Unpacking Academic Excellence

I get a little skeptical and wary of schools (and those that work within them - including myself sometimes) that espouse "academic excellence" as an organizational value.

I wonder if the "academic excellence" mantra has become the equivalent to the "good job" or "excellent effort" of teacher feedback to students.  Nice words that mean nothing or worse yet, different things to different people.

Don't get me wrong, schools and teachers NEED to be "academically excellent", but what does the ideal look like?

What are the distinguishing features of academically excellent schools or classrooms?  Are the only valid features of "academically excellent" schools those that are common to all to schools?  Can we or should we personalize our understanding of "academically excellent" schools?

For example:

• When you walk through "academically excellent" schools what are the teachers and students actually doing?  Who's is doing the talking?  Who's is doing the learning?  What are students producing?  Is it a problem if the teacher is doing most of the talking, all the time?  Are the students engaged in relevant work that engages their mind in innovative and creative ways?   Is the work that is expected from students done with a simple "Google" search?  Are we  merely preparing students to score well on a test?
• I worry that the "academic excellence" mantra, if not unpacked properly, can serve to the narrow the vision of what schools need to be for our diverse group of learners. 
• Do we confine learning to classroom only?
• I am the first one to equate our 100% Graduation Rate as a "mark" of academic excellence?  Is that a fair mark for all schools in all circumstances?

What are schools, teachers, parents and students using, as data, to label themselves "academically excellent"?  Are they only using those markers that are easy to measure?

For example:

• Do we rely on standardized test results to label ourselves as "academically excellent" schools?  There may be some merit to these tests for providing instructional and systemic feedback.  However, when those test are misused to rank schools against each other it only serves to alienate our most vulnerable students and many hard working teaching professionals.     
• Are schools taking the "long view" when it comes to measuring academic excellence?  There is nothing quite so rewarding as a teacher than when I run into former students engaged in the "real world" as successful, articulate, respectful contributing members of society - from doctors to chefs to teachers to entrepreneurs to parents to religious.   

These are big questions that require organizational and school wide attention and conversations.

Perhaps the time has come for us to intentionally unpack our assumptions about what constitutes "academic excellence" in schools.

Gr. 12 Exit Interviews: Sharing Passion & Talent

A few weeks ago our Grade 12 students participated in our annual "exit interview" from St. Patrick Regional Secondary (special thanks to @maricelignacio for organizing this event)

This is a formal and structured time when every staff member (including non-teaching staff) is assigned a handful of Gr. 12 students to meet and listen to as they share their Graduation Transition Plan

The plan usually covers short and long term goals as well as future aspirations including post secondary schooling plans and/or possible career plans.  Students are also asked to reflect and consider such things as financial plans and healthy living plans (food, nutrition, exercise  etc.) as they move into adulthood.

A further reflection point for students is in the area of meta-cognition.  Students are asked to reflect on themselves as learners and to showcase examples of strengths and challenges.

Since we adopted this "exit interview" model, a few positives have emerged:

• Having students present to a audience in a formal setting has given more meaning to the interviews
• It has broadened the circle of insight regarding our students' successes, challenges and talents - which only makes our community better.
• Speaking for myself, it has created a meaningful opportunity to ask students about their high school experience and gather information that can make our school better.

This year, for the first time, one of the students in my group decided to use digital media to assist him with his interview.

He didn't have to.  He chose to.  Which fits nicely within our BYOD approach to technology.  For this student, the use of this technology was an appropriate amplifier of his message.

I have added his 4 minute video presentation below (with permission) - it is worth the watch


 

I am always really proud and amazed by the variety of talents and interests our students display.   The exit interview has been a wonderful vehicle for students and staff to gain inspirational insights regarding the passions and talents of our students.

Collaboration AND Competition

I am a big proponent on the need for professionals and students to increasingly tap into power of collaboration to promote and increase creativity, productivity and innovation.

I've seen first hand how authentic collaboration - rooted in vulnerably - encourages critical reflection,  deep learning, new ideas and personal and systemic improvement.  I've seen how real collaboration can keep us accountable to each other and the goal at hand.  

Truthfully, however, I've also seen evidence of how competition promotes innovation, productivity and improvement.   For example, we have recently been interviewing potential teachers for next year.  The current job market for teachers is competitive.  Teachers that articulate and promote their vision  and provide clear evidence to support that vision will "win" positions over others.


Recently, the book Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing has had me thinking about the role of competition in our world.  It has me thinking about how competition motivates (or not) me as a person and professional.  It has me thinking about my own children and students and how we are preparing them for the "world" as it is and how it might evolve.  Globalization, if we've learned anything, has increased competition for post-secondary opportunities and career opportunities.

Which gets me to my main point  - I don't think we should promote collaboration at the expense of competition.  Nor do I think we should promote competition at the expense of collaboration.

There is a place and a time for  both.  My nuanced take on this "dance" is that to be competitive in today's world you must find ways to effectively collaborative.  In other words, to be competitive, you must be collaborative.     

Some thoughts and pitfalls of competition 

Competition without collaboration promotes closed systems.  It closes classroom doors and prevents innovation and new ideas.

Developmental researchers are finding that, in general, learning processes that promote competition can have a negative effect on the learning process.    (see this post I wrote on Dweck's book Mindset and grading practices).  I have been witness to far too many students who, in an effort to be competitive with their learning, will either take any and all shortcuts to "win" or "play it safe" with their learning.

I worry that a focus on competition can also cause more stress and anxiety.  In an effort to gain an edge over others, I wonder if we are "burning out" with more frequency.  Certainly in schools, we are seeing more and more students falling victim to anxiety related issues.

A focus on competition can lead to an undermining of the common good, the narrowing a common vision and atrophy the growth within schools (and organizations).  Competition at all costs, can undermine the efforts between those who actually share a common purpose.  I have seen witness to this in schools where "programs" compete for students attention and time at the expense of the broader vision.  I have seen schools within the same system or district compete for students.  On a broader level, in British Columbia, I see a general lack of cooperation and dialogue between independent and public schools (despite sharing much of the same purpose) at the expense of what is best for our students.

Some interesting points 

I came across this great article  on the Competition/Collaboration debate.  Here are some the high lights of the article for me:

Research has shown that collaboration/cooperation is more effective than competition for completing complex puzzles and tasks.  In general the competitive groups were more focused on beating each other than solving the problem. As was quoted in one research study “greater productivity occurs when the members of a group are organized in terms of cooperative activities rather than competitive ones” 

The research has shown that competition can be effective for increases the speed at which a task is performed. While cooperation increases the accuracy with which the same task is performed. "In other words, if you want the job done fast, competition is the way to go. If you want the job done well, you're better off with cooperation".


One very interesting research study that the article references attempts to see the correlation  between competition, collaboration and students' self esteem. The findings:

in societies where competition is encouraged, children associated competition with greater self esteem. However, in societies where cooperation was encouraged, children tended to associate cooperation with greater self-esteem. In either case, it was not some inherent quality of the child, but rather the culture itself that most influenced self-esteem

The article attempts to answer whether as humans we are predisposed to collaboration or competition.  The answer:

"there is no major natural tendency for humans to be competitive OR cooperative; the type of behaviour favoured is based on the situation at hand. Depending on whether competition or cooperation is called for, humans will do what we do best: adapt to the situation at hand, and present the behaviour that favours our survival."

As we navigate through the collaboration/competition discussion I think we would be best served to understand the place of both collaboration AND competition in our society so that we can be better teachers and role models for our students.

Sharing Our Learning - The Sequel

This year marks the second year of our personalized professional development initiative at our school called Building Experts which is based on Google's 20% time.

One of the critical aspects of this initiative is the requirement for teachers to share results of their inquiry or learning with their colleagues.  This requirement to share is the fuel that keeps the learning relevant and focused.

Like last year, we will once again be hosting a full day of "Sharing Our Learning".

Unlike last year, the focus of inquiry and conversations has shifted slightly.  Take a look at what our teachers are exploring in their practice as teachers and are willing to share this year:

Sharing Our Learning  - Part 2 (2013)

Inquiry Based/Problem  Based Learning - this group of teachers have explored and experimented with aspects of PBL in their classrooms.  They will share successes and frustrations.  This group will also be making a recommendation to the staff, in light of the pending curriculum changes in BC, to adopt PBL within a cross-curricular model of delivery - this is should be very exciting

Literacy Across the Curriculum - this group will be sharing "hands on" teaching strategies that will assist all teachers, regardless of their curricular area, in teaching particular literacy skills to their students.

Digital Literacy  - Under the leadership of our "tech-brarian", this group will update the staff on the school based digital literacy curriculum (scope and sequence) that is being developed.  This curriculum will identify the who, what, how and why of digital literacy at St. Pat's.

Motivating Students - find out the results of a what our students are saying about what motivates them and how that can inform your practice as a teacher.

Creating Wikis - this group of teachers will share how they effectively used class wikis with students

Assessment with Polling Software - find out how to use web based polling software to get important "real time" feedback from your students.

On-line Resources and Apps - this session will assist teachers in using many of digital tools that are readily available to them (Google Apps, collaborative file sharing) to enhance collaboration and learning.

New this year, we have created a website - STP Learns  - as a repository for the respective learning teams to drop resources for all to access.

I am once again looking forward to our Sharing Our Learning Day - a day where relevant  job embedded, passion driven learning is shared for the benefit of all!

If you are in Vancouver on April 19th and want to join us - feel free to drop me a note!

Creating the Conditions to Unlearn

I was recently asked "What is the purpose of education?" by someone in my PLN (@carmela_ianni)

In response, I shared the quote (above) from futurist Alvin Toffler.

Carmela's question and subsequent twitter chat lead me to reflect on the idea of "unlearning"

What does it mean to "unlearn" and what should we "unlearn"?

The world is full of examples of  once regarded "truths" that needed to be "unlearned": Pluto as a planet, doctors "unlearning" to use a scalpel to preform certain surgeries, world is not flat, etc.  In fact, a review of the scientific discoveries for 2012 reveal laundry list of some recent "unlearning" in the science community.

How about in education?  I wonder, for example, how effective have we been in implementing what the science community has "unlearned" in terms of how the human brain learns into today's classrooms and schools? (you may want to check out Born to Learn for easily accessible videos and information on brain-based learning)

Nonetheless, when I look around I do see some "unlearning" in education when it comes to pedagogy.  For example:

• Many teachers are starting to use classroom assessments as more than just a measuring stick of learning.  
• More teachers and schools are starting question how they recognize and engage students by relying on the science of what truly motivates us as human beings.  
• Because of the research, many teachers are looking to implement aspects of meta-cognition in their classrooms.  
• Many teachers are realizing that the Internet is redefining their role as the sole content provider in their classrooms.
• Many are seeing the need for our children to become more than just vessels of facts and information but rather critical thinkers, collaborators and creators.    

I am, however, starting to wonder, beyond my social media echo chamber, if we are truly approaching a tipping point in educational reform.  Have all stakeholders "bought in"?  Are some stakeholders still unwilling to "unlearn" - wanting instead to maintain what has been in place for decades?

The more I reflect upon the idea of "unlearning", Toffler's sentiments are less about the specifics of what needs to be unlearned (we will continue to uncover new truths that discredit old truths) and more about the mindset that comes with the ability to unlearn.

For example when we unlearn something it requires us to be vulnerable to our own fallibility.

It requires us to be wrong

It requires us to collaborate and be open to others' thoughts and opinions

It requires us to be to critical thinkers and push the limits of our preconceived ideas.

It requires us to "walk a mile in someone else's shoes".

It requires to move beyond the limitations of "I" and move towards the power of "we"

It requires us to persevere in our thinking and our efforts - without threat of humiliation or being labelled stupid

It requires to move beyond superficial knowledge and move toward deep understanding.

Perhaps if we want to see some of the educational reforms that come with "unlearning", we need to start creating the conditions for "unlearning" for many of our educational partners

Still figuring it out.....

Your Learning Sandbox or Ours?

Regular readers of this blog know that our school has embraced BYOD as an approach to integrating technology in our day to day teaching and learning.  We are learning lots of valuable lessons along the way.

Recently I have had many conversations with various people about creating a common "digital learning sandbox" for our teachers and students.

As it stands today we have some commonality  - for example a common file sharing system for staff and students, common school email for staff and students and other aspects of both Google Apps and Microsoft's 365.

But as of yet, we have not felt the need to deploy one mandated digital platform for all our students.

Instead we have allowed the "digital learning sand box" to grow organically and in a personalized manner.

For now students and teachers choose which platform is best for them.

Increasingly I can see some limitations to this.

As more and more teachers start asking students to demonstrate their learning in a digital space I worry that managing this information will be difficult for both teachers and students.

But......

What if every teacher gives every student the choice to choose a platform that works for them - starting in grade 8.  A student can maintain a digital space/portfolio that is relevant to them and is fully transferable once they graduate.

Recently a few teachers shared with me some student projects that had been completed.  Students were given the ability to choose a digital platform - many/most chose platforms that they had already established for personal use and made the crossover to "school use"  (eg. Facebook, Tumblr, Blogger or Wordpress, etc.).  It should be noted that some students made the perfect-ably acceptable choice to produce a "traditional" paper product.

As we continue to shine a necessary spotlight on the digital citizenship of our students (and staff) I can't help but think of how effective it is to have students freely choosing to broaden their vision of how digital spaces can be used.  By inviting teachers and peers into their these digital spaces as a means to document learning, can serve to broaden the vision and raise the bar on digital citizenship..  

Another benefit, as I see it, is that it can mitigate the "school life" vs. "real life" crisis that exists in so many schools today.

Of course there are many other legalities and specifics that need to be considered in this conversations.     And who knows, we may move toward inviting all students into one big school learning sandbox.   But in the meantime I am intrigued by how we are organically allowing students to learn and demonstrate that learning in their own digital sandbox.

Any thoughts or advice?  

New Opportunity........

Last Friday it was announced that I would taking on a new role as a two year seconded Associate Superintendent for the Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese (see a portion of the release below)

Archbishop J. Michael Miller and the Board of Directors of the CISVA are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. John Bevacqua as an Associate Superintendent for the CISVA. Mr. Bevacqua will bring his instructional and administrative leadership skills to the Superintendent’s Office in his new appointment. In his role as Associate Superintendent, Mr. Bevacqua will focus on leading our Catholic schools through the implementation of the BC Education Plan.
Mr. Bevacqua is currently the principal of St. Patrick Regional Secondary School, Vancouver where he has administered for eight years. Prior to that appointment, Mr. Bevacqua held the positions of Vice-Principal, Academic Director, Athletic Director, Grade Level Coordinator and Humanities teacher at Notre Dame Regional Secondary. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors of Corpus Christi and St. Mark’s Colleges at UBC and is also a sessional lecturer having taught the Educational Institution as an Organization course.....

With each passing day the reality of the situation settles.

I know I will miss being immersed in community with the students of St. Patrick Regional - they have been patient, kind and the greatest source of inspiration to me.

I will miss the parents, who have been trusting and patient of me.  I am humbled by the love and self sacrifice they extend to their children.

I will miss the teachers and staff who continue to extend me so much patience and continue to inspire me with their incredible service to our students.

I have much to learn in my new role.  I will be surrounded by gifted and talented educators.

But, I would be lying if I wasn't nervous.   To calm me I keep reminding myself of two quotes

"Fear, uncertainty and discomfort are your compasses toward growth.”

and

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"  Philippians 4:13

In the meantime, there is much to do and much to experience here at St. Pat's between now and July.

I am going to savor and enjoy every second of it!