Tag Archives: community

Qualities of a Learning Community

Posted on April 19, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

What did the World Cafe events reveal? The concept of community, in some form, was the most repeated quality of what engaged people in their learning. There were many descriptors for a community of learning. One that stood out was the community of learning being safe. Safe learners feel comfortable stepping out of their comfort zone and stretching to learn. This could be called the “Goldilocks Paradigm.” Learning is not too hard causing arresting stress; not too easy allowing boredom to prevail; just right, adding to the edges of knowledge the student possesses.

One discussion led to an interesting revelation about the use of technology and what it contributes to a safe learning experience. As a strategy, it might be better suited for older students, but has potential across a range of ages and abilities from upper elementary and beyond. Video and audio files allow for use of pause and rewind, reinforcement of key concepts, time for mindful reflection and response, and opportunities for anonymous questions. The group was clear this should not replace the face-to-face interactions vital to learning, but could provide opportunities for interactions to develop in addition to the teacher-student relationship, such as valuable peer-to-peer connections. In an increasingly digital world, students and teachers can support each others learning outside the existing temporal and spatial restrictions associated with school as a building to attend on school days. School becomes more than a space and the online capacity expands the potential rather than diminishing it. Physical attendance coupled with other points of contact i.e. blogs, online forums, and video formats provide exciting potential for what a safe learning community can mean.

The conversation about community, learning, and the role of multiple points of contact in the learning community resonated with my own learning experiences. I use a variety of digital formats in my learning at Gonzaga i.e. electronic blackboard, wikis, and blogs. They reveal the reality that learning is not place- or time-focused. It is ongoing with multiple points of contact essential to the shifting landscape of what school is and can become. The Khan Academy is a useful Math resource for some students and Selman Khan, its designer, has employed self-directed learning features by Selman Khan in the design of this site. He makes use of the advantages discussed in our group-connections, time for reflection, and anonymity, and makes learning safe..

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Posted in Community, Leadership, Progressive Education, World Cafe Events and tagged community, education, Khan Academy, learning community, mindfulness, teacher as transformer, world cafe. Bookmark the permalink.

Paradox of Community

Posted on April 17, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

Several themes emerged in the World Cafe conversations about learning and an important one was community. The group used various connotations for community and qualities to describe community, but this theme resonated throughout the mindful and reflective conversations.

The concept of team often served as a corollary for community. Teams strive towards common goals in sports, business, or education. A component of successful teams is ‘shared vision.’ Rather than leadership being vested in a person or a small group of people in a hierarchical structure, successful teams have the anchor of a vision and share the values that support the vision. A critical first question in a learning environment would be “What vision and values energize learning?” The common goal and energy bring to life the acronym: Together Everyone Achieves More [TEAM]!

Humans share. It reveals who we are and what is important to us individually and allowing us to connect to the collective. We are affirmed as others listen. The World Cafe group suggested sharing was central to learning by revealing what is important and what is learned. The sharing may reveal gaps in learning or reveal more than one way to solve a problem and learn. Sharing in a safe environment, or community, focuses learning past the expert knowledge of one person, the teacher, and shifts it to the broader collective. Risks are more readily undertaken because there is support, and everyone can both teach and learn. We live in an increasingly complex world where the paradox of teacher and learner calls strongly for sharing.

The idea of connectivity arose several times. A complexity of today’s world is a burgeoning need to connect with others in both new and traditional ways. We face paradox as we seek community. Community is no longer defined solely by where we live, as in a digital world, connections are made across the globe and communities shaped in radical ways. This encourages different and emerging views of community: where we live, where we work, and, how we connect.

Community suggests paradox. The World Cafe group felt being face-to-face with others was essential at times, but suggested face-to-face might include digital platforms such as video conferencing or Skype. A benefit of on-line instruction is the ability to pause a video or audio file, reflect on material, take notes, and return to earlier points in the file. We cannot pause teachers in real-time to repeat exactly what was said, but we can in the digital world. Wise, prudent, and mindful use of technology serves learning if safely implemented. How do we use technology in traditional classrooms? What role can it or should it play in moving learning beyond the walls of the traditional and sometimes outmoded classroom?

Healthy, vibrant, and safe communities give time and space for solitude. A common criticism of school and classroom scheduling is the lack of reflection time for teachers and students. Busyness is the order of the day in schools and classrooms. Time is necessary for learners to process the reams of available information to connect it to subject matter and make it meaningful. We observed this in the four World Cafe sessions; there were times when the room was quiet, as people processed and reflected on the questions or comments. Community brings us together and, at the same time, paradoxically allows personal space and time.

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Posted in Progressive Education, World Cafe Events and tagged community, education, Educational Leadership, Progressive Education, teacher as transformer, transformative education, world cafe. Bookmark the permalink.

Politics as Usual

Posted on April 9, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

We are in the midst of a provincial election and I find myself in a quandary of who to vote for. This is an essential question and served as a catalyst for examining the issues. The concerns that emerged are the inability of politicians to stop using catch phrases, stop making illogical promises, and stop thinking all the electorate do not get it.

Danielle Smith, the leader of the Wildrose Alliance, claimed her party, if they formed the government, would act as servant-leaders. Her logic is that they would serve the interests of the people of Alberta. Robert Greenleaf proposed the ultimate test of servant-leadership is the growth of those most marginalized within an organization or society. What would Ms. Smith do for those who have the least, live on the street, are undereducated, and lack access to supports they require to grow as people? Several days later she promised, when a surplus budget was achieved, her government would pay each Albertan $400/year. What does that do for those who are most needy? I submit, if the roughly $1.2 billion that amounts to was used to upgrade, not close, schools in settings with the greatest need and further transformed them into community hubs to provide a broad range of social, health, and educational supports for people in those communities, there would be money left. For those living on the streets, allocate resources to responsible charities to help people in need. There would still be money left. When a similar enticement was sent out some years ago, I turned it over to a charity but not everyone is able or willing to do that. I believe governments, modeling true servant-leadership, have mechanisms to effectively develop and distribute resources. Moreover, I can only think of a handful of politicians who deserve the label of servant-leaders. Liberal Senator Romeo Dallaire and former Conservative MP Doug Roche, come to mind. Surely, Ms. Smith is not suggesting she and her party fit that mold?

Premier Alison Redford made promises, as well. She seems to have fallen out of favour with some media people and is taking a bit of a hit. My concerns are about building a number of schools and refurbishing others. Besides asking where the money will come from, what happened to the concept of transformative education? That term suggests the possibility of real conversations about public education happening at and with the grassroots in this province. Are politicians not aware of a growing trend towards alternative, private, and home school decisions made by families in this province? It seems to go unnoticed by politicians and bureaucrats alike. What does this trend mean to the future of public education? This question is long overdue; and we need to consider it and develop real, meaningful dialogue around it. If we consider the increasing usage of technology in our lives, do schools have to be buildings or is that, in some cases, an outmoded way of thinking? Surely, Ms. Redford and her party do not think they are promising anything transformative in public education? Keep in mind, there are other areas requiring transformation. What would transformation of education, health care, social services, and environmental stewardship look like in this province?

The most likely candidates for the Premier’s office make promises, use catch phrases, and will spend money and resources in ways that perpetuate the status quo. Both are nominally politically conservative, but what are they trying to conserve? I want to conserve things, too—the environment, public education, affordable, accessible health care, and a social support system working for all citizens of Alberta. This conservation assumes a different view of community, leadership, conversation, and resource development. No politician or media shill has the right to say they speak for all Albertans until they have spoken to all Albertans. When did that happen? Will it ever happen?

Community and its Role in Learning

Posted on March 26, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

Community has been a recurring theme throughout the World Café conversations and events, with many descriptors alluding to communal practices and relationships needed for learning to happen. Reciprocity, connection, supportive, affirmation, and other words expressing interactions suggest community. The summary posters of the March 17, 2012 World Café Event confirmed this recurring theme of community and the table posters, to be posted, also bear this out. The theme of community is important not just in learning, but in life itself. Without community, can life and learning be as meaningful?

Parker Palmer recently shared in a Facebook posting: “Community does not mean living face-to-face with others—it means never losing the awareness that we are connected with each other…” This link is to a short video of Dr. Palmer discussing the Myth of the Individual.

The servant-leadership conference I attended in Portland reinforced that, although community continually evolves, as a value it can remain intact. Here are some examples.

Professor Shann Ferch, from Gonzaga University, spoke about the “beloved community” that the late Martin Luther King so eloquently referred to. It is the necessity to see each other, including oppressors and those who have done harm to us, as human. Dr. Ferch also quoted Viktor Frankl: “We are made to turn outward, toward another human being to whom we can love and give ourselves. … Only when in service of another does a person truly know his or her humanity.”

We easily dismiss these references to community as the extreme and needed actions and words of those in different settings. After all, Dr. King led the Civil Rights movement in its halcyon days and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Dr. Frankl survived the atrocities of concentration camps during World War II. What do their experiences have to do with simply getting through the day?

Kirk Young, a colleague from Gonzaga, elaborated on what could be understood as community in the form of a value. The communities we choose to belong to share one common ingredient: intimacy. Ferdinand Tonnies, a German sociologist, used the word gemeinschaft and described this form of community as “a tighter and more cohesive social entity. [It is] exemplified in family and kinship” suggesting when humans gather in community, intimate experiences can be shared. Members share the good, the bad, and grow together towards common purposes, thus are mission driven. Values and mission serve as glue for community.

John Dear, a Jesuit priest, proposed in The Rebel Jesus, a second, mostly unnoticed miracle occurred during the Sermon on the Mount: the forming of community. Community allowed people to see the human nature of each other as Jesus instructed those closest to him to organize the large group (some believe well over 5,000 people) into small, more intimate groupings of about 50 people each. Father Dear suggested that in these small communities, people interacted differently and shared as they made connections with those now close to them. People were no longer strangers; whereas moments before they were simply part of a large and increasingly hungry throng. In contemporary parlance, they were statistics.

By witnessing the humanity in each other, we are better able to form community and share intimacy without fear. Our humanity is the one thing we can claim to share with others and in this, we find purpose to gather and form community around the universality of human values.