tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60405248313378780072024-03-17T00:22:23.433+05:30Tech TransformationThe future, nowMaggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.comBlogger1548125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-17719222360791614742024-01-05T16:47:00.002+05:302024-01-05T16:47:54.438+05:30Parents as risk takers<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbYH2aFRH1T8T47HKkReG50tCmKalLn608PmKk2ldO-IxgVvA9PAWhrQxpQcW-b8Z6siwsfXaa9_mak6vHoG6YAkY822YVzVRdAoRG99CBiDdPFLxD41K_i4QQb7HqyQgCpu1JUfyMXFNbxNXyjLVSzO0stm0x0IZIxs3Bjw1Lv4uDr-C2LrZQXc2DBt27/s1280/girl-1641215_1280.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbYH2aFRH1T8T47HKkReG50tCmKalLn608PmKk2ldO-IxgVvA9PAWhrQxpQcW-b8Z6siwsfXaa9_mak6vHoG6YAkY822YVzVRdAoRG99CBiDdPFLxD41K_i4QQb7HqyQgCpu1JUfyMXFNbxNXyjLVSzO0stm0x0IZIxs3Bjw1Lv4uDr-C2LrZQXc2DBt27/w200-h133/girl-1641215_1280.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>I'm a parent myself and so I know how stressful it can be to choose a school for my children. In my case, because I'm an educator and my children attended the same schools where I worked, it was also a case of trying to find a job I would like in a country where we could live easily as a family, as well as one that offered the IB programmes that we were all engaged in - this narrowed down the search considerably! In my role as a school visitor, I meet with parents in every school I visit and the first question I invariably ask is, "Why did you choose this school for your children?" I typically get similar answers - some parents intentionally sought out an IB school as their children were already in one in a previous country or location, some parents found a school that was close to where they were living, some parents tell me that they didn't really have much choice as the school depends on benefits offered by their employer, some parents talk about the reputation of the school and for others it seems it was just luck. There has also been a time when I asked this question and I was told by a father that he actually was using this school as a "holding pattern" as his children were on the waiting list for a more prestigious school in town. Having said this, he went on to say that his children were so happy at the school that he had now changed him mind about moving them when a space became available. Invariably parents talk about the change they have seen in their children, the increase in motivation and interest in what their children are learning at school, the skills that their children are developing which will benefit them in the future and the values that are embedded in an IB education. Sometimes I meet a parents who tell me that they went to an IB school themselves and so wanted that choice for their children. Most parents, it seems, are risk-takers: even if they don't know much about the IB itself, they appreciate that the traditional system of education that they went through is not the best preparation for a changing world, and they are therefore seeking something different for their own children.<p></p><p>The parents often ask me question as well - especially once they know that I'm also a parent and that my children went to schools and moved through the PYP, MYP and DP. Of course they want to be reassured that the choices they made for their own children were good ones. Up until recently I have not had hard data to back up my responses in these conversations, but recently I came across an IB publication about research on the programmes and I downloaded and read the PYP document. Here are the key findings from research:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>A study in public elementary schools in the USA found improvement in school climate in PYP schools - citing increased attention to social-emotional learning and the whole child, transdisciplinary instruction and greater teacher collaboration due to the requirements of the PYP. After a school was authorised the study showed significant improvements in safety, caring relationships, fairness, parent involvement and a decrease in bullying.</li><li>In Colombia a study of PYP students shown the overwhelming majority (89.3%) enjoyed being a student in their school.</li><li>A study of the PYP exhibition in China, Kenya, Mexico, Russia and the UK showed that the exhibition helped develop critical thinking and international mindedness.</li><li>In Australia, a study about wellbeing showed PYP activities and practices promote wellbeing and again indicated more positive school climates, higher levels of teacher engagement, student participation and wellbeing.</li><li>A global study has shown robust results with regards to the assessment literacy of PYP teachers and assessment cultures within PYP schools, based on a holistic and ongoing approach to assessment - the researchers found a rich array of assessment activities and strategies as well as a strong grasp of the evidence required to assess student growth in knowledge, understanding and skills.</li><li>Also in Australia, students at PYP government schools performed at higher levels in reading and numeracy in Years 3 and 5 when compared with students in similar Australian schools.</li><li>In New Zealand, achievement in PYP schools generally exceeded achievement when compared to schools with similar student populations.</li></ul><p></p><p></p><div>It's good, of course, to have the results of research studies carried out from around the world, but I think the biggest advocates of a PYP education are the students themselves. Over and over I hear that the students are happy and engaged in their learning, and as a parent I look at my own children, now successful adults in their 30s, and feel thankful that we were also risk takers in choosing to live and work in various countries in Europe and Asia when they were younger.</div><div><br /></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/ddimitrova-1155171/">Daniela Dimitrova on Pixabay</a>. Free for use under the Pixabay <a href="https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/">Content License</a></span><p></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-36669068154516266462024-01-01T17:31:00.002+05:302024-01-01T17:36:07.833+05:30Supporting wellbeing in schools<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3DVdNhyUuECghRloyOL3SXDIdKvW573wlRNKTGQ__F6cgvArVQ9Ha-ZdFoPMTqSLrz11cadCOQ5oZ9cmgtyuqps9vAy-RCyCTaMwT69SfVfVT3nGQNFDgobnbSWTpV1oS1cHZ3JNfqV0uhT-0O5kZAG9vNMGyMAQg3yflRZDovTpvHbknoof1ueq79Cu/s1280/surface-5534047_1280.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3DVdNhyUuECghRloyOL3SXDIdKvW573wlRNKTGQ__F6cgvArVQ9Ha-ZdFoPMTqSLrz11cadCOQ5oZ9cmgtyuqps9vAy-RCyCTaMwT69SfVfVT3nGQNFDgobnbSWTpV1oS1cHZ3JNfqV0uhT-0O5kZAG9vNMGyMAQg3yflRZDovTpvHbknoof1ueq79Cu/w200-h113/surface-5534047_1280.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>Over the past few years research studies have shown the important link between wellbeing and learning outcomes. Even before the pandemic wellbeing has been shown to impact cognitive functioning, learning engagement, focus, mood and behaviour, mental health and a more responsible and healthy lifestyle. As I visit IB schools for evaluation visits, many of them have Programme Development Plans around wellbeing, in some cases as a response to students returning to physical schooling from online learning with issues related to fear, stress and anxiety.<p></p><p>Around the world, countries, schools and families dealt with the Covid pandemic in different ways. In some countries schools did not ever go online, and in others there was online education for certain age groups and not others. What is clear is that some countries were hit much harder than others, and measures taken were more extreme. We know that students lost family members, teachers and school administrators which led to a heightened sense of fear of the future. We also know that awareness about viral infections, how our bodies function and how we deal with difficult emotions has also increased, and many people have actually developed new healthy habits and behaviours as a result. Many schools have also intentionally promoted connectedness, and open and positive dialogues about wellbeing. In addition schools have identified that some community members have experienced more difficulty and stress and have added specialist support services to meet the needs of these members.</p><p>School closures affected over 190 countries and 1.5 billion students. However various studies have also shown that there are strategies that can mitigate the impact of this on academic performance. Although some students may have lost 1/3rd of expected progress in reading and maths during school closures, we also know that students did learn a lot informally during school lockdowns. In addition questions have been raised about what the role of education is when the future is unknown and complex, and alternative ways to learn and assess learning have been explored. There have been many positive learning experiences during online learning and schools can build new learning experiences from these. Assisting students in setting new individual learning goals, and celebrating small achievements can build confidence and motivation at this time.</p><p>One of the biggest challenges learners faced was that of uncertainty - not just about what was going to happen in school but also in life in general. One of the IB learner profile attributes is risk-taker, the capacity to approach uncertainty with forethought and determination ... to become resilient in the face of challenges and change", and yet not everyone is open to new experiences or can tolerate ambiguity. A continued state of uncertainly may affect wellbeing and the giving up of school-related goals that were once seen as important and meaningful. The world continues to change rapidly, so learning new things and dealing with unfamiliar situations is going to become increasingly important - in fact what has happened in schools can be seen as a valuable preparation for life in a changing world. </p><p>Looking back, it is clear that no country or school had the perfect response to navigating the changes in education in recent years. In the IB publication <a href="https://resources.ibo.org/data/g_0_iboxx_amo_2011_2_e.pdf">Why wellbeing matters during a time of crisis</a> we are presented with the following strategies:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Learn from the crisis</b> - there are opportunities for significant innovation and development and it is important to reflect on past actions, what worked well, what should be kept, and what could have been done differently.</li><li><b>Become confident with uncertainty</b> - it is important to embrace the unknown and to foster the creation of new routines. Learning about complexity, sensitive and controversial issues may help strengthen our tolerance for ambiguity and new challenges.</li><li><b>Invest in wellbeing routines</b> - such as strengthening relationships and creating a safe and trusting learning environment. </li><li><b>Re-design a wellbeing pedagogy</b> - encourage students to set individual goals and embed wellbeing practices into the school experience. Foster a sense of belonging. Plan activities and workload so that all members of the community are not overwhelmed by demands.</li><li><b>Dare to experiment, share and innovate</b> - trust your capacity to make the best decisions for your specific context.</li></ul><div>During the pandemic, schools were champions in providing wellbeing support for students, teachers and parents. The main challenge now is to capitalise on this experience to embed wellbeing into the day to day life of a school in order to support a healthy, flourishing learning environment for all students.</div><div><br /></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/healthguru-18125424/">Healthguru on Pixabay</a>. Free for use under the Pixabay <a href="https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/">Content License</a></span><p></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-41038689332106143502023-12-31T22:39:00.009+05:302023-12-31T22:50:21.151+05:30Learning loss<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Q0AJo8Yqk3YERE7VS6niG0PgP8LDDhTn0F8OFk_shIoetyh-d7zIt9WPXWS8uW0HegW9ztySTWGtIBXALJgaSMskeVlcEMdbRPt_VTCAlg8pEYftpKPgmv8epLqiXGaJ_nYA73Pkz6VZOJnt40Wy15qAkW6cNJ2U5tj0S_4CdfMM6pNFRlCCCi1em5Vw/s1280/kids-1093758_1280.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Q0AJo8Yqk3YERE7VS6niG0PgP8LDDhTn0F8OFk_shIoetyh-d7zIt9WPXWS8uW0HegW9ztySTWGtIBXALJgaSMskeVlcEMdbRPt_VTCAlg8pEYftpKPgmv8epLqiXGaJ_nYA73Pkz6VZOJnt40Wy15qAkW6cNJ2U5tj0S_4CdfMM6pNFRlCCCi1em5Vw/w200-h133/kids-1093758_1280.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>When I visit IB schools as part of an evaluation team, I always carefully read through what the school has shared in its self-study questionnaire. Invariably, when asked about challenges the schools have faced in the 5 year period under review, we are told about the impact of unplanned school closures and remote learning during the pandemic. We hear about the loss of learning and the lack of development of many key social, communication and self-management skills. <p></p><p>In my local schools I hear about this a lot too. There is a government initiative to employ tutors to help students "catch up" with "lost learning". The question is, what is actually meant by this, and is tutoring going to help?</p><p>At my previous school in India we did some research into learning loss as part of the R&D core team - this was before the pandemic so we focused on what happened during the long summer vacation - and as a result of this we temporarily prototyped a new school year calendar. Looking back, it seems that most of the data we considered came from the USA where there appeared to be a drop in achievement in English and maths scores after the summer holidays. The results of this data were inconclusive about the impact of a shorter summer holiday on learning.</p><p>Other studies have been done into the impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and bush fires on learning - though it is unclear how much of this loss is contributed to by the disaster-related consequences such as home being destroyed, evacuation to new areas, PTSD and so on. Research does suggest that mental health can be affected for up to five years after a disaster and some students will need long-term support long after the disaster is over, however it also found that there is no evidence for increased school disengagement or poorer academic performance when there is a strong post-disaster response that mitigates the adverse effects. </p><p>There is some data, too, about the potential impact of Covid-19 on learning. For example LSE (London School of Economics) writes about a national crisis in post-pandemic school absences and states that "a huge slice of the COVID generation have never got back into the habit of regularly attending school". In the UK persistent absence is over 20%, and greater in the most deprived areas of the country - which is worrying. Of course one thing that differs with school closures due to natural disasters is that during the pandemic most schools did provide some online instruction. Clearly schools are now faced with more learner variability post-pandemic, however on the plus side we also know that schools are aware of strategies to overcome this.</p><p>Perhaps the biggest impact on students has not been on academic results, but instead on the need for schools to provide more holistic, social-emotional support and to focus on increasing motivation and engagement in learning, in particular with secondary rather than primary students, as they appear to have suffered more stress and therefore need more strategies to support them. </p><p>The IB has identified key factors that can mitigate the impacts of "lost learning":</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>the development of skills to support resilience</li><li>a positive school environment</li><li>using assessment to support teaching and learning</li><li>goal-setting</li><li>differentiation</li></ul><div>In addition for PYP students it is definitely worth considering the positive impact of a greater sense of autonomy and self-efficacy (learner agency). In all schools I've visited, it does seem as if learner agency has strengthened in recent years, which may well be one reason why primary students appear to have fared better than secondary post-pandemic.</div><div><br /></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image by<a href="https://pixabay.com/users/klimkin-1298145/"> Klimkin on Pixabay.</a> Free for use under the Pixabay <a href="https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/">Content License</a></span><p></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-10903753173051942132023-12-31T22:01:00.001+05:302023-12-31T22:40:13.617+05:30Learning in and about turbulent times<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiof4F6oxz815zn_vCtbDiursyvAxMeezR8NjrBWE4kmtYlWubhiPEP1-8ZS-66_djRruMnCaewTXhgHBGn-fBpfYH4SWSX87JCvUsAQpdtVhHKcwCr7EmJb3_P_p7cK6ZGpKxEjg5AWxAWU5TzOMw5lGsDRBAXlmBL9cMjpdrIBgknMsssLBQyDJy3wR5z/s1280/peace-529380_1280.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiof4F6oxz815zn_vCtbDiursyvAxMeezR8NjrBWE4kmtYlWubhiPEP1-8ZS-66_djRruMnCaewTXhgHBGn-fBpfYH4SWSX87JCvUsAQpdtVhHKcwCr7EmJb3_P_p7cK6ZGpKxEjg5AWxAWU5TzOMw5lGsDRBAXlmBL9cMjpdrIBgknMsssLBQyDJy3wR5z/w200-h150/peace-529380_1280.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>As the year closes, I think it's always good to look back on what has been achieved. This year I have worked in 35 schools and have led regional workshops for participants from many more schools. In some cases I have also worked with the same school multiple times as a consultant. At the same time I've been blessed to have also been given the opportunity to work with the PYP curriculum managers over the past year as a consultant on a variety of different projects, such as the new subject continuums, the learning progressions pilot and the PYP glossary. Most recently I've worked on revising pillars 1 and 3 of the FPiP (From principles into practice). All this work has been rewarding and fulfilling.<p></p><p>This year has also seen turbulent times as the world continues to be rocked by global conflicts. Following on from several years of disrupted education as a result of Covid, I am seeing a high level of anxiety in schools these days, as well as educators rising to these challenges with an increased focus on wellbeing. When I'm in schools for evaluation and verification visits I hear a lot about how schools have coped with crisis - and how many are still dealing with it. Back in 2020, in response to changed education patterns as a result of Covid, the IB published some crisis support resources and today I thought I'd take a look through these and see how relevant they still are to the situation facing schools around the world.</p><p>When I lead PYP workshops, I notice that one of the hardest things teachers grapple with is writing strong, significant central ideas. In my work on the FPiP, I have been able to refresh some of the "old" central ideas to make them more relevant to the current thinking in the PYP. Actually even though I know this makes me sound a bit geeky, I really enjoy revising central ideas as I think it is "hard fun". It was therefore good to look back to some examples of central ideas that help students to learn about issues such as dealing with crises. Units of inquiry are frequently safe spaces for students to work through challenging issues, so how can we write strong central ideas that work with all of the transdisciplinary themes? Here are a few examples:</p><p><b>Who we are:</b> In times of crisis, people look to support the basic needs and well-being of themselves and others</p><p><b>Where we are in place and time:</b> Communities change through human displacement</p><p><b>How we express ourselves:</b> People connect through the sharing of ideas, feelings and experiences</p><p><b>How the world works:</b> Crises disrupt human and natural systems</p><p><b>How we organise ourselves:</b> Individual and collective action can have far reaching impacts in times of crisis</p><p><b>Sharing the planet:</b> Responses to conflict can support or obstruct pathways to peace and justice.</p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/sutorimedia-581230/">Sutorimedia on Pixabay</a>. Free for use under the Pixabay <a href="https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/">Content License</a></span>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-70023549927046543652023-12-31T18:10:00.008+05:302023-12-31T18:13:41.420+05:30The power of play<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ7raXkK99C6ReKKqT0js2H0Wwgg2lmxdEYaVLXyOhjfEJQRGXxs-Ia9kwtJ37cbbNzCcFbBzGxOjvzgtNEj5k0pM3DeJJOuNAvEhj88Th0_BJA3jEuGtYsLGsBh7aqARLmkdgf2KJY3gQzFbG26dpSbZ09CPr40jkRoLQE381-wwrNOMzZ02fj7VdJ4sJ/s1280/child-1864718_1280.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ7raXkK99C6ReKKqT0js2H0Wwgg2lmxdEYaVLXyOhjfEJQRGXxs-Ia9kwtJ37cbbNzCcFbBzGxOjvzgtNEj5k0pM3DeJJOuNAvEhj88Th0_BJA3jEuGtYsLGsBh7aqARLmkdgf2KJY3gQzFbG26dpSbZ09CPr40jkRoLQE381-wwrNOMzZ02fj7VdJ4sJ/w200-h133/child-1864718_1280.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>A couple of months ago I became a grandma (now known as GrandMaggie). Compared to when I had my own children 30 years ago, there is now so much research available about the first weeks, months and years of a child's life. I have dipped in and out of books that my daughter-in-law has been reading (my son actually admitted that he has read 4 of these too which is quite an achievement for him), and I've watched the excellent AppleTV documentary series called Becoming You which deals with the first 2,000 days of a child's life (basically from birth to age 5) and how they learn to move, talk, think and love. The series covers over 100 children in 11 different countries. However the thing that is consistent across all these children is that they learn through play. <p></p><p>As someone who has spent most of 2023 deeply embedded in the work of the PYP curriculum team, I also decided to take a look at one of the IB publications entitled <a href="https://ibo.org/contentassets/117bf04eac9f45eda7d6b7afaf671ba0/inquiry-through-play-supporting-pyp-parents.pdf">Inquiry through play</a>, which is a document aimed at supporting PYP parents (and grandparents!). Both the documentary series and the publication highlight that from birth children are hands-on natural inquirers and that they learn through playful interactions with people and their environment. </p><p>I really like the way this publication links play with the approaches to learning skills, which help a child to be successful not just in school but throughout life. There is a great graphic which I'm coping below that shows how play can help develop these skills (click on the image to enlarge it).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZU-8RtkOaFHB4u4Q_bdPK86FJO3P-a59TwW1HxC-ADcziZR5fXEpf86spzguBLft4JHNha4SgbDNZtdD5hAt90d3I1RcNOYWAR0HAjjK_E1vStlqaL3DKTdKOJ5oL7eZmbOLu_HpSYeDzD018hRUZFclULfwc-rphUG1Y7jCzVXpRahfwQiyF2ZFgWFw/s1448/Screenshot%202023-12-31%20at%2012.10.06.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1448" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZU-8RtkOaFHB4u4Q_bdPK86FJO3P-a59TwW1HxC-ADcziZR5fXEpf86spzguBLft4JHNha4SgbDNZtdD5hAt90d3I1RcNOYWAR0HAjjK_E1vStlqaL3DKTdKOJ5oL7eZmbOLu_HpSYeDzD018hRUZFclULfwc-rphUG1Y7jCzVXpRahfwQiyF2ZFgWFw/w400-h215/Screenshot%202023-12-31%20at%2012.10.06.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>The IB publication goes on to describe how play not only develops skills, but also is important for the social, emotional, physical and mental wellbeing of children. For example play can encourage children to explore their own creativity in a way that is fun and enjoyable, and it can also help children to make meaning of what has happened to them, and can help them to recover a sense of normality and overcome emotional pain, thereby helping to give them control over their own lives after an experience of loss or trauma. </p><p>For me the most important thing is that children are naturally capable - they have a sense of agency and they are curious learners. According to UNICEF and the Lego Foundation, play has 5 characteristics:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>It is meaningful and helps children make sense of the world as new experiences are connected to something already known, so building understanding.</li><li>It is joyful and encourages motivation and pleasure.</li><li>It is actively engaging - children become deeply involved.</li><li>It is iterative, encouraging children to practice skills, try out possibilities and discover new challenges.</li><li>It is social - children communicate ideas in order to build deeper understanding and more powerful relationships.</li></ul><div>There are many different types of play. It can be free play which is child-led, or it can be guided play which is scaffolded by an adult. In some cases play can be adult designed and controlled or scaffolded such as when playing games with rules. </div><div><br /></div><div>What advice does this document give to parents to encourage free play? This falls into 5 main areas: materials, space, time, mess and support. Materials can be commercial produced toys or can be objects that are found around the home, which can stimulate imaginative play (for example boxes, small objects for sorting and counting and so on). Play can take place indoors or outdoors, in large or small spaces. However it is important to provide plenty of uninterrupted time for play so that children become deeply involved. Play is often not tidy so it's good to be OK with some mess. Finally it's valuable for parents to join in with the play, while being careful to respect the child's rules and decisions (so supporting the play rather than leading the play). Joining in with the play means you will be talking to your child and showing them you value what they are doing. It also helps you to model behaviours that you want to encourage such as turn taking and problem solving. Focus on asking open-ended questions to encourage discussion such as "I wonder what would happen if you ....?" or "Why do you think this happened?" or "Is there another way to try this?"</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course the first 2000 days are only the start. Play is something that continues beyond childhood. The <a href="https://www.nifplay.org/">National Institute for Play</a> explains how play is important for a health life: we need to play to keep our brains flexible, ward off depression, sustain optimism and sharpen our social-emotional skills. However play is also very individual: playing a sport may or may not be playful, depending on your attitute, and something that looks really difficult, such as writing a book, may also be seen as play if the person doing it is engaged and feeling content with the challenge. Clearly we can all benefit from adding more play into our lives.</div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/feeloona-694250/">FeeLoona</a><a href="https://pixabay.com/users/feeloona-694250/"> from Pixabay</a>. Free for use under the Pixabay <a href="https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/">Content License</a></span></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-53293205326215543962023-07-31T19:57:00.001+05:302023-07-31T19:57:58.307+05:30Learning progressions in the PYP - next steps<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQOUZhWjOWNYBMPtwb9tM5rxmFtwCg9O2ZnKlme6eUKjWKzcFH4q7YPf0mASqKztz-q2H8gJ4D2Wzpl4TNvs6xGxG165eety_vafbKKf_iirO1EeyUG6pLYP71Z_LHzq94TSXAQ-PAIl5th20vGnKHgadTalQGp682Tp-tncewDOMTXCZ-uRhWrHe_lqgo/s1280/investigation.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="852" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQOUZhWjOWNYBMPtwb9tM5rxmFtwCg9O2ZnKlme6eUKjWKzcFH4q7YPf0mASqKztz-q2H8gJ4D2Wzpl4TNvs6xGxG165eety_vafbKKf_iirO1EeyUG6pLYP71Z_LHzq94TSXAQ-PAIl5th20vGnKHgadTalQGp682Tp-tncewDOMTXCZ-uRhWrHe_lqgo/w133-h200/investigation.jpeg" width="133" /></a></div>This post is a follow on from the last one and is looking forward to what can be expected in schools that are involved in the progressions trials that will run up to December this year.<p></p><p>First, a quick recap for anyone who did not read the previous post. In April this year a <a href="https://resources.ibo.org/data/p_0_pypxx_sur_2304_1lp_e.pdf" target="_blank">Learning progression development report</a> was published. It stated that most curriculum is divided into standards that are chunked into discrete year levels, rather than showing connections over time. The idea of the PYP progressions is to give explicit support to teachers so that they understand not just what learning looks like, but also how it fits into the picture of what has come before and what students will engage in later. The aim, therefore, is to identify the transferable skills that can be developed through the subjects. For example we talk about IB students being inquirers, so the aim is to describe what inquiry looks like in each subject, what skills are involved, how to develop them, and how to monitor and evidence the progress of these skills.</p><p>Subject guidance will be published next year and will include the following (Fig 2, taken from the above publication)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXr0p39Da3ktm3tXYLPDc5pFb3XwPOsTSmvqh-0gKaaaxJ85lwErxpNAgL83FvBiDVy5T1PExhrzanpcuAtrvhQ3rbHQgRf7yiO4q3MY9VZHOIL_5L6V60ZRWNUn8DU2LuNxQLAMmSOBVCv7B5Z0BBdvanugcYtF69sku9EazRflI2qZc_Ram01Vl6QcN/s1616/Screenshot%202023-07-31%20at%2015.12.41.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="1616" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXr0p39Da3ktm3tXYLPDc5pFb3XwPOsTSmvqh-0gKaaaxJ85lwErxpNAgL83FvBiDVy5T1PExhrzanpcuAtrvhQ3rbHQgRf7yiO4q3MY9VZHOIL_5L6V60ZRWNUn8DU2LuNxQLAMmSOBVCv7B5Z0BBdvanugcYtF69sku9EazRflI2qZc_Ram01Vl6QcN/w640-h260/Screenshot%202023-07-31%20at%2015.12.41.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One question I'm often asked when I go to visit schools, is how explicit does the teaching of the Approaches to learning (ATL) subskills need to be. The skills have now been grouped to indicate different behaviours of inquirers. For example learning through play, investigating with purpose, expressing themselves using multiple representations, interacting with others, and reflecting on themselves and their learning.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let's take a closer look at how these subskills for investigation can be identified for each subject:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Language</b> skills can include identifying purpose and context, perspectives, evaluating, questioning and challenging ideas and information.</li><li><b>Mathematical</b> skills include finding patterns, data collection and evaluating and justifying conclusions.</li><li><b>Arts</b> skills include exploring tools, processes and materials.</li><li><b>Science</b> skills include predicting, hypothesising, designing and interpreting data</li><li><b>Social studies</b> skills include posing and refining research questions, utilising primary and secondary sources, timelines and sequencing, and considering the reliability of evidence sources.</li><li><b>PSPE</b> skills include identifying, refining strategies and reflection.</li></ul><div>I am more than excited to be part of the team working on this trial in schools.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui;">Image by </span><a href="https://pixabay.com/users/efraimstochter-12351/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=788592" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui;">M W</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui;"> from </span><a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=788592" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui;">Pixabay</a></span></div></div><p></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-83272663111878776812023-07-31T19:21:00.007+05:302023-07-31T19:22:50.382+05:30Learning progressions in the PYP<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lE7kXCjrceP7vBZLZ6W4JqJ5zXds_OJlMJRmAEegU4vM7Vm3Yp3aFKAZJPUQHy_0xXDFV2WG6U_a19HQW5DaHMreC5lJHl60JUmYDraJEr79Td20fPtSto5gF-cXDL-2Fvg5BXCWyy3yerba323h0dCwbzS-oQARj45oo9Q1SWtkPWMJFUd0O4abpCoV/s1280/next%20step.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lE7kXCjrceP7vBZLZ6W4JqJ5zXds_OJlMJRmAEegU4vM7Vm3Yp3aFKAZJPUQHy_0xXDFV2WG6U_a19HQW5DaHMreC5lJHl60JUmYDraJEr79Td20fPtSto5gF-cXDL-2Fvg5BXCWyy3yerba323h0dCwbzS-oQARj45oo9Q1SWtkPWMJFUd0O4abpCoV/w200-h133/next%20step.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>As a number of my readers will know, I've spent the past couple of months working with the PYP Curriculum Managers on the learning continuums that will eventually replace the current scope and sequence documents. It has been an interesting and exciting time, and the next stage of this looks like being school-based trials of the materials being developed. But before we start on that, let's step back a little to think about learning progressions themselves and how we have got to the place we are in now.<p></p><p>A little over two years ago, the Learning progressions research report was published. This report was a literature review that would provide the direction for the development of the PYP learning progressions. In fact over the past 20 years there has been a lot of research done into this area - with some of the research referring to this as progress maps, continua, competencies and learning trajectories. What all of these have in common is that they reference the skills, understandings and capabilities that students acquire in different stages of learning. This enables teachers to identify gaps in skills and knowledge in order to plan for next steps in learning. It's very much a future-facing approach to curriculum development and moving students forward - but as there has been no agreed process for developing these progressions to date, it provides the PYP with a great opportunity to develop these progressions for itself.</p><p>At this point I think it's important to be aware that assessment needs to be integrated seamlessly with instruction: this includes checks for understanding throughout each and every lesson, the designing of rigorous engagements for students, and observing and monitoring student performances. As stated in the report, "learning progression[s] <i>strengthen</i> the connection between curriculum and assessment." This is an enormous help to teachers who traditionally have had difficulty in determining next steps in learning and the feedback they need to provide that will move the learning forward (feedback to feed forward).</p><p>The term "backwards by design" is one that has been used regularly to describe both the PYP and MYP curriculum planning. This involves using the curriculum to set goals/outcomes and then deciding how the learning will be assessed before choosing the instructional methods that will support the learning acquisition. In this way "All activities are seen as assessment tasks". However learning progressions focus more on a "forward by design" process which allows teachers to design tasks beyond what is currently being taught in order to identify if learners are achieving past what is taught.</p><p>Of course many PYP schools have to deal with national or state standards, assessed by standardised assessments that measure the educational requirements for a particular grade in each subject area. Often student learning outcomes and success criteria are proscribed; in these cases the focus is often more on the accountability for outcomes rather than in improving instruction. Again, many schools deal with mandated scope and sequence documents, which do not recognise that learners in a particular grade and subject are starting at different points and learning in different ways.</p><p>Learning progressions are very different from these approaches! They are focused on longer time periods (not just one academic year) and the acknowledge that students will lie at different points along the progression - hence the vital importance of differentiation. Learning progressions, therefore, do not reference age or year levels, but instead present as a continuum showing increasing expertise. In this way they provide a reference for establishing where each student in in their learning and for monitoring their growth over time.</p><p>As well as this, learning progressions are rooted in Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, and they encourage learner agency as students can make decisions about their own learning and next steps and teachers and others in the community can use them to make decisions as to how better to help.</p><p>It's important for educators to realise that the PYP is not a syllabus, but a curriculum framework. Although the progressions will describe the skills of an IB learner and what they can do, they are better seen as a skeleton from which schools can design their own scope and sequence documents. Some of the progressions will be subject based and others will be skill based - thereby making the approaches to learning visible.</p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span face=""Open Sans", system-ui" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26;">Image by </span><a href="https://pixabay.com/users/geralt-9301/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4241792" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui;">Gerd Altmann</a><span face=""Open Sans", system-ui" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26;"> from </span><a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4241792" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui;">Pixabay</a></span></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-79807010193143022262023-07-24T19:10:00.007+05:302023-07-31T19:23:17.882+05:30Harnessing the power of AI in education<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEggVl5gYmOOdsUIT5bXUAFJo8c8mehLSD2o0FDn9Q77D5UFiBkzG42mq-OMVpsjnYJRs3mYvKs3XJRwmEP6goXDvbmuqA9B1WBgqKTwJsPYvzhCKUpYhuXWNeSIsFyx1UjS5RDpQx-osE4XbA4sjo46BchMEG1OkR4d-1zZMnnfcCW84-Ml64q5hGtx1R/s1280/artificial-intelligence-gce9a7d28e_1280.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEggVl5gYmOOdsUIT5bXUAFJo8c8mehLSD2o0FDn9Q77D5UFiBkzG42mq-OMVpsjnYJRs3mYvKs3XJRwmEP6goXDvbmuqA9B1WBgqKTwJsPYvzhCKUpYhuXWNeSIsFyx1UjS5RDpQx-osE4XbA4sjo46BchMEG1OkR4d-1zZMnnfcCW84-Ml64q5hGtx1R/w200-h133/artificial-intelligence-gce9a7d28e_1280.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>In April I led a workshop about the role of ICT in the PYP in Kenya, and we were introduced to some AI tools by the participants such as <a href="https://chat.openai.com/">ChatGPT</a> for report writing and <a href="https://app.educationcopilot.com/unit-planner">Copilot</a> for lesson planners. We could immediately see the potential of these tools and how they could save a teacher hours and hours of planning and report writing time.<p></p><p>Moving forward I also hosted a webinar in June with Ali Hassan in the IBSCA PYP Communities. He also shared a number of different AI tools that would be useful for education. These included:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.deepl.com/translator">DeepL</a> translator - better than Google Translate (which I also love) as it is able to rephrase sentences to express nuances. It also allows you to upload PDF, Word and PowerPoint files for translation.</li><li><a href="http://Otter.ai">Otter.ai</a> - to record audio, writes notes, capture slides, and generate summaries. Brilliant for Zoom, Teams and Google Meet.</li><li><a href="https://www.brain.fm/">Brain FM</a> - generates music that is scientifically proven to increase focus. This is a paid app but you can try it for a limited time for free. </li><li><a href="https://www.jasper.ai/">Jasper</a> - a content creation tool - again this is a paid tool but you can also try this one for free.</li></ul><div>There is also a great <a href="https://aieducator.tools/">AI Educator</a> site which will help you find and explore more tools.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then today there was the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfi2SfnW-iA&ab_channel=Toddle">Toddle AI</a> launch .... follow the link to watch the live YouTube event.</div><p>Things are moving very fast in the area of AI in education and I'm definitely excited to see how these tools can make teachers' lives easier and save loads of time.</p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span face=""Open Sans", system-ui" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26;">Image by </span><a href="https://pixabay.com/users/geralt-9301/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4625878" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui;">Gerd Altmann</a><span face=""Open Sans", system-ui" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26;"> from </span><a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4625878" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui;">Pixabay</a></span></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-91040253007278344392023-07-20T20:17:00.005+05:302023-07-31T19:23:39.339+05:30Why IB educators are different<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLVcsEiHXNl9I5VMFh5bOIqBZIAY8plS30AzwAXRxlwjPm8Kjap8IECysTYjOfNu3MHRFbSNcXHdFG0LWapPko0vqpRh6A7htBaJ2wcEosxY70UD7iT_vS7GEem20wfBg0zOThQvPGZzVrgl1RIml5HwprGf2E-tcdExH31Hi0YCSkfEXpRPrnDFQ0Whj/s640/animals-g21bc48063_640.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="640" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLVcsEiHXNl9I5VMFh5bOIqBZIAY8plS30AzwAXRxlwjPm8Kjap8IECysTYjOfNu3MHRFbSNcXHdFG0LWapPko0vqpRh6A7htBaJ2wcEosxY70UD7iT_vS7GEem20wfBg0zOThQvPGZzVrgl1RIml5HwprGf2E-tcdExH31Hi0YCSkfEXpRPrnDFQ0Whj/w200-h100/animals-g21bc48063_640.png" width="200" /></a></div>Over the course of the past four of five years, since leaving full-time work in a school, I've visited many IB schools in Africa, Europe and the Middle East (probably between 80 and 90 schools). These visits have been verification visits to authorise schools, evaluation visits and making visits as a consultant to support schools in the candidacy phase. I've also visited schools to lead in-school workshops, including some virtual visits when it has not been possible to actually travel to the school in person. Each time I learn something new - and each time I marvel at the difference an IB education makes to students, their learning, their families and the educators I meet. <p></p><p>Today I was reading through a publication about adult learning, and I came across a section based on a research study of IB educators: what sets them apart is a love for teaching and learning - and of course it is easy to build on that as a workshop leader because all teachers are also lifelong learners themselves and eager to learn more and improve their practice. </p><p>We are told that IB educators:</p><p></p><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><ul style="list-style-type: disc; text-align: left;"><li>teach students to think globally through examining a variety of global issues and encouraging an awareness of and respect for other cultures</li><li>are open to new ideas, new experiences, new cultures and changing teaching approaches</li><li>are flexible and exercise professional judgment to meet student needs and align with the iB philosophy</li><li>use pedagogical approaches that are based on concepts and inquiry in authentic contexts.</li><li>collaborate in planning instructional activities and sharing resources and reflections on teaching</li><li>care for the whole student</li><li>demonstrate love for learning and teaching</li></ul><div style="text-align: right;">(Bergeron and Dean, 2013)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And once again, today, I have reflected on how fortunate I am to have been in the "right place at the right time" in my own educational career, and that I was blessed to be encouraged to take on new roles by the school leaders I encountered in those international schools. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo Credit: <span face=""Open Sans", system-ui" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26;">Image by </span><a href="https://pixabay.com/users/gdj-1086657/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2730764" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui;">Gordon Johnson</a><span face=""Open Sans", system-ui" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26;"> from </span><a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2730764" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", system-ui;">Pixabay</a></span></div><ul style="list-style-type: disc; text-align: left;">
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</div>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-33801011608788888742023-02-07T15:42:00.004+05:302023-02-07T15:47:02.781+05:30School visits and appreciative inquiry<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Ivsz1MgQaHFjFYai8lGNWxdLYzI7EZ3eUADh1Rjg04dEzgFtethWbIEB6J7cdjGvPftRMrf4cF2kcQ5FdXwBg_Ib96Kq-uQgvrH6EldDNwKhJoIwh1n_5UoDXg1Uwv6J4CXUEsblWQFrcZnOCkaQ3-8Vz-tEC0IX-DIV8ARTkhkc5XFPa3lh3ZRgsw/s640/3806097249_4d79e66a45_z.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="640" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Ivsz1MgQaHFjFYai8lGNWxdLYzI7EZ3eUADh1Rjg04dEzgFtethWbIEB6J7cdjGvPftRMrf4cF2kcQ5FdXwBg_Ib96Kq-uQgvrH6EldDNwKhJoIwh1n_5UoDXg1Uwv6J4CXUEsblWQFrcZnOCkaQ3-8Vz-tEC0IX-DIV8ARTkhkc5XFPa3lh3ZRgsw/s320/3806097249_4d79e66a45_z.jpeg" width="320" /></a>Over the past 6 months or so I've done a lot of school visits - some in person but mostly still virtual visits at this point. It's been a real learning journey for me, as we have been using the new IB 2020 Standards and Practices, and our approach to evaluation visits is now totally different from before. Gone are the commendations and recommendations, and instead we are using appreciative inquiry. For me (and for the schools) this has made a huge difference in the general "tone" of the visits - it is much more positive, much more of a conversation about the unique context of each school, where the school is on its journey and where it aspires to go next. Because of this I decided I would do a little more research about appreciative inquiry and its benefits.</div><p></p><p>One term I use a lot with schools is "action research". I think appreciative inquiry is very much like this as it promotes change. We ask questions to help schools see some of their challenges in new and innovative ways. At the heart of appreciative inquiry is the understanding that something works well in all school contexts and our aim is to discover what this is, what energises all stakeholders in a school, and what is it that they care about and that motivates them: everything here is a positive assumption or affirmation as opposed to the previous approach which was more of a deficit model to find and analyse issues or problems in order to help a school move forward.</p><p>As I plan for each of the meetings on a visit I draw heavily on my skills as a cognitive coach - asking the right questions is important! I always like to start with the successes or strengths that the school have already identified, and to acknowledge their achievements and existing good practices that have developed over the past 5 years since the previous visit. Of course we do acknowledge the challenges they have faced as well - every single school I have visited recently has spoken about the impact of Covid and school closures on students' communication, social and self-management skills. A focus on what they have achieved despite these difficulties creates a feeling of enthusiasm and hope, and helps people to expand their thinking into what could be possible. </p><p>The model of appreciative inquiry has sometimes been called the 4D model:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Discovery - exploring "the best of what is"</li><li>Dream - articulating and discussing "what might be"</li><li>Design - working together to develop "what might be"</li><li>Destiny - collectively experimenting with "what can be"</li></ol><div>Just as in cognitive coaching, appreciative inquiry focuses on what people think, not on what they do. The idea is that change comes from discussing new ideas and collaboratively creating new knowledge. If there are challenges that need to be discussed, then being open-minded and sensitive to different ways of seeing things will encourage people to consider possibilities that may address the problem. In this way problems are not seen as threats: instead the focus is on what is working well and what more needs to be done to make it even better. </div><div><br /></div><div>When an IB team visits a school we have just 3 days to collect a picture of the learning and teaching there so it's really important to focus on building relationships right from the start, so that there is a sense of trust and safety in all our meetings and classroom observations. We ask curious, non-judgemental questions. I often use sentence stems like, "Tell us a little more about ...." or "Help us to understand ..." These questions encourage people to talk about the things that matter to them, and also to share some of their hopes. In our meetings I also like to ensure that all voices are heard - so that all perspectives can be considered. For example if there is a teacher who isn't saying much I might ask the question, "What does this look like in your classroom/subject/section of the school?"</div><div><br /></div><div>At the end of our visit we have a Conclusion Meeting where we share our thoughts and give some suggestions the school might like to consider as opportunities for future development. We stress these are considerations, not recommendations like before, as the school needs to feel agency and ownership of their own next steps. One thing I'm always looking out for in this meeting is that the schools recognise themselves in the strengths and opportunities we are sharing. Often people will say "You've only been here a few days but it seems like you have a real understanding of what we have been through in the last five years." When I hear this I always feel that the school feels acknowledged and that they recognise their strength and existing good practice and now know how to build on these in order to grow and change. </div><p></p><p>Image Credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alphachimpstudio/3806097249">Peter Durand on Flickr</a> shared with a Creative Commons licence</p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-19046198528442186532022-05-30T16:53:00.002+05:302023-07-31T19:24:26.661+05:30Making a PYP Playbook<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnVtokq5S3FfvIHeJ0hglLZjkJtMqeBRLhxYlClYuStXVSPzXSE0ec09EDOqzLQJwgBcoIfki_JDlsTFar5v3H68qDR4LqtRjxCoEr7VPji51GxK7DEJR1YryQL3sHL3KMLOEKvFSoEI_64FKLWYFbFNddR3M0fas31OFMqKgde9ZbeG7MuYeHs29-g/s1920/playbook.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1357" data-original-width="1920" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnVtokq5S3FfvIHeJ0hglLZjkJtMqeBRLhxYlClYuStXVSPzXSE0ec09EDOqzLQJwgBcoIfki_JDlsTFar5v3H68qDR4LqtRjxCoEr7VPji51GxK7DEJR1YryQL3sHL3KMLOEKvFSoEI_64FKLWYFbFNddR3M0fas31OFMqKgde9ZbeG7MuYeHs29-g/w200-h141/playbook.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>The next book we are looking at in the PYP Coordinator's Book club is The Instructional Playbook by Jim Knight. This could well be a very interesting collaboration, but first of all I need to find out more about what an instructional playbook is. Judy explained that the purpose of an instructional playbook is to...<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Help educators identify the highest impact teaching strategies</li><li>Lead to a deep knowledge of teaching strategies</li><li>Build a shared vocabulary</li><li>Reduce stress and overwhelm</li><li>Foster teacher hope and confidence</li></ul><div>In The Instructional Playbook Jim Knight explains that improvement can be difficult as to improve we need to face our current reality. Sometimes this involves recognising what we are doing well - and to improve we need to do more of this. Sometimes it involves taking already existing knowledge and integrating it into what we do .... hence the need for a playbook.</div><div><br /></div><div>He writes that instructional coaches help teachers learn and implement strategies that teachers want to implement to help their students hit powerful engagement or achievement goals, and that a playbook is a tool that helps coaches to firstly develop the deep knowledge they need to be effective and then secondly to use the collection of tools to support teachers to learn, implement, refine and adapt practices to meet their students' needs.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>What is an Instructional Playbook?</b></div><div>It's a concise, precise document that summarises the essential information about evidence-based teaching strategies that instructional coaches use to support teachers and students. It's an organisational tool that coaches use to help them focus on high-impact teaching strategies and then explain those strategies to teachers. Playbooks help instructional coaches to be more successful with teachers, which in turn help teachers to be more successful with students.</div><div><br /></div><div>Looking at the bullet list above, the final point is to foster hope and confidence. Here's the thing: when people have hope they have a goal that describes where they want to be and what they want to accomplish. If you have hope you also have agency because you have the belief that you can make things happen and that your actions will help you to reach your goal.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>How is a Playbook created?</b></div><div>The first thing to create is a table of contents - this is a list of the most common goals that teachers identify during coaching and all the possible strategies to share with teachers to achieve those goals. This is shortened down into a one page list of powerful evidence-based teaching strategies. Following this a One-Pager is created for each strategy - this captures the most crucial information people need to know about a teaching strategy and gives teachers a resource that supports them in classroom implementation of the strategy. Creating a playbook "is fundamentally an editing process to distill the most relevant, clearly explained, and high-impact strategies for teachers to use to hit goals for students." Working together as a team to create a playbook is more manageable and effective than creating one alone.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Beating the Imposter Syndrome</b></div><div>During the week I had a discussion about the Imposter Syndrome with one of my mentees in The Coach programme. Many of us worry that we do not know enough about a topic to share it with others. This is an important concern as if coaches can't explain the important elements of a strategy, then it won't be possible to implement it. Creating a One-Pager might help with this as it involves describing:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>What the strategy is about</li><li>What its purpose is</li><li>The research that supports it</li><li>How teachers use it</li><li>How students use it</li></ul><div>So here we go .... a great summer project in collaboration with other PYP coordinators I think!</div></div><div><br /></div><p></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-4067823469058099342022-05-04T21:15:00.004+05:302023-07-24T12:54:46.392+05:30Change<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8nZLviUj3b8LsDYDlcln3pjPnWLms37pVmtbvbS_NTfQe_HstsuhMyjU7bwH3eqXM0Z2ziwXHHOLAtQsaPGYbODMdxq8KHSLfAI3w0SafEzHDVhs68KFQsiffH0G9auHL2r3l9qet8eKKq17UQrnVXlCkjoYKOME9KuCySYH7U7N3nBpH1VhHqIb7gQ/s1280/wave.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="1280" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8nZLviUj3b8LsDYDlcln3pjPnWLms37pVmtbvbS_NTfQe_HstsuhMyjU7bwH3eqXM0Z2ziwXHHOLAtQsaPGYbODMdxq8KHSLfAI3w0SafEzHDVhs68KFQsiffH0G9auHL2r3l9qet8eKKq17UQrnVXlCkjoYKOME9KuCySYH7U7N3nBpH1VhHqIb7gQ/w200-h99/wave.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>Change ... this is a big topic. The past few years have seen so much change - we've had a global pandemic, schools have closed, lessons have shifted online, some of us have had to deal with hybrid teaching with some students in school and others at home. And we have survived .... but for some of us only just! We are tired. Change has sapped our energies.<p></p><p>Some change is welcome, some change is not. Some change happens instantaneously, some is much slower. For me there have been times when I've chosen change - a new job in a new country - and other times where I'd much rather have stayed but circumstances were pulling me in different directions. One of the hardest changes for me was to leave my school in Amsterdam and to move my entire family to Thailand. I think I cried almost every day for the last year I lived in Holland. I knew it was coming - after years of free tuition I was counted as local and needed to pay for my children's education at the school, which I could not afford on a teaching salary - but gosh, it was hard. And yet ..... it turned out for the best - I became an international teacher. Having made one "tough" move, I knew I could (and did!) make many others. This led to opportunities that I'd never thought possible before. Fast forward many years when circumstances again made me move - this time from India to the UK to take care of my mother after she was diagnosed with dementia. Everything was uncertain: no job, no home and so on .... but again tough circumstances led to me setting up as an independent consultant to schools, and again the impossible became possible. My Indian friends told me it would all be OK in the end - this sense of karma - and it was, though it wasn't always easy. As Elena Aguilar writes, "the key to resilience is learning how to get back to the surface when a ferocious wave knocks us over, how to ride those waves and perhaps even how to find joy when surfing the waves."</p><p>There's another kind of stress associated with change too - the stress we feel when we feel change is too slow. I identify with that too. I remember being at a school - a school that had employed me to bring about change - and then being blocked from changes I wanted to make. Learning to navigate these obstacles, challenges and setbacks is also important. Learning to deal with feelings and responses when things don't go as you want is also important.</p><p>I like the model of The Spheres of Influence that Elena shares in Chapter 11 of <i>Onward</i>. She writes about what you can control, what you can influence and then everything else which is outside your control and influence - and therefore not worthwhile spending time and energy on. I know that even when I could not to control or influence a situation, I could certainly decide how I felt in those times and how I responded to adversity. It's all about deciding where I want to put my energy. And even when times are really bad, we can hang onto the hope that we can emerge from these times stronger than before. For example teachers around the world have told me of how their students have gone backwards in social skills, self-management skills and even communication skills during online learning, and yet they also tell me some students have thrived and they have noticed an increase in agency. I think we need to be open to different outcomes - to have a growth mindset and be flexible and adaptable, to be able to manage our uncertainty and to live with the unknown.</p><p>Change causes a lot of fear. I know now that when I got impatient at the pace of change that was unreasonable, because teachers had spent years becoming the teachers they were and here I was, a newby, asking them to become different teachers. I think they felt threatened - perhaps they felt that I thought they were not doing a good job. I think, looking back, that I did try to develop more of a culture of learning but it wasn't until I became a coach that I realised that if we want people to do something different we have to change their beliefs - because all actions emerge from our beliefs. Looking back I think I could also have been more patient (something I'm not very good at). I should have been more fully present for people. Elena writes:</p><blockquote><p><span style="color: #3d85c6;">In order to cultivate perseverance and tenacity, you must look beyond short-term concerns and toward long-term goals. You need to put off immediate gratification and manage your impatience. You also must venture beyond your comfort zone and take on challenges of different sizes so that you can learn and can increase your confidence .... you'll have to view setbacks as opportunities for growth.</span></p></blockquote><p>The truth of it is that I had a lot of growing to do. </p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/wave-ocean-sea-storm-tsunami-1913559/">Elias Schäferle on Pixabay</a></span></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-56907006959079413062022-05-04T20:42:00.004+05:302022-05-04T20:42:24.595+05:30Creativity and the benefits of play<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7uGtQf0ZQ_Iu46q6gJItkmvptEKJSORcMNO-W4FNR1uoclbgI7blsZGsojdsr8u-EAMkmLx9kMWotbcQZD_N1evOFrC7dWv0R4V-hx9rMHwLoYFiXYdRzeNGwCFJDZbCBCsPbpok-5ivbe1KZF2-9K0Nm3TcNb54_kMJRuSz7BVcBhSZHiAxeD794Qw/s1280/art%20supplies.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7uGtQf0ZQ_Iu46q6gJItkmvptEKJSORcMNO-W4FNR1uoclbgI7blsZGsojdsr8u-EAMkmLx9kMWotbcQZD_N1evOFrC7dWv0R4V-hx9rMHwLoYFiXYdRzeNGwCFJDZbCBCsPbpok-5ivbe1KZF2-9K0Nm3TcNb54_kMJRuSz7BVcBhSZHiAxeD794Qw/w200-h150/art%20supplies.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>Time has been running away from me the past couple of weeks, but it is coming up to the time for another PYP Book Club so it's time to read on in <i>Onward</i> by Elena Aguilar. I'm now on Chapter 10 which is called <i>Play and Create</i>. The basis of this chapter is that creativity and play unlock inner resources for dealing with stress, solving problems and enjoying life - so of course they will help us to become more resilient. Here's now Elena describes the link:<p></p><blockquote><p><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Our experiences interact with the creative world on a continuum: at one end we consume or appreciate art; perhaps around the middle we play; and at the other end we create art. At each point on the continuum, we activate different parts of our minds hearts and spirits; it's likely that the greatest opportunity for cultivating resilience lies in the most active point - in creating art.</span></p></blockquote><p>This is interesting to me on a personal level. A couple of years ago, shortly after my mother died, I joined a local art class. For me, spending time each day drawing and painting, I came to manage my grief and to build resilience. The creating definitely worked! </p><p>Let's think about play - this is something we do for fun, not because it helps us to reach a goal. We know that play shapes our brains, makes us smarter and more adaptable, fosters empathy and makes possible complex social groups. In humans play lies at the core of creativity and innovation. Children are experts at play because it's natural and instinctive to them. However when we get older, we often come to see play as a waste of time - we focus instead on being productive! The interesting thing about play, however, is that it's improvisational, so we are open to doing things in new ways and we get new ideas from it. We know that play relieves stress, improves relationships by fostering empathy, compassion and trust, and that it improves brain function and so can prevent memory problems. Play boosts creativity and also helps us to learn new tasks quicker because it's fun. I think about the years my son was "forced" to learn Spanish in a traditional way at school (it failed - he didn't master it) and yet as an adult he was motivated to use Duolingo for 15 minutes every morning to learn Spanish through play. </p><p>Creating art is also important - our early ancestors decorated the walls of their caves, made music and danced. Today we know that art is also a vehicle for connection and empathy; it combats loneliness, alienation and dehumanisation and it has long been an essential tool for social justice. Numerous studies also show that creative activities such as drawing, knitting and writing raise serotonin levels and decrease anxiety.</p><p>As many of you know, I visit a lot of schools. I'm always sad that the arts subjects have been pushed out of the curriculum and are seen as optional as opposed to the "real work" of schools. I see this happening with play too - with schools cutting back on recess time. With what we know about the importance of both creativity and play being important builders of resilience, perhaps it's time to reverse these trends.</p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/art-supplies-art-school-supplies-957576/">Elissa Capelle Vaughn on Pixabay</a></span></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-10073672401569841772022-04-17T16:31:00.003+05:302022-04-17T16:38:35.680+05:30How do we learn? How do we change? How do we improve?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRbaHY5UGrx70XzJCopVLvW-kvoBwdcCjQvVu9QZQRFCV_R7WIBoKXcx4HwUmkAYTjxYISYeUK8EB9XlO5u3OSgn4Y0HJrOe4Otp0WnydmYjEFH88tiEaKGu1ilueFl2GPQGZjihlbM8uB8pnWUV2T69BC2clUgyRVIj4uusniI8BAFiC-4pHQMMrBgg/s1280/motivation.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="1280" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRbaHY5UGrx70XzJCopVLvW-kvoBwdcCjQvVu9QZQRFCV_R7WIBoKXcx4HwUmkAYTjxYISYeUK8EB9XlO5u3OSgn4Y0HJrOe4Otp0WnydmYjEFH88tiEaKGu1ilueFl2GPQGZjihlbM8uB8pnWUV2T69BC2clUgyRVIj4uusniI8BAFiC-4pHQMMrBgg/w200-h113/motivation.png" width="200" /></a></div>These are three big questions that are addressed in Chapter 9 of <i>Onward</i> by Elena Aguilar. She opens the chapter with the following statement, <p></p><blockquote><p><span style="color: #3d85c6;">If we see challenges as opportunities for learning, if we engage our curiosity whenever we're presented with an obstacle, we're more likely to find solutions. This habit and disposition help us not just survive adversity but thrive in the aftermath.</span></p></blockquote><p>When I was working at ASB I was part of the Research and Development Core Team. This team was set up the year before I arrived to study, prototype, design and develop new teaching and learning environments. We looked at faculty design, project-based learning, alternative school year calendars, the library and mobile technology. The action research we did led to real transformations by creating new physical spaces for learning and new learning approaches, supporting and enriching student learning at the school. We often asked the question "What if ...." and we discovered the joy of inquiry and learning for ourselves as teachers.</p><p>Having an R&D department is not usual in schools, but teachers can use their own classroom to inquire into what is happening and why, and to ask the question, "What would happen if I tried ...." </p><p>At various times in my life I've struggled to be a learner. For example I remember when I moved to The Netherlands I attended evening classes to learn Dutch. It was hard - but it was also good for me to put myself into the role of the learner as it gave me a lot of insight into what my students were going through. Elena shares two frameworks with us that help to explain the process we go through as learners.</p><p>The Conscious Competence Ladder - this has 4 rungs on it:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Unconscious incompetence - we are blissfully ignorant of what we can't do therefore our confidence exceeds our abilities. At this level we need to figure out the skills we need to learn.</li><li>Conscious incompetence - we know we don't have the skills and that others can do things that make us struggle. It's easy to give up at this stage as we lose confidence.</li><li>Conscious competence - we have the skills and we need to put the knowledge and skills into practice to gain more confidence. We need to concentrate when we perform the skills.</li><li>Unconscious competence - we use our skills effortlessly and perform tasks without conscious effort. In order to keep growing at this level we need to teach these skills to others. If we don't regularly use these skills we can slip back down the ladder.</li></ul><div>Putting this into context reminds me of learning how to drive. At one time I didn't need to drive because as a teenager I relied on my parents for lifts to places. In my 20s I learned to drive and found it really difficult - at one point I gave up and only took up driving again having moved to Miami where it was vital I had a car to get around. My challenge as a driver has been moving country, as each time I moved (USA -> UK -> Netherlands -> Thailand -> Switzerland -> India) I had to drive on the other side of the road and at times it felt like learning all over again as oftentimes the rules were also different. Even worse, in some countries I didn't drive for long periods of time so I got out of practice, and I definitely slipped back down the ladder from unconscious competence to conscious competence each time I got into the car again.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's give another example from teaching. I lead a lot of Category 1 workshops and the most challenging thing teachers face when new to the PYP is writing strong conceptual central ideas. Having been doing this for over 20 years I can often look at the wording they come up with and suggest simple tweaks to make the central ideas more conceptual and more open to inquiry. I'm probably at the unconscious competence stage, but I need to keep teaching this skill to others to keep it sharp in my own mind.</div><div><br /></div><div>The second framework for learning is that of fixed -v- growth mindset. Here the important thing is to keep using the word "yet" (you can't do it yet) and to keep people focused on the skills they need to develop and practice.</div><div><br />With a fixed mindset people believe that success is the result of a fixed intelligence and with a fixed mindset people avoid challenge as they are unable to take criticism and give up early. With a growth mindset we assume intelligence and talent can change so we thrive on challenge and see failure as a way to learn and grow. Having a growth mindset allows people to thrive during challenges.</div><div><br /></div><div>In this chapter I was really interested to read about learning needs and the Mind the Gap model. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNEBS2v-AKc5qSGe1dBUJCs9HAguNiMwd8iP_x8ZBm5qhbyK_DTNtYXIy7vzEQZZp_XG4tA4pUPWfCo1IusClLcPeD_dz0_ziJuJCgpk7jh1z-iaW8j8CVtBvo6y8MK86t_zkHiJrORf7djJE-EFdA3V9QDpqnsDOZhsj6p4Y1fjpu3ueevOnoUTOznw/s1152/Screenshot%202022-04-17%20at%2011.47.50.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1152" height="637" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNEBS2v-AKc5qSGe1dBUJCs9HAguNiMwd8iP_x8ZBm5qhbyK_DTNtYXIy7vzEQZZp_XG4tA4pUPWfCo1IusClLcPeD_dz0_ziJuJCgpk7jh1z-iaW8j8CVtBvo6y8MK86t_zkHiJrORf7djJE-EFdA3V9QDpqnsDOZhsj6p4Y1fjpu3ueevOnoUTOznw/w640-h637/Screenshot%202022-04-17%20at%2011.47.50.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can see that in order to improve we need to identify where the gaps are that we have in different areas. Emotional intelligence and cultural competence at the foundations of all others - without these we cannot close the gaps in other areas. However in schools we are focused mostly on the uppermost areas of skills and knowledge. All of us have gaps - this shows us we can still learn and grow and as you dig into your gaps you can discover the actions you need to take to close the gaps.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the things I love most about coaching is that it gives us the space to really explore these gaps. We know that coaching is an effective way for professionals to continue to refine their skills and so a great mechanism for teacher improvement. We also know that it's important to have time for teachers to improve their skills and coaching can form part of that time as it's a form of PD. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our aim is that schools are learning organisations - places where everyone is learning (not just the students!). We know that teachers can excel when they work in learning organisations, and so these schools thrive. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/vectors/motivation-silhouette-can-t-can-6891172/">Mohamed Hassan on Pixabay</a></span></div></div><p></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-72939480922435604352022-04-15T17:11:00.000+05:302022-04-15T17:11:13.977+05:30Eat chocolate during meetings<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj97gQEBKeNYqSkDoRefsZo2OFT_SxlscfzYIIwXjGXUbwbGIzCtAqEEDe_ZigSb5jevZB6J0oH7ugNCQAALPTi-lB2kh5fxWAJkOgSxoqwoTv-T5c7w2LcZZBZIM72ufPZ6gaj1ZGI3zHOZX1BfilVbXNJ5R4ERN5VJCPNOcvgUWWDoPyQJ-Q-aEPYg/s1280/chocolate.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj97gQEBKeNYqSkDoRefsZo2OFT_SxlscfzYIIwXjGXUbwbGIzCtAqEEDe_ZigSb5jevZB6J0oH7ugNCQAALPTi-lB2kh5fxWAJkOgSxoqwoTv-T5c7w2LcZZBZIM72ufPZ6gaj1ZGI3zHOZX1BfilVbXNJ5R4ERN5VJCPNOcvgUWWDoPyQJ-Q-aEPYg/w200-h133/chocolate.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>Yes I thought that would grab your attention! All will become clear as we look at the next chapter in Onward by Elena Aguilar where she inspires us to cultivate compassion for ourselves and others. But first a few definitions since I wasn't totally clear about the difference between empathy and compassion:<p></p><p><b>Sympathy</b> - when you feel sympathy you care for someone who is suffering but maintain your emotional distance.</p><p><b>Empathy</b> - when you feel empathy you place yourself in someone else's shoes and feel their pain.</p><p><b>Compassion</b> - when you feel compassion you are moved to take action to relieve someone else's suffering. Action is what distinguishes compassion from empathy.</p><p>If we find ourselves relating to others from a feeling of frustration and judgement eventually this will wear us down. However when we exercise compassion our hearts soften, our relationships strengthen and our perspectives broaden so we can see possibilities.</p><p>Elena tells us that in most schools one of the primary challenges teachers face is a shortage of empathy and compassion. It's so important to develop compassion as it strengthens our learning communities, is good for our physical health, allows us to collaborate more effectively and also helps us to deal with difficult people. Physically when we are compassionate our heart rate slows, our stress hormones decrease and our immune response strengthens - it's preventative medicine as it releases oxytocin which makes us more willing to take risks in interpersonal exchanges and it promotes long-term bonds and commitments. Getting back to the title of this post, eating chocolate also boost oxytocin - therefore it's good to have some during meetings!!</p><p>Before you can develop compassion for others, you first have to develop self-compassion. This includes acknowledging the impact that others have on you and setting boundaries around someone else's behaviour that is causing you suffering. Basically it's about extending kindness to yourself so that you have have the strength and energy to make changes: it's about talking to yourself as you would talk to a close friend, without rejection, criticism and judgement. It's about opening the door to learning and growth.</p><p>Of course all of us will encounter difficult people that we have to work with. Elena offers us good advice here such as listening to the complaints of others without commenting, not getting hooked up in someone else's story or with their attitude, being curious about what is going on for them and never taking their behaviour personally. She reminds us that it's possible to find connections, it's possible for people to change but at the same time we have to be clear about our own values and give ourselves permission to step away or even ask for help.</p><p>It's also important to forgive. There are many world figures who have exemplified the power of forgiveness but I saw this happen personally in a school I once worked at when the spouse of a teacher who was being treated poorly decided to speak up to the management and offer them her forgiveness. She explained to me it was important for her to do this because of her Christian beliefs, but in fact it's also important for ourselves because it helps us to move forward from the unhappiness. Forgiveness doesn't mean reconciliation or reestablishing relationships with the person who has done wrong, but it does mean you have drawn a line between forgiveness of the wrongdoing and acceptance or approval of it. Forgiveness is for yourself - it's connected with letting go of our expectations about another person and is the only way to free yourself and take back control of your own feelings. </p><p>Another emotion that Elena addresses in this chapter is envy or jealousy - the pain of something you don't have and the fear of losing something that you already have. When we feel these emotions we compare what we have with others. It's important to realise that we are not in competition - if someone else accomplishes something it doesn't mean we are less successful ourselves. To combat these feelings we can try to practice gratitude and perhaps also use envy as the motivation to improve our own situation.</p><p>Finally we also need perspective: we need to look at situations from multiple perspectives and points of view. We need to try to look at things within the bigger context, to expand our vision and to see the long view. Remember, changing the way you see changes the way you feel and act.</p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/chocolate-bars-cocoa-chocolate-bars-2554/">Public Domain Pictures on Pixabay</a></span></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-33583327489962146402022-04-14T19:03:00.008+05:302022-04-15T16:41:06.839+05:30Look for the light<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBnrwkAF_KAuwTGVjc9qotRGY_oGgFgICSOsbA19rVdPxzlfr4YH6U0pmNoysTlarkCydxgiRaBdM4viriumclEVZlcI2pSp07CFsx_fna-N5iOI08VGd-okCeao644Xyzgt9uZp29Nb8uYMFQypHE5bgr36oCL0k83m7zh0j7oD4T-U1MbxRI7f80Rg/s1280/Light.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="1280" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBnrwkAF_KAuwTGVjc9qotRGY_oGgFgICSOsbA19rVdPxzlfr4YH6U0pmNoysTlarkCydxgiRaBdM4viriumclEVZlcI2pSp07CFsx_fna-N5iOI08VGd-okCeao644Xyzgt9uZp29Nb8uYMFQypHE5bgr36oCL0k83m7zh0j7oD4T-U1MbxRI7f80Rg/w200-h127/Light.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>When I was teaching in India I did the Strengths Finder survey from Gallup. This is what emerged and I feel it is absolutely true:<p></p><blockquote><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Your mind is open and absorbent. You naturally soak up information in the same way that a sponge soaks up water. But just as the primary purpose of the sponge is not to permanently contain what it absorbs, neither should your mind simply store information. Input without output can lead to stagnation. As you gather and absorb information, be aware of the individuals and groups that can most benefit from your knowledge, and be intentional about sharing with them.</span></blockquote><p>Reflecting on this strength put a lot in focus for me - it helped me understand why I blog, for example, as a way of sharing my knowledge and continual learning. I also came to realise that I was happy in schools that recognised this strength, and unhappy in schools that didn't. </p><p>Chapter 7 of <i>Onward</i> by Elena Aguilar also calls on us to focus on our strengths, assets and skills. This helps us to boost our levels of self-efficacy and to feel more empowered to influence our surroundings. It also helps us to respond to challenges more effectively. In the workplace, people who focus on their strengths are more engaged, more productive and happier, and those who are given the opportunities to focus on their strengths every day are 6 times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and to be more productive both individually and in teams. Research has identified 34 strengths that exist within everyone, but Gallup defines the "signature strengths" which dominate a person's actions and behaviours. Once you discover and develop your strengths, this helps you to achieve your full potential. In addition, knowing and developing the strengths of the people you are working with helps you become a better leader and allows you to maximise the full potential of the team.</p><p>When I worked in Amsterdam we had a Director who would leave us "happygrams". These were bright pink slips of paper where she would write on things she'd notice us doing around the school and then would post them in our pigeonholes in the staff room. It was always exciting and affirming to get one of these and to see that someone had noticed our successes.</p><p>The idea of making change is that you can focus on what isn't working and decide to do less of it, or focus on what is going well and do a bit more of that. Focusing on what is working can give us energy to make changes to things that are not going so well. It allows us to gain confidence and to direct our positive feelings to the areas where we are struggling. However it's hard to focus on the positive because our brains have a built in negativity bias - we perceive negative stimuli faster and more intensely than positive ones. Research shows we must focus on a positive experience for 12 seconds before we can retain it in our memories - however danger lodges itself in our brains in just 1/10th of a second. It's one way our ancient ancestors survived, by overestimating threats, but not so useful perhaps these days. </p><p>Another difficulty is that focusing on the positive goes against some cultural norms, and that for many of us praise or appreciation can even feel uncomfortable. For example if you are working in an organisation that values analytical and critical thinking then being positive is seen as rather naive. Complaining is also cultural acceptable in many work places (staff rooms) and this can be very corrosive. Remember that what we focus on grows - so it's much better to focus on something good!</p><p>Over the past year I've trained in the new IB evaluation protocol of appreciative inquiry. I have to say this has had an amazing impact on the visits I've done to schools. Our visits now take an inquiry stance and we observe with an appreciation for the strengths of the school. It's not our job to assess or solve problems - though we do recognise challenges that schools may have been faced with in recent times - but the idea is that we ask questions that focus the attention of the school in a particular direction so that they can evolve. Elena writes, "the moment we ask a question we begin to create change. If we choose positive questions, we lead ourselves to positive change. " Here are the 5 steps of appreciative inquiry:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Define the topic of the inquiry</li><li>Discover what is already working (strengths and successes)</li><li>Dream about what could be and what are the hopes and wishes for the future</li><li>Design - what might happen if we combine what is already working with what could be?</li><li>Deliver - what do we need to do?</li></ul><div>PYP teachers use a planner to develop their units of inquiry. The great thing about the planner is that reflection is built in. Before, during and after the unit we meet together to think about our experiences and consider future choices of action. The prompts help with decision making and reflecting with colleagues through talking and writing on the planner forces us to put our experiences into words, which helps us recognise patterns and trends over time.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's also worth noting that in order to build resilience we must feel that we have the ability to respond to challenges - focusing on our strengths helps us to feel empowered, to believe that we can influence our surroundings and events, and leads us to feel competent and confident.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/tree-flowers-meadow-tree-trunk-276014/">Larisa Koshkina on Pixabay</a></span></div>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-60919920165189407872022-04-07T22:10:00.004+05:302022-04-07T22:10:42.741+05:30Look after yourself first<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKqim47v5nCiIttk8X3fpWN-rWsO6L4mshZORb0WbUiC6Hx3YKrTIglrR0zvPA2waCGCfq702MUKnp1FfGJYikMAbuXGij-IAR2f4IJBzSNPXcBOxU8HNfLPg66gbz4tQVmVDp97yy3b_l8ACJfGBgHUmGwznzRDtitUS3JhiNfOebmjVTB8AfApwW3A/s1280/cup.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKqim47v5nCiIttk8X3fpWN-rWsO6L4mshZORb0WbUiC6Hx3YKrTIglrR0zvPA2waCGCfq702MUKnp1FfGJYikMAbuXGij-IAR2f4IJBzSNPXcBOxU8HNfLPg66gbz4tQVmVDp97yy3b_l8ACJfGBgHUmGwznzRDtitUS3JhiNfOebmjVTB8AfApwW3A/w200-h133/cup.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>When you travel by plane, in the announcements where it tells you what will happen if oxygen levels fall, you are always told to put on your own mask first, before assisting others. In the same way, you might have heard the expression "you can't drink from an empty cup". Basically, the meaning behind this is that when you take care of your body, you are better able to deal with your emotions - and those of others.<p></p><p>In Chapter 6 of <i>Onward</i>, Elena Aguilar shows us how our bodies and minds are intertwined - our physical state creates our emotional state, and our emotions are affected by our physical health. If our bodies are strong, rested and nourished, then it will be easier to look after our emotions. </p><p>The "danger time" for new teachers is October/November, when the high feelings of the new school year have faded and it seems like a long time until our next break. This is the time that teachers start to question their commitment to the profession as well as their competence (as their hard work has not yet started to show results). It's precisely this time of year that we need to spend time and energy on ourselves - to support each other, take walks, eat well and sleep. Focusing on our self-care can prevent illness and enable us to continue to be effective in supporting students. And yet as teachers we seem almost conditioned to put our own needs last. The outcome of this is a lack of growth for us as teachers. In contrast school leaders often find April/May to be the most challenging months as they are finishing off one school year and preparing for the next.</p><p>Things we need to take care of:</p><p><b>Sleep</b> - A few years ago I read the book <i>Why We Sleep</i>. I've recommended it to others as it's a great book for explaining how sleep is absolutely vital for our overall health. If we are sleep deprived, our mental and emotional stability is eroded, because sleep allows our brain to process information, convert short term memories into long term ones, and it allows our bodies to rest and recuperate. If you sleep more your resilience will be boosted.</p><p><b>Nutrition</b> - In addition, sleep also helps regulate our hunger hormones. We need to think about what we eat because this also affects our health and mood.</p><p><b>Exercise</b> - brings more blood to the brain, providing energy. It's interesting to read that our brains developed during a time when our ancestors walked about 12 miles a day - our cognitive skills developed in conditions of movement! Exercise is good for your heart and lungs, improves long-term memory, reasoning, attention and problem solving. The risk of Alzheimer's, heart disease and cancer is lower in those who exercise - and at the same time exercise regulates the neurotransmitters that govern our mental health so it's good for depression.</p><p>You also need emotional and physical intimacy to promote wellbeing. Being in nature makes us feel good as it improves mood, sleep and the ability to focus. Sunlight provides us with vitamin D - many of us are deficient in this especially in winter. When you are in the sun, your body releases serotonin, which elevates your mood and energy. As you can see - everything is connected!</p><p>Another thing we need to learn to do is to say no. Remember saying no is giving you the time and space to say yes to something else (for example prioritising your own needs). Most of us say yes to things we don't like and don't want to do because we want people to like us, think we are good, smart, skilled and capable. Also (and I'm guilty of this much too often) we fear that if we say no to something that people won't ask us again. This leads me to totally overcommit and take on huge workloads. It's interesting to read that at the heart of this issue is the sense of self-worth. Like so many women, I struggle with the Imposter Syndrome no matter how successful I am.</p><p>This chapter is a great reminder that if we want to be resilient we must place more value on ourselves: our minds, heart, body and spirit. Resilient people set boundaries and take responsibilities for our choices, actions and mistakes. And even more important - we forgive ourselves for our mistakes.</p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-6810111909398827752022-03-30T15:51:00.001+05:302022-03-30T15:52:52.191+05:30Being present<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfqrFEmBX2D8zh8yPhTEQ9Z-sH1oZ5ofPMAZS4gRlsL5Sg0BnEZTwD9QCmqtdqwdZC8MhqIwq2s-sSr3EmUP8FPfVlPlg7rNlCFTNTuITjmS9lpxUmUahLnpD3DIVVvIEjUtaU8uP9hJNkVbgxA0qykBwqaNwT5kvzrsowIjK64afVbsD-T2RGDUueHg/s1280/present.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="812" data-original-width="1280" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfqrFEmBX2D8zh8yPhTEQ9Z-sH1oZ5ofPMAZS4gRlsL5Sg0BnEZTwD9QCmqtdqwdZC8MhqIwq2s-sSr3EmUP8FPfVlPlg7rNlCFTNTuITjmS9lpxUmUahLnpD3DIVVvIEjUtaU8uP9hJNkVbgxA0qykBwqaNwT5kvzrsowIjK64afVbsD-T2RGDUueHg/w200-h127/present.png" width="200" /></a></div>If you have been following my blog for some time you will know that my mother was diagnosed with dementia in 2016 and as a result of this I moved to the UK to look after her as her mental capacities declined. I was reading over some of the posts I made from 2016-2018 which were about using apps to both support her and to support my own wellbeing as a carer. Several of these were mindfulness apps such as Buddhify and Calm, which helped me focus on the present and not to stress so much about the past or the future. It was interesting to read through Chapter 5 of Elena Aguilar's <i>Onward</i> as the journey Elena describes about learning to be in the present resonated very much with my own journey these past five years. I too have found that staying in the present can boost resilience and can help us to be accepting about the things that happen in our lives and how we respond to them, rather than worrying about the past or about things that might happen in the future. <p></p><p>My journey into mindfulness actually started while I was working in India. Our primary school counsellor offered a mindfulness course to teachers, and ran mindfulness sessions before school. It was a great way to start the day. As Elena explains, mindfulness is the "nonjudgemental cultivation of moment to moment awareness." We begin by noticing our feelings, being aware of their origins, accept what is happening and are intentional about what we do or say next. There is a fantastic quote here:</p><blockquote><p><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Practicing mindfulness is like hitting an internal pause button on the drama of life.</span></p></blockquote><p> Often while I was staying with Mum, I would take myself out for a walk, and listen to a mindfulness meditation on Buddhify. One of my favourites spoke about the sky and how clouds came and went, and perhaps bad weather came and went - but the sky was always there - it was not the clouds or the weather. In the same way our thoughts and emotions come and go - and we are not our thoughts and emotions.</p><p>Currently I try to do a yoga class each week and to meditate each day for about 10 minutes. I can totally relate to the "monkey mind" which jumps around from one thing to the next, both past and present. What I've also noticed is that it's become progressively easier to become and remain calm. </p><p>I was really interested to read the research about teachers who practice mindfulness. They experience lower levels of stress and burnout, report greater efficacy in their jobs, have more emotionally supportive classrooms and more organised classrooms. It's interesting to note that if you are calm and focused and self aware that it's more likely your students will be these things as well - and mindfulness has so many other benefits such as improving attention, memory and self-control, boosting your immune system, helping with insomnia and the management of depression and chronic pain.</p><p>Another interesting section of Chapter 5 is the section about happy people doing better work, and how having "appropriate challenge" makes us happy. We know this with our students of course, but as a school leader we need to consider this for our teachers as well!</p><p>Final thoughts - it was quite fascinating to read that people have about 65,000 thoughts a day. I did the maths at that's actually 45 thoughts a minute - meaning we have just over a second for each one! Elena writes:</p><blockquote><p><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Thoughts and emotions are visitors who knock on the door of our house. With meditation we can learn to greet them, acknowledge them, exercise choice about how to relate to them, and then watch them go. Those thoughts that make you anxious, insecure, irritated or ashamed don't need to stay with you.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/stream-consciousness-flow-river-1106336/"> John Hain on Pixabay</a> </span></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-85656860977106761892022-03-18T20:21:00.003+05:302022-03-18T20:22:19.530+05:30Building a learning community<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7cAfXJ0EVuf1uLHzOd7q7p1gNe59pLkJryofYSc6M-rgm0kxUUhYGF_qOoVsJ1WglpqDr4qfrO8TZcmUH3XdADDWMA45EEsi9tEjFe48MOPDUn20MJpEp63ab-4yQdb1JqKvDSuqhqGf5XdglbqzxSISfIeWXJWVZKtqSrAeLxBzR-hdZTYXCxwID1Q=s1280" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="1280" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7cAfXJ0EVuf1uLHzOd7q7p1gNe59pLkJryofYSc6M-rgm0kxUUhYGF_qOoVsJ1WglpqDr4qfrO8TZcmUH3XdADDWMA45EEsi9tEjFe48MOPDUn20MJpEp63ab-4yQdb1JqKvDSuqhqGf5XdglbqzxSISfIeWXJWVZKtqSrAeLxBzR-hdZTYXCxwID1Q=w200-h105" width="200" /></a></div>There's a quote about collaboration that I use when leading PYP workshops:<p></p><blockquote><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Members of a PYP learning community are open to new ideas, commit to capacity-building, seek a broad range of views, opinions and discussions, and follow transparent decision-making processes. They demonstrate agency through collective ownership, responsibility and accountability for learning and teaching, and transform schools into dynamic learning communities.</span></b></blockquote><p>I thought about this quote as I was reading Chapter 5 of <i>Onward</i> by Elena Aguilar this morning, and I was thinking about how to best build a strong learning community in schools so that all members of the community feel connected to others, listened to, trusted, believed in and encouraged. Such a community would be a dynamic place indeed, as we could learn together and try out new things safely. Strong learning communities are what makes our working life rewarding - and these communities include educators, students and parents. </p><p>Elena starts this chapter reviewing Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, with physical needs at the bottom followed by safety and health. Further up the pyramid is the need for love, a sense of belonging and feeling esteemed. Right at the top is the need for self-actualisation and reaching our potential. She also cites the work of Matthew Lieberman who points out that people cannot meet their basic needs by themselves - we all start our lives needing a caregiver who can provide these - so his argument is that at the bottom of the pyramid should be social connection, as this is what helps us to survive.</p><p>I've worked in a number of different schools across Europe and Asia, and for sure the most enjoyable places to work were those that were strong on social connections. These schools were ones where teachers seemed to stay a long time, and where the students thrived. I'm still connected to teachers (some of whom are still working at the same school) where I started international teaching in 1989. I'm also still connected to teachers and students from my time in Thailand - 13 years after leaving that school I'm still getting news from "my" class (two of them recently got engaged, one got married, and one - believe it or not - is still living in the same city and she has two children who now also attend that school!)</p><p>This is interesting, because teaching can be a very isolating profession - you can go into your classroom and close the door and have very little contact with others outside. However we know that building relationships with peers and students (and their families) is essential, and in addition new teachers need mentors and coaches to support them - this not only helps them to develop their pedagogy but also enhances their commitment to teaching.</p><p>When I was training to be a Cognitive Coach I remember reading a book by Bryk and Schneider about trust in schools. This is fundamental to building a learning community. I refer to this work often when leading workshops about collaboration, as it's important to understand that trust is built on integrity (aligning our actions with our words) and on competence. Studies show that when there is high relational trust among adults in a school, the students also thrive. When trust is evident in schools people interact with each other in kind ways, they care about each other both personally and professionally, and they believe in the abilities and willingness of others in the learning community. </p><p>How to build a community? Elena offers the following 4 strategies:</p><p><b>Refine communication</b> - in particular listen. Be mindful of where your mind is while you are listening - is your heart open or are you engaging in judgement and impatience, or is it that you have stopped listening because you want to jump in and offer advice and solutions? Elena points out that listening is at the centre of healthy social relationships. Also important is what she refers to as expansive listening, which involves asking generous questions, and inviting honesty and dignity.</p><p><b>Learn from body language</b> - because non-verbal communication is stronger than our words. This includes posture, gestures and facial expressions and trust diminishes if there is a mismatch between a person's words and his/her non-verbals. We know that in general the physical expression of emotions look the same worldwide, but we also know that all cultures have specific meaning around different aspects of body language (when to look someone in the eye, when to shake hands etc), and we need to be aware of this.</p><p><b>Focus on cultural competence</b> - be aware of your own cultural identity and beliefs about differences as well as your unconscious biases.</p><p><b>Address conflict</b> - because if it is not addressed it will grow and spread. For example gossip can fuel toxic cultures in which even the most resilient people cannot thrive. Also worth noting here is that not all conflict is unhealthy! Healthy conflict can be an exchange of ideas, a sincere asking of questions, and a genuine willingness to listen and learn - but healthy conflict can only survive in a situation where there is a high degree of trust, vulnerability and courage.</p><p>Finally Elena addresses fear - which she says is pervasive in schools. Teachers are often afraid of the consequences if students don't score well in tests: they are afraid they are not doing a good job and are afraid of being criticised. Many teachers are also afraid that their hard work and contributions are not acknowledged, or that their experience and perspective are not welcome. Fear needs to be tackled as it has no place in a learning community - in particular it holds teachers back from asking for help because they fear being judged or rejected. Fear might also be holding teachers back from advocating for the changes that need to be made to transform schools.</p><p>Empathy is one of the most important components of healthy relationships. When community members have a high level of empathy for one another, people regulate their own behaviour and there is more compassion, forgiveness, acceptance and kindness.</p><p>Image Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/together-earth-people-board-school-2450095/">Gerd Altmann on Pixabay</a></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-66790813513597436222022-03-16T02:43:00.003+05:302022-03-25T02:47:14.931+05:30Telling your story<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKO71MSzD4ZixUD67yIFe1D-AgNColdNCv5_POuB178__ub_rLiN1Qf6mSRg5RsFYSbDHbNs9xdCYhYxCetbViOHeSBn6N4T5SyYzLjFIu6zPN_-YZ-6bJTQ-d5Ti71BN_9d2pRJjSBzt4GboHb80PwwGDrAM5rljKt4_9qe0Ik1Hvg0d_5K0QztGo-w=s1096" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="1096" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKO71MSzD4ZixUD67yIFe1D-AgNColdNCv5_POuB178__ub_rLiN1Qf6mSRg5RsFYSbDHbNs9xdCYhYxCetbViOHeSBn6N4T5SyYzLjFIu6zPN_-YZ-6bJTQ-d5Ti71BN_9d2pRJjSBzt4GboHb80PwwGDrAM5rljKt4_9qe0Ik1Hvg0d_5K0QztGo-w=w200-h128" width="200" /></a></div>Today, with war raging in Ukraine following the country being invaded by Russia, one very brave Russian journalist spoke out. Marina Ovsyannikova, who works at the Russian Channel 1 TV news, decided she wanted to tell her story. In a video she explained that her father was from Ukraine and her mother from Russia. She referred to the Ukrainians as her "brothers" and because it is now illegal to refer to the Russian invasion of another country as a war, she decided to protest on a live news programme because with such strict censorship in the country it was the only way she could get her message out. She therefore walked into the news broadcast with a sign saying "NO WAR". She called the Russian invasion of Ukraine a war and urged ordinary Russian people to protest against it. Knowing what has happened to other protesters in Russia, she is a remarkably brave woman to speak out against what she referred to as a fratricidal war.<p></p><p>This story set the scene as I was reading the next chapter in the book <i>Onward</i> for the PYP Bookclub. Actually this chapter was more about the stories we tell ourselves, and how through empowering stories we can create optimism, however the protest on Russian TV resonated with my reading because one of the things we are challenged to do is to "tell the story of what is happening. If you don't, other people will do it for you and you might not like their narrative."</p><p>So let's have a think about the stories we tell ourselves now .... Elena Aguilar writes "If you want to shift the way you feel, you must shift the way you think". This is not so easy to do, especially as many of us engage in unhelpful, distorted thinking - and these patterns of thought are difficult to see because they are habitual - we have thought like this for many years and so we are not even aware of them anymore. Examples of distorted thinking include black and white thinking (the sort of all or nothing thinking where there is no middle ground), jumping to conclusions without knowing all the facts, having unrealistic expectations, excessively focusing on the negative aspects of a person, situation or experience, seeing worst-case scenarios and personalisation of any negative thoughts (thinking "it must be my fault"). Basically if we want to abandon these stories that don't serve us, we need to craft some new stories or mental models that we want to live in.</p><p>The first suggestion for doing this is to try using affirmations - to push your brain to form new clusters of "positive thought" neurons. For example you can tell yourself that difficult times pass and that you will get through this. You can tell yourself that you are valuable. You can tell yourself that every day you are becoming a better teacher.</p><p>Another suggestion is intention setting where you make a statement about how you are going to experience something. For example you can tell yourself that you are going to be kind and patient, or that you are going to be listening carefully in collaborative planning meetings. Setting an intention tells you how YOU want to be in a situation and that is something that you do have control over. There is a wonderful quote shared in this chapter from Rebecca Solnit:</p><blockquote><p><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A free person tells her own story. A valued person lives in a society in which her story has a place.</span></b></p></blockquote><p>Returning to the start of this blog post, we do need to consider stories being told and the truth behind them. For example throughout history people have told dehumanising narratives to disempower others - a good example of this is the colonial powers who crafted stories about the cognitive inferiority of the inhabitants of those places they colonised as a way of justifying their exploitation. Stories are being told right now about people in Ukraine being neo-Nazis as a way of Russia justifying invading their country. Destructive dominant narratives silence the stories of others. In the example of Maria Ovsyannikova, she now says "I'm ashamed that I allowed myself to tell lies from the television screen." In Russia right now, true stories about the war are being silenced, discredited and destroyed. However, there is hope. Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tells us that stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that dignity. Listening to the stories of others can be an act of solidarity.</p><p>As a coach I'm asking myself what do I do when I hear viewpoints in coaching conversations that I disagree with. How can I listen to these stories with an open heart and an open mind? How can I attempt to understand why someone believes something that I know to be false? In fact Aguilar tells us that we don't have to agree, we simply need to listen to what a person thinks and to be curious about where these beliefs come from. </p><p>Within schools there are lots of stories and lots of areas where people disagree. Examples include what to teach, how to teach, what is worth assessing, how best to manage student behaviour and so on. Generally we are not good at talking about these things that we disagree with. However we do need to examine some of these assumptions about schools and also we need to be aware of the stories we are telling ourselves. Every time we interpret an event we craft a story. We can choose to craft a story that boosts our resilience or we can choose to tell a story that depletes it. As Aguilar writes, "the stories we craft predict our futures, encapsulate our legacies and impact our resilience. You have a choice, so tell powerful stories."</p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-81682079406661013232022-03-15T19:58:00.000+05:302022-03-15T19:58:05.764+05:30Listening<p> I'm still playing catch up with ToddleTIES. I wan't able to attend the Masterclass session <i>Being known, loved, safe, and successful - The role of collaboration in inclusion </i>by Ochan Kusuma Powell and Jennifer Wong-Powell because of the time difference - but how great that I could listen to it today instead. So much of this resonated with me but I was especially interested in this slide where Ochan explained about the Chinese word for listening. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfY44KR2_VLfk_UyivieaP_LkYrUOIsW5EjOZIAI-aNbkmE7929m5CzgxYvARO8HZPv-KpBnueV5zg6dudgrSNlwKhYijCjhox0hnmw0I5lWQW6OuNHtNOjVkOAdstK12-e8fhHq12GUWty0sSrT8FvYfb3u3k0zDJuZs1KYtbxksNldFIIamlOPE85Q=s1374" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="834" data-original-width="1374" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfY44KR2_VLfk_UyivieaP_LkYrUOIsW5EjOZIAI-aNbkmE7929m5CzgxYvARO8HZPv-KpBnueV5zg6dudgrSNlwKhYijCjhox0hnmw0I5lWQW6OuNHtNOjVkOAdstK12-e8fhHq12GUWty0sSrT8FvYfb3u3k0zDJuZs1KYtbxksNldFIIamlOPE85Q=w400-h243" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I love the way the Chinese character is broken down into so many of the important parts involved in listening - using your ears to hear what is being said, using your eyes to see the body language of the person who is saying it, giving your undivided attention to the person speaking, using your mind to think and using your heart to hear. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Note: there is no symbol for mouth! Listening does not involve thinking about what we are going to say next!</div><br /><p></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-71402675948438260852022-03-15T19:44:00.009+05:302022-03-15T19:50:28.918+05:30Feeling emotional<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjC2F56NUlbEE_tyd1Xq-CkprBMCtk4jXTk112saDv3Yv0CbqctIyzZbzEBp2SlSvxp5x38QcObBnu-AaVGPZA9BviGW2F8y29XCkVCWlTBlO9Equ0AG8wE5j0_rG09Ekzo_Tatvnh_5KbZYWBIeCeR8DpSyVI5-PUXv_nd8awCj5U17Y5DdGjrXiCTKA=s1280" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1280" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjC2F56NUlbEE_tyd1Xq-CkprBMCtk4jXTk112saDv3Yv0CbqctIyzZbzEBp2SlSvxp5x38QcObBnu-AaVGPZA9BviGW2F8y29XCkVCWlTBlO9Equ0AG8wE5j0_rG09Ekzo_Tatvnh_5KbZYWBIeCeR8DpSyVI5-PUXv_nd8awCj5U17Y5DdGjrXiCTKA=w200-h113" width="200" /></a></div>When I reflect back on my journey as a coach, I think the most important lesson I learned was to paraphrase the emotion that someone was experiencing, before paraphrasing what a person has actually said. I've used this over and over again in my daily life as well as professionally, so that it has become part of who I am. The reason it is important is because you have to first acknowledge the existing reality of a person before you can coach them to move forward. It allows you to express understanding in an empathetic and non-judgemental way. Only after acknowledging the emotion that a person is feeling, can they be liberated enough to move forward.<p></p><p>This brings me to Chapter 2 of the PYP Bookclub reading <i>Onward</i> by Elena Aguilar. Here she talks about understanding and accepting emotions because this allows you to see where you can - and cannot - influence a situation. It helps you to let go of what is outside of your control. As a coach, one of the things I find difficult still is not getting caught up in the emotions of others. At times we have to hear difficult, even traumatic, testimonies, and acknowledging a person's feelings about these is the first step to helping them to explore their own emotions. </p><p>Elena writes about how emotions are reactions to an event. She describes the 6 part cycle of an emotion, which I'm summarising below:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>An external event happens and this can also trigger internal thoughts and memories.</li><li>You interpret the event - your mind makes sense of what has happened.</li><li> The event and your interpretation lead to a physical response in your body.</li><li>Alongside this physical response, you feel an urge to do something. You may or may not act on this impulse.</li><li>You may act - and at this point you may also feel out of control of your behaviour.</li><li>The original emotion starts to affect other emotions, thoughts and behaviours. You might need time to process the original emotion, or perhaps a secondary emotion is triggered.</li></ol><div>Here's the thing - learning to identify where you are in the cycle is important because you can interrupt the cycle at any step. Although emotions feel incredible strong, we know they are also temporary. Resilient people can rebound quickly once they understand the emotion is temporary and that they are in charge of the cycle.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes emotions are regarded as positive or negative, and even more important culture can determine how, where and when emotions can be expressed. A person's age, gender and race can all lead to other people interpreting these emotions in different ways. In fact our emotions are not either good or bad - however the way we respond to our emotions can cause problems.</div><div><br /></div><div>There has been a lot of interest in emotional intelligence over a number of years. This can be defined as self-awareness (recognising your own feelings), self-management (deciding how to respond to emotions, social awareness (recognising the feelings of others) and social management (forming healthy relationships, managing conflicts, collaborating etc.). Emotional intelligence is learned: we can all learn to understand our emotions and develop strategies to respond to them. However one of the first things we need to do is to actually identify our feelings and name the emotions. When I was training to be a Cognitive Coach I remember hearing that there are 4 main emotions: sad, mad, glad and afraid - and that all other emotions are greater or lesser states of these. However emotions are hard to define because they are so complex and multi-layered, and they come in waves and varying intensities. In Elena's book she has a list of emotions in Appendix C where she breaks down the emotions into 8 core emotions: fear, anger, sadness, shame, jealousy, disgust, happiness and love. The lists with the longest labels for these 8 are sadness and happiness, however it's interesting to know that of the 8 core emotions there is only one set that seems positive. As a coach it's important to be able to name emotions. For example I might say "you are feeling anxious" and the person I'm talking to might reply "no, actually I'm terrified" which is a stronger intensity. It is only once we name the emotion that we can made a decision about what best to do.</div><div><br /></div><div>When I talk to teachers, especially after 2 years of disrupted education, I hear so much about how teachers are tired, stressed and overwhelmed. Interestingly, these are not emotions in themselves, they are indicators of emotional states as they are the symptoms that arise from emotions. The danger is that stress, anxiety and depression can turn into burnout, where teachers feel exhausted, apathetic, frustrated, angry and depressed - a dissatisfaction with teaching or life in general. It's important to deal with this. We need to boost our resilience through taking care of ourselves, for example sleeping more or taking more time off. Emotions that stick around too long can turn into moods, and moods can turn into emotional problems such as depression or anxiety, when teachers feel they have little support. Research has shown that about 10% of teachers suffer from depression. This not only creates stress for the teacher, but also negatively impacts the climate of the classroom and so also impacts the students. There are more long-term impacts on health as well - more headaches, indigestion, insomnia for example - and we know that stress has a role to play in the progression of many medical conditions. Pay attention to how you feel physically - it will be mirroring how you are feeling emotionally!</div><div><br /></div><div>Although I mentioned earlier that most of the emotions listed are negative, it's important to recognise that there is often a good reason for this: in fact as humans we often benefit from negative emotions as they can motivate us to act, solve problems and also tune in to what others are feeling. Emotions also help us to build and maintain social bonds. Over the course of a day - let's say a working day for teachers - hundreds or even thousands of decisions are being made. Every decision we make can either boost our resilience or deplete it. Our resilience will determine whether we bounce back from adversity or not. Therefore understanding our emotions will help us in deciding our options, to put our energies into what we can change and to accept what we can't change.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/smiley-emoticon-anger-angry-2979107/">Gino Crescoli on Pixabay</a></span></div><p></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-35703837167490664282022-03-13T20:50:00.002+05:302022-03-13T20:50:27.458+05:30Streamlining the curriculum for the modern learner - What to cut, keep and create<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjL_XFoRH9Hp6ev1bjxXeFUUzOze1wNLX7iGm3Y1opMbevLJ0Wiqwk0RefOU4sXGLYJtWuq56cP_hHYV7NjMr9FSP6NoLEtxria-XQGBohRPWeMDSDEJbERCGiHlo3Bp9l3O3Of5WwIdurQiUtQhSjt3ET_6wEXcOQQMbxD8qsUx_OHhdhc43YPsxgtig=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="905" data-original-width="1280" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjL_XFoRH9Hp6ev1bjxXeFUUzOze1wNLX7iGm3Y1opMbevLJ0Wiqwk0RefOU4sXGLYJtWuq56cP_hHYV7NjMr9FSP6NoLEtxria-XQGBohRPWeMDSDEJbERCGiHlo3Bp9l3O3Of5WwIdurQiUtQhSjt3ET_6wEXcOQQMbxD8qsUx_OHhdhc43YPsxgtig=w200-h141" width="200" /></a></div>I've been enjoying some great ToddleTIES session today as well (yes - I know I've also been leading a workshop but I hopped straight onto the ToddleTIES platform afterwards to catch up with all the learning there!)<p></p><p>This afternoon I've been listening to Heidi Hayes Jacobs who has been talking about streamlining the curriculum. She discusses how learning has changed as a result of the pandemic and now that most of us are back in schools again there are some ways we can respond to what happened over the past 18 months to 2 years: </p><p>1. Recover - catch up. In the UK this seems to be the main thrust at the moment. Just this week in the news there have been reports about learning loss - with some areas of the country being harder hit than others by the achievement gap. The government's response has been to employ catch up tutors - but evidence is showing that this is not proving to be very effective.</p><p>2. Refresh - take onboard some lessons that we learned and continue to use them. One example of this could be the way we have embraced new technology. We don't need to go back to the same-old, same-old as before the pandemic because we know there are effective new way of reaching our learners that include technology.</p><p>3. Reset - have a good think about what have we learned and what is no longer relevant in the curriculum - as Heidi says, it's bloated and cumbersome and much can be cut or at least cut back to create room for what is really important.</p><p>We can't just keep holding on to what we are used to. Streamlining is essential. It's not just cutting out, but we streamline to make the curriculum more efficient. We need to decide what to cut out, what to cut back, what to consolidate, what new to create. Not everything is necessary in the curriculum. We should cut back on many things, though obviously important technical and cognitive skills should be kept. We should also consider how we can bring in the voice of the students as we are thinking creatively about what needs to be in the curriculum - especially how to do make it relevant for them. We cannot keep adding on new things unless we cut out, cut back and consolidate.</p><p>One important lesson from online learning is that parents don't really understand the curriculum documents or even the instructions sent home during online learning - curriculum and lesson planning should be more manageable for teachers and should be understood by both learners and their parents. Therefore, Heidi argues, curriculum documents should be written in language that students can understand including "I can" statements for the learning goals. We need to ask who the learning is for - it's for the students - so we need to consider them as the audience when we write. We need feedback from both parents and students on our curriculum documents - in particular if students don't know what the target is they can't hit it! By having them give input into the curriculum they can participate in their own learning and self-monitor their progress. They need to see where they are going and understand how they are going to get there.</p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/vectors/destination-goal-purpose-the-goal-1285851/">Maki on Pixabay</a></span></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-89738162816663695202022-03-11T22:21:00.001+05:302022-03-11T22:21:09.129+05:30Better coaching conversations<p>What an absolute joy to be in the ToddleTIES session with Jim Knight. Just sharing a few screenshots here and will post about my thoughts later.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQv8qtDuRNQY_t3wMNaT_9xGUUjcfbeXmsUBAr955hMtWm4ZP7lK_t0Vmlbk7iSIRlxD_QNPLRazpYImV-Pg5SABKzs-Twbt9TjKnu1Is31PR0vOWJt-e58IWXjjp8iPbIjp7GMRu5OeUE-poOGzAoMRj7D-GO8dQNcoCwNWhhY9VBp_dVW5NyHu0MvQ=s1670" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="926" data-original-width="1670" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQv8qtDuRNQY_t3wMNaT_9xGUUjcfbeXmsUBAr955hMtWm4ZP7lK_t0Vmlbk7iSIRlxD_QNPLRazpYImV-Pg5SABKzs-Twbt9TjKnu1Is31PR0vOWJt-e58IWXjjp8iPbIjp7GMRu5OeUE-poOGzAoMRj7D-GO8dQNcoCwNWhhY9VBp_dVW5NyHu0MvQ=w400-h221" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdg5ALfQy6QgFBCvrq3iwN8xttHy8r843DyF9wFcfcb1QA_s0zWQ7NWUTjO-9b9Sate6-m9CgT9AJu5JQ51d3fQMlCtzQ40PciP8BIwCbip-l0ZzzRvbUHyaeabb6ZMS7563mvIZoZY8vKsBn-7OHUU9tryLzt7Fouq5kiCgPvo8Vlhc0HVO6PUzhzJQ=s1664" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="1664" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdg5ALfQy6QgFBCvrq3iwN8xttHy8r843DyF9wFcfcb1QA_s0zWQ7NWUTjO-9b9Sate6-m9CgT9AJu5JQ51d3fQMlCtzQ40PciP8BIwCbip-l0ZzzRvbUHyaeabb6ZMS7563mvIZoZY8vKsBn-7OHUU9tryLzt7Fouq5kiCgPvo8Vlhc0HVO6PUzhzJQ=w400-h219" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgi2eqUkddE_1iCItjCFtNDx2lmLASvfrjeIONvjmmMLYNFR-7xuOElwANlhA8xsbM-UgA4iXolCpvano8h5Q7XyukRZQx4UnmOgCxVJdRUoQ8ss9u4wW4yIq-uJdw6FjjeMs6hsIyZWm3224xTN0dFdJ6eyo9coU17SOa8QzFHs_t4JgoVvGZBYi98Qg=s1658" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="1658" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgi2eqUkddE_1iCItjCFtNDx2lmLASvfrjeIONvjmmMLYNFR-7xuOElwANlhA8xsbM-UgA4iXolCpvano8h5Q7XyukRZQx4UnmOgCxVJdRUoQ8ss9u4wW4yIq-uJdw6FjjeMs6hsIyZWm3224xTN0dFdJ6eyo9coU17SOa8QzFHs_t4JgoVvGZBYi98Qg=w400-h224" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6040524831337878007.post-35661894379070592582022-03-11T21:37:00.006+05:302022-03-11T21:37:58.220+05:30The future is created by children, it's not waiting for them to walk in.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9wcOZ_7PS8FRaT4gvT5EC9-oLR4LT88hTdSc_9jbQkMOXqgx6QMEUriCBuTDvc2CmVnOgVn6JTcn5Ec1F7O8Yrut2h1T7vYqtR7dClXlUm_boxZCAahr49tH8ZbNVwSp6QF-kSQ-mxu26nd1m1ql2Y9RbDX4LICNJ8s3wG3bpcs6M7cQcs03H0eHIlg=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="1280" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9wcOZ_7PS8FRaT4gvT5EC9-oLR4LT88hTdSc_9jbQkMOXqgx6QMEUriCBuTDvc2CmVnOgVn6JTcn5Ec1F7O8Yrut2h1T7vYqtR7dClXlUm_boxZCAahr49tH8ZbNVwSp6QF-kSQ-mxu26nd1m1ql2Y9RbDX4LICNJ8s3wG3bpcs6M7cQcs03H0eHIlg=w200-h133" width="200" /></a></div>Wow! I've been involved in a school visit all day today, but have just found time to join TIES and to participate in the Learners without borders - possibilities of a new education session by Yong Zhao. Yong explained that we have learned a lot from the Covid legacy and one important we have learned is that teachers can change. Educators have transformed themselves as they switched from face-to-face to online learning. We know that we can respond to emergencies and we have experienced new learning possibilities and new ways of communicating with colleagues and parents and students. But here's the question: how can we learn from this and use this experience to intentionally design a new form of education?<p></p><p>Yong Zhao explains that we have a dead curriculum and we impose it on all our children - if they don't succeed we blame both the teachers and the students - but we need to ask ourselves if the curriculum standards and assessments are truly valuable for all children. We need to question the idea of a curriculum.</p><p>He mentions that it is not enough to have talents - you need something to trigger that talent through your experiences. We believe we can teach children anything, but how good can they become at everything? We are all different and we have talents in different areas, as well as different personalities and desires, diverse life experiences. What works for one child may not work for other children. This is the problem for education with one curriculum. We imagine the curriculum will get children ready for the future - but there is no evidence for this: the future is created by children, not waiting for them to walk in.</p><p>Our education does not prepare students for the future - it is for them to create a future - and we want them to be good creators of our future. Children are naturally intentional and diverse and then they come to a one size fits all curriculum and this doesn't work. Governments and organisations are working hard to impose the same thing on all children at the same time so that they reach the same level by giving them the same knowledge and skills. However many of our assessments create borders - creating "good" and "bad" students. We need to think about assessment being short-term and it may not capture what we want our children to learn.</p><p>Looking at data, it's not just a question of scores on tests, it's also a question of confidence. Asian students often outscore American students, but they have less confidence and less enjoyment with their learning. There are different ways of driving up test scores, but these methods may well be hurting the education of the students as they may lose interest in education or lose confidence in themselves. In fact, PISA scores have a negative correlation with entrepreneurship, and high PISA scores have a negative correlation with life satisfaction. This is not where we want to go long-term. </p><p>For example you may have "productive failures" where students cannot do something now, but may be able to do so in the future. PBL, for example, builds collaboration, creativity and resilience. It won't give as quick a hike in test scores as direct instruction, but in the long-term the skills transfer into the future.</p><p>You need to question education. You need to recognise there are multiple outcomes (some are short-term, some are long-term). There are instructional outcomes which are not the same as educational outcomes - students may memorise facts but may not be curious. There are also cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes, for example whether you can do something or whether you want to do something. </p><p>All children are natural learners. They are divers and are intentional. We cannot have the same curriculum and tests for all children as they need self-determination:</p><p>Autonomy - They need to be responsible for their own learning, and we as adults should help and support them and create opportunities. Students are capable and agentic, and they cab do a lot.</p><p>Mastery - Do students feel they have control over their learning and that they can improve? Students need to believe that they can learn.</p><p>And don't forget that learning happens in relationships. </p><p>Last year Yong Zhau wrote the book <i>Learners Without Borders</i>. In this he challenged us to think about flexibility in the curriculum: it should not be imposed on all students but instead maybe only 1/3 of the curriculum is useful in this regard. Another 1/3 of the school's curriculum can address the school's unique context. But what if we let students decide the rest of the curriculum? Can we learn globally and work out what the borders are for all children? Can we change the role of teachers, and having children spending their whole times in grade levels with others of the same age. Can we apply flexibility to the curriculum, testing, school time, facilities, the roles of teacher, and the roles of students? </p><p>Learning online has become normal for students as a result of Covid. We can expand the territory of learning and it's important to consider what education we can recreate post-Covid. We should not be misled by the notion of learning loss - instead we need to meet students where they are psychologically, socially, emotionally and cognitively. We should be paying attention to all educational outcomes not just test scores. We want students to own their own learning - with confidence, curiosity and resourcefulness - they are partners who can design learning. We should not forget the value of remote learning - many children are very happy with this and many kids thrive in this environment. We need to build schools back better. </p><p>We must favour our children over curriculum - children are more important than prescribed curriculum - they can learn something if are interested enough later. Currently we are forcing kids to learn things that may or may not matter, By doing this, we disregard their diversity and purpose. We must pay more attention to each individual child. We cannot just see a classroom controlled by the teacher as the only place to learn. Educators should become organisers, curators of learning resources in a situation where ALL learning needs to be done by children. We live in a global world and children should participate in a global environment to learn from and with anyone globally and to learn for anyone globally too. Learning has to be purposeful. It is always ongoing. Our job is to become a human educator and to grow with our children. </p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo Credit - <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/children-silhouette-cheers-future-214437/">Gerd Altmann on Pixabay</a></span></p>Maggie Hos-McGranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906722339671067160noreply@blogger.com0