THE LEARNER...OUR FOCUS

I recently spent a week in Aruba working with the Ministry of Education kicking off their strategic National Educational Plan (2007- 2017) titled, “The Learner: Our Focus”. Each day brought 1/5 of the island’s educators to a seminar where the national plan, which has been designed over 18 months, was presented along with my sessions on backwards planning from student achievement…to student change…to teacher change…to changes in staff relationships…to changes in leadership. I also presented a workshop on Tapping Student Effort…. Increasing Student Achievement.

Aruba’s plan was built in a highly participatory process involving interviews of students, parents, educators, business and community leaders. Through the process they developed a vision statement for schools:

Our graduate is….
“a responsible, satisfied, global citizen, who is a life-long learner and contributes to the community’s quality of life”.

Here are Aruba’s descriptions for terms used in the vision statement.
How do your system’s and personal visions compare?

A global citizen:
-is like a cat that falls on her paws no matter where you throw her (old Aruban saying);
-can communicate well in 4 languages (Papiamento, Dutch, English, Spanish);
-displays proficiency in technical skills (telephone, computer), as well as academic, social and communication skills;
-seeks to be informed and knows how to look for information;
-has a global outlook;
-knows and understands what is going on around him or her;
-shows flexibility in the face of change and is able to adapt to different situations.

A satisfied citizen:
· is confident and content with self and her/his environment;
· feels good about own achievements, in the past, present and future;
· is content and proud about own abilities, what she/he knows and is at present, and what she/he can achieve in the future;
· achieves her/his goal, expresses and accepts herself/himself as she/he is and is accepted as is by others.

A life-long learner:
-has kept the desire to learn more, know more, and keep on progressing.
-Contributes to the community’s quality oflife:
-gives and helps in the community with all that is good.

Here are the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that Aruba will have as a focus:

Thinking and Learning Skills
Global Thinking-the graduate is an Olympian thinker, systems thinker; thinks critically, problem solves and creates solutions.
Effective Communication Skills- the graduate is a multilingual person who can read, write, speak proficiently in at least four languages, Papiamento, English, Dutch and Spanish; and observes, listens, and articulates thoughts well.
Ability to Work in a Team -the graduate collaborates, demonstrates respect for one another, shares and helps each other, and gives and takes feedback.
Flexibility and creativity-the graduate shows openness and responsiveness to new and diverse perspectives and demonstrates originality and inventiveness in work.
Initiative- the graduate demonstrates ability to define, prioritize and complete tasks without direct oversight.

Life Skills
Leadership skills -the graduate is able to mobilize others to achieve a common goal and is able to use interpersonal and problem-solving skills to serve the benefit of the whole rather than just self-benefit.
Ability to apply knowledge into practice-the graduate is able translate knowledge and ideas in practical ways.
Effective and productive work habits -the graduate is punctual and reliable, and is able to use time efficiently and manage workload effectively.
Ambition and self-driven -the graduate demonstrates initiative to advance professional skill and knowledge levels.
Positive mental attitude and behavior-the graduate demonstrates ability to focus on the future, on solutions, and look for the good as well as valuable lessons in any situation.
Self-confidence and self-motivation -the graduate demonstrates realistic expectations based on own skills and experience, and puts in the effort and preparation to reach a planned goal.
Ability to adapt to change -the graduate is able to adapt to a variety of roles and responsibilities and meet changing priorities with an ability to tolerate ambiguity.
Accountability for own actions -the graduate makes responsible decisions and creates his/her own solutions to problems.
Integrity -the graduate makes ethically informed judgments and aligns speech with deeds.
Social responsibility for civic participation -the graduate actively offers services for the wellbeing of the (global) community

ICT Literacy
Information and communications technology -the graduate utilizes the internet as a learning and research tool: knows how to get the right information for study, work, and private use.

Knowledge
Global awareness of issues affecting the present and future generations- the graduate is aware of the world as one interconnected whole and how global issues affect him/her and his/her local community, understands and appreciates intercultural differences between him/her and others; and has a strong national identity.

Health, fitness and well-being -the graduate is capable of making health improving life choices based on exposure to preventive physical and mental health measures, such as healthy diet, nutrition, exercise, risk avoidance and stress reduction and the ability to access health information and services.

I commended the educators of Aruba for committing to this vision. I shared my belief that the collaboration of the educators will be critical to the achievement of this goal!

If there are many teachers like the one who sent me the following note, I am sure the learners in Aruba will be the focus and will extend their achievement.

Dear Mr. Barkley,

Today I've attended your The Learner.. Our Focus meeting at the Marriot Hotel in Aruba.You have made me really enthusiastic about achieving my own goals. I just graduated from the Pabo, in Holland, so now I'm a teacher. But I really would love to just study some more. All the things you've told us today really made me think about my own future. I really want to pick up a new study. But what I'd like to hear from you is what you have studied, because I really want to do something with the things you have told us today. (My English is not very good. So I hope you understand my question!)
I want to thank you for making me think again about my future and realizing I am not at the highest level that I could achieve. I want to set a higher goal for myself!

LOOKING AT LEADERSHIP

Two of my colleagues, Jim and Lorene Malanowski , flagged me to check out the announcement that Mark Wilson, the principal of Morgan County High School, had been chosen as the 2009 High School Principal of the year. Jim is a teacher at the high school and the Malanowski’s daughter, Emily, is a student there.

The National Association of Secondary School Principals reported that Wilson wants all students to be treated as exceptions, because as he sees it, each student brings a unique set of strengths and needs.

Listening to an interview with Wilson on the NASSP site, I heard him describe several programs in place that are all driven by his beliefs and vision. He stresses the need to examine why you want to change, before considering how to change. (Take the time to listen to the interview.)

Elements of Morgan High School’s approach include:
-A hybrid schedule making time for “what they decide is important”
-An advisory program
-A continual grading approach
-Teacher collaboration...created by students arriving at school at 9 am one day a week while teachers report at 7:30 am and have 90 minutes for collaborative planning.

Education Week (Sept 10,2008) reported a few of the school’s results:

* Graduation rate has risen from 71 to 82 percent.
* AP or IB course takers from 30 to 389
* Dramatic reduction in the achievement gap between black and white students
* 77% of seniors going to two or four year colleges

Mr. Wilson said his intent was to create more opportunity and higher expectations for students, and more collaboration among teachers. To do that, he looked to elementary and middle schools.

“A lot of what we need to do well, they’ve been doing for a long time,” he said. “Particularly working together toward a common goal, as elementary teachers do, and interdisciplinary work, as middle school teachers do. If we can do those things and have the heart of a kindergarten teacher, combined with the rigor of a high school curriculum, we’ve got something pretty special.”

Jim Malanowski teaches at Morgan County High School and had this to say about working with Mark Wilson:

“I came to Morgan County High School to do Mark Wilson 'a favor' after he had a teacher resign the day before school started. I literally took the job at 9:00 p.m. on a Sunday night and was sitting in a faculty meeting at 8:00 a.m. the next morning. That was four years ago. I have stayed here because I’ve never worked in an environment quite like this. Everyday, I get to work with 'DWITs' who are willing to 'Do What It Takes' to get the job done. That feeling is what keeps all of us here, I guess. Mark has done an exceptional job of selecting faculty based on their willingness to contribute and then supports them unconditionally as they do what they were hired to do.

In addition, he is the epitome of flexibility. He thinks in terms of 'cans' rather than 'can’ts' and options rather than barriers, then sets about finding ways to make things happen. In addition, he is a dream maker. It doesn’t matter how small or large your dream, he has an unbelievable knack for helping you reach it. Last year, a week after I assumed the role of AP Coordinator, he asked me to meet with some parents of a student who had been home schooled until his freshman year. As I talked with them, I shared the 'normal' options for freshmen at MCHS. As the conversation developed I realized the parents wanted much more for their child. I brought Dr. Wilson into the conversation and in minutes, instead of taking our typical foreign language options of Spanish or French, the boy was signed up for Chinese and the parents were paying to bring a tutor to the school twice a week. This year, the same student is leaving school early once a week to take Farsi at the University of Georgia. Mark is extremely interested in extending our students as far as they can reach. He has opened up AP courses to anyone who is willing to take the challenge, and as a result our AP courses offerings have gone from four courses two years ago to 14 this year.

Finally, he’s relentless in doing the work at hand. In my mind, that’s why I got an email from him last night time stamped at 1:23 a.m. then later received one from a teacher sent at 2:34 a.m. His attitude, his commitment, and his work ethic are an example that can’t be ignored. It’s contagious.

I’m in my 38th year of education. If we can talk Mark into staying, I think I’ll do it for another 38.”

The Harvard Business Review (Sept 2008) features an article by Daniel Coleman and Richard Boyatzis titled “Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership” where they identify the importance of social Intelligence for effective leadership. [You’ll find an interview with Coleman and elements of social intelligence.]
As I read about Mark Wilson and Morgan County High School, the phrase that I often use when speaking about leadership seemed to shine through, "model the model”. If relationships between teachers and students are critical to learning, then relationships should be modeled between administrators and teachers. If we have high expectations for students, we need to have them for teachers and principals too. Notice that along with high expectations at Morgan County High School comes extra support for students.
The Harvard article identifies new brain evidence “that the brain is peppered with neurons that mimic, or mirror, what another one does. When we consciously or unconsciously detect someone else’s emotions through their actions, our mirror neurons reproduce those emotions. Collectively, these neurons create an instant sense of shared experience.”
Consider what you are modeling today.
Here is what Lorene Malanowski had to say about Principal Wilson from a parent’s perspective:
"Mark Wilson, known affectionately as 'Doc', is so energetic, positive and determined to help all of his students reach their potential. To do that for my daughter, Emily, he found out this past summer that she was interested in going into broadcast journalism. This year, on Monday morning during the school wide announcements, she has her own segment, called 'Mondays with Mal' where she directs, produces, and edits a feature of her choosing. She has interviewed other students in the school about their summer adventures or about their hobbies outside of school. She is getting great experience doing this and I am so thankful to Doc for providing it to her. He is very involved with the students – he is usually in the school play and I know as a principal he has no extra time to do that. Last year, several students decided they wanted to put on a concert that showcased the different talents in the school…faculty AND students…with the proceeds going to a local charity. Doc was thrilled and allowed the students to go for it. It was a GIANT success. Doc is approachable by both students and parents and works from the viewpoint that we’re all on the same team. I am so delighted to have him as our principal."

Sounds like social intelligence to me.

OBSERVATIONS OF A K12 VERTICAL PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY

I recently spent one hour observing a team meeting at the Gibsonton Elementary School in Hillsborough County, Tampa, Florida. It was only the third meeting of the team which was newly formed as the school adopted vertical teaming plan. I was impressed at the collegial dialogue that occurred and the amount of ideas that were shared in a one hour time frame by such a new team.
Highlighted below are the comments I shared with the team. I have added some additional information for your thinking.

The team and each individual member functioned as a professional learning team. They individually took interest and responsibility in the success of each other and the students that the team serves.
Here are specifics I noted:

Vulnerability-Teachers were comfortable saying, “ I don’t understand this” or “I have a question about how to…” or, “At this point, I don’t know what to do next for this student” and “ I need help”.

Just like in our classrooms, learning is enhanced when learners are comfortable being vulnerable. When a student can raise a hand and say to the teacher, ” I’m not getting this” an observer knows that learning will happen. The teacher has created an environment where that student’s vulnerability will speed the learning process. Students don’t have to wait for the teacher to discover that understanding isn’t happening. The teacher can adjust quickly to the student’s needs.

When PLC’s create that level of trust among members, vulnerability emerges and teacher learning propels. Patrick Lencioni in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team(Jossey-Bass), pg.97 identifies the following behaviors of team members where trust is present.

• Ask for help
• Accept questions
• Take risks in offering feedback and assistance
• Tap into each other’s skills and experiences
• Admit weaknesses and mistakes

Respect-It is clear that each teacher wants each of her colleagues to be successful. They are rooting for each other. No competition. This respect encourages the vulnerability. Teachers worked with and thought out loud about a problem a colleague shared.

Collegiality- Teachers are using the input of each other to decide “what to do next”. Students will receive the “teams best thinking”. Teachers tapped each other’s expertise.

I have been promoting the statement that “Teaching is a Team Sport”. That really captures what I observed in this meeting. One teacher shared observations about a child whose behaviors were very different from other children and her past experiences as a teacher. Rather quickly the expertise of the teacher of the Emotional Behavioral Disorder class emerged and the whole group listened intently. As the teacher saw her input being valued, she volunteered to do an observation of the child, providing more information for the next team meeting.

Here’s a Roland Barth comment on collegiality:
“Above all, collegiality means rooting for the success of one another. If every adult in the school is rooting for you, when the alarm clock rings at six a.m., you jump out of bed to go to that school .“

Mentoring- New teachers were encouraged, affirmed, given approval for asking questions, and were active thinkers/problem solvers on their issues as well as on issues shared by experienced colleagues.

When I am conducing mentor training, I frequently comment that new teachers should be mentored by everyone and that the job of the official mentor is to mentor the system…. that is, get everyone to support the new teacher.

Teachers on a vertical team have an additional, somewhat self serving, reason to mentor new teachers on their team; “I am getting your students next year” or “You have the students I worked so hard with last year”. I believe this shared ownership of students promotes mentoring relationships.

What I valued most was the fact that the veteran teachers modeled an openness to learn from and be assisted by their colleagues. New teachers quickly pick up that it is not only OK to ask for help, but it is a professional behavior.

Professional Development- The reading coach had the opportunity to respond to questions regarding instruction and the chance to extend understanding. Job embedded professional development… I call it “just in time learning”. We tend to learn most when we can rather immediately apply the learning.

Often when training reading or instructional coaches I get the question, “How can I get to everyone?”. I frequently describe the coach as being similar to the plate spinner at the circus. Get a group of teachers working together on a new learning, pull out and get another group started. Then, on to the next. You’ve got to return from time to time to keep a group functioning. PLC’s are a natural way for coaches to extend their impact and a great opportunity to differentiate professional development.

Fun-I believe the teachers I observed enjoyed the professional dialogue!

Judy Willis,M.D.,M.ED (www.RADTeach.com) provides the following connection to fun in the classroom and learning:

“Dopamine is one of the brain’s most important neurotransmitters,
proteins that carry information across spaces between nerve endings. When you can incorporate pleasurable learning experiences and activities into lessons, the dopamine released is then available to increase pleasure, attention, and memory.”

PLC’s can be pleasurable places for teachers to learn.

When teachers share student successes that were generated by the strategies developed at a PLC meeting, the entire team shares in the celebration. Celebration will reinforce all the components I’ve identified above.

I’ve now seen a PLC become very effective quicker than I thought possible.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES

In the past few weeks, I have worked with several groups examining the structures and skill sets that promote Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) focused on student achievement. Working as a facilitator with the NJ Professional Teaching Standards Board , I have been part of their discussions to have most professional development planning done at the building level with much use of PLCs. A professional development partnership in New Jersey is completing “ A Common Language for Professional Learning Communities.” I will look to share that with you as soon as I can.

An article in ASCD’s Education Update (Aug 2008) Professional Learning Communities: School Leaders’ Perspectives, defines a PLC as “ a collegial group of administrators and staff who are united in their commitment to student learning. Administrators and staff work collaboratively to create shared goals, assess student understanding and learning, and improve their own teaching practices.” The article adds Richard DuFour’s view that a true PLC follows principals that center on student learning, a culture of collaboration, and results.

I designed and facilitated a PLC team activity for Rochester City Schools (NY) Summer Leadership Conference around the application of brain-based research to the design and delivery of school-based professional development. Participants shared existing knowledge and experiences with brain-based research, jigsawed an article by Dr Judith Willis (RAD Teaching-on page 4 of publication), examined existing school practices in light of the article’s suggestions, and applied ideas to the design of upcoming professional development activities at their schools.

As participants debriefed this PLC activity, we examined the following from the NSDC website:

• Staff development that has as its goal high levels of learning for all students, teachers, and administrators requires a form of professional learning that is quite different from the workshop-driven approach. The most powerful forms of staff development occur in ongoing teams that meet on a regular basis, preferably several times a week, for the purposes of learning, joint lesson planning, and problem solving. These teams, often called learning communities or communities of practice, operate with a commitment to the norms of continuous improvement and experimentation and engage their members in improving their daily work to advance the achievement of school district and school goals for student learning.

Due to sharing my experiences with the implementation of vertical teams at Twin Lakes Elementary School in Tampa, FL during the last four years, approximately ten client elementary schools from FL, NY, and AR are experimenting with vertical teams this year. Teachers on vertical teams make a natural PLC that meets DuFour’s elements of student learning, collaboration, and results. Consider these comments from Karen Allen, the principal at James R Tate Elementary in Van Buren, AR:

Just wanted to let you know we have successfully worked out a vertical team schedule for Tate. The teams will be K-2 and 3-4 teams for the first semester and K-1 and 2-4 teams for the second semester. This will allow second grade to understand the urgency to push their kids a little farther.

We shared the schedule with the teachers yesterday and it was very “easy”. I have heard no negative comments yet.
What they did like was the opportunity to go deeper in their team meetings by discussing conceptual knowledge and learning instead of very prescribed “this is what third grade needs to do here, for this long, at this time, yadda, yadda, yadda…” We decided we have moved beyond that as a school.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your expertise with the coaches and me at our training in Van Buren. I am very excited about the changes and I believe it will redefine the coaches’ role in our building. Never before have all our conversations revolved around student learning like they did this week. It is a great time!


Peer coaching is a natural outgrowth of PLCs as members explore teaching and learning directly for new insights. Instructional coaches can often use PLCs as a tool for expanding their impact beyond working with individual teachers. PLC’s can help school leaders communicate the message, “TEACHING IS A TEAM SPORT ”