Catching up to today

Michael Murray (@MikeMurray6)

Chairman, Eastern Townships School Board

Report to the Council of Commissioners

August 27, 2013

CATCHING UP TO TODAY

Once again we are beginning a new school year with all the promise and excitement that involves. ETSB is great place to work and wonderful place for students to achieve all they are capable of. We are a professional learning community that understands that support staff, professionals and commissioners are as much educators and ambassadors as teachers and administrators. Together we undertake the challenge of constantly improving the education of our students.

Last week, Scott McLeod (@mcleod) blogged a thoughtful article about managing change in education. He pointed out that few of us have the luxury of starting fresh even though each September seems to offer renewal. Instead we are “stuck with legacy structures, policies, facilities, personnel and mindsets” that make change difficult and slow. He compared the task of improving education to building the plane while flying in it. I was struck by the analogy, since few among us would dare to try the literal experience, yet we are reinventing education as we go. We don’t really have a choice given the rapid changes in society that require a different approach to develop different skill sets in students than were desirable in earlier generations. We are now asked to foster such high-order intellectual skills as collaboration, innovation, curiosity, critical thinking, application of knowledge and effective communication. We need to adapt and respond or become irrelevant.

 ETSB has been a leader in Quebec, one of the most consistently determined in implementing the reformed constructivist curriculum, the first to implement system wide one-to-one computers, proactive about installing interactive electronic whiteboards in classrooms and implementing new pedagogical philosophies  such as early intervention and individualized instruction. We have become recognized as a model for other school boards in Quebec (Minister of Education, Treasury Board) and beyond (OECD, World Bank, Thierry Karsenti of U de M). Some doubters and reluctant participants remain among our colleagues as in every organization. I would urge everyone in our professional learning community to rise to the challenge of building our new educational craft as we go, not simply riding along, but contributing new ideas, innovations and sharing best practices. We all want the best for our students and I believe we share the attitude that those students deserve nothing less than the best.

Among the practices I personally recommend is following leading educators on Twitter. Not only should every educator be on Twitter absorbing the information available; we should all contribute when we have an idea or insight. Twitter is also great for sharing ideas we come across to help colleagues discover them too. I sincerely hope that every teacher, professional, support staffer, administrator and commissioner has a Twitter account and follows a selection of contributors in education. The access to stimulating ideas is unparalleled. I can strongly recommend following Scott McLeod (@mcleod), Richard Byrne (@rmbyrne) and Alec Couros (@courosa) as a beginning for those still unfamiliar with Twitter. The ideas and resources they share on education are stimulating and informative. You will discover others as you survey your Twitter feed. It takes only a few minutes. I can also modestly add that I also contribute occasionally (@MikeMurray6)

I hope that every educator either blogs or will begin to blog in order to share thoughts, innovations and resources at greater length than a Tweet allows. That may be a second step for those new to social media. Educators also need to use the potential of videoconferencing using their laptops and software like Google hangout and Skype to extend the boundaries of their personal learning circles beyond the walls of their school to include colleagues not only elsewhere in the board, but those in other organizations who are facing similar challenges and opportunities. This is particularly essential for us in ETSB since the distances and time for travel between schools to say nothing of getting to meetings in other districts are so significant. If we can eliminate the travel we will have far more time for productive discussions and exchanges of ideas and resources. Yes, I agree that person-to-person meetings are more satisfying, but when we factor in the loss of time in travel, just think of how much more meaningful discussion, debate, exchange and learning can occur by meeting virtually.

So far I have mentioned only educators since students are already far ahead of most of us in adapting to the new environment. We need not only to catch up but also to adapt to take advantage of the potential that digital citizenship creates. As an educational system we need to support their acquired habits, providing reliable high-speed access in all our schools, personal e-mail and Twitter accounts for every student, and encourage them to use Twitter and other social media to exchange, learn, and communicate both in school and outside. We must never lose sight of the reality that much learning occurs outside the classroom but we should try to incorporate that learning into our pedagogy. Students should begin to blog early in their careers in order to write authentic material for real audiences, and to treat the Internet as a place to create and contribute rather than simply search and absorb.

Many students have screens of their own including cell phones, iPods, tablet computers and laptops. We need to incorporate those devices into our pedagogical practice in class. Keep in mind that a student with a cell phone or iPad can photograph a board full of notes in a second, and with a click, share those notes with classmates. They no longer consider a Power Point presentation a sophisticated use of technology, while teachers who play a video clip in class do nothing they cannot do on their own screens. Teachers would do better to provide a link in advance and lead a discussion on the meaning. The pace of their lives is far faster than in previous generations, and they have unlimited access to information and instantaneous communications. Our challenge is to make use of all that to attract and hold their interest through applications of the information, to teach collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking and communication skills while stimulating curiosity, imagination and innovation. It is a huge challenge and yet an inspiring one. Together we can build the plane while flying in it.  Oh yes, and one final thought. Change is here to stay and seems to be accelerating so we find ourselves in a situation like Alice in Wonderland, where we must run as fast as we can just to stay in the same place, and much faster than that to get anywhere else. Welcome to our (slightly scary) new year.