PLC Summit Notes #2

I attended the Professional Learning Communities at Work Summit: New Insights for Improving Schools last week. I was asked by my campus administration to go along with five of my colleagues. The conference sparked many ideas that I will write about in the future. While I was there I sent out regular twitter updates you can read here: twitter.com/KevinBibo. Here is a recap of the notes I took on the keynote presentations I saw and heard on Friday February 27, 2009.

Richard DuFour- Once Upon a Time: Confronting the Mythology of Public Education. JFK said that myth is the enemy of progress. We need to take apart the old stories. Teachers teaching in isolation is malpractice. Best practices include evidence, wisdom, and common sense. Formative is to summative as a physical is to an autopsy. We can’t play educational lottery with the lives of our kids (he was referring to teachers working alone instead of consulting each other). Q. What should happen in schools when kids don’t learn? A. In a PLC all students will learn with time and support. There needs to be a systematic response; the whole school responds, not just the individual teachers. There needs to be a paradigm shift for teachers from individual to collaborative efforts (I think that was just my own note). What can we learn from each other based on the data? They are “our” kids, not “my” kids. Teachers are like marathon runners in the same race trying to achieve the same goals, but not working as a team. Teachers should be more like a rowing team.

Michael Fullan- The Six Secrets of Change. Ideas must be internalized. If you want someone to change: give them a new experience in a relatively non-threatening environment. There is a need for purposeful peer interaction. A we-we commitment is required. Take advantage of the collective capacity of the staff. A laisser-faire approach to change is license for ineffective teaching. Be descriptive not judgmental. There can be a depth of shared understanding. Identify the best practices that all must use because they work! Success is 50% relentlessly consistent; 50% innovative. Leaders: be more confident that the situation warrants. Wisdom is using your knowledge while doubting what you know.

Lisa Carter- Total Instructional Alignment: Three Deep Understandings for PLCs. Meaningful change: 1) We must change what we know. 2) We must change conditions that support what we know. A vertical conversation is required. There are benefits to total institutionalized instructional alignment. Teachers will change because the kids who need to grow need us to change (my note).

Timothy D. Kanold- Becoming and Authentic Learning Leader: Whatever You Do, Inspire Me! Effort-based ability is (should be) the norm. Teachers are the front line leaders at school. Leadership qualities: 1) Honesty 2) Forward-looking. We fail to notice each other. Know what you believe. People are the inheritors of our work; take your work seriously. Courage is the X Factor in change. I was here and I made a difference.