Last week I was invited to participate in the Connected Educators event: Systems Convening in a Complex Landscape. This all came about following the Cutting Edge BEtreat workshop in Grass Valley California. More about the workshop itself when I get to my backlog of draft blog posts!
I offered to prepare a bit of a summary of the session. I thought it would be a good way for me to dig in a little further on this topic because the draft chapter shared by Bev Wenger-Trayner during the workshop completely grabbed my attention.
The above image is my first attempt at graphic recording on an iPad. I've doodled here and there, but never actually created a summary, saved it, then shared it. Any other graphic recording work I've done was with paper, markers and pastels. For this I used Sketchbook Pro. I need lots more practice, but was happy that I managed figure out a few things! Layers are now my friend, and I'm about to purchase a new pen. :-)
I offered to prepare a bit of a summary of the session. I thought it would be a good way for me to dig in a little further on this topic because the draft chapter shared by Bev Wenger-Trayner during the workshop completely grabbed my attention.
The above image is my first attempt at graphic recording on an iPad. I've doodled here and there, but never actually created a summary, saved it, then shared it. Any other graphic recording work I've done was with paper, markers and pastels. For this I used Sketchbook Pro. I need lots more practice, but was happy that I managed figure out a few things! Layers are now my friend, and I'm about to purchase a new pen. :-)
Summary
Panelists and Facilitators
- Bev Wenger-Trayner: Social Learning Theorist and Consultant
- Etienne Wenger-Trayner: Social Learning Theorist and Consultant
- Patrice Cunniff Linehan: National Association of State Directors of Special Education, IDEA Partnership
- Nancy Movall: K-12 Online Learning Specialist, Iowa Communities of Practice and Innovation
- Leisa Gallagher: Director of a Dropout Prevention Initiative, Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education
- Sylvia Currie: Director of Professional Learning at BCcampus, Canada
- Julie Duffield: Director at Schools Moving at WestEd
- Darren Cambridge: Director of the Connected Educators initiative at the American Institutes for Research
Format
- 90-minutes, WebEx
- Conversational style, maximize time for Q&A
- Open invitation, no cost
Agenda
- Overview: learning landscapes of practice
- Overview: system conveners in landscapes of practice
- Panelists: briefly discuss one thing that resonates in own context
- Concluding summary
Participation
There were approximately 19 participants. As with any open web conference the numbers went up and down.Roles and interests of participants included:
- Technical Assistance Provider/ Consultant
- researchers, consultant, learner …(I'm not entirely sure!)
- Technical Assistant provider working with states and national organizations
- Learning theorists and learning consultants
- Education Marketing Manager with Cisco
- director of professional learning - higher ed in BC
- high school teacher director of a dropout prevention initiative for the Office of Special Education in the Michigan Department of Education
- WestEd, working at schoolsmovingup
- 21st Century Digital Learning Environments (a design consultancy) - Narrative Design
- Curator for the NROC Project's Connected PD
- Senior Associate w Natoma Group, consult on Future of Learning, Participatory design
- build designs that link Education to Real World participatory designs (Michigan)
- developing National Center for Literacy Education
- convener
- the characteristics of 'boundary spanners'
- presenters' and participants' real-life experiences sustaining communities of practice
- system convening how we might benefit from mutual sharing of our experiences and stories
What popped?
Word used most frequently during session:
Characteristics of a system convener:
What is REALLY important to keep in mind?:- strategic
- upbeat
- patient
- W I D E vision
- passionate
- Find ways to have meaningful encounters across boundaries
- Trust in what we know
- Keep message consistent but adaptable
- Focus on the students (not on the organizations)
- Honour the work that came before
- See how to continue to the work TOGETHER
- The convener is often the only one seeing the vision
- What is consequential or relevant is open for negotiation
- Go at other people's pace
- Never give up!
- Helping people to reframe what they are already doing/ have invested in in terms of the vision you have for how the system could look in the future
- Negotiating and understanding the different viewpoints
- Telling the stories - aspirational narratives -- robust and also emergent
- Reconfiguring spaces across the landscape (rather than creating something new)
- Developing leadership among different groups (rather than being the leader)
