Talkin' 'bout my cerebration.

In an effort to enable the steep learning curve of the staff I have recruited to be part of this project, I threw together this quick summary of transformative learning and how the theory might translate into action within the Physical Education cohort in 2010.  Preparation goes well.  The teaching team has thus far redesigned the course overview, established a group within Diigo for bookmarking and cataloguing resources and slowly developed the team site on One Portal.

The next challenge for the staff involved is to perform a performance review and plan for development.  I have created a template to streamline the process across my staff, beginning with a trial for the two transformative learners.

Transformational theory of Learning as applied to the Qld Senior Physical Education syllabus.

Description:

Summarised from the;

• Wikipedia article on 25 November 2009  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformative_learning
• Transformative Learning Theory webspace on 25 November 2009  http://transformativelearningtheory.com/index.html

Transformative Learning is a theory of learning that goes beyond just content knowledge acquisition.   It is a process where learners learn to think for themselves, developing freedom from unquestioning acceptance of what they have to come to perceive through life experience.  Freedom is experienced through active engagement and questioning of how we know what we know. (Learning as Transformation, by Jack Mezirow & Associates, 2000, published by Jossey Bass, San Francisco)

Transformative Learning Theory, as originally described by Mezirow (1991, 2000), explores a learning process where learners become critically aware of their own implicit assumptions and expectations of the learning experience.  Merriam and Caffarella (1999) further codify Transformative Learning into three phases, including critical reflection, reflective discourse, and action. Mezirow (2000) suggests that Transformative Learning often involves deep, powerful emotions or beliefs and is evidenced in action.

Implementation of the Transformative Learning Theory considers;

• the teacher’s role in establishing an environment that builds trust and care and facilitates the development of sensitive relationships among learners. The goal is to create a community of individuals who are “united in a shared experience of trying to make meaning of their life experience”. The teacher also serves as a role model by demonstrating a willingness to learn and change.
• the role of participants for creating the learning environment.
• the role of the rational and the affective. Teachers need to consider how they can help students use feelings and emotions both in critical reflection and as a means of reflection.

Watkins and Marsick (1993) suggest that learning networks can become the medium for moving new knowledge through the learning organization and that such collaborative structures and processes enhance the organization’s ability to learn because they enable critical conversations and challenging of assumptions and norms.

Yorks and Marsick (2000) suggest two strategies that can produce transformative learning for individuals, groups and/or organizations: action learning and collaborative inquiry. Both strategies are concerned with learning around significant issues and can be directly applied to learning within Physical Education.   A critical assessable criteria calls for solutions to problems.  These solutions can be found through collaborative inquiry (drawing on the inquiry process as a framework for learning) and action learning.  Integration of physical performance and academic learning allows the opportunity to develop and test hypotheses based on the targeted concepts.  Action learning is a process involving a team or group working collaboratively on a project or problem-solving task.   It involves the participants not only in the joint analysis, evaluation and reflection of the task, but also in reflecting on the process of how they worked, and taking personal and group learning from that process.

How will this look?

Learning to think for themselves:

• selecting evidence and resources
• determining suitability of resources for learning and validity of evidence
• think about personal learning habits and preferences.  Understanding data that predicts learning styles and preferences.
• problem solving strategies
• contributing to information streams
• understanding thinking processes, in particular the difference between lower order and higher order thinking.

Freedom from unquestioning acceptance:

• questioning norms (eg. Power in learning relationships, learning norms)
• Determining assumptions and preconceptions from knowledge and learning
• Use of tools to enhance learning
• Response to feedback – seek further info themselves
• Compare personal performance with assessment criteria
• Choosing learning activities (in and out of lesson time)
• Personal accountability for learning and achievement, and the reporting of such.

Teacher as a model learner:

• public reflections
• Engaging in critical conversations about teaching and pedagogy
• Learning from students, acknowledging and publicising such learning.
• Personal accountability for learning and achievement, and the reporting of such.

Use of feelings and emotions

• differentiating choices influenced by pleasure from those influenced by learning.
• identifying influences on learning, and management of those influences.

Collaborative inquiry:

• contribution to information streams
• collaboration on learning
• providing assistance to enable learning of others

Reflection:

• individual learning journal – reflect on learning choices, influences on such choices and extent of learning
• data from surveys and achievement
• teacher reflection (blog)

How will it be measured?

• Achievement data (PE and across other subject choices)
• Teacher surveys
• Teacher performance data (eg. movement on SCPDF)
• Student surveys
• Student reflective blogs
• Student surveys
• Student reflection on achievement
• Student reflection on contribution to information streams
• Teacher reflections (blog?) – could be in LP project room.
• My blog
• Surveys of critical friends
• Action / performance plans after reflection (teachers re. curriculum, teachers re. practice, students re. practice)

Skills:

• Teaching student research, including identifying valid sources for referencing vs. appropriate sources for instruction and content.
• Contribution to information streams (blogging, commenting, social book marking, resource wikis)
• Attribution of sources
• Choices in capture, storage, annotation and conversion of information.

Systems to be established:

1. One Portal Team Site
2. Learning Place project room
3. BlackBoard virtual classroom
4. Teacher accounts in Diigo, Delicious, iCyte
5. Wordpress install on MIS space

There is still a considerable amount of work to do to be adequately prepared for the implementation of this project, however progress can be seen.

In a recent meeting with my upline manager I was challenged regarding the selection of my staff for the transformational learning project.  My upline manager expressed concern that I had chosen two young and relatively inexperienced staff members, and specifically two staff members without experience in implementing this particular syllabus.  I appreciate and encourage this questioning as it ensures I am reasoned in the decisions that I make.

There was one critical factor in my selection of the staff.  Choosing two teachers new to the school, who have not taught the specific subject previously, certainly enables radical change.  And there is no doubt what I am asking for is a radical change.  No teacher in this school has taught in this manner previously, and no student has learnt within this type of environment.  I feared that if I recruited staff who had already taught the specific subject then I would be dealing with “tradition” and “hangover” from what has occurred previously.  I don’t believe this would have enabled the success I am aiming for.

What has excited me is the professionalism displayed thus far by the project teachers.  I permitted them open license to design a work program that enabled them to teach effectively.  I have never been concerned about changing work programs, and in Health Education have made changes annually.  This is the first change for Physical Education since the original work program was approved in 2004.  In the re-writing of the program, both of the project teachers have independently accessed the syllabus to ensure what they are planning is appropriate.  This has even resulted in them picking up on an error I made with suggestions for the program.  Considering I did not ask or suggest they access the syllabus, in fact I expected they would propose a program and I would check it for syllabus suitability, has really impressed me.  Coupled with this is the independent research they have each done on the transformative theory of learning to prepare themselves, which is impressive.  Inexperience has not restricted them.

The project team met yesterday to finalise the program skeleton.  In this meeting (held whilst on playground duty!) I believe a significant indication of progress was achieved.  The teachers were discussing logical ordering of content across the two year program and decided that we should begin with a unit on Motor Learning.  Their justification was based on the fact that the students would not have experienced this type of learning environment previously, and this allowed us to teach them “how to learn” and to specifically learn within the environment we are establishing.  This to me was a breakthrough as it demonstrated an understanding of what they have volunteered to be part of, and deep thinking on how to structure the learning environment to enable success.

I couldn’t be happier with the progress of these two teachers.  I’m excited by the changes they have proposed.  I’m excited by the enthusiasm they are displaying.  I’m impressed with the professionalism they are demonstrating at this stage of the project.

The next phase of the project will be collaborative visioning and the establishment of mechanisms for measurement.  Our visioning will be based on a number of documents that I have grouped as “Documents informing the project” and categorised under a range of headings.  I will outline these in another post.  The teachers will be asked to familiarise themselves with the documents and then discuss how they will impact the project.

Teacher toolkit

Now that I have my staff selected, I believe my time is best spent exposing them to the software that will enable transformative learning.  My first focus will be on software that enables sharing of information.  In this initial phase I will install software that utilises data stored on the local hard drive.  This is purposeful so that I can facilitate use of the team site for the project to share files.

The software I will install tomorrow is;

1. Mozilla Firefox
2. Zotero add-on for Firefox
3. X-mind
4. FoxIt PDF Reader (including FoxIt toolbar)

FireFox is essential for the functionality of the add-ons, particularly on the Windows powered laptops provided to teachers in our organisation.  Zotero is a notebook and research tool.  We will build notebooks and share them out to the learners.  FoxIt toolbar allows the markup and annotation of PDF files.  Simply choose “Save As” when finished and all markups and annotations are saved as part of the file.  X-mind is a concept mapping program, within which we will build learning maps for the units we implement.  Each of these programs are cross platform.  I’m aware there are platform specific programs that may perform these functions more effectively however I want a solution that can be modelled in class and implemented on any platform.

Tomorrow I will install these items on my staff’s laptops.  I will then provide them with the Smart Classrooms Professional Development Framework file (PDF).  They will be tasked with opening it within FireFox and using the markup tools to identify the indicators they believe they are currently demonstrating.  As well as providing them exposure to PDF markup and file sharing via One Portal, this will also provide base data to map performance improvement upon.

Its been reassuring that both staff have been showing real interest in this and a desire to learn.

Yesterday I invited two staff members to be the teachers in this project.  Both seemed excited by the invite which is a good thing.  I have purposely picked them for a number of reasons.

Staff member A sits in the main HPE staffroom and I believe has the potential to be an excellent teacher.  2010 will be their 3rd year at our school.  They are well organised and always working within timelines from myself or administration.  They have spent large amounts of time preparing resources for their classes, and although this will change tact with this project the time commitment is important.  Their learning management needs refinement, and I believe this process will allow them to critically reflect on their influence on the learning environment and improve their practice acordingly.

Staff member B is my most energetic and motivated staff member.  They are constantly seeking advice and feedback on performance and show an ability to critically reflect and adapt their practice.  They sit in a staffroom across the other side of the school, which should result in a spreading of the influence of the project.  The fact that they like to talk about their teaching will aid this process.  This will also encourage me to leave the main HPE staffroom more often to interact with my other staff.  This staff member is well organised and always works within timelines.  They seem to thrive in team situations, although I see the potential for leadership within them.

So now I am getting excited.  At this point there are three priorities that need to be addressed.  First and foremost I need to formalise the plan for the project.  As it is an action learning project I need to frame it as such.  This includes the recruitment of critical friends.  I’d like to have critical friends for each of the following aspects;

• syllabus implementation
• staff development
• student achievement and satisfaction data
• pedagogical practices
• digital pedagogy (incl. use of specific tools and processes)

There may be other areas I incorporate critical friends and no doubt they will become evident in the plan formalisation process.  I have not yet identified the requirements or commitment of critical friends, but if you are interested in being one for this project then I encourage you to let me know.  If you can’t dedicate the time (I know we are all busy) there will be opportunity to read our progress and comment as such.

Secondly I need to provide a range of readings to my staff to increase their understanding of transformative theory.  I will do this through the creation and transfer of a Zotero notebook, demonstrating to them the use of such technologies that I want incorporated into the project.  Thirdly, we need to meet to refine the work program so that it enables the success of the project.  Aspects like the use of physical activities that allow the teachers to be “close” in the early stages.  Our classroom is next to our hall, so if the first unit of work has an activity in the hall the teachers will be relatively close.  This will enable student choice and teacher support of each other.

I can feel the momentum building.  I am excited, I am heartened by my staff’s excitement.  And I am strong due to your support.  Those that are reading this and sending comments via the blog, twitter, email or facebook are keeping me strong.  Thanks to those who have already volunteered to be a critical friend.

After a couple of attempts, I finally have a viewable video of the project pitch to staff online.  I’m hosting this one on Vimeo as it is slightly longer than 10 minutes.

Transformative Learning Project pitch to staff from Shane Roberts on Vimeo.

I’ve been asked to present this to the executive administration today, after which I will need to select staff to work within the project and begin professional development and specific planning.  Exciting times.

I have successfully pitched the project concept to my immediate supervisor, who reported to the principal and I have their support for this (relatively) radical project. The project is based on my understanding of Transformative Learning, as proposed originally by Mezirow and built on concepts such as Connectivism and 21C learning skills.  Why do I term it relatively radical – quite simply nothing like this has been implemented at my school previously therefore staff and students have not experienced this approach to learning.  I’ve blogged my thinking that has lead to this project before – A potential project; Constructing purposeful learning spaces; Planning my learning environments for 2010; and Learning 2010 – an update.

So my thinking has formalised into a project proposal, that in a rough form was pitched to my supervising Deputy Principal. I pitched the idea using one slide and a lot of talk.  I’ll need to refine that when I pitch to staff.  The slide used is embedded below.

As you can see, there are three learning foci; content learning, conceptual / contextual learning, and reflective learning. It is the interaction of these three learning foci that will determine the success of this project for students and parents.  I believe it is the support and professional development of teachers that will determine the success for teachers.  These two (2) vital components need to be combined and considered at the forefront of the project for success to be achieved.  A lot of work, but exciting times.

The final question that will form the framing of the action learning project is yet to be finalised, however the one I am proposing when pitching the project to my staff on Tuesday is included in the project pitch here.  Details of the project are still forming in my head (and my evernote), however the teachers who decide to be involved need to be included in the final development of the project plan.  This in itself will be an exciting process as I encourage my staff to unlearn then re-learn.  I intend to post more here as the project develops.

The existing infrastructure that enables this project includes blocking the 2 classes onto the one timetable line – which means they are both in PE at the same time.  This ensures the two teachers teach the cohort instead of singular teachers teaching their classes.  The National Secondary Schools Computer Fund ensures I can have 30 laptops in my classroom, and convert 5 LAN points to wireless access points.  I’ve been given permission to research and purchase (partially funded through the facilities budget) alternative furniture that will align with the goals of the project.  The HPE department already owns a large number of devices that can be utilised.

Fingers crossed it will be well received.  It is significantly different to anything they have considered previously.

It is that time of year when many teachers are responsible for the development of a pre-service teacher (university student) who is inevitably in the final practicum of their degree.  Whilst some teachers avoid working with per-service teachers, and some of my students openly disagree with having to learn from a pre-service teacher, I find this responsibility one of the most important aspects of my role.  There are a number of reasons for this.  First and foremost, I seriously consider myself a significant influence on the development of a few pre-service teachers.  I want students to learn, enjoy learning and grow from learning.  The pre-service teacher is also a learner.

Secondly, my particular subject area is one marginalised by the push for a national curriculum.  Health and Physical Education has always been seen as non-compulsory and a poorer cousin of the big three (English, Maths, Science).  Without a guernsey on the national curriculum, the status and inclusion of HPE is under threat in many schools.  By nurturing teachers in my subject area I can help that little bit by ensuring HPE trained teachers are always part of the teaching workforce.  They will advocate for HPE in their schools and continue to promote the benefits of physically active learning.

However, the most significant reason for wanting to incorporate a pre-service teacher into my learning environments is that I need my students to learn how to learn from others.  I pride myself in the relationships and rapport I have with my students.  I take pride in the learning the demonstrate from learning activities within my learning environments.  But I also realise I will not always be there for them.  They need to learn from others, and learn how to manage their own learning.

A colleague posted recently on her blog, Making Connections: Proud moments about nervousness in taking a step back.  She has regularly tweeted about this nervousness.  To me this is great.  It signals here is a teacher who is concerned about the learning of her students.  Here is a teacher who is focused on her students and the engagement she has managed to engender in a subject area not normally embraced by today’s students.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeling nervous about drawing back.  Especially when you consider the class she is speaking about is year 11.

Yet I pose these questions to her, and others who are hesitant when it comes to “handing over control” to a developing teacher;

1. Is the learning you are proud of existent due to you?
2. Could the students (and do they) demonstrate the same learning in other classes?
3. Are you establishing yourself or the students as the dependent factor in this learning equation?

If you answer these thinking that the students are the central reason behind the learning, then it should not matter who is teaching.  If you really establish the student as the dependent factor, they will demonstrate learning despite the teacher or the learning context.  To me this was the central theme, and most exciting area of personal development, of the Digital Pedagogy License Advanced when I undertook the course last year.  It is my interpretation of the concept of transformative learning.  I see the benefits daily.  Learning processes nurtured in my learning environments transferred across contexts.  Other teachers talking to me about what little Johnny does in their class that they said I taught them (students’ words).  The learner becomes the dependent factor.

So I want my pre-service teachers to be the dependent factor in their personal learning equations, and my students will learn reagrdless of who “delivers the content.”

I have challenged my pre-service teacher in this unit we are currently doing.  There is not a lot of “content” that the students need to know.  However they must be able to form an educated opinion and validate that opinion through evidence and discussion.  I have challenged my pre-serice teacher to not deliver content.  Any content she requires them to consume or pay attention to can be delivered to the students by students, guest speakers or research.  I have told her she is not allowed to provide them information about the topic.

This has caused her some stress, noe the least because it is completely different to anything she has been taught in her university study.  However, only 2 weeks in she can see the benefits.  She realises when she walks into class she is going to engage in conversations with the students, not content delivery.  If you relate this to Bloom’s Taxonomy of the cognitive domain then foundation thinking (knowledge, understanding, application) is completed by students under their own management.  We as teachers then concentrate on developing the higher order abilities (analysis, evaluation, synthesis / creation) when we have direct contact with them.  How she has managed this is impressive.  Essentially the class is split in two.  One half is provided access to the computers to manage their own learning, the other half is taken outside where they discuss a topic in a community of inquiry.  At the halfway mark they switch.

So in reality, we have reduced our dependence on the learning equation.  And what we are witnessing is impressive.  Students learning from each other.  Students reaching out into the world in search of relevant knowledge.  Students teaching us also.

Does this reduce the importance of the teacher?  No, in fact I think we become more important as we guide students along a path of discovery and encourage them to learn from each other.  We are still responsible for the measurable product of learning (which is a debate for another time) and the relationships within the learnign environment.  I think this approach requires more work outside of traditional class time, and significantly increases the maount of time in conversation with students.  But it is worthwhile, and a system I am happy to dwell in.

So should my colleague be nervous about “letting go?”  Definitely.  But please don’t let that stop you, it is important for the development of both the students and the pre-service teacher.