Transcript Steve Wilson - A Leap For Principals

Professor Steve Wilson
School of Education
University of Western Sydney
Themes of the Seminar
 Qualifications? Evidence of analytical thinking, breadth
of understanding, capacity to use evidence: Masters level.
 Accreditation? Based on key attributes and capabilities.
Portfolio relating to leadership, innovation, change agency
and student outcomes.
 Selection? As above; discerning a capacity for pedagogical
leadership. What this is about is the focus of my
presentation.
Framing the context of pedagogical leadership
 The key challenge of 21st century pedagogical leadership in
schools is to facilitate the learning engagement of students so
that they feel their learning is meaningful. At the same time,
students need to experience intellectual challenge in their
learning.
 The key role of the pedagogical leader is to provide teachers
with a supportive narrative that enables them to understand
how, amongst confusing expectations, their work fits in with this
goal, and how their work can be constructed to achieve these
learning outcomes. This narrative needs to be around the
evolving nature of 21st century learning.
Nature of 20th century learning
Strengths of 20th Century learning – research
findings into learning engagement
The “signature practices”, as summarised by Carrington
(2006, p.103), include:
 Higher order thinking, holistic thinking, critical thinking,
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problem-solving and lifelong learning
Learner-centred (relevant and meaningful; connecting
learning to students' lives outside of school)
Integrated and negotiated curriculum
Co-operative and collaborative learning
Authentic, reflective and outcomes-based assessment
Heterogeneous and flexible student groupings
Weaknesses of 20th century learning
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Curricula not applied locally or contextually
Learning decontextualised; not problematised
Low levels of intellectual challenge for students
Acceptance of binaries – either / or; not sophisticated or
useful
 Lack of explicit teaching AND
lack of student autonomy and
creativity
 Lack of student direction of
their learning
 Lack of student learning motivation
and engagement
Nature of 21st century learning
Past and Future Schooling
Learning feature
Where learning takes place
Past
Mainly in schools
Future
In schools (including studio schools,
learning villages and open campuses),
cultural centres, businesses, virtual
centres and other sites
Who we learn from
Teachers
Teachers, parents, other skilled adults,
peers and social networks
Learning mode
Instruction
Interaction, collaboration. More learning
by doing and discovery
When we learn
In school terms and hours. The lesson
All the time, in different periods that
more suit individual learning
Assessment
End of the line. Focus on cognitive skills
During learning for better learning. More
peer-to-peer evaluation and self
evaluation against learning plans. More
focus on non-cognitive skills
How we learn
In classroom, from books, whiteboards
Funding
To schools and school boards
More real world learning. Schools as
productive units
More to pupils, learning and networks
Standards/measures
Top down
(Leadbeater, 2008, p.69)
More bottom-up targets and self
evaluation
Research into 21st Century Learning
Online Key resources:
http://learning21c.wordpress.com/
UWS 21st Century Learning research Blog
iNET (International Networking for Educational Transformation)
iNET Australia
Cisco Global Education Leaders Program
https://www.transformglobaleducation.org
New Media Consortium Horizon Report– emerging technologies
Charles Leadbeater Home Page
Innovation Unit, UK
‘Personalised learning’ report from Futurelab
Research into 21st Century Learning
Books
Carrington, V. (2006). Rethinking middle
years. Early adolescents, schooling and
digital culture. St Leonards, NSW: Allen
& Unwin.
Leadbeater, C. (2008). What’s next? 21
ideas for 21st century learning. London:
The Innovation Unit.
Miliband, D. (2006). Choice and voice in
personalised learning. In Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and
Development (Ed.). Personalising
education. Paris: OECD.
‘Next practice’ pedagogies
Young people have the opportunity to:
 Access and create knowledge
 Build networks and learning
communities
 Frame learning around personal
learning agendas
 Help learning ‘come alive’ for
children and young people.
Access and create knowledge
 student-driven access to knowledge sites,
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and learning autonomy
skills development in applying quality
criteria to knowledge sites
research-based approaches
problem and project–based learning
synthesis, reconstructing and publishing
ideas
use of student-led blogs and wikis
Build networks and learning communities
 group-based approaches
 collaborative approaches within and between schools, and
with community organisations
 technology-enhanced project-based learning
 emphasis on high level (quality) learning products
 teacher as ‘leader-networker’ (classroom leader, co-learner,
network facilitator)
Frame learning around personal learning
agendas 1
Personalised learning (Miliband; Leadbeater)
 Diagnosis of individual student needs;
 Teaching learning strategies to respond to student needs, including
teaching students to understand their own learning needs and take
responsibility for them;
 Curriculum choice, including breadth and personal relevance;
 Reforming school organisation to accommodate above;
 School-community and school-parent partnerships to drive above.
“Many of the basic building blocks of traditional education: the school,
the year group, the class, the lesson, the blackboard and the teacher
standing in front of a class of thirty children, have become obstacles to
personalised learning” (Hargreaves 2005, p.7).
Frame learning around personal learning
agendas 2
 Expecting and maintaining academic quality AND relevance
 Discussing learning as part of classroom activity
 Listening to and incorporating student ideas about what and
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how to learn
Building learning on student prior knowledge, experience
and interests
Facilitating student decision-making about learning
Framing learning as contextually meaningful and applied
Linking conceptually challenging material to everyday
experience
Help learning ‘come alive’ for children and
young people
 Having students understand the purposes and goals of
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learning
Assist students in framing their own learning goals, and
makes their own judgements about progress
Framing learning as creative, and as a discovery
Having learning be active, open-ended and problematised
Having personalised and networked approaches outlined
above
As school leaders, how do we achieve
sustainable changes in learning and pedagogy?
 Innovation implementation is managed by a
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comprehensive team/s within the school
Has leadership with authority within the school
Driven by implementation plan with clear goals; embedded
in school plan, including a component on how and when to
scale up innovation if successful
External support strategically used
School (not externals) drives research and evaluation –
particularly evidence about learning outcomes for students
School has a vision and plan about how innovation will
continue once external funding / support is discontinued