Learning about Learning

While reading Michael Fullan’s excellent book Leading in a culture of change I have come across some very sound, practical advice and information, as well as some great quotations.

Here are two of my favourites:

Attributed to a superintendent from a 1996 study of Leadership, 

“Ten years ago if I had a vision they’d have locked me up, now I can’t get a job without one.”

And from Pascale et al 2000, an insight into how we might think about, organisations, leadership and social change (Fullan’s words)

“Living systems cannot be directed along a linear path. Unforseen consequences are inevitable.  The challenge is to disturb them in a manner that approximates the desired outcomes.”

The second quote in particular struck a chord.  The idea of control in leadership (and living for that matter) is in many ways an illusion because we are at the mercy of so many variables in our ”living system”.  Therefore what matters, according to this train of thought, it seems to me, is the values that are driving the “desired outcomes”.  If the values are sound then any “disturbing” of the system towards those outcomes should beneficial in the long run,even if not immediately so because of fluctuations in the system.

So if we are driven by a core set of values, the chances of us approximating our “desired outcomes” are increased.  This may not be true for all systems, but I’m thinking in relation to my own circumstances as a school teacher and my life as a whole.

I’m doing a lot of reading at the moment about leadership. Both from the point of view of trying to understand myself better but also to understand the preferred styles of those around me and the effect they have on the community they inhabit.  It has given rise to some enlightening conversations with colleagues around the subject.  It seems to be one thing everyone has an opinion on.   I’d recommend Micheal Fullan’s Leading in a culture of change if you are interested in a discussion of the issues.

The interesting thing for me is that both our own preferred style of leadership and the style that we perceive from those around us in daily interactions can(if we allow it) heavily influence our job (and life) satisfaction.  (Think of your parents’ style of ‘leadership’ with you if you don’t believe me!)  One style may work briliantly in a particular context but fall flat in another or we may inspire some people and at the same time ‘turn off’ others.  Is there a perfect leadership style that works in all situations or is the perfect leader someone who can adapt their style intuitively to suit the context? 

What does distributed leadership actually mean in the school context and can we really dismantle the hierarchical model.  I think we are engaged in interesting times in East Lothian at present on that front. I am keen to see how this ‘virtual’ hierarchy-free model could translate to a physical entity like a school.  People take initiative in this environment and to a great degree do so unsupervised or directed.  If this happened in school would we have anarchy or unbridled creativity?  A Curriculum for Excellence may begin to ask, and answer, that question.

This past fortnght I’ve had real cause to consider my readiness for a senior management position.  I’ve had some encouraging feedback from people I’ve spoken to and this has been crucial in helping me really focus on what it means to step into the role.  I have also been considering how I measure up to my own espoused values.  I think I can say, as most people probably would, I fall short on acting out my espoused values at times, but that doesn’t mean I should disregard them, simply that need to continually reflect upon my decisions and priorities and on the way in which I communicate them with others. I’m sure this will help me develop my practice when I do get the opportunity of a senior management position. 

Writing this helps me be clear about what the important factors are.  I can summarise them in the following ways.

• Being driven by values.  Basing decisions upon these values.  My values are honesty, personal integrity, empathy, commitment, the continual development of self and others, patience and looking at the world from a fundamentally positive perspective.
• Understanding the duty or ‘calling’ of educating young people that I believe is fundamental to doing the job effectively.
• An awareness of the ‘current reality’ and a vision for the future, both personally and from an organisational viewpoint.
• Having a clear commitment and aspiration towards excellence in all areas, regardless of circumstance.
• Ensuring that we ‘get the job done’, whatever it may be.
• Being committed to using the ‘collective intelligence’ that every school has an abundance of, through the development and action of ‘learning teams’.

I have also recently had cause to consider the disappointment of getting to the final stages of the interview process for a senior management position, only to fall at the last hurdle.  From this I have learned firstly that I am definitely ready for the challenge and secondly that my interview technique needs some work.  I believe there is a CPD opportunity in there somewhere and that will be my personal development focus in the coming months. 

I have set myself some clear career goals and the past fortnight has been an extremely important time for measuring myself against them.  The learning I have done has been hugely significant and I’m happy to say that I can come away from the disappointment with renewed vigour and focus.

As my brother rightly said(sure he stole this from someone); there are no failures, only learning opportunities.  To some that may sound glib, but I believe absolutely that it is true.

Another interesting thing about going through this process is that I have been forced to reflect upon what would happen if I did end up moving into another position.  What would be left behind?  

The ALPs programme has recently got off the ground and many people have committed a great deal of time and effort to making it a reality.  Would that all be wasted if I were to move into another position?  I think not because the key to the success of the programme, in my opinion, is the investment of a great number of people.  It does not and should not come down to a single person being the key.  This is, I think, an important management model and strategy, ensuring that the ‘power’ for want of a better word, lies with a collective, all of whom have a significant investment and commitment to the success of the programme.  Shared vision would be the ’headline’ phrase.

My final consideration is what it means to seek opportunities for advancement.  I’ve been challenged on this recently by a friend at work. Does it mean I am less committed to doing an excellent job in my current role.  Again, I think not. My commitment has not and will not waiver, because I return to my purpose for doing the job and that reminds me I have to keep doing my best at all times.

What it means to me is that I am committed to having a positive impact on the lives of young people in as an infuential way as possible.  It is not an easy call to make, and is not a viewpoint that everyone shares, but we all have to decide on our path and be true to it.

Final point.  Is this an appropriate topic for a blog?  I’m not sure, I’d be interested to find out the thoughts of others, but I think that unless we engage in thinking about these issues there will always be un-uttered words or thoughts of disapproval by some towards the motives and decisions of others.  Discussion is surely healthy?

Professor Brian Boyd’s keynote speech focused on the place of thinking skills within a Curriculum for Excellence.  The main themes from the speech as I understood them were as follows :

Making the connections

Are we on the edge of a ‘New Enlightenment’ with the freedom being given to educators through a Curriculum for Excellence?

Thinking skills are equally important for the highest achieveing students as for those finding difficulty.  He suggested that youngsters are so well ‘trained’ for Highers that it ends up being more about reproduction than creativity and inquiry, the skills increasingly necessary to succeed in today’s society.  

Looking at the continuity of learning and transfer of skills eg p6/7 to S1

Learning to Learn - Metacognition

Thinking skills theories and programmes.

Understanding is key.  “Demonstrated understanding in new situations is the cognitive challenge that underpins thinking skills”

Co-operative learning.

Curriculum Architecture

ACfE as a focus for learning and an enabling curriculum.

No longer an accountability(as consequence) culture.

Fundamental principles that link thinking, creativity, enterprise, not just the delivery of discrete initiatives.

A love of learning.

What happens next?

Collegiality and collaboration will help both teachers and students.

Can we put the curriculum architecture in place?

Can we focus on achievement and ‘close the gap’ between highest and lower achievers?

Can we help teachers and learners co-create the curriculum?

I’m a fan of Brian Boyd and again, for me, he didn’t disappoint with this speech.  There was agreat deal more to it than my short summary, but I think I’ve covered the main thrust.  It was very interesting to hear someone who had a great stake in developing ACfE speak so passionately about his vision for it.   He also spoke of the practical implications of shifting the focus of what we do towards the skills of inquiry and creation and away from the constraints of exam results.  We are nowhere near that kindof curriculum at the moment and there will be much debate and discussion amongst us all as we move forward wth ACfE, but I for one am really excited about the prospects.  I heard a number of people who had been teaching for more than twenty years saying the same thing; they are more excited by ACfE than they have been about anything in their whole teaching career, surely that is proof, were it needed, of how significant the next few years could be. 

The purpose of what we do and how it relates to our motivation on a daily basis came up in conversation with a colleague today.  I was describing how I felt I had gained a very clear sense of purpose, for a number of reasons, in the past 18 months or so, and how this translated into my day-to-day practice and enthusiasm for the job. My colleague, who is a tremendous teacher and a truly outstanding ‘people person’ described a real change for the worse in intrinsic motivation and sense of purpose in the same period.  Notwithstanding the possibility that I was responsible for stealing this person’s motivation and purpose(definitely wisnae me, honest!!), I was intrigued as to why that might be. 

The main reasons seem to be a perceived lack of challenge and support in the job.  This was a real eye opener for me because I would never have guessed that this was an issue.  This again says a great deal for their ability to do a great job despite feeling really quite negative about it. 

Trying to make sense of it from my own point of view and also bearing in mind Don’s post today, I think what my colleague is experiencing could be a kind of burnout, along the lines of switching off and kind of helplessness.  I have felt this way before and I think I can honestly say the thing that has helped me most is learning about what I can do to take control of my own situation.  Understanding what my circle of influence is and what that means for the way I conduct myself with others has helped enormously in my personal management of relationships.  Using feedback(a good online resource here) with others and acknowledging our emotions and reflecting upon whether they are valid or not is another tool to prevent the onset of a feeling of helplessness and frustration. 

There is also the interesting idea we are part of a wider system and as such we have an influence upon it.  Therefore in some way are the makers of our own reality.  This is a very empowering idea becauses it shifts the responsibility for our current happiness in our job or life back onto ourselves.

I have gotten into the habit of reflecting upon these ideas because I was given the chance and encouraged to develop myself professionally.  We can’t underestimate the power of ongoing professional development or learning for life in ensuring that people are able to work in what can be a highly stressful environment without burning out. 

It’s possibly a strange notion that avoiding burnout means doing more work but I think there is something in it!

We had our first major challenge with technology today on the ALPs programme.  The internet was too slow to gain access to the Exc-el site and get the boys blogging.  Thinking caps well and truly on about how to get round this one!

Ice-breaker fun!

We finally got ALPs off the ground today with our induction day at the Pennypit Community Centre at Prestonpans, a really top class facility.  It was a great day and it was tremendous to see all the ‘thinking’ becoming ‘doing’. 

I was also delighted that the input from all the different people connected together to present a discernable ‘whole’.   It re-affirmed again to me that we are ‘on to something’ in delivering a model of this type. The blend of personal development, active learning through outdoor education, thinking skills, mentoring and employability skills has great breadth and depth of skills development coupled with reflection.  By the reaction of some of the parents who attended our induction there is a positive feeling about the potential benefits of the programme too.  

We were very pleased to welcome Kay Affleck, who is responsible for ELC pre-vocational opportunities, along for an hour this morning and we had a good chat about the possibilities for the ‘careers’ focus of this group in S4.

I’l be writing more in the coming week, but I think most of my ALPs blogging will migrate to our new site with short updates and pointers here from time to time. 

Tonight I finished my first reading of the Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge.  I know it will not be the last.  It is a really challenging book, I have found it particularly so given my choice to undertake the SQH.  As much philosophy as pragmatism, very inspirational.

I have to share some words from the end of the book by a Lebanese writer, painter and sculptor called Kahlil Gibran “who, in speaking of parents and children, captured the special sense of responsibility without posessiveness felt by leaders towards their vision”, (I would argue anyone, not just ‘leaders’ towards their personal vision).  Even if you disagree with Senge’s comments, I think the words themselves are beautiful:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Can’t really add anything to that so I don’t think I’ll try!