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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

Equity through pedagogy - part 4: Formative assessment

1/31/2019

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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 fourth 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--ways that demonstrate an evolution of the teaching-learning relationship to one where “...[students] and [teachers are learning] together in a collaborative relationship, each playing an active role in setting learning goals, developing success criteria, giving and receiving feedback, monitoring progress, and adjusting learning strategies” (Growing Success, p30).
Ad for Mid-Atlantic Conference for Professional Learning
MACPL 2019, March 13-15, Atlantic City
In this post, formative assessment is defined, its characteristics explained, and suggestions are made for how you and your students can experience success by framing teaching and learning through its principles.

As you continue with the post, consider framing your thinking against these, sample goals:
  • (Teacher Focus) To deepen your understanding of practices that engage students with differences in backgrounds, learning strengths, needs and interests.
  • (Leadership Focus) To inform your next best moves to supporting the growth of individual and collective teacher learning and practice.

"Having explored these principles, alongside many educators, has
been transformational for my own teaching and student learning,
​as well as that of my colleagues."

2. Formative Assessment - An Introduction
According to Ontario’s Assessment & Evaluation framework, Growing Success, the “...primary purpose of assessment...is to improve student learning” (p6). The improvement of student learning, from a formative perspective, involves two practices: assessment FOR learning and assessment AS learning.

Let’s consider these practices in the context of an example. Throughout the example, consider visualizing formative assessment through the graphic provided in Figure 1 (below): The Assessment Loop (Causarano & Coulombe, @HarnessingA, 2018).
Growing Success
Growing Success, 2010
Figure 1. The Assessment Loop
The Assessment Loop
Printed with permission (Causarano & Coulombe, 2018)
As we plan learning experiences for our students, we take into account learning goals and success criteria. Learning goals, or targets, are set according to one or more of the following: curriculum objectives, global competencies, learning processes, and/or the big ideas of the subject matter students are learning. These goals represent the What of learning.

The How of learning is defined by success criteria. These criteria describe the actions that students are taking to successfully attain learning goals. Prior to engaging students in the learning experience designed, it’s critical that we anticipate success criteria.

Identifying potential success criteria mentally prepares us for recognizing them, as students work on problems and tasks. In the context of questioning, inquiry or project-based learning, it’s also important that we remain 'open’ to variable paths towards a solution or completion of a task. Altogether, being able to recognize these criteria, as well as being open to student thinking, supports educators in helping students consolidate their thinking towards conceptual understanding and procedural fluency.

"You might be wondering, how do I ‘open’ myself to identifying
and recognizing how students will be going and are going
​towards these goals?"

This is a great, if not perfect, question to be asking ourselves. But still...why?
Well, to be open means that we’re in a position, ourselves, to do some learning. That learning might be related to content, pedagogy or a combination of the two. From a content perspective, we might be at a place where we’re figuring out how students will interact with a problem or task. Pedagogically, we might also be considering those aspects that will respectfully and equitably address where students are in their own learning. And there are plenty of aspects that come into play. Take for example the following: prior knowledge, background, strengths, needs, interests, and the learning environment.

Whatever combination of factors you’re considering, they all have one thing in common--that is, what defines the problem or task that’s being assigned to students.
puzzle piecesPhoto by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash
3. Formative Assessment-Moving Beyond the Task
Let’s take a look at moving beyond the task. Earlier, I mentioned that success criteria represent the actions that students are taking towards attaining goals. That means we’re now in a space where students are ‘working on it’--either independently or collaboratively thinking about the assigned problem or task.

Formatively, we, as educators, now go on ‘high alert’...monitoring the ‘how’, listening to interpret, and looking for learning progressions that can be used to facilitate conversations around criteria important for attaining the goal(s). Over the time that students are engaged with the problem or task, we’re naming and noticing key moves that students are making and providing timely, descriptive feedback to all students.

As you discuss students’ thinking with them and the group, you’ll be well-positioned to co-create success criteria, and over time, with each opportunity to revisit concepts, students can reflect for themselves and/or with their peers about refinements that can be made to the existing criteria.

Providing opportunities and encouraging students to engage in this type of reflection--be it self- or peer-assessment--is referred to as assessment AS learning. The beauty of this form of assessment is that it imparts leadership to your students: it helps them to recognize agency in their own learning, and it helps them to build autonomy--i.e., independence to influencing their own learning, as well as taking it upon themselves to learning on behalf of and supporting others.
Each time that we, alongside our students, reflect and discuss the ‘how’ of ‘what’ is being learned models metacognition--the act of thinking about one’s thinking. In essence, as students develop their metacognitive skills, they are becoming better monitors of their own learning--setting goals and making plans for how they can achieve them.
4. It’s Not That Straight-Forward
As we come to know our students better, we recognize the following:
  • Each individual develops proficiency in their own time;
  • Learning progressions aren’t linear; and
  • Students will become more adept at monitoring and personalizing goals.
Person holding a lightbulb
Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash
As a result, learning doesn’t look so straight-forward after all. In fact, each aspect of The Assessment Loop (Causarano & Coulombe, 2018), in Figure 1 (above), is connected and dependent upon the others.

Truly, this loop--or framework--represents the complex nature of the thinking and decision-making that occurs for both teachers and their students. It is a ‘space’ that we find ourselves in each and every day. As educators, the more we come to know our students, the curriculum, and what learning and student learning looks like, the better we can communicate where students are in their learning and next steps. By this point--having waded into the complexity of thinking and decision-making with students--we’re providing them with a communication of or an assessment OF their learning.
5. Final Remarks
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?

When thinking about your assessment practice, consider the following:
“...student assessment IS the beginning point for instruction, not simply the end” (Volante et al., 2018).
​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

6. 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/


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

Volante, L., et al. (2019, January 24). Culturally-Responsive Teaching in a Globalized World. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/culturally-responsive-teaching-in-a-globalized-world-109881
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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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A message of thanks & gratitude for collaborative, professional learning in education

5/18/2018

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Welcome back to Flipping the Focus.

As evidenced by the blogposts made this schoolyear by Flipping the Focus, there has been a tremendous amount of work, productive challenge, learning, and impact from professional learning for myself, colleagues, school teams, and our district--all of it made possible by the collaborative professionalism exhibited by each of the "lateral units" of the instructional core one finds in Ontario's School Effectiveness Framework (2013; image below, PDF embedded for webviewing). A list of links to these posts has been provided for your convenience in the final section of this post.

With a clear vision articulated by both the Ministry of Ontario and our district of Upper Canada, leadership committees, schools and their learning teams have leveraged autonomy, choice, time, and instructional leadership to crafting and following collaborative inquiries in service of meeting both provincial and district calls to action--working to improve student achievement and well-being. 

Ontario's School Effectiveness Framework
The Instructional Core
Picture
School Effectiveness Framework
Video: Voices From the Field
Below, I encourage you to view the video, "Voices From the Field"--a great example of how the Upper Canada DSB (UCDSB) is responding to this call.

"Voices From the Field" summarizes deep reflections from UCDSB teachers & administrators regarding system-wide, continuous school improvement in the teaching and learning of mathematics. The video chronicles educators' experiences with school-level improvement practices through the lens of whole-school approaches to school improvement, supporting the vision of the mathematics learner, building math community, and growing success through assessment.

Following viewing, I invite you to ask questions and/or comment on highlights from your own district's improvement practices. Comment on this post and/or use the "Contact" form provided on this page.
A Note on Collaborative Professionalism
On the note of collaborative professionalism, and in the spirit of continuously providing authentic experiences for readers (thanks for your subscription to learning together through this platform), I thought that I would close out this year's formal learning with a personal note of thanks and gratitude. This note will be shared with the network of teachers, administrators, and teams that I have had the privilege of serving this 2017-18 schoolyear. 

I encourage you to take some time to share your thanks and gratitude for the professional (and personal) relationships you have in your educational "circle."

All the best for a great year-end and a safe & relaxing Summer.

Sincerely & Professionally Yours,

Chris Stewart, OCT
Learning Partner, UCDSB
Student Achievement Officer (New-Sep 2018; granted leave by the UCDSB to the Ministry of Education, Ontario)
​

Letter: A Message of Gratitude & Thanks for Collaborative Professionalism in Learning
Hello Everyone.

I wanted to take a few moments to share with you a message of gratitude and thanks—a message regarding our collaborative professionalism in learning.

I believe that we are better together. Our best ideas come through consistent and ongoing collaboration.

In part, talking with you about the teaching and learning that goes on in your classrooms is at the heart and soul of what I've been able to do as a Learning Partner. And on the other hand, collaboration has also come from both planned and serendipitous moments in the classroom, as students shared their thinking with us, and in our shared experiences through learning teams and participation in system-wide professional learning days (e.g., Renewed Math Strategy (RMS) Days). In these moments, I found that there was nothing more satisfying and productive than deciding how we, including our students, would respond to moving learning forward.

In closing, it has been a pleasure learning with you and your students this year.

Although we are not yet there, please accept my best wishes to you, your colleagues and families for a great summer. All the best for next year, as you continue to dig deeper—digging in as a system and school teams to exploring the intersection of the physical, mental, social and emotional domains of learning and how, together, we can further improve student achievement, engagement and well-being.

Although I will be in a different role moving forward (new Student Achievement Officer in the Ottawa Region; on secondment to the Ministry of Education), please feel free to reach out with questions and sharing what you would like to learn/have been learning. I deeply value the relationships we have built thus far, and as I stated earlier: ...we are better together. Our best ideas come through consistent and ongoing collaboration.

Sincerely Yours,

Chris Stewart

Blogposts re: Professional Learning in Education - 2017/18
Feb 2017 - REFLECTION & ACCOUNTABLE TALK: POWERFUL DRIVERS TO ENHANCING STUDENT & TEACHER LEARNING (PART 2/2)

June 2017 - LEARNING TO LEAD, LEADING TO LEARN (PART 1/3)

Aug 2017 - LEARNING TO LEAD, LEADING TO LEARN (PART 2/3)

Jan 2018 - LEARNING TO LEAD, LEADING TO LEARN (PART 3 OF 3): EXPLORING THE ROLE OF STUDENT VOICE IN SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PRACTICES

​Feb 2018 - GETTING TO & ENACTING OUR 'HOW': COLLABORATIVE SPACES FOR OCCASIONING THINKING ABOUT SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
​
​
Mar 2018 - 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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    ​The discussion, information, and materials provided in this online space do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB), Ontario Association of Mathematics Educators (OAME), Ontario Ministry of Education (MoE), the University of Windsor (Faculty of Education), and their affiliates. This online space is intended to provide its readers and/or contributors with opportunities to learn about and share, respectively, information about teaching & learning. The UCDSB, OAME, MoE, UWindsor, and their affiliates do not guarantee the accuracy and appropriateness of the content posted. Aside from the moderators' posts, Flipping the Focus does not guarantee the accuracy of the comments and/or information posted by contributors. The moderators have the right to remove and will remove any content that they deem inappropriate or offensive. Questions regarding the information posted can be directed to the site's moderators using the contact form provided (below).

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