Goal+1+Philosophy+Barbra

Goal One - Philosophy
My Motto: //Making Digital Literacy an Educational Reality//

My Mission Statement: Ensure digital literacy for every student by supporting students and educators to seamlessly incorporate meaningful technology into educational experiences.  [|Pedagogical DNA]   //A talk by Greg Whitby, Executive Director of Schools, on changing pedagogical DNA to accommodate for the needs of 21st century citizens.//

Digital literacy is a critical component in the success of future global citizens. Overlay the education of digital literacy with the already proven needs of other literacies and you have an educational plan to produce young people equipped for success in a global economy.

Megan Poore’s 2011 report is a convincing collection of research to support the idea that digital literacy is no longer a choice. > At a time when some fear that the digital age is taking the whole human person out of the teaching and learning nexus, I argue that we have a responsibility to raise our own and our students’ digital literacy as it is this that will help us follow what Paulo Freire famously called our ‘ontological vocation’ to become more fully human in the digital age.

Poore’s report is one of countless recent reports, articles, blogs, YouTube videos, and TED talks which appeal to leaders in education to take this need seriously. Just a few days ago, an article including an interview with Mark Surman, Executive Director of the Mozilla Foundation, reported that digital literacy is as important as reading and writing. “Surman… argues that skills such as these are as important as learning to read and write. Becoming literate in how the technical world works is equivalent to reading, writing and math. We need to look at this fourth literacy as mainstream.”

Digital literacy is not going away. Therefore, it needs to be embedded in all of our students’ education. I won’t wait around for leadership to buy in. My motto and my mission drive my actions to support students and colleagues at my school. Digital literacy //will//happen on my watch. Period.


 * How do I adapt to change in my environment?**

The saying “change is constant” was has been the reality of my life going back to my formative years. We lived in countless houses and moved from community to community while I was growing up. Additionally, it was common for my family to spend summers on adventures that took us to exotic locations in Africa and Europe. This foundation fostered in me an appreciation of change contributed to my adaptability to adapt. However, there is a caveat: I always assess change to see if it makes sense and if it aligns with my values and goals. I’m not the type of person who will merely go along for the ride, passively letting change happen.

When thinking about most changes in my professional life, it seems that they appear seemingly out of nowhere, showing up with neither my request or input. Nonetheless, I regularly try to see the benefits of the change.

I see the PLC initiative (professional learning communities) as a potentially successful strategy in dealing with change. The idea behind PLCs is to foster change with solid leadership at the helm helping to build a strong collaborative environment. When I think of change, I think of building capacity. What an energizing concept! Forward thinking leaders and the researchers who are advising them, such as Ken Kay and Valerie Greenhill (The Leader’s Guide to 21st Century Education), are proponents of using PLCs to build capacity throughout organizations. The ideal of building capacity can be used for a whole collaborative community or adapted for a classroom of students striving to become digitally literate citizens.

Janel Keating has been widely cited for her work in establishing PLCs in Washington State’s White River School District. Initially, Keating was a school principal who led a transformation of her school from the old, top-down factory model of leadership and decision-making to one in which all stake holders had a voice and a role in leadership through highly collaborative PLCs. She went on to become a superintendent who successfully changed the culture of an entire district. While there is no evidence that Keating embedded technology into her vision, she wrote a strong case for using the PLC model to encourage highly collaborative communities to adopt change and adapt to it. Keating advocates beginning with the question, “What is essential that we expect students to learn in each subject, grade level, or course?” This is an ideal question to begin with when we initiate a vision of what we would like our graduates to know and to be ready for.

I rely heavily on my PLN (professional learning network) to help me adapt to change. These critical thinkers help me formulate questions and identify concerns and help me find answers or connect me to others to help solve problems that may prevent me from adapting to change. They also help me solidify my thoughts if the change seems unsupportable. Being an avid blogger, I also rely on thoughts presented by other bloggers as a means of connecting to those outside of my regular PLN. I appreciate the ability to dialogue with people all over the world via blogs.


 * How do I support my students in adapting to change?**

I look at my job through two lenses: one is through the eyes of my students, who I am responsible for teaching. The second is through the eyes of my colleagues, who are adults that I am responsible for coaching and mentoring, as well.

“We must collectively agree educating the next generation is worth the time and effort and that our students deserve to be uplifted and inspired.” Dave Burgess made this point early in his book, Teach Like a PIRATE. My view of change is that students are worth not just change, but quality change. So, the question prior to any implementation of change is simply, “Is this good for all of our students?” I encourage my students to ask the same question. “Is this change good for us?” Young, critically thinking students – on the way to becoming digitally literate – need to be able to advocate for themselves. They need to also be able to validate change and its impact on them.

Students need to be able to play with technology in order to learn about what technologies are available and what helps them learn or succeed at the task at hand. As teachers, we need to build in time to let students play. The authors of New Culture of Learningstate this well, “Only when we care about experimentation, play, and questions more than efficiency, outcomes, and answers do we have a space that is truly open to the imagination. And where imaginations play, learning happens.”

Whenever I am work with students, I constantly observe them and interact with them in order to learn about them and build relationships with them. This allows me to differentiate their instruction and the type of technology required to meet their specific needs.

These same strategies of questioning change, allowing play, and observing interactions apply to my colleagues as I coach them. Another element that also applies is a sales pitch. Once I have seen the benefits of specific technologies, it is important that I show teachers how it can be applied to specific scenarios. I coach teachers and other adults of all technological skill level. If the end result is to be integrating technology into their classrooms, it’s important to always think of my audience and their needs when I present a new technology.

By employing all these strategies to support my students and peers in meaningfully engaging and adopting technology, I hope to carry out my mission: Ensure digital literacy for every student by supporting students and educators to seamlessly incorporate meaningful technology into educational experiences. 

Works Cited:

Burgess, D. (2012). Teach like a pirate. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc. Retrieved from [|http://daveburgess.com]

Gurney-Read, J. (2011, November 11). Digital literacy ‘as important as reading and writing’. Retrieved from []

Hord, S. (2013). Multiple mirrors: Reflections on the creation of professional learning communities. SEDL Advancing Research Improving Education, Retrieved from []

Kay, K., & Greenhill, V. (2013). The leader’s guide to 21st century education. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Keating, J., & Eaker, R. (2009). Deeply embedded, fully committed. National Staff Development Council, 30(5), Retrieved from []

Poore, M. (2011). Digital literacy: human flourishing and collective intelligence in a knowledge society. Literacy Learning, 19(2), Retrieved from []

Thomas, D., & Seely Brown, J. (2011). A new culture of learning cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. CreateSpace.

Whitby, G. (Producer) (2007). 21st century pedagogy [Web]. Retrieved from []