Having fun, wish all educators were here…

I am currently attending the ELH 08 ‘Expanding Learning Horizons’ conference in Lorne and find myself wondering about the benefits of such gatherings. (I am having fun so from that point of view it’s great!) However, I suspect that a group of like-minded people already dedicated to bringing about change in education is not necessarily the best audience for the messages here. We do not need to hear the message again and again…we need to act on it!

Several issues and questions seem to persist:

How do we change the way people do things in education?

How do we change school culture?

How do we ‘transform’ the resistors?

How can we move forward without moving backwards too?

These are not small issues. These are issues that require vision, perspective and planning.

I would love to hear from people who have changed school culture and transformed teaching and learning in a school anywhere…

How long did it take?

Was a ‘softly, softly’ or ‘bulldozer’ approach used?

Were many or any people lost along the way?

If you picked one decision or moment that seemed to be a ‘turning point’ what was it?

What main piece of advice would you give others committed to change?