ANSN enews vol 3 no 12
ansn_members at ansn.edu.au
ansn_members at ansn.edu.au
Wed Dec 17 11:09:57 EST 2008
enews header
*17th December, E-News Vol 3, No 12*
*Edited by Keith Redman
*
Topics covered in this edition include:
* Have you booked PD presenters for your curriculum days in 2009?
* Dimensions of Learning Hub: Opportunities in 2009
* Professional development through an Action Learning model
* Flexible Schools -- Margaret Vickers on ABC Radio National's
Life Matters
* Teaching Our Digital Kids (Digi Kids) -- completing the 2008
Hub activities
* Teaching Our Digital Kids -- Hub membership and opportunities
in 2009
* Habits of Mind Next Steps Conference
* Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) Hubs in Victoria -- Registrations
for 2009 still available but closing soon
* Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) Hub in WA
* Thanks and our best wishes to Andrew Bills
* Curriculum Planning Hubs and a Snapshot of Practice
* Big Picture Education Summer Institutes
* Another Life Matters item -- Educational Success and Money
* Some interesting reading
* Reminders of ANSN activities, covered in previous editions of
E-News
Have you booked PD presenters for your curriculum days in 2009?
Last week you received an email flier from Viv White, ANSN National
Coach, reminding you that ANSN Networkers are available to run
quality workshops throughout 2009.
It is not too late to organise sessions if you contact us now. In
particular, act immediately if you need a quality workshop for the
curriculum days at the start of next year, as we have experienced
presenters available for topics including:
* Interactive Whiteboard training (basic and advanced);
* Teaching Our Digital Kids workshops;
* Bee Bots workshops (suitable for Prep to Year 2)
* Curriculum Planning;
* Cognitive Coaching;
* Dimensions of Learning;
* Setting the Stage (Habits of Mind); and
* Communicate, Collaborate and Create.
To find out more about these ANSN programs and to check pricing and
availability, please contact Viv White as soon as possible, on her
mobile at 0409 120 749 or by email at viv.white at ansn.edu.au
<mailto:viv.white at ansn.edu.au> .
Throughout this E-News, you will also find details of some of the
current and planned activities associated with these programs. An
item follows on Dimensions of Learning opportunities in 2009.
Dimensions of Learning Hub: Opportunities in 2009
dol diagramIn 2009, ANSN and Central Queensland University will be
offering educators an opportunity to share and extend on the
learning of the highly acclaimed Dimensions of Learning (DoL)
program, based on practical experience and research by the
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
organisation. The diagram to the left illustrates the
interrelationship between the five dimensions, which the McRel
research suggests are essential to successful learning. The DoL Hub
is co-ordinated by Hanan Harrison, ANSN Networker (below, right).
? ?
hananHanan has developed and implemented Research Circles, courses
and Hubs across Australia since 2002, to support educators in
exploring and reflecting upon their professional practice. She also
lectures part-time to pre-service teachers at CQU Noosa.
As members of the DoL Hub, through five professional development
days over the year, participants will work together to develop their
thinking and practice relating to how students learn, and explore
how to apply McRel research and theory in their classrooms. The
photos below show participants in recent Hub activities, in Darwin.
? ?
dol 1dol 2
To find out more about DoL, view CQU's website at
http://www.cqu.edu. <http://www.cqu.edu.au/dol/>au/dol/
<http://www.cqu.edu.au/dol/>
To download further details of what the ANSN DoL Hub can offer you
in 2009, or to register for individual or team membership in 2009,
click here <http://www.ansn.edu.au/dol>
Professional development through an Action Learning model
What is Action Learning? Participants, as part of their professional
development, work together, through dialogue, reflection and
sharing, to solve real problems that are related to their own
context, issues and needs.
Why Action Learning? The action learning approach is based upon the
premise that no learning occurs unless action and reflection are
undertaken.
Action Learning underpins ANSN work in Dimensions of Learning (as
well as a range of other programs that are based on membership of
Hubs). This program goes beyond providing participants with new
information; it requires participants to explore and implement new
ideas, possible solutions and/or strategies that promote improved
student learning outcomes and team approaches to curriculum planning.
ANSN offers a number of ways for schools or individuals to engage in
this style of professional learning. These include:
* participation in our Action Learning hubs, where schools
locally and nationally work collaboratively, over a period of
time, to explore an identified issue or need -- either within
a school-wide context or specific to teachers' own
professional practice;
* working in a critical friend model, where the ANSN works with
a single school or a smaller cluster on identified common
issues, with an intended outcome of building whole school
awareness, reflecting on current practice, and developing
working models for whole school implementation; and
* participation in one of our information sessions, which aim to
give participants an introduction to the program.
These options will be available in 2009 for Dimensions of Learning
and also for a new program, Setting the Stage, which will be
introduced more fully in E-News at the start of the new year. To
learn more about Action Learning and how it can benefit you as a
practitioner, through participation in an ANSN Hub or project,
contact Hanan Harrison hanan.harrison at ansn.edu.au
<mailto:hanan.harrison at ansn.edu.au> or Tina Doe tina.doe at ansn.edu.au
<mailto:tina.doe at ansn.edu.au>
Flexible Schools -- Margaret Vickers on ABC Radio National's
Life Matters
Margaret Vickers (see below), ANSN Board Director, is Professor of
Education at the University of Western Sydney.
Marg VickersOn 17 November 2008, Margaret spoke on the ABC's Life
Matters, about Flexible Schools. The introductory note on the Life
Matters website reads as follows:
"A half of all high school students have part-time jobs and juggle
work and study. This explains the need for schools to think very
differently about their timetables. The issue is the subject of a
parliamentary inquiry, inspired in part by the work of Professor
Margaret Vickers and the Australian National Schools Network."
To listen to the program or to download it as an audio podcast, go
to www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/stories/2008/2419970.htm
<http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/stories/2008/2419970.htm>
Teaching Our Digital Kids (Digi Kids) -- completing the 2008
Hub activities
Hanan Harrison reports that two Digi Kids Hubs recently completed
their fifth professional development day for 2008. In this session,
the participants celebrated and shared their learning, their
presentations reflecting the diversity and the needs of the group.
One teacher (below left), in the Adelaide Hub, reflected on how her
room had changed in terms of physical environment (where she set up
her computers, for example, and the activities around it) and also
how she was now engaging students in tasks that used computers as an
integrating tool rather than a stand-alone activity.
In the other photos below (centre and right), two Brisbane teachers
share with their colleagues some images and materials they developed
during the year.
digikids 1digi kids 2digikids 3
Other teachers focused on more specific needs, such as how to use
technology to motivate and engage ESL students in literacy tasks.
In one example, a teacher engaged her young prep students through
the use of Photostory, to document a series of cooking lessons that
were used to develop oral language with her students. Related
skill-building included recall, labeling of equipment and materials,
and describing actions.
In 2009, we intend publishing some of the teacher reports from 2008,
to share these teachers' learnings with a wider community. These
reports will be similar to the KidSmart snapshots that were
published in late 2007. To view one of the KidSmart Snapshots click
here <http://www.ansn.edu.au/kidsmart_snapshot_3_evanston>. To read
or download other Snapshots, click here
<http://www.ansn.edu.au/kidsmart>
Teaching Our Digital Kids -- Hub membership and opportunities
in 2009
The Teaching Our Digital Kids (Digi Kids) Hub will continue and
extend its work in 2009. The work of the Hub is about helping
teachers develop strategies to incorporate technology within a
play-based curriculum. This is achieved through participation in a
12-month professional development program. Anticipated benefits
include: improved student motivation and focus; opportunities to
reflect on national and state initiatives for embedding technology
into the curriculum (and the implications for members in their
classrooms); and opportunities to work with teachers both locally
and nationally on issues of common interest. For further details, or
to register for Hub membership in 2009, click here
<http://www.ansn.edu.au/hubs/teaching_our_digial_kids_hub>.
For further background about what has been achieved by the Digi Kids
Hubs during 2008, or to explore the possibilities for 2009, contact
Hanan Harrison on hanan.harrison at ansn.edu.au
<mailto:hanan.harrison at ansn.edu.au> or on 0407-464-672.
Habits of Mind Next Steps Conference
The ANSN was proud to support and host Art Costa's 2009 Next Steps
Conference, where Art (see below) motivated and inspired
participants to develop successful dispositions for learning through
the Habits of Mind. Art's tour included two conference dates, one in
Sydney and one in Brisbane.
art 1art 2
There was also a workshop day in Darwin, where Art facilitated
professional conversations, as a critical friend, for various
facilities within the Northern Territory Education Department. The
focus was on extending and refining key ideas for future curriculum
focus.
Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) Hubs in Victoria -- Registrations
for 2009 still available but closing soon
ANSN, in partnership with Lambourne Consulting, is inviting schools
with Promethean Interactive Whiteboards to join the 2009 project.
Andrea Federico has written to schools in Victoria, informing them
that our project includes the important balance between technical
training requirements and pedagogical discussion -- reinforcing the
point that Interactive Whiteboards in themselves are not
interactive; that it is what we do with them which makes them
interactive. There is still time to register, if you are very quick.
Hub dates for 2009 are as follows
*Group 1: meeting at St Albans South Primary School*
* Thursday 26 February 2009
* Thursday 19 March 2009
* Thursday 21 May 2009
* Thursday 27 August 2009
* Thursday 12 November 2009
*Group 2: meeting at St Albans South Primary School*
* Thursday 5 March 2009
* Thursday 26 March 2009
* Thursday 28 May 2009
* Thursday 3 September 2009
* Thursday 19 November 2009
*Group 3: venue to be finalised*
* Thursday 12 March 2009
* Thursday 2 April 2009
* Thursday 4 June 2009
* Thursday 10 September 2009
* Thursday 26 November 2009
Email your interest to Andrea Federico at
andrea.federico at ansn.edu.au <mailto:andrea.federico at ansn.edu.au> and
she will contact you directly to discuss the individual needs of
your school. Andrea can also be contacted by mobile at 0414-472-189.
Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) Hub in WA
Helen Davey reports that in mid-November the Western Australian IWB
Hub held its final session for 2008. Helen was pleased to see
members emerge with increased confidence, contacts and ideas. She
was especially grateful to the three main presenters, Karen Murcia
(from Edith Cowan University), Rosie McAlpine (Concept Audio
Visual), and Kate Seabrook (ANSN National IWB Hub Co-ordinator).
Thanks and our best wishes to Andrew Bills
Andrew Bills, ANSN Networker for South Australia, has resigned due
to ill health. ANSN wishes to express its gratitude to Andrew for
his work and dedication, particularly in his co-ordination of the
Connecting Lives and Learning project, and wishes him a swift recovery.
Curriculum Planning Hubs and a Snapshot of Practice
Gavin Grift's work with Curriculum Planning Hubs, and the Research
Circle that he established in 2008, will be continuing and expanding
in 2009. At a November professional development session in Frankston
(see below), Keith Redman (Editor of E-News) took notes and will be
working with Gavin on the development of a paper about the ideas and
practice associated with this work.
gavin 1gavin 2Gavin 3
In the meantime, to explore how the Curriculum Planning Hubs work,
you can read or download the Snapshot of Practice that Gavin and
Keith have produced as an introduction. The Snapshot describes what
was done in the first Hub; outlines some of the participant
responses at various stages; and discusses some of the implications
and conclusions that emerged after a year of hard work by the
participating schools and teachers. Click here for the Snapshot
<http://www.ansn.edu.au/ansn_snapshot_the_ansn_curriculum_planning_hub_an_introduction_from_gavin_grift>.
For further details of the Curriculum Design Hubs and Research
Circle or to enquire about future participation, check the website
at www.ansn.edu.au <http://www.ansn.edu.au>or contact Gavin Grift --
by mobile on 0409-110-050 or by email at gavin.grift at ansn.edu.au
<mailto:gavin.grift at ansn.edu.au>.
Big Picture Education Summer Institutes
As ANSN members and E-News readers, you will have received an email
in October, notifying you that ANSN and Big Picture Education
Australia, in conjunction with partnering universities, are
conducting a number of Summer Institute at the start of 2009. The
Institutes are called Re-designing School Relationships, Relevance
and Rigour.
Big Picture, a not-for-profit organisation, works to catalyse change
in education by generating and sustaining innovative, personalised
schools. Originally founded in the US, and now involved in
Australian initiatives to create and support Big Picture schools in
Australia, the organisation develops public schools based on
research in new designs for education, trains educators to serve as
leaders in their schools and communities, and actively engages the
public as participants and decision makers in the education of our
youth.
The Summer Institute locations and dates are:
* Murdoch University, Rockingham, WA -- 12 and 13 January
(Advanced) and 14 to 16 January + 2 further days in term 1
(Foundation)
* University of Tasmania, Hobart UNITAS Campus, 1 to 4 February
For more details of the Summer Institutes, and to register for
attendance, at any of the venues, click here
<http://www.ansn.edu.au/big_picture_summer_institutes_coming_up_in_wa_sa_and_tasmania>
Another Life Matters item -- Educational Success and Money
Earlier in E-News we referred you to an item on Life Matters. You
might also like to check out another item, on "Educational Success
and Money", which the ABC broadcast on 27 November 2008. The
interviewee in this case is Rob Simons, Head of Research and
Evaluation for the Smith Family, who outlines the findings from
recent Smith Family research into the impact of financial
disadvantage on children starting school. The ABC introductory note
reports that "lack of money does not itself set children up badly
for starting school. But there are other factors, often associated
with financial disadvantage, which definitely do hamper children's
school readiness and subsequent success ... (and) ... there are
plenty of changes that can be made in children's lives, but
increased income is not essential." The program is available for
listening or podcast at
www.abc.net.au/m/lifematters/stories/2008/2429290
<http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/stories/2008/2429290.htm>
Some interesting reading
The items listed here, which might make for interesting reading over
the Summer break, were identified in recent editions of Australian
Policy Online (APO), which is edited by the Institute for Social
Research, Swinburne University of Technology.
Beyond the classroom: Building new school networks - Introduction
Written by Rosalyn Black, Senior Research Manager at the Foundation
for Young Australians, this new book is published by the Australian
Council for Education Research (ACER). Based on the findings of a
year-long research project, it offers a strategy to help navigate
through the uncertainty and controversy surrounding the current
education agenda. The message emerging from the research is that
piecemeal reforms to schooling will not provide solutions to the
widening gaps in education that limit opportunities for many young
Australians. APO provides a more detailed synopsis, and a link to
the full text, at
www.apo.org.au/linkboard/results.chtml?filename_num=239856
<http://www.apo.org.au/linkboard/results.chtml?filename_num=239856>
Making the grade: school report cards and league tables
Jennifer Buckingham, a research fellow at the Centre for Independent
Studies,
examines the school report cards scheme being considered by the
Australian government and recommends a balanced approach to
performance incentives for Australian schools. APO provides a more
detailed synopsis, and a link to the full text, at
www.apo.org.au/linkboard/results.chtml?filename_num=239850
<http://www.apo.org.au/linkboard/results.chtml?filename_num=239850>
Reminders of ANSN activities, covered in previous editions of
E-News
Cognitive Coaching -- Research Circle forms
As reported in previous editions of E-News, Gavin Grift has been
busy founding the first Cognitive Coaching Research Circle, which
will be presented by ANSN and The Center for Cognitive Coaching. The
research circle has been designed to assist schools to build
reflective communities, using action learning and cognitive coaching
to support changes in teacher pedagogy. To read or download a flier,
click here.
<http://www.ansn.edu.au/cognitive_coaching_research_circle> For
further details email, gavin.grift at ansn.edu.au
<mailto:gavin.grift at ansn.edu.au>
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