A week in the life of…
Whew! What a week. I have done the road show of presentations of this transformation teachers’ programme to 5 different audiences, presented at the breifing launch, supported the KIT sign up and co-led the first full training day. Today to round it all up we were asked to speak to representatives from the DfES, INTEL and Partnerships for Schools (Gov body with lots of authority) at their Westminster office – not much pressure really!!
If someone had said 3 weeks ago that we owuld have written, launched and part delivered a masters level CPD programme I would have said ’impossible’. But here we are and thanks to all of you who have agreed to participate and make it the truly dynamic programme it is proving to be.
Like many of you I came home on Friday my head feeling like it was mashed and in overload. But in common also with many of you I was also still really excited by it all and find it difficult to stop now. Good example is that I am writing this blog while the trial of Tracy Barlow is coming to its very sticky end in Coronation Street. My favorite sopa of all time but I am more interetsed to continue with this online conversation. It makes me really understand how young people’s interest and engagement can be captured by the world of media and technology and what a powerful tool it is. But like all tools it can be very dangerous or a force for much good depending on who has control of it. Consequently it has made me more convinced than ever before of the need to engage with it as a profession. It is the world our young people inhabit and far better to be apart of it and underestand how to use it for moral purpose and learning outcomes than it be in the control of those who have different purpose in mind. When I asked my son Oliver who is 13 years old whether teachers should be using such resources in classrooms he just looked at me with complete bewilderment and answered ‘yes of course what do you think?!
The other thing that has convinced me of its importance is watching my son Jack test running some of the soft and hard ware this weekend. Jack is in year 6 and presents very much as a 6 year old rather than the 11 years old that he is. He is statemented and currently operates at the higher end of the P scales in all aspects. He has always remained in mainstream but has always struggled to function as his peers do. Recently as part of his statement provision the LA brought him a lap top for in classwork. He no longer had to struggle with his writing due to his weak muscles but could construct texts now without barriers or pain. Suddenly he was able to access a whole new world of learning via web presences and digital media. For the first time the world of learning was no longer an exclusive or elitist domain inaccessible to him but one in which he could participate. This weekend he had tried the use of the digi board, comic view, photography and downloading from you tube. He has been working non – stop at one time for a period of 2.5 hours without a break. That for me is what it is all about. It is completely the inclusion and every child matters agenda. I will ask Jack to continue to help me test run this programme because if we can find through it ways to unlock the potential of pupils like Jack everyone reaps the benefits.
