A pothole in my learning road

Having family come to stay for the last two weeks has really put a dent in my study time. Going to work every day, coming home to cook dinner and then entertaining our visitors has meant that trying to find a chunk of time to sit down and read articles and undertake research has been really difficult. It was lovely to see them and have them stay, but it was also a great relief to wave goodbye yesterday. Now I can knuckle down and get Assignment 2 finished. Really didn't need this distraction - I'm already an expert at procrastination and now I feel that I've "lost" two weeks of valuable learning time. Hmmm.

Topic 5 and the beginnings of an ILSC

This week I have started the ball rolling into beginning to create an ILSC in my workplace. My principal and the senior management team have given their support to the adoption of the NSW ISP and for most teachers (including me), this will be the first time a model has been used seriously to guide the research tasks undertaken by our pupils.

There was a look of bewilderment on many teachers' faces when I gave them each a copy of the ISP. I explained that this year we will working together to embed IL skills into our curriculum and I will be supporting them as we plan units of study together. In the short term, I think that I will need to tread gently as I look for these opportunities and to show teachers that my job is to assist them in providing the best possible learning outcomes for our pupils and not to make their job any harder.

From the Topic 5 readings, I especially like Senge's (2007) comments about building learning organizations "where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together." I think I will be referring to this statement regularly to keep me focused and to inspire me as I work with my school community to create an ILSC.