Education Leaders Forum 2010: Workshop Programme




Workshop Programme - this will be regularly updated as workshops are finalised

Education Leaders Forum 10
*Cultivating Learning* A living systems approach to growing education professionals
NB: Programme is subject to additions and amendments

3.00pm- 4.45pm Wednesday 20 October - FORUM DAY 1

Workshop 1

Adaptive leadership: Building capabilities for new times
Dr Cheryl Doig Director, Think Beyond

This workshop will explore the challenges and excitement of leading in 2010. We live in messy times. There are often many solutions to a 'problem' and they all have consequences. Cheryl will explore this complexity, combining ideas from adaptive leadership, systems thinking, the ACEL leadership framework and use of information communications technologies.

Workshop 2
Leadership through a living systems lens
Chris Jansen Senior Lecturer, University of Canterbury

This session will explore the phenomena of a complex adaptive system and then use this complexity lens to interpret the findings of a leadership research project in Christchurch. Findings will be discussed with regards to the leadership implications of seeing an organisation through this lens including the need for proactive mentoring, developing a professional learning community, shared power and decision making, and the role of ambition and humility.

These complexity principles will then be applied to leadership of schools where fostering learning organisations involves teachers, students and parents working together as collaborators to develop a more adaptive, creative and resilient professional learning community.

Workshop 3
Tweet Like A Teen: Utilizing Social Media
Eva-Maria Salikhova 21st Century Teenager, Author

An insightful presentation about the impact of social media in today's world.

Why have social networks produced a big boom?
How can I use them to my advantage in making change?
How do I set them up?
Is Social Media helping or ruining me?
And the all-time favourite: What in the world is Twitter?!

All these and more questions will be answered straight from a teenager who lives and breathes on the internet, and has made most of her successful sales and relationships online. Find out how to join the millions who have made great change on the internet, and how to set up, gather your own networks, and make your ventures blossom online

Workshop 4 Cultivating a community of leaders
Gaye Tyler-Merrick President of Kidsfirst Kindergartens
Sherryll Wilson Chief Executive Canterbury Westland Kindergarten Association Inc

This workshop is based on a case study of how the Board at Kidsfirst Kindergartens engaged their parents and teachers to be more involved with the organisation at a governance level. The Board used a transformative leadership style to convey to their parents and teachers a shared sense of purpose, they articulated an appealing vision, communicated high performance expectations and expressed confidence that parents and teachers could be part of the change process.

More parents and teachers are now actively involved in in leading and learning both at the kindergarten and governance level.

Workshop 5 Managing the Flow of Ideas
ED Bernacki Director, The Idea Factory, Canada

Many great ideas already exist in our learning communities yet few education leaders use effective processes and tools to systematically harness and use the ideas of colleagues. This workshop will give you a range of tools to transform meetings and classrooms into an idea factory. We will focus on a skill set for innovative thinking to help you become an innovationalist, someone who prompts others to focus on the need for new ideas in all aspects of our organisations. We will also define a personal strategy for managing ideas and harnessing different thinking styles throughout the following 12 months to create the results we need.

This will help us manage idea flows like we manage cash flow so we can define a series of challenges, projects or programmes that we want to create next year.

7.00pm

7.30pm

Pre Dinner Drinks (cash bar available)

FORUM DINNER (wine on tables)
Distinction Hotel Rotorua (Conference Hotel)

11.45am -
1.00pm
Thursday 21 October - FORUM DAY 2

Workshop 1
Systems thinking in schools
Chris Jansen Senior Lecturer, University of Canterbury

Participants in this session will undertake a systems thinking process, a strategic planning technique for making sense of a complex system such as a school. Systems thinking develops the ability to see the world as relationships and connections, thereby allowing exploration of areas of potential influence.

The process utilises what is known as the iceberg model; 4 levels of thinking that progressively increase in depth of focus. These steps are; 1) listing events (issues to fix things that happen on a regular basis), 2) exploring patterns of behaviour over time, 3) mapping out systemic structures through causal loop diagrams and 4) identifying the underlying mental models or assumptions (motivation, psyche, culture, values).

This process then allows leaders to identify leverage points in the causal loop diagram and then link these leverage points into key strategic goals.

Workshop 2
Cultivating learning in a digitally connected world
Derek Wenmoth Director, eLearning, CORE Education

One of the challenges we face in an increasingly digital and connected world is how we conceptualise the provision of educational services and opportunities. These developments pose significant challenges to our existing thinking about educational provision – including the time, place, and pace of learning, the ways we collaborate, innovate and research, and the ways we develop, share and access educational content.

This workshop will provide an opportunity to explore some of the emerging trends, and share some understandings about what the introduction of an advanced network might mean for NZ education.

Workshop 3
Learning Networks - Networks by Chance or by Design
Chris Bryant Principal Brooklyn Primary School Wellington

Productive networks of learning communities do not happen by chance. Learning networks of schools can involve complex interactions which require deliberately thought out systems, processes and behaviours. This workshop will explore a mixture of theory and practical application, with the SWELL network (www.swell.org.nz) being the practical context.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have a greater understanding of the characteristics needed for a sustainable, productive network of learning communities.

Workshop 4 The Accelerated Planning Technique
Andrew Smith Business coach and developer of the APT

The Accelerated Planning Technique ™ (APT) consists of a simple three step procedure: Dream It - Design It - Deliver It. This is a simpler, faster and better way to create Visions, Strategic Plans, Project Plans and Action Plans. APT converts woolly ideas into clear organised thinking. The process engages people and gets buy-in.

Workshop 5
Is sustainability of professional learning an act of faith, or can it be deliberately crafted by school leaders?
Dr Pam O'Connell General Manager Consulting, Learning Media Ltd

Sustainability of reform has been characterised in various ways in the literature, but most often as some sort of endurance test for educators. School leaders and teachers are left to weather the “tempests” of reduced funding, shifting priorities, and constant turnover of teachers and leaders. Rarely have researchers regarded sustainability in terms of how one project melds into the next initiative in a school. For the most part, schools have to beat their own path towards a nebulous destination, and they do.

This workshop will explore a reframing of sustainability as two interdependent and dynamic continua , namely, coherence of effective instructional practices and co- and self-regulated inquiry and share research undertaken with 16 schools in the three years following their participation in a national literacy project. The presentation describes the different perceptions about sustainability that impacted on the varied pathways taken by leaders in the wake of school reform.

Go to Centre4ELF for digital resources

View contributors for ELF 2010.

Back to Programme

A big thank you to our sponsor and supporters who have made ELF10 possible:

Major Sponsor

Cognition Education

Supporters

Waiariki Institute of Technology
CORE Education
Te Kura
Massey University
Learning Media
Lukey Resources

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3.00pm- 4.45pm	Wednesday 20 October - FORUM DAY 1
Workshop 1	Adaptive leadership: Building capabilities for new times Dr Cheryl Doig Director, Think Beyond This workshop will explore the challenges and excitement of leading in 2010. We live in messy times. There are often many solutions to a 'problem' and they all have consequences. Cheryl will explore this complexity, combining ideas from adaptive leadership, systems thinking, the ACEL leadership framework and use of information communications technologies.

















Workshop 2	Leadership through a living systems lens Chris Jansen Senior Lecturer, University of Canterbury This session will explore the phenomena of a complex adaptive system and then use this complexity lens to interpret the findings of a leadership research project in Christchurch. Findings will be discussed with regards to the leadership implications of seeing an organisation through this lens including the need for proactive mentoring, developing a professional learning community, shared power and decision making, and the role of ambition and humility. These complexity principles will then be applied to leadership of schools where fostering learning organisations involves teachers, students and parents working together as collaborators to develop a more adaptive, creative and resilient professional learning community.
Workshop 3	Tweet Like A Teen: Utilizing Social Media Eva-Maria Salikhova 21st Century Teenager, Author An insightful presentation about the impact of social media in today's world. Why have social networks produced a big boom? How can I use them to my advantage in making change? How do I set them up? Is Social Media helping or ruining me? And the all-time favourite: What in the world is Twitter?! All these and more questions will be answered straight from a teenager who lives and breathes on the internet, and has made most of her successful sales and relationships online. Find out how to join the millions who have made great change on the internet, and how to set up, gather your own networks, and make your ventures blossom online
Workshop 4	Cultivating a community of leaders Gaye Tyler-Merrick President of Kidsfirst Kindergartens Sherryll Wilson Chief Executive Canterbury Westland Kindergarten Association Inc This workshop is based on a case study of how the Board at Kidsfirst Kindergartens engaged their parents and teachers to be more involved with the organisation at a governance level. The Board used a transformative leadership style to convey to their parents and teachers a shared sense of purpose, they articulated an appealing vision, communicated high performance expectations and expressed confidence that parents and teachers could be part of the change process. More parents and teachers are now actively involved in in leading and learning both at the kindergarten and governance level.
Workshop 5	Managing the Flow of Ideas ED Bernacki Director, The Idea Factory, Canada Many great ideas already exist in our learning communities yet few education leaders use effective processes and tools to systematically harness and use the ideas of colleagues. This workshop will give you a range of tools to transform meetings and classrooms into an idea factory. We will focus on a skill set for innovative thinking to help you become an innovationalist, someone who prompts others to focus on the need for new ideas in all aspects of our organisations. We will also define a personal strategy for managing ideas and harnessing different thinking styles throughout the following 12 months to create the results we need. This will help us manage idea flows like we manage cash flow so we can define a series of challenges, projects or programmes that we want to create next year.
7.00pm 7.30pm	Pre Dinner Drinks (cash bar available) FORUM DINNER (wine on tables) Distinction Hotel Rotorua (Conference Hotel)

11.45am - 1.00pm	Thursday 21 October - FORUM DAY 2
Workshop 1	Systems thinking in schools Chris Jansen Senior Lecturer, University of Canterbury Participants in this session will undertake a systems thinking process, a strategic planning technique for making sense of a complex system such as a school. Systems thinking develops the ability to see the world as relationships and connections, thereby allowing exploration of areas of potential influence. The process utilises what is known as the iceberg model; 4 levels of thinking that progressively increase in depth of focus. These steps are; 1) listing events (issues to fix things that happen on a regular basis), 2) exploring patterns of behaviour over time, 3) mapping out systemic structures through causal loop diagrams and 4) identifying the underlying mental models or assumptions (motivation, psyche, culture, values). This process then allows leaders to identify leverage points in the causal loop diagram and then link these leverage points into key strategic goals.
Workshop 2	Cultivating learning in a digitally connected world Derek Wenmoth Director, eLearning, CORE Education One of the challenges we face in an increasingly digital and connected world is how we conceptualise the provision of educational services and opportunities. These developments pose significant challenges to our existing thinking about educational provision – including the time, place, and pace of learning, the ways we collaborate, innovate and research, and the ways we develop, share and access educational content. This workshop will provide an opportunity to explore some of the emerging trends, and share some understandings about what the introduction of an advanced network might mean for NZ education.
Workshop 3	Learning Networks - Networks by Chance or by Design Chris Bryant Principal Brooklyn Primary School Wellington Productive networks of learning communities do not happen by chance. Learning networks of schools can involve complex interactions which require deliberately thought out systems, processes and behaviours. This workshop will explore a mixture of theory and practical application, with the SWELL network (www.swell.org.nz) being the practical context. By the end of the workshop, participants will have a greater understanding of the characteristics needed for a sustainable, productive network of learning communities.
Workshop 4	The Accelerated Planning Technique Andrew Smith Business coach and developer of the APT The Accelerated Planning Technique ™ (APT) consists of a simple three step procedure: Dream It - Design It - Deliver It. This is a simpler, faster and better way to create Visions, Strategic Plans, Project Plans and Action Plans. APT converts woolly ideas into clear organised thinking. The process engages people and gets buy-in.
Workshop 5	Is sustainability of professional learning an act of faith, or can it be deliberately crafted by school leaders? Dr Pam O'Connell General Manager Consulting, Learning Media Ltd Sustainability of reform has been characterised in various ways in the literature, but most often as some sort of endurance test for educators. School leaders and teachers are left to weather the “tempests” of reduced funding, shifting priorities, and constant turnover of teachers and leaders. Rarely have researchers regarded sustainability in terms of how one project melds into the next initiative in a school. For the most part, schools have to beat their own path towards a nebulous destination, and they do. This workshop will explore a reframing of sustainability as two interdependent and dynamic continua , namely, coherence of effective instructional practices and co- and self-regulated inquiry and share research undertaken with 16 schools in the three years following their participation in a national literacy project. The presentation describes the different perceptions about sustainability that impacted on the varied pathways taken by leaders in the wake of school reform.
	Go to Centre4ELF for digital resources View contributors for ELF 2010. Back to Programme