Thursday, January 27, 2011

Building up our teachers instructional capacity

This week’s reflection focused on close-to-the-classroom practices. These practices include the need to build up our teacher’s instructional capacity and the assignment of teachers, especially those with strong instructional program.

One of the most important practices is the recruitment (of part time, flexi-adjunct, and contract teachers) and assignment of teachers (full time and all others) to our classrooms. After looking at the assignment of teachers teaching across the levels and reading the staff deployment policy paper, I hope to share my thoughts and make some suggestions regarding this area. I believe in the importance of selecting and deploying of teachers who have the capabilities and disposition required to solve the challenges our school is currently facing.

The school staff deployment policy paper advocates that the deployment of teachers takes into consideration the teacher’s motivation, ability, roles and support systems that will well enable the teacher to deliver the intended student outcomes. I totally agree with this policy but, to add-on (considering the current profile of our students) I think that in order to progress further there is now a need to consider the importance of recruiting more and retaining teachers who possesses qualities such as the instructional capacity to help at risk students (normal academic, normal technical and even lower ability express) learn and secondly, an unshakable belief in the potential of all students (not just the higher ability students) to learn given the right opportunities and finally, the persistence, patience and optimism needed to create learning experiences for all students in response to initial failure (not just following the standard motion). Priority should be given to ensuring that the recruited and appointed teachers possess as many of the required qualities as possible. This is because the process is difficult and time-consuming, but the result will have a considerable impact on the success of all our programs.

Teachers with the specific skills and attitudes loomed in the minds of many leaders of the school (principal, vice-principals and heads of department). Often I would hear heads of department commented: “.. to get the appropriate teachers in the appropriate classroom.” However, this usually translates to teachers with strong instructional programs been assigned to the “more critical” upper secondary levels. Matters worsen if there are not many of these teachers. Ultimately they will always be given the same upper secondary levels year after year and at long last, they are drained of the much needed energy to help drive the students as there are no other teachers available to teach that critical level. The question is “How can that be?” considering that we are not a new school and that is a critical level. Thus, there is a need to consider how we may want to retain these groups of teachers.

One suggestion is a frequent rotation of teachers among the upper and lower secondary levels or just between the upper secondary levels as a means of improvement. Teacher buddy and professional training can be the supporting systems to help concerned teachers. Another reason getting the teacher to follow through the lower or upper secondary levels with 2 years rotation is also to ensure that the teachers have amply time to target improvements in the subject they are teaching. Once this has become a permanent school culture, many more teachers will acquire the required skill and become that “appropriate” teacher. This is made based on the assumption that teachers are more likely to put in effort with a commitment (rather than resistance) for the students whom they know will be with them for 2 years.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

My Perceptions of the direction of AISS in 2011

Since I entered AISS in 2005, there has been consistent and relentless attention to improving the quality of teaching and learning. I was asking myself: “Are we stuck in a mode that our students weren’t getting any better. We thought we were trying different ways of teaching … but… the students just weren’t buying into them. So consistently we were getting any improvement in them.”

This year with the setting of clear expectations around behavior, creating a vision, and sharing this vision with teachers and students, I believe that the possibility for improvement will be significantly enhanced. Establishing a more positive climate for learning within the school by “talking up” the school, setting clear expectations (on such matters as behaviors, attire, and even CCA, SRP attendance), and encouraging respect for others (not just teachers, but including student leaders, canteen vendors and even their peers). There is also a greater sense of urgency for maintaining high academic standards by exerting a little pressure on both teachers and students (with the introduction of notation of excellence) to excel. There was always been a pupil behavior policy, but I think there is more continuity with the new pupil behavior policy (applicable for our students even after they leave school). I especially thought that the introduction of leader as student leading their own lives was timely. I believe that this considerable emphasis placed on raising the expectations of teachers and students about behavior and achievement will be the turning point for the school.

Raising the expectations of teachers’ performance meant holding teachers more accountable by putting in place clear monitoring and observation processes (lesson observation, file check, peer observation, punctuality). Initially this was met with resistance and suspicion before the actual work commence, but now teachers see this as part of their professional obligation and a way of sharing ideas about teaching and learning. This practice should however be carried out for all teachers, otherwise teachers may feel that they are been picked upon.

There was more shared expectation as teachers and students were reminded of high achievements at every possible opportunity. Emphasis was placed on reward and recognizing achievement (best class award, conduct grades, Eagles award, OYEA, best teacher award), along with encouraging students to view the school as a place where they could succeed and that success was a possibility (citing of our VH student achieving good GCE O Level results, 2010). Through outdoor learning experiences, students were encouraged to view learning as an entitlement (Shanghai Immersion Program, Perth Learning Journey) and that enjoying learning was an acceptable thing to do.

Within the school, the conditions for improvement arose from a new climate of trust, openness and honesty (as reported in the staff climate survey). There was more collaboration around teaching and learning (through PLCs) and a general commitment among staff to work together. I believe that this is deliberately orchestrated through the provision of opportunities to build teachers’ trust and opportunities for more positive working relationships to develop.

Teachers now had more opportunities to work together both across and within teams. I am inclined to believe that all teachers had already used the various pedagogies for teaching and learning. So the focus on teaching and learning through AfL and using pedagogical supported ICT will provide the impetus for much needed classroom change and development. Teachers are encouraged to engage in professional development activities with an explicit focus on teaching and learning. Training days (PLC days) were solely for exploring different teaching and learning (and not on administrative matters) and to engage teachers in dialogue about teaching. Though not all teachers had incorporated the new learned strategies into their teaching, those teachers are now aware of the possibilities and more importantly, (when they try) they will know where to get help when they need it. My hope is that teaching in our school will become less controlled where students are expected to talk more than the teachers (discussions, cooperative learning, etc) and where opportunities are given for to students to think about their learning.

In all in, these are my perceptions of the direction of the school. I am looking forward to doing my part as our school starts to move forward again. The general positive shift in attitude among teachers and students created the real possibilities of further improvement. The buying in from teachers (and more now willing) is another contributor to improvement in this phase of the school’s development.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Building the ICT PLC team spirit

In this week’s reflection, I will speak briefly on the type of team spirit I would like to build with my ICT PLC team. I will first share my thoughts on the importance of informal communication with teachers and also the need for holding formal interactions so that each member may feel valued and more importantly, feeling a sense of belonging to the PLC team. Finally, I will end my reflection with my intended actions which I hope will enable us to work towards building and maintaining the sense of purpose of the PLC team.

The need for Informal chats

It has been noticed that more than often teachers talk about their teaching practice and their students in particular, whenever they meet their colleagues for breaks and during lunches. In addition, it is quite revealing that the topics teachers touch on are frequently related to some problematic classroom situation, some negative attitudes or some difficulties students have in their learning process. Rarely do teachers speak about their students’ achievements in a spontaneous way. We often hear teachers say:” They don’t feel like studying and therefore they are getting low marks.” “They never get it no matter how many times I revised through!” “Nothing seems to interest them.” “They don’t care about their homework.”, etc.

Although we may agree that teachers’ complaints have become commonplace, I am inclined to think that when teachers talk to colleagues about their students’ problems, difficulties or attitudes, they are expressing what they are really worried about or dissatisfied at. Such conversations become genuine forum of expressions for them. Hence, it is important to have such informal interactions so that I may be aware of their views. I must then attend to such expressed struggles and disappointments in a reflective and professional way. Only with awareness, steps can then be made towards helping them worked towards change and improvement.

The need for Formal interactions

I feel that formally structured interactions such as monthly meetings will encourage everyone’s participation. Such formal meetings will highlight the standard expected of the team. It will also provide the professional environment for dealing with clarification and disagreement. Empowering teachers in such settings will prompt them to make their own decisions and so conscientious teachers are more likely to actively look for solutions to problems, sharing on new ideas on technology use, technology implementation, something they have read, etc. Moreover, I feel that our teachers are likely to be empathetic and collaborate with each other for solutions or encourage their peers to look for their solutions. However, I do not think that such formal meetings should be too long. Teachers already need to sustain the course of full teaching schedule. I believe that teachers will appreciate that such meetings start and finish on time.

My Intended Actions

I believe in communicating with my team members both informally, during lunches, through workshops as well as formal settings, through scheduled monthly meetings. Informally, I intend to join teachers for workshops and courses and to arrange social gathering of the team inside or outside school at least once per year. During formal meetings, I need to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to say something. More importantly and this is something I need to work upon, to provide opportunity for the team member to express their opinions and contribute to decisions.

Coaching teachers by asking open questions to help them decide for themselves rather than telling them what to do is also another skill which I am still attempting since my facilitators course (Not as easy as initially thought!). Listening more than I speak is something I am committed to do this year.

Finally, I need to be consistent when deciding on matters – I intend to use the core mission of the school and department to make decisions.

The Year Ahead 2011

The Year Ahead 2011

In this reflection I will speak briefly on the events of the last two weeks in the role of an acting team leader. I will start of with thoughts that stems from the same belief that led me to advocate the use of technology in the teaching and learning. The final part contains my sense of the future after the last two weeks events.

Why Should a School Become involved in technology?

There is so much criticism of technology use in education. In our classes, we all see little use of technology in the teaching and learning and formal curriculum seems a ready focus for blame. In my view, I have met the enemy and he is us. Teachers have for many years divorced themselves from the opportunities to use some of these technologies as part of the education. This means that we conceded entirely the preparation of future students to people with limited confidence and competences in using technology. If we want to pluck the ripe fruit from the tree, we really should spend some time watering the roots. Some technology research practitioners are beginning to influence curriculum and standards at the national level. But there continues to be a need for individual schools to work on at the local level.

Persuading the Team

Convincing the team to commit to technology involves building confidence in the members by means of support through individualized training, technical help and admitting the possibility of hiring external specialist. I have a small advantage in that the teachers are themselves inclined towards technology use in their teaching and learning. Perhaps the strategic goal of the school mentioned was a factor too. In any case, the vast majority of the team supported ICT integration in their curriculum. Yes, there were some objections and questions. It isn’t that we have not already many things on our plates. But in principle they saw the need for and advantages of becoming involved in technology integration in their teaching and learning.

On the other hand, there were questions as to exactly how a technology integration curriculum should look like? Should it be implemented for the whole level? Should we insist on implementation for all teachers? There was discussion – a very healthy event. The prevailing opinion was to concentrate on the requirement of each department and invite teachers to participate in the implementation through their individual department professional learning teams.


The Future

I see some encouraging developments connected to technology implementation in the various departments in our school. The professional learning team is making good contacts, and we are getting feedback form a variety of sources (teachers and students). I am learning some background in technology-integrated programs and becoming acquainted with people on and off school who have a role to play in such technology implementation. They have already begun what I feel will be an extremely important part of education: facilitating the involvement of the various departments in technology integration.

There are more demands for the time for us. I also worry about teachers spreading themselves too thinly and I intend to raise a cautionary note periodically. Technology integration only serves as support to the actual teaching.

I will have a more complete picture of the state of technology implementation in a few years. In the meantime, I will try out different programmes. The road is not smooth, straight, or well laid out. There are risks, but the payoff for success is enormous.