Simon Sinek: Love Your Work

Simon Sinek talks about the special teachers in our lives who have believed in us and made a difference to who we are today - especially if those teachers taught us to be confident and I would add, to be passionate about what we do, to know our own value.

"...the power of helping others realise their own strengths...their own value..."  Simon Sinek.

When we choose a career path, what are the things that impact on that choice?  Do we choose a particular career because it is what our parents want?  Are we influenced by our peers?  Do we choose based on the opportunities it offers for career pathways or advancement?  Or, do we choose that career because it is our passion?  Are we happy and fulfilled by that job / career?

There is always a lot of pressure on teachers and it seems to come from so many different directions.  So how do we hold onto that passion that we had?  How do we hold onto the reasons why we went into teaching?

For me, my reasons have changed somewhat.  I began studying extramurally for a degree in psychology way back in 1991.  I knew I wanted to focus on becoming a child psychologist and to eventually go on to gaining my PhD in this area.  I was extremely focused on this goal.  So...how did I end up changing and staying in education for over 15 years????

The answer is reasonably simple in many ways.  I knew that I would have greater credibility as a Child Psychologist if I also had experience in education so I applied for Teachers' College and gained entry to study in 1996.  I thought I could complete my 2 years certification and then go back and complete my psychology degree.  That was the plan - pure and simple, well relatively simple in between mountains of learning and assignments, practicums and juggling a family!

I did not expect what came next at all.  From the first two-week 'posting' or practicum I was hooked and it only continued from there.  I had found my passion.  I loved being around the students - it didn't matter what age group, school, etc.  I loved their enthusiasm for life and learning, loved the challenge of being able to adapt my own teaching and learning to meet their needs.

This passion has not changed over the past 15 years.  I am still just as passionate and enthusiastic although this is sometimes tempered with the demands of the curriculum, parents, changes in assessment and changes in society, and the crazily long hours we work - because we love it and want the best for our students and for ourselves, but I still would not change this life for the world.  It is a fulfilling career.

The passion I have for learning and teaching comes from connecting with students, from seeing the 'lightbulb' moments but, most importantly, it comes from helping them to become confident learners and confident human beings who believe in themselves.

"The feeling of fulfillment comes from doing something for another." - Simon Sinek

Not Another Interruption!!! Valuing Learning and Teaching

Over the years the issue of constant interruptions to our learning and teaching has at times frustrated me and sometimes made me very annoyed.  I've been told that it's just part of being in the classroom and that it happens 'in every school.'  Don't get me wrong - I've been just as guilty as some, at times, of being the one interrupting and sometimes for a very irrelevant reason, particularly when I've been part of the senior leadership team and may have momentarily forgotten my manners and/or what it's like to be in the classroom full time and interrupted without good reason.

We all know what it's like.  You're in the middle of something that is exciting, the students are engaged, they're sharing the teaching and learning and the discussions are amazing and then it happens......  The door opens, or the phone rings - for the 40th time that day, or the intercom goes - for the 30th time that day...!!!!!!!  (A slight exaggeration but most of you will know exactly what I mean and it's not restricted to any particular country or situation / level - it's a global 'phenomenon'.  (Maybe that's not the right word so please insert in there what you think fits your situation - and also feel free to share that in the comments following this post!).

In my second year of teaching - a little while ago - I started to question what we were valuing in our schools if we were allowing these constant interruptions that had little or nothing to do with learning and teaching to continue.  Fortunately, I had just arrived in a new school where our Principal felt the same way.  As a staff we began to question our practices and routines in the school.  We had senior students who were 'monitors' in the school which, while it did give them leadership opportunities, some of them - particularly those who had the role of taking the daily notice book around the school - could be out of class for up to two hours...a day.  We questioned how this was valuing the learning and teaching in our school.  Yes, it was helpful to the running of the school but there were many more leadership opportunities in the class room if that was the reason for the creation of these jobs.  It was not making the learning important.  We can't waste a minute of learning time -  it's too precious but wasting it was precisely what was happening.

Imagine if the same students were out of the classroom every day for two hours a week - that's 10 hours a week of learning that is lost and cannot be recovered or made up.  You can do the math on how many hours that would be a term, etc.  (Another side of this argument - hours out of class due to family holidays is about to rear it's head in this post).

The discussion around this involved the whole staff - not just the teaching staff - and it was incredibly powerful.  We decided that there would no longer be non-essential interruptions and that we would use as many digital tools as possible to cut down on unnecessary interruptions, e.g. email, school website, intranet for daily notices, etc.  The intercom was only used in an emergency and there were no telephones in the classrooms.  The difference was palpable - and noticed by everyone, from staff to students.  We were a school whose staff and students very obviously, and publicly, valued learning and teaching time.  If there were any non-essential interruptions, students would comment on their learning time not being valued.

So, if I'm arguing that we need to value learning and teaching and not interrupt it unnecessarily, then what are my thoughts on the following article which appeared in some of New Zealand's media over the past week?  (I researched this a little further and there are an incredible amount of articles about this issue on the net).

I'd love you to read the article, form some opinions - you will already have many on this issue -  and then I'll carry on.

Pupils pay heavy price for cheap holidays

If I'm so against unnecessary interruptions, then where so I stand on the issue of parents taking students out of school for family holidays during term time because it's cheaper?  (And, is this in fact the only reason why they do it.  I don't believe it is - work opportunities, learning opportunities and family commitments all play their part too).

Where do I stand then?  Well, it depends - and I'm not fence-sitting here, truly.  If it's just a holiday in the island sun then I'm pretty much against it as I also am if it is going to interrupt NCEA (in New Zealand) or other Senior exams, courses etc globally.  However, if the family holiday is an 'experience of a lifetime' and includes opportunities for amazing learning and putting into practice what is being learned in the classroom then isn't this what we want as teachers and learners?  Don't we want to flatten the classroom walls and develop our eLearning / Blended learning environments to extend well beyond those walls?

The opportunities of being able to explore the globe and really understand some of the main issues that relate to what we've been learning in the classroom surely shouldn't be passed up.  What if your inquiry has been about global poverty and ways to combat this issue and one of your students has the opportunity to travel to a very poor country where this is their main issue, because his/her family is involved in an organisation helping alleviate poverty in that country.  How powerful would that learning be?  Doubly powerful if the digital tools now at our disposal are used to communicate the issues with the class back home through videos, blogs, etc., and create discussion and debate.

If it's travelling through different countries and experiencing different cultures then isn't that learning too?  We are arguing that eLearning is 'anytime, anywhere' learning which includes Blended and Mobile learning but then we want to restrict it to what happens in school by way of us saying that students can't be out of school during term time.  To me, this doesn't make sense.  I want my students to be engaged, critical, creative thinkers who have empathy for others and who want to make a difference to their world.  Don't these experiences help them to become connected global citizens.  For me, that's part of my goal as an educator.

There is an argument - which is valid - that they can wait until they are older and travel then when they've finished school or university.  I would argue that the earlier we help develop our global citizens the better and it's even more effective if we can link any classroom learning to the world outside the classroom which makes it relevant and real learning.  It has a purpose and it 'flattens the classroom'.  If we are saying that educational trips can't be taken, what message are we sending to the wider community - that the only 'real' learning can happen in the classroom?  I think this is the opposite of what we want.  I know it's the opposite of what I want.

So let them travel and learn and become global citizens as early as possible - within reason.  Please don't take them out at crucial assessment times in their senior years and I'm not sure how the 'week in the sun on the island' is supporting the goal of global citizenship but use the tools we have to really connect through digital learning and teaching tools.  Apply the pedagogy of eLearning and I think we can really develop something special with our students and expose them to real and relevant learning which can only strengthen what we are trying to achieve in our classrooms.

Through the Looking Glass - Teacher Self-Study

Over the past few months I've been reading about, and investigating issues around, teacher self-study.  (Another form is Action Research - Dr Roger Peckover, MEd., explains this well).

Why should teachers examine their practice?  This has been the central focus question for the research / investigation.  I believe it comes down to knowing the 'why' of what we do - I seem to focus on this quite a bit, but I make no apologies for this as I think it's so important to be able to articulate why we teach and learn with our students in a particular way.  If we can't do this then what impact does what we do on a minute-by-minute, day-by-day basis have on what our students can achieve?

The research supports the importance of being able to study aspects of our practice in depth but there are also many questions around this.  How do we fit this into an already packed day?  Can we afford not to?  How do we make sure that teacher self-study is valued by all members of the school community?  How do we support teachers in being able to complete this form of inquiry into their practice?  The information gained from this form of reflection is incredibly valuable but how do we then disseminate it?  How do we get it 'out there' so that we are informing not only ourselves but the wider community in general and the education community specifically.

It is also suggested that teacher self-study is one way of making sure that change happens in teaching and learning, particularly for our 21st Century Learners.  Could this be the answer to making sure that the education system we have now, begins to become the education system that we need - not just a variation of the one that has always been?

What's the answer?  How valuable do you believe teacher self-study to be?  How much experience have you had?  How is teacher self-study supported in your school?  Have you utilised Critical Friends in your school?  What were your experiences?

The title of the following is a really interesting one which appealed to my sense of humour straight away - is it too cynical?  It is worth a read!

Smyth, J. (2001). Critical reflection: The antidote of being done to!. (Chapter 14, pp.183-196). In Critical politics of teachers’ work: An Australian perspective. New York: Peter Laing.

So how do we make sure this works for all concerned?


Professor Jack Whitehead talks about how to give the teachers a voice within Action Research.

"The Courage to Blog With Students" Education Week

Have a look at this article:
http://bit.ly/l3sDlc

It has some fantastic blogging resources and reasons why blogging is becoming such an important learning and self-reflection tool for 21st century learners and teachers.

Headings include:

1. The best way to get your feet wet without drowning is to use a group blog (a personal favourite)
2. Teach students how to write comments (all part of effective literacy practice)
3. Use what you already have in your teaching plan with some minor adjustments (don't reinvent the wheel!)
4. Safety
5. Communicate with parents about what you are doing.

We would love to know your thoughts on this.

Salman Kahn flips the classroom

Salman Khan talk at TED 2011 (from ted.com)



Salman Khan gives us even more reasons why we can - and need to - 'flip the classroom'. The more I think about and learn about this, the more I want to be involved in the potential for educational reform this offers.

How many of our students who have not had successful educational experiences could have benefited from learning in our new environment? We can't afford to wait any longer.

What are we doing in our teaching and learning each and every day to meet the needs of our 21st century learners?

How far have we come on the eLearning journey?