Posts

Power of the Network

/in /by

by Gail Lydon, newly appointed PDNorth Regional Lead for Yorkshire & Humberside

 

My goodness – nothing stays the same for very long, but it all looks so familiar!  That’s what it feels like working in post 16 learning.  Constant change, but we feel we have seen it in another guise before.  There is something comforting about the familiar though and when I was asked to lead on the Professional Exchange Networks (PENs) in Yorkshire and Humber I heard myself saying yes.  Why did I do that!??   Well one reason is my previous experience of networks and how much I have learned from them.

 

I have been teaching since 1996 and some of the most important learning opportunities I have had have been through networking of some kind or another.   Working with my colleagues on projects; safely discussing what was happening in my classroom and carrying out peer observations to develop my practice.  Although much is familiar (funding and learner motivation to name but two), I think we could argue that the restraints we work under are tighter than ever.  But we love teaching and care for our learners so what to do?

 

My husband is a massive music fan and Jimi Hendrix is a favourite.  One quote of his (Jimi’s not my husbands) is “in order to change the world, you have to get your head together first” (if I haven’t got the quote quite right I hope both of them will forgive me).  I get my head together by talking to my colleagues and friends.  Refreshing and challenging my thinking and it is fun.   It doesn’t mean I always get it right but having the opportunity to discuss issues with colleagues is always a powerful learning experience.  But so many of us don’t get the opportunity to network.  Many of us are now working remotely and can feel isolated.  This can also be true even when working inhouse because there just aren’t the structures to support face to face time with colleagues.  Staff rooms have often disappeared and lunch times staggered.  Networks allow us to interface with colleagues in other organisations too.

 

I guess you will want to know what the PENs are all about before you sign up?  These Networks are about enabling teachers and middle managers to not only share their knowledge and skills but to develop those skills further.  PENs are there to support you to investigate some aspect of your practice and perhaps try something new; add something to your toolbox of skills.  There is plenty of online support between sessions: Twitter chats, screencasts (just ask) and other CPD opportunities.  The four meetings are facilitated by a lead from PDNorth but the focus is driven by the members of the Network.  Your membership, your participation is what will drive the Network. What would you like to share?  What would you like to investigate further?

 

I do hope you will get involved with the PENs, come with us and share your expertise, the sector needs you.

Summer Reading

/in /by

by Lou Mycroft (PDNorth Digital Lead & Dancing Princess)

I’m only a year out of teaching in a college and I think it will take a lot longer than that to forget the brief elation then abject exhaustion I used to feel at the end of the academic year. I worked in a specialist college which basically offered community learning, so we ran the year round but there’s still that point at which you can take a breath and head off to the beach, the garden, the airport…wherever.

And before the new academic year starts to loom large, there’s usually a little bit of time for reading. I love a good thriller as much as the next Scandi obsessed person, but I usually have a few ‘work books’ on the go, too, year round. I’m studying in a very roundabout way for an education doctorate and there’s an expectation of this but I’ve come to really love it. I celebrate my ADHD ‘label’ for the energy and creativity it brings to my life, but despite my occasional drift into hyperfocus, I do find it hard to knuckle down to ‘difficult’ reading. The rewards, in terms of my self-belief and professional self-confidence, are immense. I’ve come a long way from the person who used to say to a close colleague, ‘Read this for me and tell me what it says…’!

Here are some guidelines I’ve come to adopt, which might interest you. At the end of the blog is a snapshot of what I’m reading this summer.

 

Diversify. A few years ago I realised I was only reading books by middle-class white people; most of them men. Of course, there’s a whole argument that ‘the canon’ was established at a time when only white men got published (have a look at Kay Sidebottom’s occasional blog Seeking Lost Women to find out how central Helen Parkhurst was to the work we think of as John Dewey’s). Things are different now, and there are some excitingly diverse writers out there. If you’ve a passion for teaching and you’ve not yet found bell hooks, you’ll love her!

 

Read two or three books at once, a chapter a day in rotation. Yes it takes ages to finish them all, but what happens is that you draw unexpected connections between them. I got this idea from Peter Shukie, one of the most creative and erudite educators I know. It also means I take time to reflect and process what I’m reading.

 

Mix up your media. ‘Reading’ doesn’t just mean books or journals. Watch a Ted Talk on YouTube or rest your eyes completely with a podcast. I love the Philosophy Bites series. You can even play them in the car on long journeys if the kids are asleep and you fancy a change from Peppa Pig.

 

Make notes. Whilst I’ll read a thriller on Kindle, or listen via the Audible app, I love a proper book when it comes to stuff I don’t find so easy to absorb. I use a nice set of coloured pens (really helps me focus) and I’ve learned to be quite sparing with what I highlight. I write notes in the margins too, and I always date when I got the book – and where. It’s lovely to pick it up again and remember being on a beach in Norfolk, or wherever.

 

Read with others. This doesn’t have to be a formal book club (though it could be). You could start a Twitter thread, or set up a googledoc or Padlet where a few of you could make notes and get into a dialogue. I always see deeper meaning diffracted through others’ perspectives.

Above all, enjoy it. It took me years to get into a reading mindset (apart from those Scandi thrillers) and it’s brought a new dimension to my life and work. I definitely tune more into the world around me and I have loads more new ideas. It makes me feel good about myself, to challenge and refine my thinking. It’s food for the soul.

 

Have a lovely rest, and I’ll look forward to hearing what you’re reading – please do tag me in on Twitter @PDNorth1720 I’m always up for hearing about great new thrillers too!

 

What’s in the pile for me this summer: