Learning Forward Colorado Deepening Understanding in Schools Summit

What follows is a quick summary of the Deepening Understanding Schools Summit held on October 9, 2012. Please consider what might be helpful to you as you work to design, implement, and support quality professional learning.

Event Outcomes:

You will . . .

Be Influential in networking and in conversation among Professional Learning Leaders about the value and importance of discourse which makes a difference in educator effectiveness.

Be empowered to engage in discourse resulting in new ideas, thoughts, questions, and learning through collaborative inquiry.

Experience the Learning Forward Professional Learning Standard of Leadership which states: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students requires skillful leaders who develop capacity, advocate, and create support systems for professional learning.

First Strategy: We asked participants to engage in conversation around two topics. What follows is a compilation of their responses.

What is discourse?

• Umbrella over dialogue and discussion
• Deepens sense-making that allows us to go in new ways
• Skills are involved in productive discourse
• Means of empowerment to action
• Purposeful examination of ideas, attitudes, and beliefs
• It is an exchange for the purpose of understanding
• Antithesis of reactional behavior

What does discourse look like in your work?

• Openness of the relationship and clarity of the purpose of the conversation
• Empathy and truly listening
• Comfort level of ambiguity
• Slowness and patience
• Inquiry about a problem of practice
• Seeking understanding (what are others thinking?)
• Reflection/discourse dependent on time

Second Strategy: Microlab Protocol: Understanding and Applying Discourse

• Participants were asked to think, write, share, and inquire using the following sentence stems:
  • Meaningful discourse in today’s schools (workplace) happens when . .
  • I can create and influence meaningful discourse by . . .

Third Strategy: An activity entitled FOUR DYNAMICAL TENSIONS from Got Data? Now What? Lipton & Wellman, 2012, Solution Tree Press.

• Task . . . Relationship
• Certainty . . . Ambiguity
• Detail . . . Big Picture
• Autonomy . . . Collaboration
  • Participants were asked to analyze their behavior in stressful situations while facilitating a group they lead.
  • Groups shared their experience and synthesized their responses.

CLOSING ACTIVITY

The following chart encapsulates participants’ thinking and response to the summit strategies.