I am currently working in 6 secondary schools, with 3 schools and 1 COL on the horizon. For each of these schools the focus of the work is different;
- leadership of professional learning with a focus on embedding teaching as inquiry and a collaborative culture
- literacy within science
- SOLO taxonomy
- Middle leadership support in Science
- Middle leadership development across the school
- High expectations pedagogy
In each of the schools, there is at least one more facilitator working alongside me. I see this as a very positive thing as it is very easy to get tunnel vision when working by yourself.
I am focussing on being responsive and always try and find out as much as I can to understand the context and issues before working with leaders to determine in more detail what the work might look like. I use school websites, NCEA data, ERO reports, journal applications, annual plans, talk to colleagues who have worked there previously, ask questions and listen to leaders, teachers and support staff, and often observe lessons and gather student voice.
I am wondering, however, whether we should be thinking about a more formalised framework for this work, some form of inquiry process. It would need to be something responsive and flexible which builds in evaluation, to give us direction and a means of reflecting and reporting on our work. In other words something that helps us understand where we are at and where we are heading. I know in some of the 'packaged programmes' that used to be delivered had something like this.
What are other people using to guide your work? How are you evaluating your effectiveness?
This is such a good question and links back to the 'theory of improvement'. In the 'old days' not so long ago we as providers provided the 'theory of improvement' whether it be formative practice, middle leadership practice, CRRP etc. In the new world the theory of improvement should be explained in the PLD journal and facilitators provide support/expertise to enact and implement around that to the school leaders/teachers. How that really works in practice.. is what I think you are saying here Faye.
ReplyDeleteGreat read as you have written about the changing environment that we are all
ReplyDeletecurrently working out how to navigate through, in a way that benefits students. It has made me realise how reliant we were on the contract theory of improvement, which for me was inquiry and evidence informed practice as a platform for having challenging conversations. In this new environment, challenging practices can by tricky especially when you are seeking to understand whether there is a shared understanding of the theory of improvement and how it is being applied. Well done on your first BLOG. I look forward to reading your next one.