Day 2

Thanks to Doug Peterson for the tag in his Stop Pretending…..#MakeSchoolDifferent post.  I’ve enjoyed the posts from others on the same topic. They are bloggers whom I respect and whose writing continues to challenge my thinking, so I’m honoured to include my list among theirs.

In order for us to make a difference, we have to stop pretending:

1) That the most innovative ideas are generated by those in the most influential positions.
This past summer I read Dan Pontefract’s Flat Army and it resonated with me on so many levels.  I wonder if sometimes we turn to Superintendents and Directors with the assumption that they will have the most innovative answers to a challenge, based on their years of experience and broader to connections to education?  When in reality, it may be those ECEs, Educational Assistants, Teachers and Administrators who are working in the “trenches” with the best view and therefore the best insight into innovative ways of making a difference.

2) That all administrators intuitively know how to be instructional leaders.
These days there is an expectation that our school administrators have a well defined skill set in the area of Instructional Leadership. There are many administrators who indeed know how to inspire, motivate and lead a school community on a learning journey.  But, we also have to admit that some of our colleagues are great relationship builders and financial managers, but they do not have that skill set and what are we, as a learning organization, prepared to do to support them?

3) That the answer is always in the room.
We love to throw that line out all the time and I believe that we can certainly learn a great deal from each other. But I’m wondering if at times, we need to ensure that we are bringing “others” into the conversation and looking to the research to support us?  If we want to make a difference, we need to be able to look for answers everywhere possible.

4) That saying “I’m a life long learner” is enough
We’ve all heard it and maybe even said it out loud ourselves, but do we make it visible?  How do we share that we are life long learners?  Do we really embrace learning something new, which means that we will never do things the same way again?  How different would life look in our schools, if everyone was a learner? Talk about making a difference!

5) That it’s acceptable to avoid integrating technology into our lives as educational leaders.
In order to make a difference, every level of the organization should be embracing, modeling and inspiring others to see the implementation of technology as a mandatory component of how we do business.  Our students deserve committed educators who are willing to learn!

To keep the meme going, I tag @jen_aston @DavidFifeVP @marshakelly @pluggedportable @annettcann