Yesterday I had the privilege of leading an INSET day at school. The main goal was to share with my colleagues the results of the continuous professional development (CPD) survey completed at the end of the school year, and the objectives for this year triggered by those results. I wanted to show them how the information they provided had informed my planning for this new school year, and that their contributions will continue to be considered and valued.
My first goal for 2016-17 was to identify a vision for continuous professional development. I proposed the theme of Innovation because I believe that it incorporates not only administration-led initiatives and new policy, but also our day-to-day work as educators, and I hoped this theme would inspire us to take risks in our planning and methodology. Innovation in our teaching will keep us engaged and reenergised in our profession; but ultimately it is our students who will benefit most from these creative endeavours.
In one session, teachers broke-out into self-selected groups based on their choice of topic– from pastoral care to the day schedule, from supporting high-achieving students to the use of technology, from boarding life to collaborative teaching. They were asked to identify a problem and then to consider innovative solutions, both of which would be shared with the larger group as a sketch or short scenario. The results were dynamic, original, topic-specific, and demonstrated the quality of the discussions held in the smaller groups.
A number of teachers reported on the breadth and depth of the small-group discussions in break-out groups, which were very beneficial to those involved beyond what the (necessarily) condensed presentations could show. Others mentioned that they appreciated how passionate their group was about the topic, and that they had formed a productive “team” through a shared goal. Many agreed that watching other teams’ performances helped them visualise the problem presented, and empathise more with the experience of the student.
In addition to the ideas mentioned above, I think the success of the activity could also be attributed to the fact that we seldom have the opportunity to work through a full problem-solving cycle. We have much more practice with the “one-sided conversations”: either we go dive into “moan and groan” sessions where we offer longs lists of complaints (which are generally just problems that need solving), or we are given a problem to brainstorm solutions, which we present. I found a powerful change in allowing teachers to come together with a common interest, and letting them determine the problem(s) to focus on and the solution(s) to present. What is missing still is the opportunities to test those solutions, reflect on them, and fine-tune them regularly over an extended period of time.
As Steven Johnson suggests in the TED talk “Where good ideas come from“, we develop our most innovative projects when we come together to share our challenges, questions and thoughts. I believe yesterday’s activity was a step in this direction, and I hope to continue exploring innovation at our school.