Over the past five weeks I’ve been talking to school leaders about where we’re heading and how they’re travelling in relation to their individual school goals. It’s important for schools to have measurable goals but these are simply a means to an end.
In my discussions, I have been reflecting on Bransford et al’s theory about building on what people know. For our school leaders, it’s about good learning and teaching. We know our conversations are enriched by good theory into practice and a solid framework on which to develop our goals.
Everybody wants to get to the end using existing paradigms but we need to first remind ourselves what is good learning and teaching in today’s world. These ‘informed’ goals become the touchstones for delivering our strategic intent: improved learning outcomes for all students and a rewarding working life for teachers.
Goood leaders know the value of building their professional skills and knowledge through reflective dialogue with peers and participating in ongoing professional development that benefits student learning. As a system, our goal is to ensure all schools hit their mark.
1 response so far ↓
Gary // March 6, 2008 at 7:46 pm |
Greg, I love the concept of ‘reflective dialogue’ you talk about. At our school we are embarking, with the leadership team, the idea of Learning Conversations. We have abandoned the old ‘unit evaluations’ in programs and replaced them with structured and focussed discussions. These discussions, have as there starting point, student work and assessment data. From there we work in partnership with teachers to reflect on their practice in the learning space. The professional learning for our leadership team has been how to plan and execute reflective Learning Conversations. I’ve tried to explore the key elements on my blog.(http://principalville.blogspot.com) In attempting ‘rich converations’ we have had to explore our own ‘learning theories.’ An exciting starting point to ensure we continually improve student outcomes!