What fuels
your fire, your passion, your need for change or success, and ultimately your
actions? An old TV ad once featured the slogan, “The More You Know…”
but really it was more than knowing; it implied that the more you know,
the more or better you do. Why be good when you can be great? How does
finding and utilizing our fuel help us go from “Good to Great?”
Kansans Can is the motto that the Kansas
State Department of Education (KSDE) promotes to encourage all Kansas
educators and students to shoot for the stars, be the best they can be, and
find success. As KSDE has rolled out the
new accreditation model, commonly referred to as KESA, we now see a subtle
shift in our thinking and actions. Kansans Can is forward thinking and implies
we will and are able, but with the
new guidelines for accreditation, our mission is now one of action or doing. Perhaps it might look like Kansans Can Do, or Kansans Make it Happen? While
neither suggestion is as catchy as the Kansans
Can slogan, the point is we are now in a time of doing rather than talking
about doing. And doing requires ongoing, effective professional learning to fuel our
action.
Schools
all over Kansas have been walking through the accreditation model this past year
to varying depths and degrees as they clarify their status and determine where
their jumping off point will be. Some
are doing it administratively or with leadership teams, while others have
completely involved their whole staff. There
is much to learn about the process, and ultimately about ourselves as an
educational system. What kind of
professional learning has taken place?
What will be required in the future?
What kind of professional learning
will fuel our action to start and sustain the changes we will make?
KSDE
defines Rigor (one of the R’s within
the KESA framework) as:
“A relentless pursuit of that which
challenges and provides opportunity to demonstrate growth and learning – is
essential in addressing the needs of our rapidly expanding society and world”
Professional Learning
is specifically mentioned as a part of the Rigor
Framework; as it should be. Where
else would we address the “relentless pursuit of that which challenges us”
or “demonstrate growth and learning?”
Furthermore, it is effective
professional learning that will drive the changes that are both needed and
required to transform schools into places where ALL students will learn and
find ways to be successful in the world beyond high school. Therefore it is the charge of schools across
the state to plan and provide effective professional learning experiences that “addresses
the needs of our rapidly expanding society and world.”
William Daggett’s 4 quadrant Framework
of Rigor and Relevance, demonstrates the need for professional learning
experiences that take educators beyond the knowledge realm. Initially gaining knowledge and assimilating
it is a big first step, but if we want it to make a difference in our practice
and student results, then we must turn our knowledge into action. Application (doing) is the ultimate goal if
we are to indeed create systemic change that can be sustained over time. Daggett notes in his Application Model that there are layers to applying what we
know:
(1)
Knowledge in one discipline
(2)
Apply in discipline
(3)
Apply across disciplines
(4)
Apply to real-world predictable situations
(5)
Apply to real-world unpredictable situations
These are goals we seek for our students as well as ourselves as we go
beyond being satisfied with obtaining knowledge and look to apply what we know
to real world situations that may or may not be predictable. The goal is no longer knowing, but rather one
of doing. This understanding fuels
our quest for the tools to create meaningful change.
Learning Forward Kansas (LFKS)
has undertaken the challenge of providing fuel for effective professional
learning in Kansas. We see our role
as one of advocating and supporting Kansas Educators in these challenging times
of change and limited resources. We have
developed protocol resources that engage staff around KESA and other important
work. These are available on the LFKS
website. In fact a Volume 2 of the KESA Guide will be published this fall.
Through the Learning Forward
Foundation grant, LFKS has created a video series, Inspired to Learn, that uses Kansas exemplars – featuring both
individuals and schools – who are leading the way in constructing effective
professional learning experiences for their staff. The first 2 videos of this series are available
on the LFKS
website that address “WHY Professional Learning,” and “WHAT
is Professional Learning?” The next
video currently in production, will deal with HOW effective professional
learning can occur. Resource guides
accompany each video to facilitate the use of each video before, during and
after viewing.
Learning opportunities are also available throughout each school year to
provide knowledge and support – the fuel if you will - for creating and
leading effective professional learning.
These sessions focus on topics most important to Kansas educators such as
KESA, effective feedback, engaging staff in meaningful work, and achieving
student success. More information about
upcoming sessions can be found on the LFKS website as they become available.
Find your professional learning fuel that will spark change,
improve practice, and lead to student success.
How can LFKS help? What more do
you want to know before you can effectively do? No matter what,
begin. Act. Reflect. Revise. Keep moving forward. Goals begin with the first step. We are
reminded by what Peter Drucker taught,
“Perhaps the best and only way to predict
the future is to create it.”
We would encourage you to fuel
your action to begin the change process and to sustain the implementation
of strategies that will lead to achieving desired goals and systemic changes.
These actions will take you from "Good to Great" because ultimately, one becomes "Great by Choice."
Resources:
Good to Great,
by Jim Collins (2001)
Great
by Choice, by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen (2011) – includes Peter Drucker
quote
Rigor/Relevance Framework,
International Center for Leadership in Education, William Daggett
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