Sunday 15 April 2018

It takes a Village.



It takes a village ……………


In my last blog I wrote about community and the wonderful opportunities we have in a co-educational PP-12 school to develop community spirit to support and nurture learning in the best possible ways for our students. This had me thinking about my support network and those who support me. At my school these support groups are known as Professional Learning Communities or Professional Learning Networks.  I'm very grateful for my learning community and wanted to share more about the benefits of these support groups.

I say this often, but I’m really lucky to work in a PP-12 school. We have a variety of teacher expertise across many disciplines and year levels. As a specialist teacher, I often get to enter many different classrooms to work alongside these teachers. Over the years, I have recognised the different strengths within teachers and these people kindly share their knowledge and experience with me. Having professional conversations often identifies similar interests, beliefs or mindsets that improve my practice. 

As much as I can, I get to know the parents. I teach 350+ students so there are always parents in that group who have unique skill sets, jobs or experiences from which I can learn. Working with parents I have been able to expand my knowledge on Design Thinking outside of the classroom, gain knowledge about electronics, business, manufacturing all of which have benefitted my teaching and ultimately my students’ learning. Through the generosity of parents, I have been provided with resources, expertise, support and encouragement - all of which is passed on to the students.

When I attend PD outside of school I make a point of talking to and listening to as many people as I can. There is always someone with whom I can connect and learn from. Last week, I spent two days at a PD specific to my subject area. I ran into quite a few people I know - past colleagues, old University friends and even past Practical Teachers - all of whom are Design Teachers like me. It was great to catch up, but what was even better was the quality of professional conversation we were able to have. It made me realise the best resource teachers have, are each other.  

I always try and stay in touch with those people I meet, either electronically or the old-fashioned way - face to face. I have been to visit them in their schools and some that have been out to visit me. We all have the same goal of empowering our students to be better learners, so why not share ideas! 

I have blogged about this before, but Twitter is an invaluable source of learning for an educator. It is a 24/7 resource of a huge variety of skills sets, expertise and educators willing to share and learn from each other. There are twitter chats, hashtags to follow, individuals to follow and this is World-wide, 24hrs a day, 7 days a week!  There are also many professional organisations which I join and follow. Often it is just a matter of signing up for the e-newsletters and having them delivered to your inbox. It doesn’t take long to sort out what is useful and what is not. When you find something good, it is delivered right to your inbox.

In the past teaching was like working in an egg carton. Each teacher had their own space and worked in isolation. Today, there are so many opportunities for us to reach out to others for support and inspiration. As well, the opportunities to provide that support and inspiration to others. When, we are feeling energised and enthused the students will benefit and their learning will take on its own momentum.

I hope that I’ve inspired you to build your own Professional Learning Network. It may take some time and require you to move outside your egg carton but if you need a hand just look me up on Twitter or send me an email. After all (to paraphrase a famous quote) - it takes a village to teach a child.