’s PYP exhibition, it is my hope that all of us cultivate that level of collaboration and self-reliance in our students through the process. If there was an actual “product” to value–this would be it: Self-knowledge through our relationship with others. This is the role of the mentor.

Is Agency the same as Personalized Learning?

Is Agency the same as Personalized Learning?

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There are two words that are trending in education right now: Agency and Personalized Learning. It’s rather funny that these ideas have been around since the 1960’s and are now emerging as shaping forces in our educational paradigms. However, I hear them used as if they are synonymous, but are they the same thing?

Is Agency the same as Personalized Learning?

This is a question that has been tumbling in my mind for a while. Ever since the PYP introduced the new branding symbol, I kept staring at the center of it and wondering how schools were really going to be “enhanced” by the updates? enhanced pypI also have been seeing a trend in which schools are starting to shift from a guided inquiry into an open inquiry approach, giving primary students, particularly ones in the upper grades, more say in the content of their learning. Although I have not directly visited those schools, I am given the impression that the children get to write their own units and learning is on their terms, in this way, the learning is quite personal and self-directed. I think these schools must be highly motivated to be innovative and deeply committed to this ambitious approach; from leadership to every member of staff, they focus their energy on creating a student self-directed learning approach. So is THIS personal learning? Personalized learning, by its definition, is to customize learning for each student’s strengths, needs, skills, and interests. So what can be more agentic than this?-As a student, I ultimately choose what I learn and when I learn it and teachers just coach me into my next steps.

So should we, as PYP schools be creating more personalized learning for students in order to enhance our student agency? Hmmm…..

A learning community that supports agency offers opportunities for students to develop important skills and dispositions, such as critical and creative thinking, perseverance, independence and confidence. These are vital to the learning process and the development of self-efficacy. The learning community further offers students multiple opportunities to experience the impact of their choices and opinions, which support their evolving perceptions of their identity. In return, students with a stronger sense of self-efficacy bring a stronger sense of agency to the learning community.

From The Learner – PYP, developed by the International Bacchaleurate

After reflecting on that, it seems to me that the answer is NO. Personalized Learning and Agency are not the same thing. Moreover, schools do not have to create “Studios” or “Learning Labs” in which teachers are supporting 20 different personal units of inquiry that the students have created in order for students to have agency. Of course, this is fabulous to have these structures and resources but to assume that this is the gold standard that all of our PYP schools should be doing would be missing the point of the enhancements. It’s about student empowerment, not individual inquiries or personalized learning tracks. So we don’t need a lot of tech and teachers in order to do this. How this looks may differ according to the context and budget considerations of that school. But to think that we need to recreate the wheel in order for us to cultivate student agency would build more barriers to getting started now in our classrooms. We need to think about learner agency as self-efficacy and not individualization. When you look at that excerpt, its the culture of the Learning Community is what creates learner agency, and this is more about developing competency and confidence and less about designing specialized learning spaces.

Agency is Self-directed Learning

The book, Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning by John Spencer and AJ Juliani,  to me is one of the best books out there that really empowerarticulates how student agency can happen in our classroom. When students have the motivation and skills to explore content, they can take action that goes above and beyond our expectations for them. They can develop self-direction. THIS is the GOLD STANDARD  that we should be aspiring to.

Moreover, this book helps educators to cultivate the mindset necessary to relinquish control of classroom learning so that learners can become self-directed. It contained an important question in there that I think teachers should tape to their computers (or planning books) when they are sitting down to lesson plan:

What decisions am I making for students that they could make for themselves?

I know I found myself going to my class and asking the students “How might we….”

  • show what we know about this concept
  • explore this idea
  • experience our learning differently

No bells or whistles were required. It was about bringing them into the planning of their learning and supporting their decisions. Sometimes students wanted to go off and do their own thing, but more often than not, it meant collaborating with peers. I think this is why we shouldn’t confuse personalized learning with agency, especially since we, as PYP educators, are social-constructivists. We shouldn’t create “learning islands” in our classrooms, rather learning hubs, in which we can connect with different people and resources because, in the real world, this is often what we do to solve problems. This is true ownership of learning. This is the essence of a true Learning Community. We need to work at getting REALLY GOOD at collaboration, so students know who and what can support them in their personal growth.

PYP Coordinator Footnote

As a leader of learning at my school,  I can’t begin to express how much misunderstanding there is out there about student agency. I know I have to be careful to tread lightly on pushing student agency without being more informed about how I can support my teachers in supporting their learners. We get into vigorous conversations about this term and often teachers feel that this means that we should “kill” teacher-directed lessons or if we help students manage their decision making, we are squashing their agency. It seems that many teachers equate agency with kids having a free-for-all in classroom learning. Or, on the other hand, we should be differentiating every lesson all the time. Yikes! These are extremes.

So, I think we need to be careful about how we approach this at our schools.

I’m wondering what other terms like “personalized learning” are getting confused with Agency at your schools. Please share so we discuss and debate, arriving at greater clarity and purpose when implementing the PYP enhancements at our schools.

 

 

 

 

The Role of the Coordinator: Deep Listening

The Role of the Coordinator: Deep Listening

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I think to ask and not assume is probably the most important part of my job description. One skill that I believe needs constant effort for improvement. So, during this past year,  as I moved to a new country and a new school, I was very aware of the need to understand the complexities of my new environment and my role in shaping a more agentic culture. As a new leader to an already established learning community, I created a 90-day inquiry into my school in which I explored and examined our current practices and asked questions in the following areas:

Who We Are…

  • What are the values and beliefs of our community?
  • What level of influence do parents have on our school’s decision-making process?
  • What do we believe collectively and as individuals about education in the 21st century?
  • Who are the influential and important people on staff?
  • What are the beliefs that teachers have around technology? What are the beliefs around technology use in the home?

Where we are in place and time…

  • Where are we with respect to accreditation recommendations?
  • Where are we with transitioning to the enhancements?
  • Where are staff in their depth of understanding of the PYP?
  • How is the technology used? (SAMR/TPACK)

How we express ourselves…

  • What are the ways and means that we communicate?
  • How frequently do we communicate? What gets communicated?
  • How is information shared on Social Media

How we organize ourselves…

  • How do we order resources?
  • Where are important docs “housed” and how are they shared?
  • What do timetables look like?–What are the teaching/non-contact periods ratios with co-teachers? How much does each subject “get” on the time table?

Sharing the Planet…

  • What are the expectations and responsibilities of teachers and staff? Beyond teaching, what else are teachers expected to do?
  • What sustainability initiatives are underway? 
  • What opportunities exist for student action and community service?

How the World Works…

  • How is professional learning encouraged and fostered?
  • What are the budget restrictions? 
  • How do we plan excursions or get involved in community action? 
  • What are any political considerations when we consider initiatives?

Now that the 1st semester is over and I have a sense of “How We Do School Here”, it’s time to turn my attention and focus to the students themselves. I am currently engaged in what I am calling a Listening Campaign–a term generally used for a communication strategy that helps to identify and prioritize the concerns of stakeholders. Hearted Quotes - Page 3 | QuoteHDIn this case, I want to dig into the hearts and minds of our students. I have created a simple survey using Google forms which provides the opportunity to deeply listen to students and I am interviewing each student one by one to get a sense of what they care about and how apt they feel at engaging in our learning community. So, as I record their ideas, there is an interaction that I hope communicates how keen I am to hear from them. When I think of my practice of mindfulness, deep listening is a vital component of our relationships–whether it is with our closest and most beloved people in our lives or people who we have more obscure relationships with. I hope that as I sit with them, I communicate that I care about them–they are a valued school member– and I wish to support them on their learning journey. I love how this practice is described in the quote below:

There is only one purpose of deep listening: to help him or her to empty their heart.

“Darling, I’m here for you. And, Darling I know that you are there.”

The gift of your presence is powerful and transformative.

-Thich Nhat Hanh

And, so, I find the answers to my questions revealing if the students feel they have agency and how they might use their agency to make an impact. Here are some of the questions I am asking:

  1. Do you feel that if you have an idea, adults at school will let you try it out? 
  2. The reason why I think this way is because…..
  3. In your homeroom classroom, do you feel that you are interested and active in your learning?
  4. The reason why I said that is because…..
  5. How often do you give feedback or offer suggestions to your classmates?
  6. What kind of feedback do you receive from others?
  7. If I got to be the boss of school, the first thing I would change about how I learn is…
  8. If I got to be the boss of the school, the first thing that I would change about snack/lunch and recess is…
  9. One more idea that I have about how to improve the experience at school is…
  10. Is there anything else you want to tell me...

Now I know what you are thinking, they probably answer that we should eat candy at school and be able to play whenever they want. But I have to say that when you lean in, and they know that you want to authentically listen to them, the issues and ideas that come up really expose a deeper level of concern that they have.

I consider this time spent a great privilege and rare opportunity afforded to me. Since this is the first year of implementing the PYP enhancements, I really wanted to get a snapshot of how students see themselves as learners and what issues do they feel need addressing in our learning community. I call this an Agency Audit, and I hope to repeat it after we implement more of the strategies that create the culture of agency at our school.

What questions do you think we need to ask students? How would you approach talking to students? What other questions do you think are important to developing a larger understanding of the learning community?

 

 

The #EnhancedPYP Planner: Who Gets to Plan the Learning?

The #EnhancedPYP Planner: Who Gets to Plan the Learning?

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They say that life begins at the end of your comfort zone. This couldn’t be truer when we consider the full impact of bringing the Primary Years Programme (PYP) enhancements on board. Making AGENCY front and center of what we do is a major paradigm shift, and if you don’t think so, then your school is either on the cutting edge or so far from the edge that the thought of empowering intelligent children with the capacity to self-direct their learning is downright heresy. Most of our schools fall somewhere in between–in our hearts, we want this, but in our heads, we aren’t sure how to make it happen.

Recently we got together in Sao Paulo to discuss how the Primary Years Programme Enhancements were rolling out in our schools. So much to talk about…so little time. But planning was a topic that we kept coming back to. There are quite a few schools that are developing their own planners, and their teams had a lot of discussion about, not only what elements need to be on the planner, but also where they wanted to begin their focus on the planner.  Here are some of the ideas that were shared that were Must-Haves and potential starting points of “The Planner”:

Reflection: Where are we now and where do we want to go?

Learning Goals: The purpose and conceptual focus of learning.

Language: Using the language of the PYP and developing academic language in meaningful ways.

Students: Their passions, interests, and resources that they can bring to the unit.

Assessment: Co-constructing success criteria and developing a continuum using solo taxonomy.

Tools and resources: The people, places, and tech that can be used to invigorate and engage learners.

Approaches to Learning: Ways in which student-initiated learning and agency can be nurtured.

Through these conversations, my mind wandered back to a blog post that I saw a few years ago: “We’re Going On An Expedition” and I keep wondering how we might make learning more like a journey for all students–not just during the PYP Exhibition–but for all grade levels. Moreover, asking the students who they want to become (Learner Profile Alert) as a result of their experiences this year and how teachers could be their guide through this journey. What if THAT was our starting point for planning?

comfort zoneAlso, if I think about “The Planner” like the map of this journey, then I am wondering how we might open up the planning of a unit to the students themselves. Instead of “The Planner” being a teacher-directed document, what if we had our official “Planner” for student-created which became the basis of the inquiry?  We flip the responsibility of this document so that students got to direct the learning. Hmmm….How might we structure the document in order for students to authentically co-plan with us teachers? I think THIS is the type of PYP planner that I want to create with my team. But what teacher team is so courageous to do this?

Now as someone who has co-constructed units of inquiry with students, I can attest that this made me uncomfortable. These kids don’t know about THE STANDARDS, so it’s not what guides them when we co-construct units. They think about what THEY want to learn, not what some educational body has mandated for them and outlined in THE STANDARDS. So I wonder how we can have true AGENCY if we are the ones telling them what they should know and when they should know it?

In my mind, Who gets to plan the learning? seems like the foundational question to ask when we develop new planning documents. Because if we, as teachers (bless us), get to plan the learning then I think we are the ones who “own” the unit. And if we define Agency as Voice, Choice, and Ownership, then clearly it will be a challenge for students to really take authentic action.

I’m am thinking about how we can use our Exhibition documents as the basis of creating an Enhanced PYP Planner, but I’m afraid that I have more questions than answers in how to approach this. However, the pursuit of these answers is something that I want to explore in earnest.  The process of this Enhanced PYP Planner will be a journey unto itself, but I am willing to engage in going deeper into how we create genuine student plans for THEIR learning rather than documenting OUR teacher plans.

I’m curious if anyone else has embarked in this direction or would be keen to go what has-been into what-could-be? What approach would you take?

 

 
Bias, Prejudice, and Racism–Oh My! 2 Ways to Uncover Blind Spots in Curriculum

Bias, Prejudice, and Racism–Oh My! 2 Ways to Uncover Blind Spots in Curriculum

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Every vertebrate on this planet has a blind spot. There is a break in our visual field when the optic nerves converge and exit the eye to connect into the brain. In that tiny area, there are no light-sensitive cells and thus our ability to perceive something is diminished. Would you like to test this? blind spot test.jpeg

Now wouldn’t it be so lovely if all of our blind spots were that obvious to demonstrate and discover?! However, most of us have biases and prejudice that are concealed and seemingly obscured by the busyness of our lives. We are rarely conscious of them unless someone who is wise to it and courageous enough to bring it to our attention. Although there are tests that can reveal our implicit bias, we have to take action on it if we are sincerely keen to be a better human being.

“Wait?–a better human being?! Why would I want to do that?”

Well, why wouldn’t you want to do that?

Did you know that when we are working at the highest levels of compassion, altruism, and kindness, our brain sends out signals that create shots of happy chemicals like serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine that bath our bodies (and mind) to generate well-being? So doing good is good for us. That’s why it feels so wonderful when we appeal to the better angels of our nature.  Thus when we take action to overcome racism, poverty, and injustice, it’s not just for the benefit of others, but it also has a personal physical benefit for ourselves. And, what may become a selfish motivation becomes addictive over time, with a positive feedback loop created by these neurochemicals.

bias vs principle.jpegOh and it should not just be us, the adults in the room, but we have to inspire the students in our class to do the same. If we are to do real justice to addressing societal issues then, first of all, we need to draw awareness to the “implicit” biases that serve to favor “white people” against Blacks and other people of color.  Sustainable action can only be possible when we shine a light on understanding and overcoming those biases. When we become conscious, a pathway becomes possible to shift energy away from frustrating and hurtful debates over who is or isn’t “a racist”; I think all of us can agree that this name-calling isn’t helpful in directing our efforts toward the problems we are actually trying to solve by confronting racism.

We can no longer go about pretending we do not see race, since it is a construct deeply embedded into the social conscious of (American) society. We assign it to our children at birth. We check race boxes on our applications. We select it on our identifications. We include it in our educational text and use it to tell the story of our country. More important, we recognize that disparities in education, economics, criminal justice and health exist across racial lines. Therefore, pretending we don’t see race and that racism doesn’t exist is not only socially immature; it is also irresponsible and dangerous—it ends up placing blame for racial disparities on those being marginalized rather than tracing those disparities back to a long history of oppression based on color.

Rethinking Racism, by Focus Hope

The term of Culturally Responsive Teaching has started to get attention in educator circles. So what does it mean?

In a nutshell, it describes the ways in which schools and educators recognize, respond to, and celebrate the fundamental cultures within classrooms, as well as providing equity for students from all cultures to gain access to the curriculum. It is divided into three functional dimensions: the institutional dimension, the personal dimension, and the instructional dimension.

Even though there are distinctions between them, when you think about the curriculum, you can see how all of these dimensions are connected. So what makes up our curriculum?….. The units we teach, the books and resources we use, and the ways we develop the culture of learning in our classrooms. To that end, there are  2 main areas, in my opinion, in which culture is transmitted in our school and “blind-spots” begin to develop.

#1-Supporting “The White Man’s Burden” of Curriculum Topics

Most of us have probably not read the poem by Rudyard Kipling which encouraged the Western expansion of the colonial reach of its culture to other parts of the world. It was a “burden” that white people had to bear, to civilize other non-white people, whether they be in the far places of other parts of the world, or to indoctrinate native and immigrant people into their way of living. Of course, this sentiment was prevalent long before the poet’s plea for colonial imperialism, with its basis from the Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries displacing the natives’ religion,  proposing that the “white race” is morally obligated to rule the “non-white” peoples and to encourage their progress (economic, social, and cultural) through domination.

Well, many of us are not marching into neighborhoods and demanding that different cultures change and adapt a “white man’s” habits and perspectives, it’s hard to deny that there is definitely a prevalence of “whiteness” in our curriculum, whether we acknowledge it or not. We teach about the “Koren War” or “Vietnam War” when, in Korea and Vietnam, they call those wars the “American War”, which is much closer to the truth of who wanted to make the war in the first place. If we were to look at our educational standards, the depiction of history in either neutral or positive light of this “white man’s burden” perspective, instead of drawing to mind the misconceptions and malice actions that “white” people did; and furthermore, how they strained to find rationale for the atrocities they engaged in.

More often than we like to admit, very little attention is given to the history or culture of “minority groups”–the very fact that people call “non-white” people “minorities” is a hidden bias lurking in our language. Why are they called “minorities” to begin with? Is it due to population size? Well, that’s a myth that needs to be challenged because more minorities are the new majority. But in terms of which culture is favored and appreciated in our world, you’ll hardly find these “minorities” painted positively. More often than not, they are described as being less intelligent and lazy.

Needless to say, imbuing our curriculum with culturally responsive teaching practices provides not a one-off learning experience for global holidays like Chinese New Year and Martin Luther King Jr Day but opportunities to go deeper with concepts by having ongoing multicultural activities within the classroom setting in order to increase a natural awareness of cultural history, values, and contributions. When you think about cases like Henrico High School‘s Black History Month assembly that went wrong, it’s not surprising because those students and that community had never had to confront other perspectives of history in their schooling and thus got annoyed by the “white guilt” they felt as a result of it. When we provide context for some of the social issues we see today in our world, we have to keep in mind that if we only present this information once a year, then it’s going to bring up backlash. However, if we have continual conversations and design curriculum units that unpack our bias and prejudice, then dealing with conflict and controversy can have a more reasoned approached instead of feeling affronted by the truth of history.

 

#2-Bland and Myopic Libraries

Books take us through space and time like no other instrument of learning. We get into character’s heads and learn about places far away. So it’s easy to see how reading influences our thinking and understanding of others.

Now, let me ask you this if you were to “audit” your classroom library, how many books were either written from the perspective of a character of color or were written by a non-white author? Pretty slim selection, right?

And in my mind, early reading books are the worst! When you look at your guided reading/leveled reading books, whether it is Biff and Chip or I Can Read reading sets, you will see a deficient of multiculturalism.  Now there are some publishers like Reading A to Z that try to include a variety of characters of difference but rarely write about cultural issues from their perspectives. Needless to say, we don’t promote culture and difference among the youngest learners, especially in fiction.

Now I dare you to take a walk into your school’s library–what do you see? The same myopic view of the world according to “straight, white, middle-class Christians” or do you see other texts being highlighted and valued that describe the lives of others? Furthermore, do you see other languages being valued along with English?

When you think about it, it’s no wonder prejudice and bias becomes embedded so early in our learners. Their lives are embued with a bland perspective that may encourage the “love of reading” but not the “love of others”.  We need to stop and question this.  

As educators, we need to demand more of our children’s book publishers, and of our school libraries, for a start. Furthermore, we must take the time to pull those books off the shelves that promote other cultures, reading them aloud and discussing them in class. Exposing kids to “difference” helps them to develop compassion. And for the kids of difference in our class, how do you think it makes them feel–valued and appreciated? –Why wouldn’t we wish to provide that experience for them?!!

There are so many good things that come from this. In this article from The Schools Catalogue Information Services, they list at least 4 benefits from multicultural libraries:

  1. Promotes empathy and unit
  2. Promotes cross-cultural friendship
  3. Helps students to look critically at the world
  4. Encourages identity formation

So, with this in mind, the value of diversity in our classroom and school libraries cannot be understated. We need to examine it critically and work towards having a more culturally-aware and robust selection of literature while using these types of books in our instruction.

We can’t change the past, but we can alter the future

When you examine these 2 areas, content and resources, it is easy to see how bias and prejudice become established in the minds of our learners. The implicit bias becomes formed early in our lives and is not challenged unless we work to dismantle these blind spots. For some of us, this might take a real conscious effort on our part, but for others, it is a natural beacon call to create more peace, understanding, and justice in our world.

Everyone benefits when these blind spots are revealed and barriers to appreciating our differences are removed. We cannot change the conflicts and injustices of the past, but we can alter the future through education. And with enough love and persistence, I do believe that we can collectively, around the globe, can create a better world that works for everyone.

 

Becoming “Educated”: How to Give Up Control and Gain True Power

Becoming “Educated”: How to Give Up Control and Gain True Power

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I just turned the last page of the book, Educated by Tara Westover, an engrossing read about a girl who struggled with her “homeschooling” by her fundamentalist Mormon family and pursued a formal college education. I was deeply touched by her internal conflict to find herself in the midst of the incessant drone of her upbringing to follow a path of a “righteous” compliant woman who remains ignorant of the world and tolerant of abuse. And, although her story has a backdrop of extremism, there are many parallels that many of us can relate to. Think about this quote for a minute:

“My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”
― Tara Westover, Educated

As I ponder this quote, not only can I see the connection between roles and power in my family dynamics but also in our educational system. Most of us have been brought up by the “Shoulds”, an unrelenting group of people who we have given our power over to. We have been socially engineered, and they influence how we design and navigate our lives. And now, as educators, we are presented with a challenge to create agency in our students, something that many of us never had a direct experience of as a child. This paradigm-shifting requires a deep examination of our beliefs about education and what it means to be “educated”.

One of the turning points for Tara Westover was when she read Isiah Berlin’s essays about Positive and Negative Liberty, in which she came to recognize that personal freedom and political freedom are interwoven. And when I say political freedom, I am not talking about Democrats vs. Republicans or Labour vs. Conservative parties, it is broader than that: the ability to choose and exercise one’s values and beliefs in society.

To coerce a man is to deprive him of freedom–freedom from what? Almost every moralist in human history has praised freedom. Like happiness and goodness, like nature and reality, the meaning of this term is so porous that there is little interpretation that it seems able to resist…… Men are largely interdependent, and no man’s activity is so completely private as never to obstruct the lives of others in anyway. `Freedom for the pike is death for the minnows’; the liberty of some must depend on the restraint of others.  Two Concepts of Liberty, Isiah Berlin

powerAs we move further away from our “totalitarian approach” of teacher-directed learning and transition into more student-led learning, it may appear that our role as a teacher is becoming irrelevant. That ‘Freedom for the pike is death to the minnows’, in which empowering students to be self-directed diminishes the need for teachers altogether, especially with the technology that is out there. But I disagree. As we provide for more opportunities for students to determine where the content takes them in their learning journey, our true power lies in the craft of empowering them to manage themselves wisely. So, on the surface, it looks like we are giving up control, but in actuality, when we are eliciting more student voice, choice, and ownership, we are amplifying our influence and consequently we need to develop more skillfulness in the practices that shape and promote agency:

  1. Fostering aspiration. Cultivating a vision that is orientated in inspiring others to follow their interests and solve problems that seem impossible.
  2. Reflective Conversation. Having discussions that lead students to think deeper, beyond the “what” and more about the “why”.
  3. Feedback. Appreciating that there are levels of quality and students understand where they stand in order to feel empowered to take the next step.
  4. Seeing Systems. Developing the classroom as a living system so that they recognize what they are teaching each other. And then what is the awareness of the larger context in which we’re operating in beyond our classroom?
  5. Actions Matter. Reminding them that you always have a choice; even inaction is an action–a choice to do nothing is still something, so make better choices.

I think all of us can agree that in the midst of our shifting paradigm in education, our knowledge of content is less important and instead, our knowledge of our craft is more highly valued. When I think about professional development for educators, there are 3 things that we have to get particularly good at: Motivation, Feedback, and Awareness.

I think honing our ability to motivate students is a necessary component of our craft. The focus of “classroom management” is becoming less to do with bending the children to our will but more about helping them to sustain their learning through practical and organized systems in our classroom. No more “I’m done” because they appreciate that there is another step along their learning path to take.

Hence, developing real acumen with giving timely and effective feedback is another area for developing expertise. Knowing when to say less yet ask more can be a real talent. Using the ancient wisdom of Socrates to dig deep with questioning is an art of revealing understandings and misconceptions to truly coach students to their next level. Needless to say, teaching students how to engage in this process with each other is just as vital. When we recognize the relational quality of learning, it goes without saying that conversations matter and students need to learn how to communicate ideas and opinions thoughtfully.

So it goes to reason, self-awareness and social-awareness are the driving forces that make education worth pursuing. When we come into an understanding of our own beliefs and behaviors and take action on them for the betterment of our world, that is truly a life worth living. Creating self-mastery involves appreciating the recesses of our minds and the caverns of our heart, and recognizing the consequence it may have on others is another layer of complexity that is worth learning. Now the “why” can be extending into the “how”, creating a meaningful impact on our relationships and communities. To foster this is a great honor that is bestowed upon us as educators. We should not take this lightly and should endeavor to become proficient in it. Though, of all the areas of our craft, this might be the hardest one to master, since it requires an equal amount of our own personal development as it does professional development. As the saying goes, “You can’t teach what you don’t know.” So we are standing elbow to elbow, right along with our students, as we become masters of our own emotion and influence.

To that end, we now must consider what it means to be a teacher, a true leader of learning, a role model of curiosity and open-mindedness. As our roles change, we gain insight and clarity into the value and purpose of education. We no longer need to stand with clenched fists but instead open palms in order to evolve our notions of learning and expand our reach of the classroom. In giving power to the voice of children, may we find our own in the process.

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