How many times….
…must you hear the message before you act?
My good friend and colleague Lee Crockett did a stunning keynote at my school for about 300 international and national delegates at a recent conference. The keynote, Understanding the Digital Generation, compared the charactoristics of our increasingly digital students and those who have not adopted to the same extent technology. (We know from lots of current research on neuroplasticity that exposure to technology and other stimuli will physically change the persons brain)
His presentation discussed the changes we need to consider in our teaching and learning as a result of not only neuroplasticity, but also infowhelm, ubiquitous access to technology etc.
As I said the presentation was very very well received and the only comment that I heard that could have been taken as negative was a person saying we have heard this before.
Well this begs the question… How many times do you have too hear the message before you act?
I have heard the same comment before, recently in Japan, where people said well we have heard this before. Yes you might have but you must do more than just hear the message, you must act. Its not enough to say I know about 21st Century Teaching and learning and I understand the concequences of this. We MUST act.
Lee’s closing comment was “professional Development with out follow up is malpractice”. It is not enough to say YES I agree and then not act.
Hence my question – How many times must you hear the message before you act?
2 Comments Already
October 1, 2010 at 2:25 pm Permalink
I agree – we’ve all heard this before (and it’s great) – but what if we agree with the message but don’t have the ‘power’ to cause the change? How many times do you bang your head against the wall? How does an organisation formulate if they are capable of change – that is the real question.
October 1, 2010 at 2:40 pm Permalink
Hi Steve,
You do have the power to change, you can change your classroom. I know thats a bit of a glib answer, but its true. You can also be an advocate for change and for adoption.
On a bigger scale change starts from the top down with leadership with vision, but as we are seeing with the newer schools that are adopting 21st Century teaching and learning, we must also have the buying of the community – the immediate community -the board, students and staff and the wider community – parents. Changes that lack these are doomed to failure.
You must also have the goals clearly defined, resources, incentives and skills, but it is manageable. I know because I have been involved in this.
I have seen a school district turn around in a 1 year period, by having a dynamic and driven superintendent, a supportive community and enthusiastic staff. He, the superintendent, resourced them well, provided just in time training and just in case, follow up and expectations. The change can happen but…
… if you don’t have the power to change the whole school, make a difference and change your classroom.
A
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