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This discussion forum is being moderated as an expression of servant leadership in teaching & learning. As a collaborative tool for brainstorming enriching experiences for students, teacher learning groups, and district learning teams, we can inspire and build experiences to help empower each of us to personal leadership in learning. Thank you, in advance, for your contributions and leadership to realizing outcomes for improving student achievement, equity and well-being.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

inspiring insights towards innovative teaching practices

7/10/2019

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Welcome back to Flipping the Focus.

As suggested by the title of today's post, ...
  • What inspires you towards being innovative in your teaching (or leadership) practice?
  • How do you come by inspiration?
  • And better yet, what do you do to move yourself and others FROM insight TO implementation TO staying the course?
Artist's blank canvas and paint brushes
A) Sources of Inspiration
This Spring and Summer, I've had the privilege of contributing my experiences in Education as a course instructor for Intermediate and Senior Math ABQs through the University of Windsor's Centre for Teaching and Learning. And I must say that this has and continues to be a source of inspiration for my own pedagogical practice and instructional leadership. I am both thankful and grateful for my students' leadership in learning for and on behalf of one another.

Of the many discussions and assignments that students engage in, most recently students completed some background research on gap-closing in Mathematics and shared and discussed their perspectives with one another. What came out of that discussion for both students and their instructor (me) was a deepened sense of learning for all--all of it made possible by the authentic engagement of each contributor. And the discussion went well beyond working to close gaps: the conversation guided us towards planning the actions we could take to prevent gaps from being created and widened over time.

Below is a response that was shared with students as general commentary and feedback to the insights evoked from their contributions--A Letter to Students: Gap-closing in Mathematics. At this time, I'm sharing it with you for your consideration and commentary.

B) A Letter to Students: Gap-closing in Mathematics

"Hello Everyone. What a lively discussion around why gaps occur, what to do when they do, and most importantly how to address closing them! From what I can see, as the conversation evolved, is a theme of pro-activity. Thanks so much for your contributions.

A number of keywords 'lifted' off the page for me, as I spent time thinking about your posts. Perhaps, this highlighting bears some implicit bias as per my experiences, but I hope that you don't mind me sharing. These words included the following:

LIST: diagnostic, extra support, learning styles, school/district support, SES, student engagement, novelty (interpreted), assessment (formative; interpreted), confidence & teacher efficacy (interpreted).
Interestingly, if other educators were to look upon this list without context, I'm not altogether certain that "gap-closing" would be the first response. So what does this mean? I'm going to refer back to a term/adjective that <student> has been using in some of their posts--and that term is "dynamic".

If you have a moment, perhaps you can scan the following Capacity-Building Series document on "Dynamic Learning" (2013) and see how the ideas presented there either square with your thinking, leave you wondering, and/or give you takeaways to apply to your pedagogical practice. The monograph aims to connect student learning with teacher learning--i.e., what it means to be a dynamic learner (either from the student or educator perspective). I think that you'll find it both inspiring and thought-provoking.

After I took time to scan the monograph and do some further reflection, I thought about re-grouping the terms into an overarching theme and sub-groups. 

RE-GROUPING: Over-arching Theme: Student Engagement | Group 1: diagnostic, learning styles, novelty | Group 2: assessment, learning goals, backwards design | Group 3: extra support, school/district support, SES, individual & collective teacher efficacy

Essentially, our role is to help students engage in learning--learning that is relevant and meaningful, as well as learning to becoming more assessment-capable over time. This is the over-arching theme I'm proposing.

Groups 1 & 2 refer to those aspects of pedagogical practice that fall within the domain of educators and groups of educators. Group 1 aspects focus on getting to know students early on, and the term "novelty" (interpreted from one of the posts) relates to getting to know our students, as uniqueness in the experiences we cultivate are paramount to student engagement. There is a fair amount of cognitive/brain science that relates to novelty and its importance in students transferring their learning to long-term memory and/or having facility in retrieving information. For additional reading, I'd like to suggest the following:

Book: How the Brain Learns Mathematics (2015) by David A. Sousa.

If you have the opportunity to purchase (or borrow) the book and study it with colleagues (e.g., a book study with a school learning team), I think you'll find some wonderful benefits there. Chapters 5 & 6 deal with the concept of novelty and learning for both the pre-adolescent and adolescent brain. It's a great resource to have in your professional library.

Group 2 is the "heart-and-soul" or "art of teaching" that we engage in daily, and from a macro-level, we spend significant amounts of time in terms of designing assessment plans that flow from the big ideas and curriculum (call this "Point A") to students identifying what's important to their learning (these very ideas; call this "Point B"). Although simply put, there's so much that happens between these points in time and is consistently influenced by the Group 1 aspects you've brought to light. And let us not forget the importance of students being a part of co-designing the assessment process (this has also been mentioned (interpreted from) several of your comments in different posts).

Group 3 elements are primarily directed from the domain of instructional leaders--be they teacher-leaders, administrators, supervisory officers or a combination of all three. The formalized, extra support examples in our discussion were tied to also boosting parent confidence in the supports being made available to their children. Certainly in these times (and historically), it's key that we are growing public confidence in public education, as "we're all in this together"--parent engagement...not just involvement...is important to student and school success.

As per the research of Dr. Ken Leithwood, adherence to school improvement, with a predominant focus on parent confidence and engagement  (what is referred to as the "Parent Path") will not effectively yield the sought improvements in student engagement and achievement, but it is one of several contributing factors. The greatest (most influential) factor upon a school's improvement is a focus on the teaching and learning that educators and their students do on a daily basis--teaching, as I identified earlier, being driven by student need. This is well-documented in the research literature (e.g., Viviane Robinson, University of Auckland) and is a key aspect of any leader's approach to school improvement. 

The mechanism for these improvements lies in what we refer to as Collaborative Inquiry--i.e., investigating a shared problem of practice that relates to pedagogical practice. For example, at the elementary level, we might focus on unpacking a continuum of additive or multiplicative strategies for operating on numbers. In the secondary panel, we might focus on formative assessment practices--i.e., what the use of conversations, observations and products looks like for both teachers and their students.

These shared problems change over time, as educators, schools and systems evolve with new student and societal challenges being identified as urgent needs. The collaborative study (as done by learning teams) is also a source of increasing both individual and collective teacher confidence and efficacy towards improving student engagement and achievement.

This brings me back to the theme mentioned at the outset of my response: pro-activity. Throughout this post, I haven't been referring to and/or using the term, "gap" or "gap-closing". This is not intentional: it's a product of what you've presented along the way. This, in no way, implies that gap-closing is not going to be addressed. Veritably, there are times where we need to provide tiered supports to students to help them draw closer to the goals of the curriculum they're working towards attaining--absolutely. My point, here (as you've inspired), is that which we do in preparation for (i.e., our own learning...as determined by student need), during (based on ongoing, formative assessment), and after (reflecting upon the monitoring of students' learning and our own) working with our students over specific intervals of time can and will go a long way to help close learning gaps (i.e., for students) and achievement gaps (for groups).

As for mitigating factors--SES, parent engagement, supports from districts and other sources, etc.--we will always be working alongside these (sometimes urgently, persistently, flexibly or a mixture of all of these modes), but amazing things can be accomplished with our most challenging students when they are motivated to learn--cared for, challenged and championed by the adults in their school.

Lastly, in addition to the resources I've suggested earlier (Dynamic Learning, David Sousa, and the work of Dr. Ken Leithwood), you might find the following helpful in your journey. I've included links to make them more accessible.

-Ontario's "Achieving Excellence" document (2014)
-Learning for All (Ministry of Education, 2013)
-Focusing on the Fundamentals of Mathematics: Teacher's Guide (2018)

I hope that you've found this post helpful and that you've been as inspired by your peers' contributions as I have been. Thanks again for your contributions...so appreciated. If you have any further comments to share to this thread, and/or have additional questions/comments you'd like to share with me, please feel free to do so.

All the best, Chris."

C) Inspiring Insights Towards Innovation in Teaching
Outside of accreditation being a source of external inspiration, what are the primary, internal drivers for a group of professional educators to generating insights towards innovation? Our purpose and intentions--to improve the conditions for both teaching and learning--are supported because our own learning involves the following drivers:
  • Relevant curriculum and meaning-making supported
  • Collaborative and supportive learning environments
    • Relational trust links being established
  • Building knowledge from places of strength and experience, as well as being research-informed
  • Accountability to learning on behalf of others
  • Autonomy through the group, as well as respect for individual choices, contributions, and self-pacing
These are but a few sources that come to mind, and perhaps there are more and/or specific examples of these drivers influencing innovation. If you are inspired by this post; that is, if you find yourself drawing nearer to the example and perspectives shared through this post, I would like to encourage you to comment to this forum by responding to the prompts shared at the outset:

  • What inspires you towards being innovative in your teaching (or leadership) practice?
  • How do you come by inspiration?
  • And better yet, what do you do to move yourself and others FROM insight TO implementation TO staying the course?

D) Final Remarks
In closing, I can't help but to think of the conversations that can be inspired when we take collective action to improving student learning. As this blog is a means for readers to network and gradually change the context for how they teach and learn, we all benefit by drawing nearer to the perspectives shared here and shared beyond with our professional learning networks.
​
I am more than happy to collaborate with you and make our learning visible, here. If at any time, you have questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to me at Flipping the Focus. 


Sincerely,

Chris Stewart, OCT
Education Leader at Flipping the Focus
CONTACT CHRIS
LET'S COLLABORATE!
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cognitive science...meet the thinking classroom

2/27/2019

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Welcome back to Flipping the Focus.

Introduction
In the last post (here), you read an interview, conducted by Flipping the Focus, with Ottawa Educator, Jaime DePippo (@MrsDePippo). The interview was Part 2 of a series that delved into the mindset and actions of an educator who is actively exploring the impact of the Thinking Classroom Framework (see Liljedahl, 2017) on student learning and teaching--in both Mathematics and English (Grades 9 and 10, Applied courses).
Picture
During a recent conversation that I had with a colleague, we reflected upon the following statement from that interview:

"Students are capable, critical thinkers and problems solvers.  If we deprive our students of these opportunities, they will not grow.  Students need to be actively engaged in their learning."

This quote, in turn, lead us to the following wonderings:

1-What does this mean for educators' planning? 
  • Given that adolescents are more likely to respond faster emotionally than rationally, how can we better support their learning? 
  • How can we engage adolescents' understanding that it's difficult for them to 'override automatic responses' because their pre-frontal cortex is still maturing?
2-How does novelty--in the context of the Thinking Classroom--fit into conversations (perhaps, larger ones) about student engagement?

The remainder of this post focuses on these questions--that is, not in an effort to answer them: As pointed out by the last wondering, the goal is our own learning...through conversations about exploring where novelty 'fits' into our teaching practices.

As you continue with the information presented from both cognitive science and the Thinking Classroom, invite a colleague to read, reflect on practice, and discuss next steps with you.
"Cognitive Science...Meet the Thinking Classroom"

Thinking Classrooms
In an earlier post, I listed and defined each of the elements (E) of the Thinking Classroom (here). These elements are clustered into, what Dr. Peter Liljedahl, refers to as gears. In the graphic (right), the 14 elements are colour-coded into their respective gear. Generally, as we evolve our pedagogical practice through the elements, we tend to begin with Gear 1 (G1) and progress by adding subsequent gears over time (G2 to G4).


Cognitive Science
Currently, I am helping support networked/regional professional learning around improving student outcomes in Mathematics through inquiry. The inquiries are being implemented by nine, district school boards in Eastern Ontario. These districts, for many years now, have been contributing to both networked learning and educational research through the Eastern Ontario Staff Development Network (EOSDN).

A complementary resource that educators are studying is David A. Sousa's How the Brain Learns Mathematics.
List of Peter Liljedahl's 14 Thinking Classroom Elements
Geared (4) Elements (14) of The Thinking Classroom
Recently, I've been reading and reflecting upon both brain development and cognitive processes that influence teaching and student learning. Below are some highlights from Chapter 5 (Teaching Mathematics to the Preadolescent Brain) and Chapter 6 (Teaching Mathematics to the Adolescent Brain). 
Highlights on Teaching Mathematics to Preadolescent and Adolescent Brains
Based on some the emerging themes, I couldn't help but to consider how these highlights might 'bump up against' the geared elements of the Thinking Classroom Framework. In relation to the wonderings presented (#1 and #2, above), how might the intersection of both cognitive science and Thinking Classrooms impact educators' planning and interaction with students in the evolution of their classroom practice?

In the section that follows, I will present a draft of results of some coding that I completed between the framework and Chapters 5 & 6. In terms of my own interpretation, I am currently seeing that aspects of both cognitive science (CS) and Thinking Classrooms (TC) play a reciprocal role in student learning. That is to say, a TC pedagogy is more successfully enacted when we attend to preadolescent and adolescent brain development, while student cognition is supported by engaging students with the geared elements of the framework.
 Results: "Cognitive Science (CS)...Meet the Thinking Classroom (TC)"
Thinking Classroom Gear Frequency Results - Preadolescence
Figure 1 - TC Gear Frequency Preadolescent
Thinking Classroom Gear Frequency - Adolescent
Figure 2 - TC Gear Frequency Adolescent
Figures 1 and 2 present the relative frequencies with which each of the gears (i.e., group of elements) related to the highlighted material in Chapters 5 and 6. Most notable are the differences between the relative frequencies of Gears 2 and 3 (see graphic for description of each gear's elements, above). 
Picture
Figure 3 - TC Elements Frequency (Combined Sets)
TC Elements-Adolescent
Figure 3 presents the frequencies for each of the 14 elements and for each stage in cognitive development--preadolescence and adolescence. The adolescent data portrays elements 9 through 11 as supporting adolescent cognition the most (i.e., "Gear 3")--specifically, managing hints and extensions; consolidating from the bottom; and student self-assessment.
Next to these, elements 4, 7 and 12 were also coded frequently--i.e., using verbal instructions, constructing meaningful notes, and communicating where students are in their learning/where they are going, respectively.

TC Elements-Preadolescent
Figure 3 also presents the frequencies for preadolescent learners. Notably, elements 4, 8 and 10 seem to be most influential in supporting preadolescent cognition (i.e., verbal instructions, building autonomy, and consolidating from the bottom, respectively), followed by elements 7, 9 and 12.
Discussion
​
Before wading further into the complexity of these results, I would like to re-emphasize that these are drafted--i.e., they, on the basis of my interpretation, suggest how CS and TC are related. They also provide you with a glimpse into my own reflective practice: not only is this how I inquire, in part, into examining the value of pedagogical practice on student engagement and learning; it is also representative of the collaborative inquiries we can be doing alongside and in support of future-ready learners.

​It's also important to consider those places where I have used the word, "most", in relation to support. For example, when thinking about the most frequently recorded skills for  preadolescents, it's not that learners already 'arrive' with these abilities; rather, we use the elements to actively engage learners and support the development of their executive functioning. Similarly with adolescents, learners may not enter in to your class already expressing the skills encompassed by the emerging themes (table, above). What it does imply is that we can attend to planning and interacting with learners in ways that will bring about growth in these areas. 

"Students are capable, critical thinkers and problems solvers.  If we deprive our
students of these opportunities, they will not grow.  Students need to be
actively engaged in their learning."

In addition to the thinking, above, each student develops and attains proficiency in different ways and at different times. To help students grow their mindset around becoming assessment-capable,  actively build, share and discuss students' learner profiles with them--especially as you plan tiered interventions with your "students of mystery". You can access a sample TC observation and student profiling template here to support your TC planning, documentation and profiling.

With respect to planning instruction for all (Chapter 2; Learning for All, 2013), we might interpret Figure 1 as Gear 2 elements being more widely used to setting the foundation for more complex interactions between preadolescent learners with elements of the "Assessment Loop" (Causarano & Coulombe, 2018)--for example, establishing assessment capability for deepened learning through self-assessment, goal setting and monitoring towards attaining goals. 

Moving towards adolescence, we might look upon the prevalence of Gear 3 elements as leveraging students' growing capacity to solving complex problems for deepening their conceptual understanding. We might also see how assigning fewer, meaningful "check your understanding" problems puts less strain on working memory, provides adequate time for elaborative rehearsal--lending itself also to developing procedural fluency.


Across all graphs (Figures 1 to 3), you'll note an under-representation of gear 1 and 4 elements. Gear 1 elements--good tasks, VNPSs and VRGs: these are the starting point for any educator's journey into enacting a TC pedagogy. Even for educators consistently practising Gear 4 elements, alongside their students, Gear 1 elements are a 'gateway' to engaging in deep, pedagogical practice. Notably, these elements can be implemented quickly and, perhaps, contribute indirectly--through classroom structures (physical space and groupings)--to student cognition. Gears 2 and 3 are comprised of a number of strategies that engage students to being active in their learning. Our engagement with these strategies means that we are consistently monitoring and communicating with learners over time. These actions, we might say, have direct impact on student learning and are more easily referenced against developmental markers from CS. Lastly, most of the Gear 4 elements relate to assessments of learning. These can be redressed by students and teachers in a formative manner but constitute a small amount of all assessments performed.
Conclusion
Beyond what has been presented in this post, there is so much that we can discuss and propose as inquiries that bridge the gap between the many opportunities we have to promote student learning and the actual learning that takes place for educators and their students.

In the opening, two wonderings were shared:

​1-What does this mean for educators' planning? 
  • Given that adolescents are more likely to respond faster emotionally than rationally, how can we better support their learning? 
  • How can we engage adolescents' understanding that it's difficult for them to 'override automatic responses' because their pre-frontal cortex is still maturing?
2-How does novelty--in the context of the Thinking Classroom--fit into conversations (perhaps, larger ones) about student engagement?

As you move forward with your own journey into enacting a TC pedagogy, I believe the following might serve as good guiding statements:
  • The Thinking Classroom can be enacted in such ways to support the development of student cognition.
  • The Thinking Classroom supports what is currently known about cognitive science and brain maturation.
  • When students understand how they learn and why a particular pedagogy is being used, they will be more likely to see themselves as confident and assessment-capable learners.
How Might I Share This Synthesis in My Context?
 
If the ideas presented in this post is something that you'd like to share within your own context (e.g., PLC, district team, learning network), I have posted a consolidation of the blog in the form of a slide-deck for your use. If you do happen to use it, please extend an invitation to me to discuss your plans.

You can view the slide-deck below, as well as downloading your own copy that includes notes I've used in speaking about the material in this blog, as well as future, potential directions for collaborative and action-based research.

Prefer to listen to a presentation of the synthesis? View the slides in the form of video? See the button below to listen/view.
MAKE A COPY
VIEW/LISTEN
Final Remarks
In closing, I can't help but to think of the conversations that can be inspired when we take collective action to improving student learning. As this blog is a means for readers to network and gradually change the context for how they teach and learn, we all benefit by drawing nearer to the perspectives shared here and shared beyond with our professional learning networks. Please feel free to share your comments and questions to this post using the "Leave a Reply" form provided, below.
​
I am more than happy to collaborate with you and make our learning visible, here, in this blog and across Flipping the Focus' social media platforms, as well as your own. I
f at any time, you have questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to me at Flipping the Focus. 

Sincerely,

Chris Stewart, OCT
Education Leader at Flipping the Focus
CONTACT CHRIS
BOOK CHRIS

References
Causarano, J., & Coulombe, H. (2018, September 14). The Assessment Loop: Merging Assessment and Instruction. Retrieved January 29, 2019, from https://harnessassessment.com/2018/09/04/the-assessment-loop-merging-assessment-and-instruction/
​
EduGAINS. (2013). Learning for All, A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students, Kindergarten to Grade 12. Retrieved from http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/Learning4All/whats_L4All.html

Liljedahl, P. (2017, October 17). Building a Thinking Classroom in Math. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-thinking-classroom-math
​

Margaret Sinclair Memorial Award Lecture: Peter Liljedahl. (2019, February 14). Retrieved from http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/activities/18-19/Margaret-Sinclair-lecture 
​
Sousa, D. A. (2008). How The Brain Learns Mathematics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Thinking Classrooms: An Interview with Jaime DePippo - Part 2 [Online Interview]. (2019, February 18).

​
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equity through pedagogy-Part 2: Global competencies

1/26/2019

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Welcome back to Flipping the Focus. 

Leading up to the Mid-Atlantic Conference for Professional Learning, March 13-15, in Atlantic City, this marks the second in a series of posts devoted to pedagogical practices and frameworks that educators can leverage in their collaborative efforts to respectfully and equitably honour student voice.


1. Introduction
Envision learning environments where students and their teachers are engaged to interact in profound and meaningful ways. What if those ways led to empowering students to becoming leaders of their own learning--becoming, over time, better able to contribute to their communities?
Mid-Atlantic Conference for Professional Learning
In this post, Global Competencies (Government of Ontario, 2016) are defined, characteristics explained, and suggestions are made for how you and your students can experience success through an active exploration and incorporation of these skills--sometimes referred to as Transferable Skills (People for Education, 2017) or the 6C’s of Deep Learning (Fullan & Langworthy, 2013).

Having consulted with several educators, exploring Global Competencies in their own practices, it is clear that the leadership imparted to students is transforming both teaching and learning.

"Having consulted with several educators, exploring Global Competencies
in their own practices, it is clear that the leadership imparted to students is
transforming both teaching and learning."

As you continue with this post, consider framing your thinking against these, sample goals:
  • (Teacher-focus) To deepen my understanding of practices that engage students with differences in backgrounds, learning strengths, needs and interests.
  • (Leadership-focus) To inform next best moves to supporting the growth of individual and collective teacher learning and practice.
2. The Ontario Context: Growing Success
Ontario educators are continuously working alongside their students to helping them develop Learning Skills. These skills, based on research, are integral to helping them become effective learners and to succeed in both school and in life (Growing Success, 2010).


These skills include Responsibility, Organization, Independent Work, Collaboration, Initiative and Self-Regulation. Growing Success also provides several descriptors of sample behaviours that teachers can use when discussing the Learning Skills with their students and assessing their development of these skills.
Growing Success
3. The Ontario Context: Transferable Skills
To better understand the current context for skills that underpin successful, future-oriented learning--learning that provides opportunities for student-centred leadership and developing citizenship, we need to consider Equity.

What about Transferable Skills?

According to Ontario’s Equity Action Plan (2017), we might describe equity as a state where “[a]ll students...have every opportunity to reach their full potential and succeed personally and academically, with access to rich learning experiences that provide a strong foundation of confidence that continues throughout their lives.”

Understanding that there are many considerations to addressing inequity in Education, of profound significance and hope, is captured by what Michael Fullan calls the Equity Hypothesis (in Thiers, 2017).
The hypothesis, essentially, is this: students who see themselves (and their learning) in the world--connected to the world; that is, relevant, meaningful and applicable learning (Sheninger, 2017 )--learn more deeply and are, themselves, transformed along with the people they have served. In fact, Fullan explains through his own examples, that students most disaffected by a more traditional form of learning are quickest to adopt and move the furthest when we frame learning through globalized competencies (in Thiers, 2017).
Child climbing a rock-climbing wall
This hypothesis, if educators are keen to take on its exploration, can work. But it is important to remember that our pedagogical practices must also be redressed, alongside our students and colleagues, if we are to generate solutions and sustain long-term growth to bringing Equity to student learning.
4. Transferable Skills
To make better connections to the world, a different set of skills are required for success: these are called Transferable Skills.

These skills include: Critical Thinking, Innovation & Creativity, Self-Directed Learning, Collaboration, Communication and Citizenship (Fig 1 and Fig 2, below).

Upon closer examination, these might be considered ‘meta’ skills: the previously-mentioned Learning Skills can be mapped under the Transferable Skills. Take, for instance, Critical Thinking. From the Learning Skills, Organization, Collaboration and Self-Regulation could all play key roles in students developing and enacting Critical Thinking. Similar connections can be made between the remaining Learning Skills and Transferable Skills.

Again, it’s important to make this distinction: Global Competencies connect students to the real-world. And it is through these connections that students will experience greater success.

“...connected to the world; that is, relevant, meaningful and applicable learning…”

Global Competencies
Fig 1. Global Competencies
Global Competencies
Fig 2. Global Competencies
Rola Tibshirani
5. Connected Learning: An Interview with Rola Tibshirani
Up to this point in time, you might be wondering: This is great, but what kinds of learning experiences are going to help the students in my school build the success that comes through identifying and recognizing these skills?

In a recent interview with Rola Tibshirani (@rolat, All Saints HS, Ottawa Catholic School Board), I had the privilege of asking a number of questions about Global Competencies and her pedagogical practice. I am excited to be able to share Rola's perspectives in this space with readers.

Interview: Q & A
​Question 1: What is learning like for students who are beginning to work with developing and expressing Global Competencies?
​
​Answer: 
Generally, students are not as inclined to taking risks with their learning.
  • Our discussions usually point to how they've participated in their education up this point--i.e., they have not had enough leadership roles to understand that they can have both agency and autonomy.
    • ​Over time, we co-construct criteria for learning and negotiate 'grades'--all of this based on feedback.
    • When students continuously focus on the 6C's, they are much better positioned to developing better self-regulation skills.
​Question 2: Currently, we are assessing, providing feedback and reporting on Learning Skills. What do you see as the difference between Learning Skills and Transferable Skills?
​
​Answer:
Our engagement with the 6C's connects students to the real-world...learning through real-world experiences.
  • For my students and I, Global Competencies make sense. They are more realistic.
  • When it does come time to be reporting out, students' reflections--reflections based on the 6C's--form the basis of their comments.
​Question 3: According to Michael Fullan, I've read that some students are more likely to engage in learning that is guided by the 6C's. What has your experience been like with students?
​
​Answer:
  • This is a bit of a 'yes/no' experience for me.
    • ​For me, it comes down to getting to know your learners and planning with them to being successful. For example, students are challenged, from the outset of our time together, to be thinking about the 6C's.
    • Often times, they're engaging these competencies through complex and/or controversial issues...topics that have meaning for students and can connect them to others beyond the classroom.
    • Successful implementation requires that teachers are unpacking the 6C's with their students--usually exploring one dimension at a time. 
      • Creating tasks that focus on the 6C's, highlighting through consolidation, and providing feedback on their progression are key factors for educators to consider.
      • With respect to consolidation and feedback, it's important that students are provided time to think independently (for building autonomy) and before sharing with others. The sharing is also an opportunity where students have a chance to integrate their thinking and that of others.
​Question 4: What kinds of experiences can teachers create to support students transitioning from their current state to one where they are incorporating the 6C's?
​
​Answer:
  • I've found it quite helpful for educators to study and plan with a team of teachers within and/or between schools.
    • As a starting point, your team might choose to work on an inquiry related to collaboration.
    • From a team-based perspective, co-planning, co-teaching and unpacking shared, teaching experiences are important to the success of your inquiry.
​Question 5: How are teachers assessing students' proficiency with transferable skills?

​Answer:
  • It's important to remember a key aspect...source of assessment: teachers need to anchor into students’ reflections
    • And the first step is for students to provide one another descriptive feedback. Assessment AS learning is key.
    • Formatively, teachers are observing...documenting and helping to plan and facilitate conversations about the global competencies that students will be working with.

"How do we '...build the success that comes through identifying and
recognizing these skills?'”

6. Final Remarks
Flat out, let’s recognize that there isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’. In fact, and as you may have experienced (or are experiencing), this is exceedingly tough work, but it is and can be the most gratifying work and experience you and your school can have.


Systematically, you will need to collaborate with your leadership and fellow educators through cycles of inquiry, where you are simultaneously seeking out and honoring students’ voices. Based on the needs you identify, you might explore a confluence of factors--technology, pedagogical practices, connections to community, and learning spaces within your school and beyond the traditional classroom.

As an assurance, over time, it will get easier because you will be establishing a culture of learning that embraces these types of skills. And you’ll have the excellence as a marker of your school’s success--in achievement, well-being, and overall...student feedback that speaks of empowerment to being leaders of their own learning.

7. Conclusion
As you reflect, how are you seeking to co-create conditions that can give life to equity in the teaching and learning you do with students and your colleagues each and every day?


​            How are you incorporating Global Competencies into your pedagogical practice?

In closing, I can't help but to think of the conversations that can be inspired when we take collective action to improving student learning. As this blog is a means for readers to network and gradually change the context for how they teach and learn, we all benefit by drawing nearer to the perspectives shared here and shared beyond with our professional learning networks.
​
I am more than happy to collaborate with you and make our learning visible, here, in this blog and across Flipping the Focus' social media platforms, as well as your own. I
f at any time, you have questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to me at Flipping the Focus. 

Sincerely,

Chris Stewart
Education Leader, Flipping the Focus (c) 2019
CONTACT
BOOK CHRIS

8. References
Fullan, M., & Langworthy, M. (2013, June). The New Pedagogy: Students and Teachers as Learning Partners. Retrieved from https://michaelfullan.ca/articles/

Global Competencies: An Interview with Rola Tibshirani [Online interview]. (2019, January 21).

Government of Ontario. (2016). EduGAINS: About Innovation in Learning in Ontario. Retrieved from http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/21stCenturyLearning/about_learning_in_ontario.html


Government of Ontario. (2017, October). Ensuring Equity in Ontario's Education System. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/about/action_plan.html

Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario’s Schools. (2010). Toronto: Ministry of Education.

People for Education. (2017, September 9). Competencies and transferable skills part of Ontario's move to modernize the school system. Retrieved from https://peopleforeducation.ca/research/competencies-and-transferable-skills/ 

Sheninger, E. C., & Murray, T. C. (2017). Learning Transformed: 8 Keys to Designing Tomorrow’s Schools, Today. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Thiers, N. (2017). Making Progress Possible: A Conversation with Michael Fullan. Educational Leadership, 74(9), 8-14.
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When It Comes to Learning, What Does Success Mean?

1/10/2019

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Welcome back to Flipping the Focus.

In the last post, I posed a number of questions for our consideration--some of them pertaining to student voice (below).

How do we come to know our students? What lessons do they bring?

Today, we continue to surface examples where change--real change--can be inspired and driven by student voice.
Students looking at a laptop together
A) Introduction
In recent years, we’ve been hearing about and espousing the importance of having and enacting a growth mindset. A growth mindset, according to Dweck (2006) is based on the belief that intelligence is not fixed...that each person can move beyond their current level of skill through hard work and determination. Developing this mindset goes beyond belief: it manifests in how we respond to challenges and setbacks.
Generally, those with a growth mindset are curious to stretch themselves by learning something new: success is borne of their efforts to confronting challenges and making progress. Feelings of success are drawn just as much--if not more--from the process of learning than its results.
Getting ‘there’...towards success...requires that students have a clear understanding of the criteria for success; contribute to their construction; and have opportunities to putting them into action. Equally- important and coincident with their use is the opportunity to receive descriptive feedback from teachers and peers and to engage in self-assessment against these criteria. With ongoing, descriptive feedback, students are better able to monitor their progress towards learning goals--making adjustments, accordingly, and subsequently, are positioning themselves to setting new goals (Growing Success, 2010).
Growing Assessment
The very nature of “Getting ‘there’” is derived from Formative Assessment and ”...requires a culture in which student and teacher learn together in a collaborative relationship” (Growing Success, p30). The reciprocal relationship, as described through the example of co-constructing criteria (above) can also be grown, in part, by encouraging students to persevere through their own learning processes (some of these, experimental) and talking about challenges as they arise (Student Voice, 2013).
Paul Tough (2012) shares that teaching and mentorship can help students achieve a shift in their mindset through the use of skills like critical thinking and problem solving. For example, metacognition--the process of thinking about how one learns--can be empowering to students, helping them to increase their engagement for continuous learning.
The experimental nature of collaboratively setting, working towards and reflecting upon goals is a common means by which districts, schools and classrooms are making gains in achievement, increasing student engagement and supporting student well-being across Ontario. Modeling this process, on a smaller scale--i.e., at the student-level--can prove to have the same impact on a student’s learning; set an example for a student’s peers; and inform school-level improvement planning (Flipping the Focus 2018a, 2018b). Drawn from Ontario’s Well-Being Strategy (2016), engaging in collaborative inquiry can equitably and respectfully support the cognitive and emotional domains of all students--each student presenting different backgrounds, strengths, needs and interests.
B) A Collaborative Inquiry into Developing a Growth Mindset
In early December (2018), Chris Harrison (@MrCHarrison) and I engaged the #MTBoS (MathTwitterBlogosphere; image, below) in ideating strategies that would support one of his students. This student--very high-achieving in Mathematics--was struggling with responding to performance setbacks.
Beyond the #MTBoS, as colleagues both from the Upper Canada DSB, we began to generate ideas of how we could leverage collaborative problem solving to supporting the development of his student’s non-cognitive skills--in particular, resiliency. The anticipated result is to support the student in being better equipped to responding to performance setbacks. As mentioned in the introduction, this type of work is grounded in inquiry and is best framed using a monitoring process known as a Cycle of Inquiry (Ideas into Action, 2013). Cycles of Inquiry are broken down into four, key phases: Plan, Act, Assess, and Reflect.
Tweet by Chris Harrison to #MTBoS
Through these phases, documentation of student learning is used to guide conversations about how the inquiry is progressing and if adjustments need to be made moving forward. And through the involvement of a variety of collaborators, the learning from such an inquiry is not only a benefit to the student but can be far-reaching--i.e., supporting the learning of the student's peers, school-level teaching practices and both teaching and learning abroad.
C) Resources to Supporting Your Inquiry
 
In the next part of this post, you'll have access to some resources that you can adapt to empowering students to using their voice in school improvement practices. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to contact Flipping the Focus (see right).
CONTACT
BOOK CHRIS
Each conversation, along with the in-between work of such an inquiry, is framed in the context of student improvement. Coincident with recognizing a student’s learning needs is that our own: the process also helps you to determine how to best provide support while honoring student voice.
Resource: Appendix A-​Student Success Inquiry
DOWNLOAD-APPENDIX A
Resource: Appendix B-Student Monitoring Template
DOWNLOAD-APPENDIX B
D) Final Thoughts
In closing, I hope that you find the shared resources helpful and, in advance, I would like to thank you for sharing your insights. I can't help but to think of the conversations that can be inspired when we take collective action to improving student learning.
​
As this blog is a means for readers to network and gradually change the context for how they teach and learn, we all benefit by drawing nearer to the perspectives shared here and shared beyond with our professional learning networks.
​
I am more than happy to collaborate with you and make our learning visible, here, in this blog and across Flipping the Focus' social media platforms, as well as your own.

Contact Flipping the Focus to see how we can work together towards achieving your goals.
CONTACT
BOOK CHRIS
Professionally Yours,

Chris Stewart, OCT
Education Lead, Flipping the Focus, (c) 2018

E) References
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Ballantine Books.

Tough, P. (2012). How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character. London: Arrow Books.

Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario’s Schools: Grades 1 to 12. (2010). Toronto: Ministry of Education.

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2013). Ideas Into Action: For School and System Leaders (Bulletin #5 - Using Data: Transforming Potential into Practice). Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/leadership/ideasintoactionbulletin5.pdf

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2016, May). Ontario's Well-Being Strategy: Discussion Paper. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/about/WBDiscussionDocument.pdf
​

Ontario Ministry of Education, Literacy & Numeracy Secretariat. (2013). Student Voice: Transforming Relationships (34th ed., Capacity Building Series, pp. 1-8).

Stewart, C. (2018a, February 13). Students as Researchers [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://flippingthefocus.weebly.com/blog/category/students-as-researchers

Stewart, C. (2018b, March 2). Creating Conditions for Occasioning Thinking & Supporting Student Well-Being in Mathematics Classrooms [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://flippingthefocus.weebly.com/blog/creating-conditions-for-occasioning-thinking-supporting-student-well-being-in-mathematics-classrooms
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    I am passionate about leadership for learning and teaching and learning through inquiry. Through collaborative exploration of high-yield, pedagogical strategies, I have been able to further engage students to deepen their learning and fellow educators in continuously growing their practice--Flipped Learning, Thinking Classrooms, and culturing Student Voice as examples.  I hope that this site serves you well in your educational journey through teaching and learning by moving professional learning into your time ... your space. If you have questions or feedback, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, Chris Stewart (OCT).

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