My school’s Head has encouraged all of us to make use of the question formulation technique and really encouraged our students and ourselves to ask good questions. In our social studies classes our students learn to ask questions about history and society. Our science lessons prompt questions about worms, stars, lactose and our diet. I’ve always encouraged our 6 year old son to ask questions, and the other day he asked “When will we fly without a plane?” while making paper airplanes of various design. Questions are the keys to learning, as anyone who has spent time with a small child knows.
One of the neat things about coming new to a community is that there are so many questions to ask. Where is the nearest bathroom? Where’s the lunchroom? Where do I find the printer paper? Why do we call our 1:1 devices ePALs? When the questions are meatier, for example when questions ask about how we do something at our school, it has the fortunate effect of prompting members of the community to reflect on the way they approach or think about a particular topic. This sometimes leads to a historical summary of the school’s way. Other times, it leads to a great discussion, more questions, and occasionally to innovation. Other times, it leads to a reaffirmation that we’re on the right track.
A vision statement is meant to set a direction, a course for an organization. It may not necessarily describe the organization in its current state, rather what it aspires to be. It is meant to focus an organization’s efforts by serving as the compass that guides the direction the organization takes in all aspects of its charge and existence.
If the answer is a vision statement that describes what role technology will take in learning and teaching at our school, what questions do we need to ask? Who do we ask them of? How do we gather those answers?
The questions that come to mind for you may be many, as for me. The great thing is that some of those questions will be the same, but some of them will be different. That’s why I’ve assembled a small team of teachers, and their experienced and educated minds to think about what those questions are and who should help us answer them. I’ve also ensured they were well nourished at our first meeting with homemade whole grain and flax pancakes, because we can enjoy ourselves while we’re working hard. We started by understanding that there are three key stake holder groups in our community; students, parents, and teachers/school staff, and recognized the need for gathering their voices.
As a community, we may have a wide range of opinions and concerns about the impact of technology on our lives. Yet as a community we must have some shared values. Our children have play dates and birthday parties together. Families should feel reasonably comfortable that our community is a safe place for our children, both digitally and physically. By sharing their voices, they can find that consensus, and reaffirm their trust in the school community.
Students can tell you of the impact of their environment on their work and well being. If we’re designing a solution for them, they are ultimately why we’re even here, then we must ask they share their views. For example, recently in an impromptu question and answer session with a group of 8th grade students, I asked where they had learned more about technology, at school or outside of school? All promptly responded outside of school. This was certainly not a scientific or representative study, and perhaps we don’t mind, or even prefer that response. However, only by asking the questions can we begin to understand the answer. Our students’ voices matter.
We know the largest impact on student learning is the effectiveness of the teacher. So much of the complexity of teaching falls on the teacher’s shoulders. They are the fulcrum, the key element in implementation and planning. They know their students and have established a culture of warmth in their classrooms. They can describe the requirements they see for creating an environment where students will excel.
The Technology Vision Statement Task Force has set out to gather those voices. Soon we’ll engage students, teachers, and families about their feelings and attitudes around technology. We’ll do our best to listen closely to each voice and incorporate it, along with professional learning we’ve undertaken into our process. Our team is learning about new literacies, and documentation of learning. We’ll also be learning about technology’s impact on development, and the potential dangers of technology along with other questions that will arise from our process. We’ll distill all of that into a Vision Statement that will, as Nemo taught us, help us to swim down, working together to move towards making an ideal environment for our children.
Wait a minute! What about the school vision statement? Isn’t that enough? Technology has such a large impact on our lives. By focusing on this elephant in the room we can better understand its impact on our communities. The school vision statement will not be ignored. Its spirit must be present in the technology vision statement. I only expect complete alignment between both. The technology vision statement will bring us clarity on such an important element of life in the 21st century.
Once the vision statement is complete, our team will make some suggestions for next steps. One of those steps may be to create a technology strategic plan, or to become a major component of a larger school wide strategic plan. Another suggestion may be for programmatic changes, and yet another might be to not change a thing. I don’t know the answer. I just have lots of questions right now.
Does your school have a technology vision statement? What about a mission? If not, why not? If it has either or both, how did you go about writing it/them? What questions would/did you ask of the various stakeholders?
Vision tablet from: Alpha Stock Images – http://alphastockimages.com/
The pancakes are mine 🙂
