Reflection on 'Learning at Work' and Staff enagement

Hello Kerron,

am cutting and pasting from my Professional Journal.

Would be great to have a phone conversation soon - my mobile is 0428248143

As evidenced by the challenges of getting on board and connected to the Bastow program I have reread my notes from a Harvard on line program (2013) that looked at ‘Integrating Learning and Work’.

In 2013 (at Preshil at this time) the Leadership Team discussed and identified a range of hinderances or obstacles to leaders being learners.

·      Lack of process – privileging the informal

·      Cultural habits

·      Operational requirements

·      Poor systems that lose rather than save time

·      Relationships that are not values or process based

·      Perceptions in regard to time (notions of free time, preparation time as opposed to integrating learning at work)

At Lavers Hill now in 2015 it timely to be facing the challenge of Learning at Work :  timely also as we have identified a framework for our Leadership Meetings to include a balance of:

1.     operational

2.     strategic and

3.     learning focused sections

On reflection we are still privileging 1 over 2 and 3, while the Strategic has been dominant recently as we progressed through Priority Review, VRQA, Design Team, Implementation Plan, AIP and then a Strategic Planning Process.

If it were not for a brilliant NPDL workshop of ‘agile strategy’ our Leadership team may have gone under when it was apparent there would be no extension to develop the College’s strategic plan.

That was the conclusion of Term 1 and week 1 Term 2 we are informed on an Audit to be held (first in the state on April 20).

In context I recognise these are ‘obstacles’, privileging of strategy and operational over ‘learning’ – and the challenge is to open up space to progress our PL.

Engaging staff in the ARP

A next element in thinking about the Project

We want more staff to engage and have a voice. This can be an effective process for genuinely trying to understand staff points of view.

We are interested in using a language of enquiry and reflecting on how we ask staff, students and parents to identify areas of digital learning they are enjoying, curious about and those areas they would like to learn more about.

We are interested in inviting feedback in a range of forms –and sharing the  feedback – large noticeboard accessible to students, parents  and staff.

This process  also aligns with staff developing the PDPs –including at IT goal.

this consultation can also inform how we develop the homework- intergenerational evenings - one of our options for the ARP.