Walk with me

I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me.

Being with someone is sometimes the best support we can offer.  The shepherd leader is with the people, in times of normal times and times of crisis.  This verse reminds me of an online discussion I participated in about action research.  Action research is really what teachers are doing on a daily basis, collecting real time data, informally in a natural setting, like assessing students on an ongoing basis in the classroom, and using the data to inform decisions,  areas for growth and possible improvements, in short assessment for learning.  Many in the discussion acknowledged that we as teachers do the first steps of action research.  Where we stop short is reporting the data we collect, and to formalize the actions we take.  

A shepherd leader is active in normal times, and can act decisively in times of trouble.  The example I shared was when the Provincial Achievement Test results of my school were lower than was acceptable to us.  We formed a professional action group, we looked at the results, identified tangible areas for growth, for example the skill of using inferencing to answer questions.  We then set about teaching that skill explicitly in our classrooms, but without a unified strategy.  What we didn’t do, in terms of an action research methodology, was articulate our process, or re-assess after we took action, to identify our successes and failures.  We didn’t actually report our action research.

What I take away from this example, in light of what I have learned in ETAD, especially in the course on Educational Research, is that the leadership was there, but it wasn’t seen through to the end.  The leadership wasn’t present enough in the normal time, and so decisions weren’t as decisive in the time of trouble.  

As controversial as Provincial Achievement Test are in our province, the students are required to write them, and they do provide a snapshot of data.  Knowing what I know now, I would actively encourage using an action research methodology in normal times to set a baseline for practice.  Then, in the years where there is trouble with the scores, the precedents are in place, and real action can occur to make improvements.  

Knowing the valley

Yea, though I walk thought the valley of the shadow of death.

The valley.  Education often feels like a valley of doubt that we, as teachers, need to navigate.  We are often in the darkness of uncertainty, financial constraints, program changes and challenging interpersonal relationships.  Educational technology and design sounds like a program about gadgets and flashing things, thats actually what I thought it was to begin with.  It is really about the structures needed to construct the best educational experiences possible.  Curriculum studies focus on the what, ETAD focuses on how we get there.  

The shepherd leader, while in the valley, is focused on how to emerge from the valley safe, but changed.  The shepherd leader needs to recognize the lessons learned in the valley, and must use the lessons to make improvements.  

As I said before, I don’t know if other professions experience the doubt and re-imagining that educators do.  Teachers definitely travel the valleys and peaks regularly.  I held a position for 2 years where I worked in various schools to achieve goals set by the schools, often relating to technology and pedagogy.  Working with over fifty teachers and hundreds of students, I heard their concerns and expectations, their challenges and their achievements.  I had to respond and do my best to lead them to a better understanding of educational technology and a more confidence practice using the technology. It was the biggest valley in my career so far, but as the deepest valley, it is also the greatest peak in terms of what I know about myself and teaching and learning.  As an aspiring shepherd leader, I will always carry this experience with me.

Again, my ETAD experience would have greatly benefitted me at the time.  I have taken comfort in the planning and structures outlined in the practices of Foundations of Educational Technology, Instructional Design, Distance Education, Program Evaluation and Research in Education.  I recognized the instructional need in these schools, and I muddled my way though creating sessions to build competence and confidence.  If only I had already taken the Instructional Design course.  My session would have been better organized and structured to ensure maximum success.  You can’t change the past, but I will carry that knowledge with me forever.  The learning from my ETAD program will help guide me ( and my flock) out of the inevitable valleys we encounter in the future.  

Another characteristic of a shepherd leader according to McCormick & Davenport is being present in the valley AND to be proactive with the flock in navigating the valley.  I’ve said it already and I will reiterate it again.  My path through the ETAD program illuminated valleys in education, through course readings and with the experience sharing of my colleagues.  Each one of the courses I took showed both tangible and abstract strategies to negotiate the challenges in education.  The program has filled my tool box with diverse strategies and ideas.   

Knowing the right path

He leads me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake.

The shepherd always endeavors to lead her flock on the right path.  She uses her knowledge of the needs of her flock, her understanding of the terrain, and her vision of what she desires for her sheep. I see so many parallels I between this ancient shepherd and my own role as a leader among a flock.  As a teacher, I am always searching for the right path, for my students’ in their inquiries, and for myself as I try to constantly bring my best to my job.  Being a scholar in ETAD has not shown me the path, but it has done something much more significant.  It has shown me how to find the path.  I didn’t only learn about the whats and hows of technologies and designs in education, I discovered so much of the underlying reasoning for what we do, and where to look for currents trends and issues.  

McCormick & Davenport explain that the shepherd leader depends on the relationship with their flock for the mutual benefit of all.  The shepherd employs his voice as an essential tool in his leadership.  His flock listens and trusts his voice. 

Finding my voice was one of the biggest challenges I faced as an ETAD scholar.  As I already mentioned, the online community was a major advantage in my learning, but the sense of belonging, accomplishment and worthiness was not instant.  Far from it. I struggled a great deal in the beginning to find my voice and share my knowledge with others.  I believe that I am on the cusp of the generation who puts everything online.  I am a regular user of social networking sites and I like to share and see what the people in my extending community are up to.  In fact, being far away from my large extended family, social networking is a key way that we share big life moments and tender memories with each other.  But, I am not of the mind that I should post every detail of my life, or that my thoughts are witty enough or worthy enough for the wide world to care.  I read a lot on online material, from blogs that relate to my professional life, to inane thoughts and pictures to entertain myself.  

The move from consumer to producer of online content was not easy.  I felt that there were so many other more inspired and insightful educators out there sharing.  What did I, as a veteran teacher of just 7 years, have to contribute?

The change came as I was writing on this blog as part of an assignment.  To that point, I had been writing just to fulfill my course requirement.  I posted my blog on my Facebook site to get some traffic to the site, which was a requirement.  I didn’t think anyone would actually want to read what I was writing, except for those close to me, as a favour.  To my surprise, a student in a B.Ed program reposted my link, and encouraged her classmates to check it out. From then on, the purpose of my writing changed.  I knew I did have something to say to those in preservice education.  My struggles and learnings were relevant to what they were about to face as new teachers.  From then on, I realized that I could share some insight and that someone might find a kernel of inspiration in what I was saying.

Finding my voice in the ETAD program has brought me the confidence to share all the knowledge and insights I have gained from my professors and colleagues with those I work closely with.  My shepherd voice is not an authoritative shout, but a comforting invitation along the journey.  The journey I take is informed and guided by the tools and knowledge I have encountered along my ETAD path. 

Leading immortals

He restoreth my soul.

People are divine creations, bestowed with an immortal soul.  Dealing with people then requires us to operate in that knowledge.  

This chapter made me think of distance education.  When I took the course in Distance Education, it was somewhat surreal, because I was learning about education at a distance, while learning at a distance.  

Learning at a distance was one of the most significant pieces of my experience as a Masters student.  I have literally never been to Saskachewan, other than driving through on my way to a wedding in Minnesota.  All of my interactions have been online, via Blackboard, Collaborate, Skype, email and discussion boards.  It has given me such a different perspective on the power and the challenges of online learning. 

In planning my distance education course, and in following all my courses online, I had to remember that people are not just names on a screen, that there are indeed real live breathing souls on the other end.  Learning at a distance made me feel apart at first, but upon reflection, I see the richness that it has brought to my life.  I learned a lot about not only what people were posting for their assignments, but who they were professionally and as scholars.  The footprint of the learning is so much more lasting when it is online.  Firstly, in a real time face to face situation, there would never have been enough time to get into the depths of thoughts and learning that exist online.  Each post was considered, edited and formulated to best express one’s thinking.  As a consumer, I could choose the moments when I was most open to learning from others, and as opposed to an oral comment in a classroom setting, I could reread, ponder and respond at my own speed.  In an exercise in my last course, I reviewed the mountain of posts that had occurred over the course of the semester.  I was able to enrich my own understandings in reading what others thought.  I believe that in participating in the rich online environments fostered in the courses, I thought much more in-depthly than I could have imagined.  

The online experience of my Masters showed me the possibilities of using online environment in my professional communities.  When teachers get together to collaborate in person, they bring with them the realities of their life at the moment.  A tough day at work or a long stressful commute can negatively colour a discussion, and make the precious time together less productive than desired.  

In my Distance Education course, I imagined and planned a professional development community for French Immersion educators.  Because we are so few within our district, collaboration can be further hindered by location in the city, and out of school commitments.  Going back to a vision of a shepherd leader who leads immortal souls, the possibility of a professional community of learning that honours the teacher participants, that allows them to learn and share when it is best for them, was truly exciting.  I don’t think that I can accurately capture how connected I felt to my University of Saskatchewan learning community.  It is probably the most significant aha moment I felt in my program.  I will work hard to bring the spirit of learning and belonging back into my professional practice as I walk along side those I work with.  

The Shepherd leader meets needs

I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.

The issue of “needs” is so pertinent to society today.  Over the last ten years, we have seen the massive shift from “what I do for the company?” to “what can the company do for me?”.  I have to admit, I fall into the group who have some sense of entitlement, although I do strongly value hard work and earning what you get.  

Teaching is the only profession I have ever been in, so I can’t say that teachers are the worst complainers, but we definitely do our share of grumbling.  To be fair, we have a lot to accomplish, with increasing challenges and dwindling resources.  Even in one of the richest provinces, we still ache for more.  How easy it is to get caught up the negativity that can surround education.  

Last year at my school, there was a program delivered by an outside  agency that made my blood boil.  To me, the goals of the program were great, but the execution was very much lacking.  The delivery of this program ate into my instructional time, disrupted my class, required my intervention when the lesson didn’t go well and I had to give up my own time to attend professional development sessions.  It really got under my skin, and I don’t think I was the only one.  

Well, just then I was taking a course in program evaluation, looking at the steps and structures required to perform an evaluation of programming.  We were asked to design a realistic evaluation plan. Hallelujah!  I felt like I regained some power and perspective.  I based my plan around this program that I didn’t feel was working well in our school. I identified the issues my colleagues and I had been discussing. 

Even though I never actually conducted the program evaluation, just planning and imagining it allowed me to be more patient with the program staff because I had more clarity about the actual aims of the rpogram and the challenges they may have been facing.  It helped me provide more clear feedback to the program.  

The most meaningful component of this experience was feeling like I had better tools to deal with similar situations in the future.  I know now which questions to ask  and how to provide feedback that can be collected to make meaning for a program.  

Back to the shepherd leader who meets the needs of his flock.  I really think that teachers can feel that they can get lost in the education system, and that various different programs are thrown at them.  I have sometimes felt like a complainer.  My experience in ETAD allow me to constructively provide feedback.  I also feel confident to listen attentively to those around me, and really hear what their needs are in their education practice.   

The Shepherd Leader

"The Lord is my shepherd."

The image of the shepherd as a leader is such a rich metaphor for leadership in today’s world.  Above all, I envision a a shepherd as humble, of the earth and loving, all the while being a protector and guide.  This is definitely how I imagine the best case scenario of myself as leader.  Not much to live up to.... :)

In Shepherd Leadership, McCormick and Davenport compare the shepherd leader to a great tour guide.  They say a tour guide can “without directly trying to control your every move, a good guide nevertheless empowers you to see more and learn more than would ever be possible on your own”.  What a powerful statement of what leadership can really mean!  This sentence struck me because it relates so easily to my reflection on my scholarly experience, and my vision moving forward.

                                                                   Listening to a tour guide explain a Roman ruin.

As a student in the Educational Technology and Design program, I really felt like I was being guided along my journey, not directed but not left to my own devices either.  The program is actually rather small, with three professors leading us in our learning.  I feel I really got to know them as instructional leaders, understand their teaching styles and their expectations of us as scholars.  Through the curriculum set out in the program, I was given the chance to broadly cover psychology of learning, to getting deeper into instructional design and distance education, to choosing my own topics to research and report on.  All of the prescribed courses and activities enriched me professionally, and often personally.  

Moving forward, this image of a great tour guide is resonating in me.  I want to not only help steer my colleagues towards great teaching and learning.  I want to discover and share the secret passageways rich with information, the works of art full of ideas and ideals.  As teachers, we can live in the isolation that is our classroom.  My own experience in ETAD has brought me into community with the scholars who have gone before me, and the great minds that are exploring and working in education today.  Entering into the world of educational research can be intimidating and take time, and working in ETAD has given me confidence to use the larger community of educators in my practice.  The knowledge that exists out there is so vast and so rich, and I want to bring that richness back into the schools I work in and back to my colleagues.  

The shepherd leader is characterized as being “with” the flock.  Immersing myself into the world of professional scholarship, and the ideas in Educational technology and design has re- energized my own sprit of inquiry, a quality I can bring back to my students and my colleagues.  

A reflection journey

In the next series of blog posts I will be reflecting on my experiences as a student in an Educational Technology and Design Masters program.  Since the end of my undergrad and Education program, I knew that I wanted to pursue a Masters, I just wasn’t sure where my passion lay and what I wanted to study.  In my fifth year of teaching, I was fortunate to get an amazing position working in various schools, working with teachers and students to implement technology in teaching and learning.  The position was a challenge, but I was working with an inspired groups of educators and we worked together to explore technology in elementary education.  It was there that I was really inspired to learn more about educational technology. A colleague shared her own experience in the ETAD program, and my journey began.  

I have always considered myself a leader, and while some people in my life might call it bossiness, I am drawn towards being a forward thinker and to inspire people around me.  My choice to pursue my Masters is about learning more about the profession of teaching, and also about gaining knowledge and skills to guide my leadership goals.  I want to have a solid foundation upon which to build my own practice.

After obsessing for weeks about how to frame my learning in the ETAD program, I woke in the middle of the night thinking about a book that I had received a few years ago.  Working in a Catholic school district, our professional practice centers around our faith.  Our district leaders were studying a book at the time, and a principal had passed the book on to me. I realized that the book is a perfect way to reflect on my experience as an ETAD scholar and to explore my leadership style and how I will bring my learning into my future.

The book is called Shepherd Leadership: Wisdom for Leaders from Psalm 23, by Blaine McCormick and David Davenport. The book explains the role of the Biblical shepherd as a strong leader and explains how modern day leaders can base leadership style and decisions on the Shepherd lauded by King David in the Bible. This psalm is often used in times of grief as a comfort, but looking at it differently reveals the strength and trust within it. I will follow the style of the book, using verses from the psalm to frame my own thinking. The book is not about educational leadership per se, but fits well with my faith based, ethical whole person vision of a leader.  

Here is the psalm from the King James version of the Bible.

    The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
            He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
            He leadeth me beside the still waters.
            He restoreth my soul:
5         He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.°
            Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
            I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;
            Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
            Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
10        Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
            Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
            And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.