January 12, 2005 - Blurring
My focus on my AR seems to be blurring. I think this began for two reasons: 1. My work on developing a vision for technology's role in my division and 2. My development of a Big Picture for where we can go and how we can get there. Let's back up. My position is a new position. I work for a very unique division as summarized in the LCs. There are very few states that have divisions that serve non-public schools--making us unique. The county public education agency (LEA) that I work for serves the largest number of non-public schools in the state. That's important because we probably have the most experience of all the 25 units in the state that serve non-public schools*(see note at bottom). There are 24 other counties with a division that serves non-public schools in the state and they share the same type of practice that we do. A major goal that I have that I think technology can help with is bringing everyone (our staff and those in the other divisions in other counties in the state) together to share stories, knowledge, successes, failures, etc. Barrier: My staff's lack of technology skills and experience in using them to use technology to bridge these differences, and lack of "knowing what's out there." Why do I say that? One of the results on the survey that I did surprised me. When asked to check off the areas of interest for training that they have related to technology, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel had high interest levels. I understand that to a certain extent, but it still surprised me. So, I mentioned to a few of the staff that I was surprised by that result. I was even more surprised by their response: "That's because we don't really know what's out there." That, in turn, made me realize that I need to begin to "show" them what's out there. A whole big world....yet a smaller world. A world in which we can find "others like us." A world where we can share what we've learned and learn for what other have learned. Hurdle: I need to help them acquire the skills necessary to "connect" to "out there." And, I need to help them understand that for students, there isn't an "out there." They use technology to learn all kinds of things on their own, and to communicate with others in all kinds of way. That's when I began to think about helping the staff look beyond their specialist roles--perhaps their roles as specialists are creating a barrier to them for seeing "The Big Picture?" Perhaps they can't see the forest for the trees. I remember reading in Surpassing Ourselves a bit about how specialists are partly to blame for some of the ecological problems that we are having. This being caused because they couldn't see the "Big Picture" of the effects of what they were doing beyond their tiny specialty. With this in mind, perhaps the staff has become so focused on their "specialities" that they don't see the changes occuring. This thought brought me to ideas found in the book by Ferdi Serim and the idea of contemporary literacy. Is our staff so focused on traditional literacy that they can't see the bigger picture or the future picture of contemporary literacy? This then lead me to think about ways to help them understand how quickly things change and how technology can help change and shape learning. I undercoverd the Educational Horizons Map and realized that it could be used as a springboard to explore "what's out there" and help staff to think beyond their current focus of traditional literacy.
Now things really start to blur. In the long term, I see wonderful things if we can bring our staff together with other staff members from other non-public divisions across the state. I can't do that until I get our staff some experience with using things like discussion boards, chats, etc. I want to introduce them to Tapped In because that would be an excellent tool to connect them to the "out there," but I beleive that to just teach them Tapped In as the end doesn't make sense and they won't get much value out of it. However, if I provide some value---like looking at emerging technology, the opportunities that it provides, etc. I can open up some discussions. This then provides some authenticity to learning to use the discussion threads, the chat, etc. I'm thinking that the value for them is learning how to use these tools to connect with each other (those on our staff and eventually the staff of other units in the state).
So, I think my focus of my AR is still creating a CoP and using virtual tools to help do that. But in the next moment I don't think so. I also thought that by using the map mentioned above as a springboard, I could open some discussion about the vision that I crafted and ask them to "help" me tweak that to match our divison and where we want to "go." If I look longer down the road, I see this small groups as my saturation group.....my "play it forward" group....my "change the world" one staff member at a time.
One more thought tonight. What's our practice? The teachers are reading specialists, math specialists, counselors, speech clinicans, psychologists, staff developers. But we all are involved in providing services to non-public schools for students who are at-risk. Students who need counseling--non-public schools often can't afford to have a counselor in every building. Students who are reading below level--these schools can't justify hiring a reading specialist with their small enrollment. Students with speech problems. This is not special education services--students with those types are special needs are sent to a public schools that have more resources to service those needs. So, back to the question of what's our practice? We work with students who are "at-risk" for any of the above. We help non-public school educate the whole child (counseling, remediation, psychologists, etc.) I'm still having trouble specifically stating the practice. If everyone involved in my AR were reading specialists then I could easily say that our practice is teaching reading. The 13 people embarking on this journey with me include reading/math specialists, counselors, speech clinicans, and staff developers.
So, my first step was to survey the staff to get an idea of their attitudes, their willingness to participate, an overvall of their self-perceived skill levels, the barriers and concerns they feel, and their areas of interests. My next step was to personally invite those who indicated that they were interested my project. My next step is to get the group together. Articulating the questions and articulating the step is giving me trouble. It's a combo step - bring them together and provide "food for thought" and begin working with them on the Tapped In tools.
I've thought about asking them to share what they've done or showing them some good practices, but their use and technology, their skills, the limited instructional time means that they don't have much experience in what they've done. I've talked with my critical friends and the indicated that I should start with the map and discussion and help them see the "Big Picture" before trying for showing them examples of good practices etc. That was my "gut" instinct also. I think the sharing of practices and examples (videos from GLEF) are good strategies, I just think I need to use them a bit later.
It feels good to get these thoughts down on paper. They may not make a lot of sense because I'm writing as I'm thinking, as the ideas are flowing, but recording this will help me see what I cannot see because I'm caught in the crux of this change. I also help that it will help others see what I may not.
But, I'm still stuck as to what my next action steps should be......I thrashing about again...which is so painful...but usually results in growth when it's over....but the pain is....how long will this thrashing last?
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*Note: -PA is unique because most states can't use public funds for non-public schools. We're able to do it under a law passed in 1974 (approximately) called Act 89. I believe there is only 1 (maybe) two other states that do this.