“Learning Organization” in school

This week I reflect on what was shared during our meeting on “Learning organization” in particular,on the sustainable domain pedagogical in ICT implementation and offer my comments related to the conditions necessary for its sustainability efforts in the long run.

Why sustainable? Although the school had been involved for only a year, it may be early to be thinking about sustaining the performance or enhancing pedagogical ICT implementation much further. Nevertheless, I believe I should consider the conditions needed for such domain so as to ensure change in attitudes and beliefs that is the key in enabling the transition to a higher level.

There need to be a willingness to be held responsible for what students learn leveraging on pedagogical ICT. The days of excuses are over when some of us did have an attitude of :”What can we do? These are students we have got?” I believe that this sort of attitude needs to be taken right off the “table”. Everything has to be related to student achievement when leveraging on pedagogical ICT. It should be focused instruction. Everything that happens all the time here needs to have a purpose (animation - enhancing understanding, videotaping- building up confidence, story boarding – language building and improving communication skills). Little things such as movies should not be shown during lesson time unless they are curriculum.

There should be a growing awareness of the long term nature of pedagogical ICT implementation and that this area of focus will be part of the school culture. With the mandate of pedagogical ICT as part of our school culture, sustainability will weigh heavily upon our shoulders and not just a few of us. This is because everyone will then be able to improve on this focus together.

We should enable a realization about the interdependence of curriculum and leveraging of pedagogical ICT. Of course, we cannot discount the progress made in curriculum achievement at our school. Students are coming much better prepared now than last few years – I think because of the work our teachers are doing at that level. With the extra effort in leveraging of pedagogical ICT, I see a tremendous amount of professional development in our teachers, content enhancement in our curriculum and C21 skill improvement in our students.

Finally, as teachers, we should all be aware of the wide array of factors that produce strong student performance especially in terms of learning and deep understanding in the long run. One goal for schools is to promote a learning atmosphere because the students need this life-long learning. The students have a lot of baggage, quite a lot of them in content and Self 2 already. If they do not learn HOW to learn at school, if we do not show them the proper skills and tap more on the Self 1 in school, then what is the point of teaching?