I think everyone has certain phrases, or catchwords that tend to set them off. Some of us, of the more passionate persuasion, have phrases that send us over the edge. I am not talking about the conference clichés like “that’s where the tire meets the road” or “Let’s not kick that can down the road” and the ever-popular “I wouldn’t give your troubles to a monkey on a rock’. I am talking about phrases that are couched in the comfort of country-speak to conceal the true intentions of what the phrase represents. I attended a wonderful Edcamp this week where I shared and learned a great deal, but I encountered the frequent use of two such expressions in more than a couple of sessions.
If you need an explanation of what an Edcamp is, I will make an assumption that you are not yet connected, or at best a newly connected educator. Edcamps started a few years back and have become a growing movement for educators to personalize their learning of their much-needed professional development. The existing models of PD provided by the education system over the last few centuries don’t seem to be providing the necessary elements for success for educators. A growing number of educators have designed a new form of PD called Edcamps. Edcamp sessions are discussions of what the participants find relevant. There is no pre-set schedule of approved sessions. People volunteer to lead discussions on topics chosen by the attendees. There are no vendor sessions. There are only educators. If a session is not meeting an attendees needs they are free to move on to another session.
These Edcamps are a direct result of connected educators efforts. They are organized, advertised, criticized and evangelized all through the means provided by social media as it is used and refined by educators to connect, communicate, collaborate, and create within their own profession. It enables individuals to adjust and refine their learning to meet their specific needs. Connections made at the Edcamps provide ongoing support and a perpetual flow of sources to arm educators with the means necessary for their own learning and that of their students.
Ironically, when this concept was presented to a group of administrators at an ISTE Conference a few years back, it was not warmly received as acceptable alternative to the existing outdated models. The seemingly preponderance of concern was the lack of CONTROL. Administrators had no control, over the learning either as a group or for individuals who have the ability to personalize their learning. It baffles me how we individualize our students’ learning with IEP’s, differentiation, and accommodations, but when it comes to educating educators we strive to control the learning, so the group gets its proper dose. It doesn’t matter that educators learn; it only matters that it can be demonstrated that it was taught and everyone was exposed to that teaching. It is but a check on an administrator’s list. How often do we talk about assessing PD? How often do we study the effect of educator learning on student learning in specific schools? What support do schools supply to educators to share and collaborate what they do learn in the form of PD?
An amazingly large number of educators fully see the urgent need and agree that we need to drastically change the system. Get ready for me to go over the cliff at this point. Many say however “WE NEED TO TAKE BABY STEPS”. Why??? We are not babies. We are among the most educated group of people this country has to offer. We hold advanced degrees. We are proven thinkers and learners. Taking baby steps implies a lack of consideration, a lack of understanding, lack willingness, a lack of confidence, a lack of urgency, and most obvious to me is a lack in taking full responsibility for change. Taking baby steps to me means moving slowly enough to gauge the reactions of others. It goes to that “Teacher mentality” of “educators make no mistakes in public”. The fear of failure is often the thing that produces failure. It is a combination of all of this that has allowed the national discussion on education to be taken over by non-educators. The very baby steps educators are taking to move from a 19th century model of education to a model for educating kids for their future has made educators targets and not innovators. Educators are being held accountable only for the shortcomings and none of the successes. If our baby steps take us 100 years to move into the 21st century, we will need to start all over again in the 22nd.
“Comfort Level” is another over-the-edge term for me. It is the one phrase I find to be the biggest obstacle to reform. Learning is not always easy. It can be fun, and engaging, but for many it can be hard. Something that is hard to do is rarely comfortable. When I hear an educator say that there is something that is not in their comfort level, I think that they are saying “that is more than I am willing to learn because it’s hard for me”. That is not a comfort thing; that is a learning thing. We can’t have educators, the very people we need to learn and maintain relevance, not be willing to learn because they find it hard, and not comfortable.
Connected educators and Edcamps are bold steps, not baby steps. Being a connected educator is not always comfortable, because sometimes it’s hard. We need more bold steps to take us forward as uncomfortable as that may be. We need bold leaders to take us forward. We have no time for baby steps because we are not babies. We are thinking, learning, educated educators and sometimes that’s hard and uncomfortable. Uncomfortable however, should never be a roadblock. We need to take strides with confidence not baby steps.
My Island View 
Hi Tom,
I appreciate the post, however it does leave me with some reservations. I am an administrator who has attended multiple Edcamps and is connected, but I work with many educators who are not. I agree that is through discomfort that we learn and that we are the edge of great change in our system, however that change can be mitigated by turning people off. IEP’s are designed to meet students where they are, we should do the same for educators. You have blogged very eloquently about the small fraction of educators who are “connected”. Should there be more, yes, but forcing them to do so will not work. Forcing them people to change is a “top down” approach that tend to make people very defensive. Educators need to understand the value of being connected and of self directed PD. I don’t think forcing them to participate will find success. Rather people need to see the value and come to it on their own terms. Unfortunately, I think baby steps is the only way to go.
Darcy
As an administrator you know that mandating and leading are two different things. If you have your goals in order, your leadership methods will get you there without mandating compliance. It does require leadership and not all will be eagerly led, but as uncomfortable as that is, it is your job to do it. With clear,and relevant goals in connecting and personalizing learning for your educators, your support, modeling and personal collaboration will take your staff a long way to where they need to be. Leadership, not baby steps, will do that. To better educate our kids, we need to first better educate our educators.
Thanks
TW
Hi Tom,
I agree, it is through leadership and vision that we build the relevance for our staff. However, without them seeing value it will still seem top down, so the vision should be collaborative in nature.
Hi Tom,
As one of the “newly connected” who has only recently started following your blog, I hear your frustration loud and clear. I also agree that more, no all, educators should be connected for the good of their students, their schools and their professional careers. However, I also agree with darcymullin that the top-down approach can make people defensive and even turn them off. From what I have seen, the leaders in edtech and “connected education” are passionate, intelligent and creative people. Perhaps this problem isn’t being approach correctly and some out-of-the-box thinking is in order. Maybe it’s not baby steps, maybe it’s not student revolution, maybe it’s a combination, or something totally different. The challenge is there for the taking ……..
“baby steps” and comfort zone drive me crazy. These phrases “steal educators’ ability to struggle. Most learning happens when educators/students “love their mistakes because they were their learning opportunities”.
I appreciate your description of Edcamp, Tom. As a relative novice in this area, your explanation was very helpful. Edcamps sound similar if not identical to what some call open space meetings.
I also appreciate the benefits that such events provide and why these camps are an important form of ongoing professional learning. For many educators, Edcamps are clearly a primary means of professional learning.
But while Edcamps may be a necessary form of professional development for those educators, in my view they are not sufficient.
In addition, I think that it is essential that all educators be part of ongoing teams within their schools and school systems for the purpose of continuously improving teaching and learning for the benefit of all students.
Whether these teams are called professional learning communities, communities of practice, or simply teams, it is important that principals and teacher leaders create cultures and structures that enable the continuous improvement of teaching and learning in all classrooms.
Fortunately, it is not an either/or proposition. Teachers in well-lead schools can be members of high-functioning teams and participate in Edcamps. They can pursue both their individualized learning agendas and be members of strong teams whose purpose is to achieve the priority goals of their school communities.
I fully understand, however, that many, if not most, teachers do not have the benefit of working in such schools. For them, Edcamps and other personalized learning networks are their life blood and primary means of colleagueship and sustained professional growth.
And that’s why, Tom, I appreciate you helping me understand them more fully.
If a person stays a teacher for more than a couple of years, one might assess that they are comfortable in the environment. After all, each teacher is probably a product of success during their own K12 sequence. It isn’t common to find a successful teacher who hated school as a kid.
Adults, by nature, are habit oriented. We have *learned* what works for us. Our habits have developed through many repetitions. As a bunch, teachers aren’t much different from other ordinary adults. We have learned to fit in.
Changing oneself is accomplished not through comfort but dissatisfaction and discomfort. We must first be unhappy with “the way things are.” It would certainly be odd to think that the majority of those planning a teaching career would have disliked or even “hated” school.
So, it is those who are less normal, those who are restless, uncomfortable or fit some other description of dissatisfaction who change. Maybe they change jobs, change subjects or grade levels, change to be an administrator. Are they seeking “change” or are they seeking a role that “fits”? Are they seeking comfort?
Not all educators are alike. Some are more the “thrill seeker” sort. But much of that energy is expended on free-time activities. Teachers go skiing, climb mountains, hang glide, whatever. Maybe even the thrill seekers are glad to return during the school week to a safe haven.
So, what about baby steps, what about change?
An example: Our system offered email to all teachers and for two years, some people did use it, while the majority didn’t regularly use it, until it was the only way administrators sent student absence lists around. Even then, some teachers would ask a neighbor to print a copy of the email for them.
Top-down isn’t the answer, but somehow we need to systematically provde a change-engendering “discomfort.”
One suggestion I’d like to make is that all administrators change “faculty meetings” into edcamp experiences where the faculty is questioning, seeking, asking and answering…leading.
All too many current teachers tell me it is still the same for them as it was for me. Faculty meetings were the time when I heard announcements (which could have been emailed) and district plans and almost never a teacher voice.
I don’t know if that’s a baby step or not. If the teachers assume the responsibility for control of the faculty meeting, perhaps they’ll assume more responsibility for the structure of the school and feel the “comfort” to change, maybe even change in a big way.
[…] I think everyone has certain phrases, or catchwords that tend to set them off. Some of us, of the more passionate persuasion, have phrases that send us over the edge. I am not talking about the con… […]
Tom-
You know what I like most about you? You don’t pull any punches.
I recently challenged a group of 1000 administrators to create their PLN. Know how many took me up on my challenge? One. It makes me very sad that so few leaders see the value in becoming connected. It also makes me sad that so few teachers are visionary enough to see how being connected can transform their classrooms. Connecting with other educators online in not rocket science! Twitter is not difficult to figure out. And if a teacher feels like they don’t have anything worth sharing then why are they in the classroom?
I’m frustrated as well by teachers who refuse to venture out of their comfort zone. I cannot help but wonder if they allow their students to do the same. Do they ever push their students or do they always let them take the easy path?
To some degree I do understand the baby steps. It is overwhelming to try to learn everything all at once. I think as long as educators are making an honest attempt to continue learning then their pace doesn’t matter. What I don’t like to see is professionals who have stopped learning altogether. We don’t need to know everything, but we do need to maintain a network that will help us keep in touch with what is going on.
Thank you for continuing to fight the good fight and inspiring me to do the same.
[…] I think everyone has certain phrases, or catchwords that tend to set them off. Some of us, of the more passionate persuasion, have phrases that send us over the edge. I am not talking about the con… […]
Tom- i agree that if a system is broken it should change as fast as possible. However, teachers are control freaks that have worked very hard to develop what they have. That work cannot be discounted. A slash an burn mentality is the surest way to develop enemies to the cause. Time is what is needed. Time during the school year to collaborate, redesign, experiment, fail, try again, etc. even if there is a better way to teach admin especially must support a teacher’s change not be mandated to use something that could threaten the delicate balance they have created in their classrooms. Love the sentiment though
[…] I think everyone has certain phrases, or catchwords that tend to set them off. Some of us, of the more passionate persuasion, have phrases that send us over the edge. I am not talking about the con… […]
[…] I think everyone has certain phrases, or catchwords that tend to set them off. Some of us, of the more passionate persuasion, have phrases that send us over the edge. I am not talking about the con… […]
[…] I think everyone has certain phrases, or catchwords that tend to set them off. Some of us, of the more passionate persuasion, have phrases that send us over the edge. An amazingly large number of educators fully see the urgent need and agree that we need to drastically change the system. Get ready for me to go over the cliff at this point. Many say however “WE NEED TO TAKE BABY STEPS”. Why??? We are not babies. We are among the most educated group of people this country has to offer. We hold advanced degrees. We are proven thinkers and learners. Taking baby steps implies a lack of consideration, a lack of understanding, lack willingness, a lack of confidence, a lack of urgency, and most obvious to me is a lack in taking full responsibility for change. Taking baby steps to me means moving slowly enough to gauge the reactions of others. It goes to that “Teacher mentality” of “educators make no mistakes in public”. The fear of failure is often the thing that produces failure. It is a combination of all of this that has allowed the national discussion on education to be taken over by non-educators. The very baby steps educators are taking to move from a 19thcentury model of education to a model for educating kids for their future has made educators targets and not innovators. Educators are being held accountable only for the shortcomings and none of the successes. If our baby steps take us 100 years to move into the 21st century, we will need to start all over again in the 22nd. […]
[…] I think everyone has certain phrases, or catchwords that tend to set them off. Some of us, of the more passionate persuasion, have phrases that send us over the edge. An amazingly large number of educators fully see the urgent need and agree that we need to drastically change the system. Get ready for me to go over the cliff at this point. Many say however “WE NEED TO TAKE BABY STEPS”. Why??? We are not babies. We are among the most educated group of people this country has to offer. We hold advanced degrees. We are proven thinkers and learners. Taking baby steps implies a lack of consideration, a lack of understanding, lack willingness, a lack of confidence, a lack of urgency, and most obvious to me is a lack in taking full responsibility for change. Taking baby steps to me means moving slowly enough to gauge the reactions of others. It goes to that “Teacher mentality” of “educators make no mistakes in public”. The fear of failure is often the thing that produces failure. It is a combination of all of this that has allowed the national discussion on education to be taken over by non-educators. The very baby steps educators are taking to move from a 19thcentury model of education to a model for educating kids for their future has made educators targets and not innovators. Educators are being held accountable only for the shortcomings and none of the successes. If our baby steps take us 100 years to move into the 21st century, we will need to start all over again in the 22nd. […]