Development of Proposal

Have had some more thoughts today on PLCs, PLTs and our College. Realised I will need to create a proposal for where to from here for what I would like to do. At the same time I have done background research with a range of staff and will continue to do so over the next few days. Mainly, clarifying the greatest barriers to success of our College as a PLC and the associated PLTs.

Had coffee with some teachers this afternoon about PLCs and PLTs and again it really confused alot of staff the conversation the other day of the purpose of the PLTs - individual learning or whole school approach or can we achieve both. Alot of staff that I spoke to are also confused about where visible learning fits within this new rock of professional learning at the College. I feel they can't see these very important connections.

So far based on that I feel that the Leader of Learning will have five very important roles among many others that are integral to plan for.

Firstly, managing the PLT process through structures and procedures. I believe that the LOL needs to address the staff before the end of the year even if its the three separate sector meetings and not all staff and clarify the difference between the college's PLC and these PLTs and how they differ with anything that we have had till now. I also believe that the LOL needs to stress that even though this process is mandatory it is a fantastic way to improve and grow as a teacher and professional and we would love it if staff could approach this with a positive and enthusiastic attitude and be open to working on our collegial culture while at the same time recognising that there is already alot of collegiality within the sectors - we want to embrace the nature of P-12. I think staff need to see this from the outset only as a positive experience and see the benefits that this could bring. Also feel that even though PLTs will be working towards a group goal that could benefit the College that teachers need to see the individual benefits to themselves as professionals and how it will improve their teaching and the learning outcomes of students particularly the growth.

I believe there needs to be a team leader or at least a team communicator for the LOL to manage the process and communicate with and have a coaching and mentoring role with each of these key people or another option that I feel would be great would be to rotate the role so all teachers are actively involved as well as taking ownership. I feel a real good way to set up would be to have a blurb and visual resource (diagram or video) for each of the PLTs for staff to understand them initially in preparation for Professional Development week in January and also how they are based on the College culture and data based to help the College meet goals based on their mission and purpose. Then the teams need to be established looking possibly at passion, interest, maybe even past exposure. Remembering that the steps that have been identified in the PLT overview are analysis, selection, study, planning, implementation, and reflection.

In the analysis section I feel that there really needs to be an entry event it may be parent based, student based or research based that is the starting point in the area of the PLT. A really good example I saw is where there where two video clips this particular one was on Problem Based Learning - both context driven- one, where an older student suggested what worked in the classroom on PBL and and what the student felt didn't as well as how they felt it improved learning and the second which was a range of students talking about what they knew where the key components of PBL. I feel a familiar starting point for all teachers in the PLT is very important and a good base. I also believe that there needs to be really simple goals each time the group meets.

Secondly, selection this I feel is a very hard stage as in my involvement in our own shared learning team this was our most difficult aspect - What where we actually looking at? I feel solid templates will be required here to help PLTs to focus their views and come up with a mission, goal statement or synopsis of their project which could then be shared back with the LOL. Across the selection and the next phase of planning I would like to incorporate some technology tools for time poor teachers to share their ideas one possible suggestion would be to use scrumblr which is a open source interactive whiteboard tool where people can brainstorm I really feel a nice start during this phase would be: know, needs to know and next steps or answer garden which is a minimalistic brainstorming tool. In this planning phase I feel an easy way to share ideas and possible options would be a padlet for each PLT which is where they could share ideas and further research.

I also feel that for this first time as a PLT so there is not an excessive amount of wasted time a place with some starting research possibly created by LOL online. This will give them a starting place to do further research in the study phase - for accountability and possibly recording the process someone to record the process electronically such as I did its not for everyone but there might be someone keen from each team.

In the planning phase groups need to use a given template to plan what process or actions they are going to implement in the classroom based on their selection and study and what the KPIs for this plan are going to be. There needs to be a range of options for this as it might be the same strategies or activities or projects implemented in each classroom or out of it or they might use a range of strategies to see their impact in different classrooms or may be a whole group project there should be some flexibility in this area. In the implementation phase there needs to be some KPIs or some accountability to achieving those results and they need as part of there initial group norms to be a way to make sure all teachers are involved and they don't just sit on the sidelines especially in this phase as might happen if the groups are too big. And lastly, the reflection phase which basic template should be quite similar across PLTs and then also a feedback proforma which allows staff to collate their thoughts and the whole project to report back and educate the rest of the college. Upon discussion with some junior years staff there is some fear around the presentation back to the college and the time required to create a presentation so possibly for the LOL to do some work around this.

This is just some initial thoughts on how an effective PLT process could be run as evidenced above there is alot of groundwork which would need to occur between now and professional development week in January to make it a real successful and viable endeavour though I think it has the power to be something awesome.

The second, I think really important job or role of the LOL is 'De-Privatisation of Practice' across the College its about really creating that collaborative culture with a staff dedicated to continuous improvement through collegiality. Really love the idea of a pineapple chart that I have discussed in a previous post as a starting point - it will be a little more difficult in the junior years based on release time but I feel a very valuable activity where initially one empty timetable is put on a central location in the College and people voluntarily write down either an interesting concept they are teaching they would like to share or a teaching strategy that has worked for them. Then that teacher know other staff might come and have a look - could be no-one or could be many people. Staff might just drop in for a few minutes or they may stay and watch the whole lesson . There is no formalised instructional coaching practice its just a way to open the doors of our classroom and share our teaching practice. Some people might not feel comfortable like this and just approach people directly one on one but I think this would be a great start to developing further that great collaborative culture. Also continuing with the ideas of instructional coaching to some level within the college would also be great and utilising the swivl we have in the College to reflect on our own teaching. I would love by the end of Semester 1, maybe even as part of our professional goal setting have every staff member commit to doing at least one thing differently in the classroom, someone has been in your classroom and you have visited someone from a different sector. I think this would be a great first step to developing the collaborative culture of the College. It is probably too ambitious but I think it is doable and something to aim for.

The third main area is leading the development of a College Learning Framework which will focus on a whole College approach to building students' autonomy as learners, and to teaching students the skills and behaviours of effective learners which I feel includes being critical thinkers. I believe the first steps in this is clarifying with leadership what they want and what they envision and then establish a committee of interested parties not too big but with representation across the whole College analysing the history, the mission and core values of the College and then planning what we value and what we want to see in every classroom hopefully incorporating some key elements from Visible Learning that are consistent across the college.

The fourth area that I believe is very important is a coaching and mentoring role with the middle management of the College. I would like to utilise Cognitive Coaching and work with key stakeholders in developing and implementing quality programs that continue focus on High quality standards for students learning.

The fifth area that I also believe is important is continual opportunities for professional learning for staff that are interested so I would like to do a PD club/cafe after school not specifically technology focused but one where different strategies can be demonstrated or shown to improve student learning on a range of topics that teachers can opt in or opt out of.

There are obviously other responsibilities as part of the position, these are just some initial thoughts so far as first steps forward for a possible Leader of Learning. It is a very exciting role and whatever happens the College will be an exciting time to be apart of this process.