My Professional Masters of Education Learning Journey

As noted in the reading by Watson, "The focus on student learning as the ultimate aim of the PLC is emphasised in the  literature. Vescio et al. (2008, p. 81) stress ‘clear and consistent focus on student  learning’ and reflective dialogue, which leads to ‘extensive and continuing conversations  among teachers about curriculum, instruction and student development’. Nelson  et al. (2010, p. 176) talk about the need to pursue ‘questions about learning  goals, instructional practices, and all students’ attainment" ( Watson, C., 2012, p. 21). Upon Reflection  through this past week in my online PLC, I share with you a few closing thoughts of my experience and connections to the readings that have surfaced for me: A PLC, whether online, in-person, or hybrid ,requires collaboration, active participation, risk taking and engagement by all members in order to experience true impact.  "Strong PLCs are generally acknowledged not  only as sharing new knowledge of content and pedago

I was so excited to see the my online PLC has a space on Twitter! Based on my current experience with Twitter and the limited engagement on the Facebook space, I thought that Twitter was going to have a more active group that I could really leverage for the module 5 assignment.  In that effort, I posted a few questions, both of our synthesis PowToon's and our instructional decision making cycle graphic. In doing so, my hope was to get more activity and open up more opportunities for dialogue with the Higher Ed Learning Collective online PLC.  Below are snapshots of my Twitter posts: I quickly realized that there has not been any activity on this Twitter space since April 1, 2020! This was discouraging so I went back to the Facebook group to see if I could get more interaction in that space. I decided to post each of our Powtoons and the visual noted above to the Higher Ed Learning Collective Facebook group. I also included the hashtags #discussion #pedagogy #inclusivelearning to se

Facilitating Discussion My "Output" Update from my Online PLC  So much has happened since I requested access to the Higher Ed Learning Collective . I am pleased that some members have responded to my discussion question: “ What do you believe is the purpose of education? Is it to learn subject matter, to develop student cognitive/behaviour skills, or to prepare students for living in an unstable and changing world – personal development in the context of social change?” For this very large PLC group, the moderator recommends that all participants use appropriate hashtags to help everyone organize our “online learning ideas!”. My hope was to glean an understanding for the orientation of my selected PLC as it connects to curricular conceptions and their beliefs on the purpose of education.   I used #discussion to organize my thread. The snapshots below illustrate the ongoing discussion that has resulted from my ongoing PLC discussion. It was great to see people engage w

Gathering Data My "Output" Update "Philosophy provides [educators] with a framework for broad issues and tasks, such as determining the goals of education, subject content and its organization, the process of teaching and learning, and, in general, what experiences and activities to stress in schools and classrooms" (Ornstein, A., 1991, p. 102).  In my survey I was looking to gather information about participants' values and beliefs about the purpose of education as compared to the values and beliefs of the system within which they work.  My data shows that over 50% of respondents indicate that their systems are focused on and academic/rationalist curriculum conception with subject based designs . The focus is on subject matter.  In contrast, 0% of respondents indicate that they believe in a  Cumulative Tradition of Organized Knowledge - Subject matter is the focus. This means that none of my participants believe in subject-centered curriculum designs and yet

I found the work of seeking out a PLC, that fits my professional context of practice to be complicated.  The key to success was in devoting ongoing time to actively and consciously engage with others towards a shared purpose. The group that I joined, in such a short amount of turn around time is the Higher Ed Learning Collective  and I have realized that to make a deeper connection and to receive and give better contributions, this requires a long term commitment and investment in time. Through this short period, I was trying to figure out the best way to engage, by sending posts, sharing materials/articles, or through direct messages. In such a short amount of time, I could not realize the true impact of a PLC as noted in Watson's reading: A PLC is a "group of people sharing and critically interrogating their practice in an ongoing, reflective, collaborative, inclusive, learning-oriented, growth-promoting way’ (thereby presenting us with another long list of essentially conte

Following up on our attempts to Smudge in an Online Virtual Learning Environment My ISS teachers have hosted 4 smudges, at 2:15 p.m. each day. They have incorporated a moment of silence and then went through and shared a beautiful smudge opportunity with staff and students.  On the first day, we have over 300 Middle Years and Senior Years staff/student participants and over 150 Early Years staff/students .  On the second day, we once again had over 300 Middle Years and Senior Years staff/student participants and closer to 200 Early Years staff/students . This was all in a remote learning context and it was such a powerful and beautiful opportunity.  Overall, the virtual smudge has been a resounding success and we have received numerous notes of gratitude for the acknowledgement and collective response. I have reached out to my online PLC to see what suggestions, tips, hints they might share to host an online smudge. I notice that this might also be an opportunity to me to contribute

In this post I was hoping to report on the extension of my engagement and participation in the Higher Ed Learning Collective. I have been searching through the additional hashtags to see what might be a good fit for my context of practice. Originally I was hoping to engage in #pedagogy and #inclusivelearning but given the recent gruesome discovery in Kamloops , B.C. I have decided to explore the Indigenous Education space within this collective. This is extremely important and applicable to my context of practice as within my portfolio, I supervise and coordinate service delivery of Indigenous Student Success (ISS) teachers across the division. We have four ISS teachers that provide support to classroom teachers with their implementation  of Indigenous Education/Treaty Education in three week block residencies.  Due to the recent discoveries and in  the spirit of respect and recognition of this devastating news, the role of our ISS teachers continues to be in support of classroom teach

I continue to follow Higher Ed Learning Collective and today I switched to the Twitter platform.  Wow, what a difference! There are so many resources and supports shared and accessible. All of the content is very timely and relevant and will support my work as the Principal of our online learning school. In a matter of minutes I came across a number of interesting resources and articles. This is going to be a much more engaging space which I know I can get to every day!

My goal through this experience would be to further widen my network of learning partners and to make connections with other educators. I expect that connecting with others to learn from and receive feedback will create opportunities for growth and extend my professional journey. I plan to learn about strategies that will support and complement my role as an online learning principal.  To this point, I have engaged in conversations by initiating questions about the participants' knowledge of curriculum conceptions and searching for articles and resources to help support my work in the online learning environment . I find that searching for relevant resources and materials in such a large group can be challenging and time consuming. I have not yet found any specific materials to help inform my day to day work.  I do appreciate the opportunity this platform creates for professional discourse, and for deepening my reflective practices. As noted by Blitz,  "while online PLCs can f

What Makes an Effective Online PLC Design? I n this post I will connect the characteristics of my PLC, Higher Ed Learning Collective to the emerging best practices for the design setup of online PLC’s noted in the article by Blitz, C., 2013. Clear purpose Strong leadership and facilitator/moderator Diverse group membership Opportunities to socialize and build community Connections to my PLC: The purpose of this global community of educators is “to build a more connected future. Knowing that many faculty were not prepared for an abrupt transition to teaching online, [they] created a space to work together, to empower and to educate each other for free” There is a evidence of a moderator/supervisor and there are very clearly laid out rules of engagement. There is diverse group membership. Over 36 000 members with faculty of all ranks, graduate students and higher education staff to develop their online pedagogy and practice. “While online PLCs can facilitate individual learning

  Understanding PLC’s Online Most of the current literature reflects the understandings of PLC’s in their traditional, in-person, modality. There is no clear guidance on how to set up an effective online PLC and most recommendations come from the traditional forms and structures. So… what are the benefits and challenges of the online professional learning community in comparison to the traditional in-person PLC? PLC teams progress through phases, starter, developing, and mature (Blitz, C., 2013). In the early stages, the team will organize by defining roles and responsibilities. determining goals of the collaboration, and the data that will be collected to inform ongoing decision making. As the team matures, “they turn to issues related to learning results and best practices for effective PLCs, such as shared values and visions of learning, shared norms, and shared (or distributed) leadership” (Blitz, C., 2013, p.5). The online PLC environment: Advantages: · Provides a flexib

Gathering Information from My PLC Community  Here is the link to the google form I created to gather information my PLC Higher Ed Learning Collective. My intent is to determine the current reality of this group and their understanding of the theoretical foundations for curriculum conceptions. I will provide an update of responses as the days progress. This form was created and posted on Thursday, May 27th, 2021. Curriculum Beliefs and Values Question #1: "A conception of curriculum implies a particular purpose of education with appropriate content and organization" (Sowell, 2005, p.38). Which of the following conceptions do YOU support? Self Actualization - The learner is the focus Cumulative Tradition of Organized Knowledge - Subject matter is the focus Development of Cognitive Processes - Developing cognitive skills is the focus Social Relevance ~ Reconstructionist - Society and culture is the focus Technology  as Education - Systematic and efficient learning is the focus