Last Friday I attended a workshop run by Michael Fullan. It was a very enjoyable day, not the least for the insights he shared around national standards and the advice he had given the MoE two days earlier. Maybe more about that later.
All quotes are Fullan, unless otherwise stated.
Michael's workshops are always very well organised, each participant gets a well structed workbook. Good for me, as all my notes are in one place. He presents some great quotes, I thought I would share some.
Can't underestimate how many times you need to share the vision and values
Communication during implementation is far more important than communication prior to implementation
If the national standards were truly about this, then the following two quotes are interesting.
Capacity building concerns competencies, resources, and motivation. Individuals and groups are high on capacity if they possess and continue to develop these three components in concert.
Will get more accountability if concentrate on building capacity
We look for people who light up when they are around other talented people.
Taylor & LaBarre 2002
To fix medicine (read education) we need to do two things: measure ourselves, and be open about what we are doing.
and my personal favourite
The size and the prettiness of the plan is inversely related to the quality of action and the impact on student learning.
Reeves, 2009