On change or shifts...

At Change Agency, Stephanie Sandifer posts about what happens after watching Did You Know. I have posted the thought that technology is not the answer, but that technology lets good teaching become easier.

She says:

While it is nice to have administrative support for new technology purchases, a “technology purchasing frenzy” is simply NOT the correct response to the realization that our schools are not doing enough to prepare students for their futures. This is really about changing adult perspectives and adult behaviors to create student-centered classrooms that exemplify research-based best practices around learning. It’s not about buying the latest, greatest, and most expensive tech toys on the market. Expensive tech in the hands of educators who haven’t made changes to their behaviors and instructional practice are no better than the good old chalk board, pencil, and paper. Even worse, expensive tech that the teachers see no use for will end up just collecting dust in a storage room.

and...

Rather than immediately engage in a technology purchasing frenzy, take some time to begin discussions on your campus about how to transform your school into a place where teachers see themselves first as LEARNERS who are invested in improving their instructional practice through reflection and inquiry, and where students are more globally connected in a way that enhances and supports their individual learning. Collaborate with your faculty and staff — your learners — to learn more about how the world has changed and what that means for our profession…

Locate the “early adopters” in your district/schools and bring them in to a conversation around change — recruit them to help spread change virally…

Change adult behaviors and practices first… Change the way you work together, the way you speak with each other… Change your vocabulary… Begin by redefining yourselves as learners rather than educators… Acknowledge that in order to prepare your students for their futures of the 21st Century, all learners on your campus must be equally prepared for those futures…

I have been following the best minds in education now for about a year and am not what I consider an early adopter except maybe in my district. I am hoping that my administration will read the post referenced (as she is a fellow administrator) in this post as a message to be brave, think for the future, and bring new people in who consider themselves learners. Ask me what I learned recently and how, and I am likely to tell you a dozen new ideas in my field and in best practices of education and most were found blogging and reading from those wonderful minds. Bring people in who do not consider education as "business as usual".