Old School Discernment in the Digital Age

I get asked a lot about decision making in my job.  As an assistant principal, I can go from hiring to student conduct to event set up to state reports in a matter of 10 minutes.  While I am in no ways a perfect decision-maker, I have learned a few things over the years and most recently in Ignatian Leadership Seminars.  This post is built off a webinar I recent gave via the ISTE Connects Professional Learning Series (ISTE members can find the free webinar here – sorry about the pay wall folks). 

Old school discernment holds up quite well in the digital age.  While we may be making decisions about 1:1 programs, 3D printing, virtual reality or interactive screens, the process of decision-making via discernment holds.  As a Jesuit educator, discernment for me comes out of St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises. The elements of Ignatian Discernment are:

• A choice between two or more “goods” - discernment requires smart options 
• The process is dynamic - discernment requires freedom of action and reflection
• Feelings matter – trust those feelings of excitement, fear, calm, anxiety

So what does this look like in a 21^st century example?  In 2009, the technology team at Brebeuf Jesuit began to discern what a 1:1 program at the school would look like.  Feel free to peruse old posts on this blog as to the details – but in a nutshell:

• No matter what was chosen (Bring Your Own Technology, single-platform, continuation of carts) the priority was the student learning experience.  The choices could all work – and indeed had in many schools.
• The discernment process ended up taking 2 years.  The time was filled with conversation, surveys, workshops and pilot programs.  At times, one option would outweigh another and the school created “what if we….” trials to see the real life experience of a choice.  Reflection allowed us to choose what was best for our students.
• Oh the feelings – anxiety, resistance, enthusiasm, excitement were all handled respectfully.  The whys behind the feelings were considered. Many a digital aged initiative has failed because administration did not respect or address the feelings of those affected by the change.

So big picture discernment is about the choice between good choices, accepting a dynamic experience and attention to feelings.  What does the process look like in the details of digital age decision making? 

For me, the process looks something like this:

Phase One – Setting the Context

• Identify the need to be addressed as concretely as possible
• Gather all necessary information – data, interviews, sample products  

At this point, the team has a stated decision based on a need for change, choices between goods and is ready to move into an experiential phase. The catch here is detachment.  Change-makers must remain open to options and remain flexible at this phase.  Attaching oneself to any single choice will derail the process.

Phase Two – Experience

• Evaluate advantages and disadvantages of choices – this may involve pilot programs, test groups, visiting another school. 
• Test reasoning with self and others - now is the time to play with alternatives.  “What if we….”  “What would our school look like if….?”  If you have a school board or colleagues in the field, ask them to review your plan.

Again, remaining detached is key.  At this point, you may see “camps” in your decision-making team.  People start to become attached to a side and may stop listening.  The team leader should feel comfortable reminding the group to remain detached.

Phase Three – Deciding to Decide

• Make a tentative decisions – For thee record not making a decision at this time is in fact a decision.  Maybe the context and experience phases have shown it’s not a good time to change.  That is an acceptable decision.  Some tentative decisions are easy – the best choice has made itself clear along the way.  Sometimes the tentative decision is fraught with anxiety.  Listen to that anxiety.
• Live with the tentative decision for a set period of time.  This is the infamous “let’s sleep on it” stage.  What feeling arise in the decision?  If anxiety – why?  Are the reasons a deal breaker or feelings that can be lived with?  If excitement – why?  How does the team transfer that excitement to a larger group?
• Finally, confirm the decision even if the team is not 100% on board.  Consensus is tricky business, but if the discernment process has been given time, consideration and detachment the group is ready to move.

Thankfully, good decisions show some signs along the way.  A good decision leads to movement.  When the team starts easily talking about next steps and the fun of the process, you are on the right track.  A sometimes difficult criterion in strong hierarchical groups is discernment made in freedom.  Good decisions happen outside of mandates, fear or reactive situations.  A good decision involves all affected by change.  All voices feel heard along the way, even if the decision was not made in their favor.  Finally, a good decision spirals a school to deeper knowledge.

For Brebeuf Jesuit, our 1:1 BYOT decision quickly engaged faculty and students in the possibilities it opened up.  Because 1:1 grew out of student and classroom needs, the ownership was in the hands of the learners, those who would use the technology day after day.  And over the years, this one decision has guided us in curriculum review, classroom redesign and new teaching practices.  We’ve learned a lot!  And grew as a learning community.

This is a rather long post so thanks for sticking with me!  More posts to come as I continue to gather ideas on pitfalls to avoid and conversation starters.  As always, comments welcome below!

This Ain't Your 1970's Snow Day

It's been a rough winter here in the MidWest. Schools are scrambling to gather their 180 days in Indiana.  But face it, an extra day (or 4) tacked on in May is not going to make up for the momentum lost in January.  But hey folks!  There are resources out there that can help keep the momentum and the learning going.... well beyond the four physical walls of the school building. Or as we like to say...communicate, collaborate, consume and curate... anytime/anywhere regardless of the weather (unless you lose power like we did in the January 7th storm then you're pretty much just reading by paper and staying warm by fire #17thcenturylearning). 

As I like to say, "This Ain't Your 1970's Snow Day..." Or at least it certainly doesn't have to be ... although pancakes, hot cocoa and sledding are still allowed (unless it's another one of those polar vortexes in which case I highly recommend this experiment from Minnesota Cold).  

Twitter #Chats

• Simple push notifications.

Send out reminders, reading links or review questions for students.

•  Class #hashtag

Asynchronous but easily searched. Say #BJPSEng9 if you teach freshmen. No need for your students to have a Twitter account (but most do) – hashtags are publicly accessible on public accounts. You could also make a class Twitter account (in which case it would be @BJPSEng9). 

• Live #chat

Set up a time (say normal class time) letting students know you will be live and online. Send out prepared questions and expect answers.  Or just be there to answer student questions. Use a class hashtag for students to follow or read later.

Google Apps for Education (aka GAFE)

Had a small group activity in mind for room 218 period 3? Set up a Google Doc and have students answer questions collaboratively from home.  A shared Google Presentation allows students to view or view & edit materials easily.  If you have a presentation all ready for “live” class – throw it up to a shared class Folder and have students view outside of class.

Google Forms

Google Forms can be turned into a quiz simply by asking content specific questions.  Or they can be designed more like a handout where students answer/practice/reflect on topic areas you wanted to cover face to face.

G+ Communities

You can create a G+ Community for just your class.  This makes a group page where you can upload readings, videos, links and have students comment on them. Help pages for this feature can be found at https://support.google.com/plus/answer/2872671?hl=en

Try a HangOut

Feeling like a live chat?  Set up a Google Hangout on Air. The added benefit is this records the discussion for later viewing (say by students are not able to join the live feed). Regular Hangouts work too by clicking the New Hangout button in your G+. I have seen this used for quiz review, new material or discussion. Detailed how to’s can be found here… https://support.google.com/plus/answer/2553119?hl=en

***Student must be in your G+ Community to “hangout”

Other Resources

Edmodo

A favorite of Brebeuf Social Studies types… looks like Facebook but you must be an educator to make a page.  Students are invited in with a class password. Post videos, readings and links and begin the discussion.

www.edmodo.com

YouTube

Since we are a GAFE school, every student and faculty member has an AMDG account which comes with YouTube access. (Not a GAFE school? Your regular GMail account works).  You can upload a self-created video (via Camtasia or WeVideo) or edit directly into YouTube. More details at https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/57924?hl=en

Class Blog or Website

Several of our Brebeuf faculty have created their own class pages using various free blogging tools.  Check out Edublogs, Blogger and Weebly to start. 

Go For the Free Trials

Try a streaming conference product… heck, it’s a free trial.  Check out GoToMeeting or AdobeConnect.  Winter can’t last forever, right?