Pyp Collaborative Planning Workshop Workbook Cistokyo Oct2013

International Baccalaureate
Asia Pacific Collaborative planning Category 2
CIS Tokyo October 2013 English Jane Wallace

International Baccalaureate Organization 2012
Teacher Training Workshop

This workbook is intended for use by a participant at an IB-approved workshop. It contains several types of material: material that was created and published by the IB, material that was prepared by the workshop leader and third-party copyright material. Following the workshop, participants who wish to provide information or noncommercial in-school training to teachers in their school may use the IB-copyright material (including student work) and material identified as the work of the workshop leader unless this is specifically prohibited. The IB is committed to fostering academic honesty and respecting others intellectual property. To this end, the organization must comply with international copyright laws and therefore has obtained permission to reproduce and/or translate any materials used in this publication for which a third party owns the intellectual property. Acknowledgments are included where appropriate. Workshop participants may not use any of the material in this workbook that is identified as being the intellectual property of a third party for any purpose unless expressly stated. In all other cases permission must be sought from the copyright holder before making use of such material. Permission must be sought from the IB by emailing copyright@ibo.org for any use of IB material which is different from that described above or those uses permitted under the rules and policy for use of IB intellectual property (http://www.ibo.org/copyright/intellectualproperty.cfm). Permission granted to any supplier or publisher to exhibit at an IB-approved workshop does not imply endorsement by the IB.
The IB mission statement

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
Workbook contents
Collaborative planning workshop overview Clock Appointments IB Standard C1 SWOT analysis The People Problem The Hazards of Collaboration Critical Issues for Team Consideration Making Time for Collaboration Barth, R. 2006. Improving relationships within the schoolhouse. Educational Leadership. Vol 63, number 6. Pp 8-13. 6 8 9 10 11 19 21 22 24
Gibson-Langford, L and Laycock, D. October 2007. So they can fly building a community of inquirers. 31 Presentation at ACEL/ASCD National Conference. Sydney, Australia Hickey, A. 2011. Developing Inquiries. The Changing Face of International Education. Walker, G, ed. Cardiff, Wales. International Baccalaureate Organization. Pp 70-77 Negotiating the Curriculum with Students: A conversation worth having
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Build It Unit Planner Sample unit planner Action plan rubric Model action plan Action plan template What is an IB education?
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COLLABORATIVE PLANNING WORKSHOP OVERALL PURPOSE OF THE WORKSHOP This workshop provides PYP teachers with the chance to learn more about themselves and others as they work together in school situations. Effective collaborative practices are explored through analyzing and sharing of flexible systems and structures, role play, practical, collaborative learning experiences and investigating the use of technology to promote collaboration. The collaborative process supports the transdisciplinary nature of the PYP. The power of this is demonstrated through a simulation of the planning process highlighting ways to include the whole teaching team in developing units of inquiry. RECOMMENDED AUDIENCE Teachers in candidate and authorized schools This workshop is for administrators, coordinators and teachers who Have been working with the programme for at least one school year Have previously attended a category 1 PYP workshop (regional or in-school) facilitated by IB PYP workshop leaders organized by or through the regional office
This workshop is also recommended for schools at the implementation stage of the PYP and for single subject teachers who wish to explore collaboration with classroom teachers. CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDINGS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Planning is collaborative, across the curriculum (horizontally and vertically) and involves all teachers working with PYP students. Understanding of the ways people think, learn and interact is basic to building collaborative working relationships. Understanding ourselves as learners is essential for learning collaboratively with others. Planning that addresses all of the essential elements supports the whole learning experience of each student. Assessment is integral to the planning process and informs ongoing collaborative planning so that the PYP planner becomes a coherent record of teaching and learning. Planning strengthens the transdisciplinary nature of the curriculum and ensures the pedagogy of the PYP is pervasive across the programme. The PYP planner facilitates planning for and through inquiry that leads to the understanding of a central idea and provides a forum for ongoing planning and reflection. The ongoing process of collaborative planning incorporates students prior experiences and interests and differentiates to support the learner's inquiries. Systems and structures can facilitate/promote teachers planning and reflecting in collaborative teams. Strategic planning for professional development will support collaborative teams.
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IB DOCUMENTS AND RELEVANT SCHOOL RESOURCES Participants should have the following materials available electronically or in print depending on their learning preference. The schools programme of Inquiry A completed unit planner on which the participant has collaborated Any policies/agreements/school documents relating to planning Making the PYP happen: a curriculum framework for international primary education IB Programme standard and Practices, 2010 Developing a transdisciplinary programme of inquiry (revised), 2012 PYP mathematics scope and sequence PYP language scope and sequence PYP PSPE scope and sequence What is an IB Education (2012) PYP planner template on Google Docs, 2011
Current version of the following IB documents:
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Making appointments
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Standard C1: Collaborative planning Collaborative planning and reflection supports the implementation of the IB programme(s).
Note: Collaborative planning and reflection is used as a single concept as the two processes are interdependent. Practice (and PYP requirements) 1. Collaborative planning and reflection addresses the requirements of the programme(s). Requirements for the Primary Years Programme a. The programme of inquiry and all corresponding unit planners are the product of sustained collaborative work involving all the appropriate staff. b. Planning at the school makes use of the Primary Years Programme planner and planning process across the curriculum and by all teachers. c. Planning at the school addresses all the essential elements to strengthen the transdisciplinary nature of the programme. 2. 3. Collaborative planning and reflection takes place regularly and systematically. Collaborative planning and reflection addresses vertical and horizontal articulation. Requirements for the Primary Years Programme a. There is a systematic approach to integration of the subject-specific scope and sequences and the programme of inquiry. b. The school ensures balance and articulation between the transdisciplinary programme of inquiry and any additional single-subject teaching. 4. Collaborative planning and reflection ensures that all teachers have an overview of students learning experiences. Requirements for the Primary Years Programme a. The school provides for easy access to completed Primary Years Programme planners. b. The school ensures that Primary Years Programme planners are coherent records of student learning. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Collaborative planning and reflection is based on agreed expectations for student learning. Collaborative planning and reflection incorporates differentiation for students learning needs and styles. Collaborative planning and reflection is informed by assessment of student work and learning. Collaborative planning and reflection recognizes that all teachers are responsible for language development of students. Collaborative planning and reflection addresses the IB learner profile attributes. Rating 1-4 (low to high) and evidence
What needs to improve or change, and why?
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Collaborative Planning: A SWOT Analysis
POSITIVE factors in achieving your goal S STRENGTHS
NEGATIVE factors in achieving your goal W WEAKNESSES
INSIDE your school O OPPORTUNITIES
T THREATS
OUTSIDE your school
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CHAPTER 10 THE PEOPLE PROBLEM When we think about teams, we tend to picture the perfect team. Its members are autonomous, intelligent, generous-minded, and quick to fill in where another leaves off. The members of this perfect team fall somewhere between angels and the drawn characters in apparel ads. You need to take this mental picture of the perfect team, fold in into careful squares, set it on a platform, and blow it to smithereens. Because you may live to be 108, but you will never be on anything remotely like a perfect team. Ideal teams are comprised of perfect people, whose egos and individuality have been subsumed into the greater goal of the team. Real teamsyour teamsare made up of living, breathing, and very imperfect people. Even when you personally handpick a team, it is still likely to contain people that you (or other teams members) will be really challenged to get along with. Our experience is that, in the forming stage especially, nearly all team members are taken aback by the personalities of other team members: X is asocial, Y is borderline, and Z is shameless. That's what we have to work with on teams, and that is a major, major reason teams fail. But mostly, we are just different enough to create misunderstandings. These can be overcome, but they require self-knowledge, generous attention to the person who's bugging us, and the will to keep working together, and not give up on one another. We tend to give up on one another too easily, to write off poor working relationships as "personality incompatibilities." Most of these incompatibilities can be resolved with a bit of empathy and attention. Sometimes, we are so different from one another, and so poisonous to one another, that there is no hope for the team. For now, let's look at what is achievable. It means moving beyond first impressions and stereotypes, beyond expectations of apparel-ad perfection, and into the muck and mire of what it is to be human beings in all our diverse, peculiar gloryand how to tolerate those who are not as marvelous as ourselves. The logic of misunderstanding Even the best teams suffer continuous setbacks because of simple misunderstandings. What we intend to communicate (what we transmit) is seldom exactly what we succeed in communicating (what the other party receives). Why does this happen? In a word, diversity. We all have different minds, different slants, different hot buttons. We come from different cultures, both ethnic and familial. We share different histories. We have different brains inside our heads. When the message transmitted is not the message received, the result is not usually obvious catastrophe. It is more like a plane that is subtly out of control. It won't crash, and it will stay in the air. People on the plane will think they are succeeding, because miles are rolling by on the odometer. Passengers stare out the windows, maybe even waving, confident they are en route to their destination, even as they fly further and further off-course.
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Every year we flush billions of dollars through our organizations, sunk costs caused by the kinds of everyday misunderstandings and ambiguities we all participate in every day. You have seen the sign over the photocopy machine: "I know you think you understand what you thought I said. But I am not sure that what you heard is what I meant." The worst part of this incredible waste is that we learn next to nothing from it. In our minds it is always the other person's fault for mistransmitting or misreceiving. We are the good one; they are not. Whereas, in reality, there is no good or bad one in a classic miscommunication. It is the child of both parents. Misunderstandings often occur for the simple reason that the individuals involved are communicating on two different wavelengths. How you communicate with others is influenced to a very large degree by what kind of person you areby your "behavioral style." Preventing miscommunication means being very alert to your own behavioral style, as well as to the style of the person you are talking to. It requires that we relearn how to communicate with others in a way that is cognizant of their differing natures and sensitive of their needs. Happy talk and human variation The picture-perfect team of magazine articles doesn't exist. Indeed, the cheerful attitude that typifies books, articles, and presentations about teams is misleading. Teams cannot solve all your organization's problems. Nothing can. The horrible truth is that the people on your teams will be like people everywhere. They may be smart in one or two areas, but normal or below normal in other waysways that have a bearing on your team success. Team members have their ups and downs. You will have team members that are clinically depressed, or have serious personality disorders. You will have team members that you can't stand. You will have team members that might once have been terrific contributors, but whose brains simply have lost efficiency. Their neurotransmitters don't fire with the rapidity or regularity that they did fifteen years earlier, or before they were damaged by alcohol, or an accident. You will go home thinking you have the greatest team in the world, and find out the next morning that one of your stars has been arrested, or is dead. You will have team members whose judgment varies widely from day to daya sage on Monday, a fool on Tuesday. These are depressing realities. We say them not to discourage you, but to remind you that your on-the-job team problems are just a slice of the problems of life itself. The happy talk articles won't tell you that. We just did. People are not the same. They are as different as thumbprints. And not just in one way, preferring white or dark turkey meat, or being vegetarian. People are different up and down, through and through, coming and goingin their likes, dislikes, fears, joys, the way they think and decide, the way they work and communicate. Teams succeed when they acknowledge this fact of natural variation, and work to recognize and value differences among team members. It often happens, when we start talking about different personality types, that some cheerful HR person will suggest the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) as a tool. The MBTI tells you how you see yourself, and gives you a set of label initials to wear through life (ISTJ,
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ENSP, etc.). It has become a kind of psychological parlor game. Lots of people have taken the test, and the initials they receive help them understand themselvesand forgive people born with different characteristics. It is a very interesting system, especially valuable for the task of self-discovery. But how you see yourself or how you really are inside doesn't matter much to teams. How you behave on the outside, how you treat other people and how you demand to be treated, is what matters. Teams have enough to handle without taking on spiritual adjustments. But team behavior is fair game. Reduce miscommunications, straighten out confusing behaviors, and get people working together more effectivelythat you can do. In the work world, we could generally give two hoots what a person's insides are like. That is their business, after all. But how they actand interactis essential to their value to the enterprise. You don't have to like one another to produce together. You do have to "get along." Denver psychologist David Merril, of the TRACOM training firm, describes people as falling into four approximate behavioral profiles or zones. It is a very handy way to think about behavioral differences. One of these four behavior zones is, for you, a kind of "home plate" a place where, day in and day out, other people see you as occupying. The four home plates together make up a big square, like this:
ANALYTICAL Key Value: Work with existing circumstances to promote quality in products and services Orientation: Thinking Time: Past AMIABLE Key Value: Cooperate with others, make sure people are included and feel good about the process Orientation: Relationships Time: Depends on who they are with at the time
DRIVER Key Value: Shape the environment by overcoming opposition to get immediate results Orientation: Action Time: Present EXPRESSIVE Key Value: Shape the environment by bringing others into alliance to generate enthusiasm for the results Orientation: Intuition Time: Future
Think of the diagram as one way of looking at the universe of human personality, with a distinct north, south, east and west. From right to left it measures Assertiveness, from passivity to activity, or from "asking" to "telling." From top to bottom it measures Responsiveness, whether we react in a controlled fashion (top) or in an emotional fashion (bottom).
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Thus a "Driver" is a combination of task-oriented and proactive. An "Expressive" is a combination of proactive and people-oriented. An "Amiable" is people-oriented and reactive, and an "Analytical" is a combination of reactive and task-oriented. As we paint a mental picture of each of the four types, be thinking about which type people see you as. Analyticals are essentially perfectionists, people who serve no wine, take no precipitous action, before its time. The very best thing about analyticals is that, nine times out of ten, they are right about things, because they gave the matter their time, reflection, and rational consideration. Their strong suit is the facts. Their key virtue is patience, and it may also be their downfalla kind of caution that paralyzes, not from fear but from a determination to fully understand a problem before moving toward a solution. Pushed to the brink, the response of the Analytical is usually to run for cover, until the shooting stops. Adjectives that are sometimes attached to Analyticals: critical, indecisive, stuffy, picky, moralistic, industrious, persistent, serious, expecting, orderly. Amiables are essentially "people people," considerate of other people, and very empathic. They are the "warm fuzzies" of the world. Their orientation is the past, the present and the futurewherever people have needs, and may be hurt. They are the world's best coordinators precisely because they take time to touch base with all parties. Sure, they have opinionsbut they may be more interested to know yours. Their great strength is their understanding of relationships. Pushed to the brink, their response is usually to cave in. Adjectives that are sometimes attached to Amiables: conforming, unsure, ingratiating, dependent, awkward, supportive, respectful, willing, dependable, agreeable. Drivers are essentially let-me-do-it people. They are firmly rooted in the present moment, and they are lovers of action. Their great strength: results. If you want a job discussed, talk to one of the other three types; if you just want it done, take it to a Driver. They aren't much for inner exploration, but they sure bring home the bacon. They can be bitterly self-critical, and resentful of idle chit-chat. Favorite song: "Steamroller Blues." Pushed to the brink, Drivers become tyrants. Adjectives that are sometimes attached to Drivers: pushy, severe, tough, dominating, harsh, strong-willed, independent, practical, decisive, efficient. Expressives are essentially big-picture people, always looking for a fresh perspective on the world around them. They are future-oriented, perhaps because that is where no one can ever pin them down as they dream their grand dreams. If you want a straight answer, Expressives may not be the best place to turn. If you want intuition and creativity, they're wonderful. If you want a terrific party, invite lots of Expressives. Pushed to the brink, Expressives can react savagely, by attacking. Though cheerful nine ways out of ten, they take the world they create in their heads very seriously. Adjectives that are sometimes attached to Expressives: manipulating, excitable, undisciplined, reacting, egotistical, ambitious, stimulating, wacky, enthusiastic, dramatic, friendly.
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Now, on teams, we are likely to find all these behavioral types mixed together, and expected to communicate. This is not an irrational expectationwe are all carbon-based lifeforms, we are all featherless bipeds, and we mostly speak the same language. But come onputting an Analytical in the same room with an Expressive? A Driver with an Amiable? A Driver with an Expressive? Well, that is what most teams are like odd assemblies of mismatched personalities. Chances are excellent that your teams are experiencing real communication problems. We can't solve all the complex communications snafus your entire team is experiencing, but here are some ideas on how you can straighten out your own communications with the others. First, identify your communications style. Do you come across to others as an Analytical, an Amiable, a Driver or an Expressive? Probably you accept one of the four designations, but reluctantly, because of the negatives associated with each. Second, adapt your style to suit the needs of whoever you're communicating with. Can you change your style? Yes and no. To go from being one style to its opposite--from a pure Analytical to a pure Expressive--would probably make your head explode. But you can soften the extremeness of your style, and learn how to communicate with people in other styles. Here are some tips to help you make the empathic crossing to each of the four styles. With Drivers, strive to: Be brief and to the point. Think "efficiency." Stick to business. Skip the chit-chat. Close loopholes. Dispel ambiguities. Digress at your peril. Speculate and you're history. Be prepared. Know the requirements and objectives of the task at hand. Organize your arguments into a neat "package." Present your facts cleanly and logically. Be courteous, not chummy. Don't be bossy--Drivers may not themselves be driven. Ask specific questions. Do not go "fishing" for answers. If you disagree, disagree with the facts, not the person. If you agree, support the results and the person. Persuade by citing objectives and results. Outcomes rule! When finished, leave. No loitering.
With Expressives, strive to: Meet their social needs while talking shop. Entertain, stimulate, be lively. Talk about their goals as well as the team's. Be open--strong and silent does not cut it with expressives. Take time. They are most efficient when not in a hurry.
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Ask for their opinions and ideas. Keep your eye on the big picture, not the technical details. Support your points with examples involving people they know and respect. Offer special deals, extras, and incentives. Show honest respectyou must not talk down to an Expressive.
With Amiables, strive to: Break the iceit shows your commitment to the task and to them. Show respect. Amiables will be hurt by any attempt to patronize. Listen and be responsive. Take your time. Learn the whole story. Be nonthreatening, casual, informal. A crisp, commanding style will send Amiables packing. Ask "how" questions to draw out their opinions. Define what you want them to contribute to the task. Assure and guarantee that the decision at hand will in no way risk, harm or threaten others. But make no assurances you can't back up.
With Analyticals, strive to: Prepare your case in advance. Take your time, but be persistent. Support their principles. Show you value their thoughtful approach. Cover all bases. Do not leave things to chance, or hope "something good happens." Draw up a scheduled approach for any action plan. Be specific on roles and responsibilities. Be clear. Disorganization or sloppiness in presentation is a definite turn-off. Avoid emotional arguments. No wheedling or cajoling. No pep rallies. Follow through. The worst thing you can do with an Analytical is break your word, because they will remember.
Let's think What we are urging, with all this talk about personality types, is not that you be a chameleon, changing your color to match the color of whoever you are dealing with. Rather, that you try to see things through their eyes, and understand their needs and preferences. It is critical for people with weaknesses in one areae.g. visionary people tend to go limp in the nuts-and-bolts departmentto either delegate authority or to redouble their efforts to think practically. It is equally critical, in ordinary communication, for one type to know what another type is listening for.
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You are not a rat in a box, that can make only one response to every stimulus. You are a human being, with a host of choices in every situation. We are urging that you choose to be curious about other people's natures and needs and accommodate them when possible. When you do this, you will find them accommodating you in return. This reciprocal accommodation is just another dimension of teamwork. Let's play One problem we sometimes encounter, as we lay out our little grid of human nature, is people think the entire universe of human nature is somewhere in there. Which means they must be in there, somewhere. But it's just a two-dimensional model, showing how two important traits, Assertiveness and Responsiveness, reveal our diversity. But imagine, for instance, that you could take these four squares, and make them cubesby adding a third dimension, one coming toward you. Call it Directionand let it measure the inwardness/outwardness, or introversion/extroversion of personality. Do this and the true complexity of personality becomes visible. The two-dimensional Driver might be a cardboard cutout of Boy Scout values. But there is no law saying a Driver can't also be an introverta leader by nature, but not a sharer. Instead of driving you, he drives himself. It's not necessarily a good combination. This is a leader prone to workplace illnesses, migraines, workaholism, and high gastro-intestinal awareness. There is such thing as an introverted Expressive. You see them coming down the hall, smiling, whistling a tune, high as a kite. Inside he's having a partybut no one else is invited to it. Or, contrarywise, you could have an extroverted Analytical, as opposed to the stereotypical introverted nerd. This is the person chasing you down the hall quoting facts, figures, reasons and contraindications. They're being 100% social with matters most people don't consider social fodder. Or the dreaded extroverted Amiablethey want to be with you so much they make you want to move to another state. Well, guess whatthat's the 3-D world of team personality. Full of complexity, ambiguity, contradiction, and surprises. Let's WORK Now let's subject the model to the acid test. Does it work across racial, gender, and ethnic lines? Yes, yes, and no. In any given culture, men and women, and people of different races, are as likely to be in one square as another. Men aren't the only Drivers, nor are women the only Amiablesnot by a long shot. Same with races. But travel from culture to culture, and changes occur. What happens is that the grid is no longer big enough. Some groups are literally "off the chart" in some categories. This is something we did not fully appreciate when we wrote the first edition of this book. But traveling from country to country, and seeing how teams broke down in different places, we
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became convinced some groups occupy psychological ground, in the aggregate, that other groups can hardly conceptualize. If we were to draw the box in Pacific Rim cultures, for instance, we will want to move the entire box one click to the left, to accommodate the remarkable potential for analysis and their aversion to individual panache. What looks like an Analytical idea to us, to them would be considered evidence of leadershipthe realm we associate with Drivers. Their idea of "charisma" is far steelier and reserved than the American idea. Their business timelines50 year business plans are common in Hong Kong and Japan, and even 100 year business plans existmake American resemble hummingbirds in constancy. And they embody a talent for collaborative work that is the envy of every other team culture. On the superficial level, this insight accounts for ethnic stereotypesGermans responding well to order and leadership, the Japanese adoring anything to do with teams, the Finns being unrestrainably expressive. (That last was a joke.) Draw a box for Europe, and the box shifts in the opposite directionone click to the right. In that flamboyant realm, the person an American would regard as a driver is regarded as a mere Analytical! In reserved Scandinavia, the model shifts a click to the north. In passionate Latin America, one click to the south. We stress that people are not so different from continent to continent as to be incomprehensible to one another. Just that "one click's worth" of difference can often be enough to confound and put culture off from another. In a global economy, and belonging to global teams, we ignore these cultural strengths and weaknesses at our peril. The Will to team Most personalities, we conclude, fall within the normal range, and can be dealt with if we simply acknowledge our differences and learn what we all want from one another. Once we get that out of the way, we can go to work and earn some money. When you start to know people, it's easier to root for them. We want the team to succeed not just for the team's sake, but for everyone's sake. That's the foundation of team spirit right therelearning combined with the willingness to act upon what we learn. This will to team doesn't sound like much, but it's critical to team success. Without it, all the training, rewards and recognitions, meetings, pronouncements, consultants, weekend retreats, etc. are worthless. No team can be a team against its will. Teams achieve this "willing" state only one way--by learning about one another and by caring. Both must occur. Where there is no learning, no knowledge, no information, there can be no caring. But if people have made up their minds not to give a damn, neither can there be any learning. So shape up out there, all you teams. You don't have to like one another especially. But you do have to get to know one another, and to value one another's abilities and individuality. Meet team mates halfway with your respect and understanding, and together you can move the team objectives forward. Adapted from: WHY TEAMS DONT WORK by Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley 2nd edition 1998
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CHAPTER 15 The Hazards of Collaboration If competition is "bad," then collaboration must always be good, right? Wrong. Pure collaboration is as problematic as pure competition. Each has its purposes. But each, practiced to the exclusion of the other, leads to collapse. Unabated competition creates a spirit of over-the-top, scorched-earth absolutism, legitimizing whatever means result in victory: treachery, deceit, corruption. Unabated collaboration is also problematic. It is the nemesis of individuality, progress, diversity, and change. Here are some of its hallmarks: Sameness. Too-collaborative teams adopt rigid standards and impose them on themselves, foreclosing creative deviation. Groupthink leads to purges of perceived outsiders, and stultification of insiders. Blurriness. Too much democracy leads to mush. When everyone has full, equal input into a process, you can bet that process will lack focus. Slowness. Consensus doesn't "snap to" the way intimidated agreement does. It is a slow ooze forming, and teams lose momentum waiting for the ooze to arrive. Leaderlessness. When everyone is encouraged to lead, the end result is that no one does. Defenselessness. When everyone knows everything, because sharing is so important, there is no confidentiality, and no firewalls. Some teams become so intimate and senstitive with one another they cant function among outsiders. Interiority. Teams who work too long together have a way of becoming cross-eyed over time, focusing on subjects of interest exclusively to the group. Mercilessness. "The many are stronger than the one," is the motto of supercollaboration. It is also the motto of fascism.
Grafting Competition with Collaboration Which brings us to our favorite word, transcompetition. Think of transcompetition as the grafting of fruit from the two trees of competition and collaboration. Each tree has fruit that's good, and fruit that's not so good. The job of your team is to combine the best of both trees, the best attributes of each approach, for the task currently facing the team. The will to greatness vs. the will to commonality. Teams require both ambition and humility. Ambition drives us to try great things. Humility lets us survive to try again when we screw up. As great as ambition is, the will to commonality, may be greater. It seeks to find win/win solutions, common ground even when positions seem cast in stone. Like the will to greatness, the will to commonality is a talent some people are
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born with, and most people must struggle to attain. On teams it is a pearl of great price. Focus vs. empathy. Or, inwardness versus outwardness. These are valuable but opposite skills. The Analytical mentality is capable of focusing on the task at hand to the exclusion of nearly everything else. But empathy is the badge of the Amiable mentality. It is forever scanning the horizon for more to understand, from the outside in. Focus is about me. Empathy is about us. Teams require both in powerful measure. Persistence vs. insistence. They are as different as conquistador and natives, the killer instinct and the instinct to survive. Persistence is heroic, willing to die for a cause. Insistence is about survival in order to keep the cause alive. Every team enjoys star performance, but every team needs pluggers who will show up every day and do the work that needs doing. Process vs. results. A results orientation is an attentiveness to the what of the team: Did we meet our goal? But a results orientation all by itself is a form of tyranny: "Give me my results and don't tell me how you do it." A process orientation is attentiveness to the how of the team. Each is equally important and must be balanced against the other. Play vs. work. Play is a team's genius its ability to generate, innovate, revolutionize from thin air. Work is why we show up when we don't feel so playful. Business gives lip service to work, but its true ethic is play. Transcompetition means abandoning the pain principle for a pleasure principle -- work for the fun of it. Depersonalization vs. personalization. Personalization is the talent for communicating in such a way that the person you are talking to feels the message has been customtailored to his or her understanding. Personalization is a precious skill on teams. But depersonalization is also very powerful. It is detachment, the ability to see a thing without regard to its effect on you. How liberating it is to take oneself out of decisionmaking. When detachment comes in, out goes paranoia, disrespect, and the blindness that so often accompanies self-interest. Loose vs. tight. Which structure is stronger, one that is elastic but encourages innovation and experimentation; or one that achieves coherence through the imposition of order? This is an issue every team must resolve for itself. Loose relationships like confederacies permit wider latitude for expression; but tighter relationships, unions and alliances, have the power to effectively underwrite security. Let duration be your guide. If you are in imminent danger of destruction, tighten the bonds between yourself and others. If your survival issues are longer-term, let loose the line and encourage free minds to find solutions.
WHY TEAMS DONT WORK by Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley 2nd edition 1998
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1 2 3 Not True of Our Team
5 6 Our Team Is Addressing
9 10 True of Our Team
1. ___ We have identified team norms and protocols to guide us in working together. 2. ___ We have analyzed student achievement data and have established SMART goals that we are working interdependently to achieve. 3. ___ Each member of our team is clear on the essential learnings of our course in general as well as the essential learnings of each unit. 4. ___ We have aligned the essential learnings with state and district standards and the highstakes exams required of our students. 5. ___ We have identified course content and/or topics that can be eliminated so we can devote more time to essential curriculum. 6. ___ We have agreed on how to best sequence the content of the course and have established pacing guides to help students achieve the intended essential learnings. 7. ___ We have identified the prerequisite knowledge and skills students need in order to master the essential learnings of our course and each unit of this course. 8. ___ We have identified strategies and created instruments to assess whether students have the prerequisite knowledge and skills. 9. ___ We have developed strategies and systems to assist students in acquiring prerequisite knowledge and skills when they are lacking in those areas. 10. ___ We have developed frequent common formative assessments that help us to determine each students mastery of essential learnings.
11. ___ We have established the proficiency standard we want each student to achieve on each skill and concept examined with our common assessments. 12. ___ We have developed common summative assessments that help us assess the strengths and weaknesses of our program. 13. ___ We have established the proficiency standard we want each student to achieve on each skill and concept examined with our summative assessments. 14. ___ We have agreed on the criteria we will use in judging the quality of student work related to the essential learnings of our course, and we practice applying those criteria to ensure consistency. 15. ___ We have taught students the criteria we will use in judging the quality of their work and have provided them with examples. 16. ___ We evaluate our adherence to and the effectiveness of our team norms at least twice each year. 17. ___ We use the results of our common assessments to assist each other in building on strengths and addressing weaknesses as part of a process of continuous improvement designed to help students achieve at higher levels. 18. ___ We use the results of our common assessments to identify students who need additional time and support to master essential learnings, and we work within the systems and processes of the school to ensure they receive that support.
The powerful collaboration that characterizes professional learning communities is a systematic process in which teachers work together to analyze and improve their classroom practice. Teachers work in teams, engaging in an ongoing cycle of questions that promote deep team learning. This process, in turn, leads to higher levels of student achievement. The Critical Issues for Team Consideration guide the collective inquiry and action research of each collaborative team in a professional learning community. This plan book explores these issues in greater detail at strategic intervals. You and your teammates will be challenged to build shared knowledgeto learn togetherabout each issue and ultimately generate a product as a result of your collective inquiry and action research.
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Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book 2006 Solution Tree www.solution-tree.com
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Re p r oduc i bl E
Making Time for Collaboration

The issue of finding time for collaboration has been addressed effectivelyand oftenin the professional literature and is readily available for those who are sincerely interested in exploring alternatives. The National Staff Development Council alone has addressed the issue hundreds of times in its publications, and the www.allthingsplc.info website lists over 150 schools that have created time for teachers to collaborate in ways that dont require the school to be shut down, dont cost money, and dont result in significant loss of instructional time. The following strategies do not form a comprehensive list; rather, they illustrate some of the steps schools and districts have taken to create the prerequisite time for collaboration.
Common Preparation
Build the master schedule to provide daily common preparation periods for teachers of the same course or department. Each team should then designate one day each week to engage in collaborative, rather than individual, planning.
Parallel Scheduling
Schedule common preparation time by assigning the specialists (physical education teachers, librarians, music teachers, art teachers, instructional technologists, guidance counselors, foreign language teachers, and so on) to provide lessons to students across an entire grade level at the same time each day. The team should designate one day each week for collaborative planning. Some schools build back-to-back specials classes into the master schedule on each teams designated collaborative day, thus creating an extended block of time for the team to meet. Specials teachers must also be given time to collaborate.
Adjusted Start and End Time

Gain collaborative time by starting the workday early or extending the workday one day each week. In exchange for adding time to one end of the workday, teachers get the time back on the other end of that day. For example, on Tuesdays, the entire staff of Adlai Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, begins their workday at 7:30 am rather than the normal 7:45 a.m. start time. From 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., the entire faculty engages in collaborative team meetings. Classes, which usually begin at 8:05 a.m., are delayed until 8:30 a.m. Students who can arrange for their own transportation arrive to school then. Buses run their regular routes so that no parent is inconvenienced and deliver students to the school at 7:40 a.m. Upon their arrival they are supervised by administrative and noninstructional staff in a variety of optional activities (such as breakfast, library and computer research, open gym, study halls, and tutorials) until classes begin. To make up for the twenty-five minutes of lost instructional time, five minutes is trimmed from five of the eight fifty-minute class periods. The school day ends at the usual time (3:25 in the afternoon), and again buses run on their regular schedules. Because they began work fifteen minutes early (7:30 rather than 7:45), Stevenson teachers are free to leave fifteen minutes earlier than the normal conclusion of their workday (3:30 rather than 3:45). By making these minor adjustments to the schedule one day each week, the entire faculty is guaranteed an hour of collaborative planning without extending their workday or workweek by a single minute.
Page 1 of Adapted from DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work (2nd ed., pp. 125127) 2006, 2010 Solution Tree Press 2
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2 |
Re p ro duci bl E
Shared Classes
Combine students across two different grade levels or courses into one class for instruction. While one teacher or team instructs the students, the other team engages in collaborative work. The teams alternate instructing and collaborating to provide equity in learning time for students and teams. Some schools coordinate shared classes so older students adopt younger students and serve as literacy buddies, tutors, and mentors during shared classes.
Group Activities, Events, and Testing

Teams of teachers coordinate activities that require supervision of students rather than instructional expertise, such as watching an instructional DVD or video, conducting resource lessons, reading aloud, attending assemblies, or testing. Nonteaching staff members supervise students while teachers engage in team collaboration.
Banked Time
Over a designated period of days, extend the instructional minutes beyond the required school day. After you have banked the desired number of minutes, end the instructional day early to allow for faculty collaboration and student enrichment. For example, in a middle school, the traditional instructional day ends at 3:00 p.m., students board buses at 3:20, and the teachers contractual day ends at 3:30. The faculty may decide to extend the instructional day until 3:10. By teaching an extra ten minutes for nine days in a row, they bank ninety minutes. On the tenth day, instruction stops at 1:30, and the entire faculty has collaborative team time for two hours. The students remain on campus and are engaged in clubs, enrichment activities, assemblies, and so on, sponsored by a variety of parent and community partners and cosupervised by the schools nonteaching staff.
In-Service and Faculty Meeting Time

Schedule extended time for teams to work together on staff development days and during faculty meeting time. Rather than requiring staff to attend a traditional whole-staff in-service session or sit in a faculty meeting while directives and calendar items are read aloud, shift the focus and use of these days and meetings so members of teams have extended time to learn with and from each other.
For more ideas on making time for collaboration from successful PLC schools, visit allthingsplc.info and select Evidence of Effectiveness.
Page 2 of Adapted from DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work (2nd ed., pp. 125127) 2006, 2010 Solution Tree Press
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Barth, R. 2006. Improving relationships within the schoolhouse. Educational Leadership. Vol 63, number 6. Pp 8-13.
PUBLICATIONS
March 2006 | Volume 63 | Number 6 Improving Professional Practice Pages 8-13 Improving Relationships Within the Schoolhouse Roland S. Barth Relationships among educators within a school range from vigorously healthy to dangerously competitive. Strengthen those relationships, and you improve professional practice.
March 2006
One incontrovertible finding emerges from my career spent working in and around schools: The nature of relationships among the adults within a school has a greater influence on the character and quality of that school and on student accomplishment than anything else. If the relationships between administrators and teachers are trusting, generous, helpful, and cooperative, then the relationships between teachers and students, between students and students, and between teachers and parents are likely to be trusting, generous, helpful, and cooperative. If, on the other hand, relationships between administrators and teachers are fearful, competitive, suspicious, and corrosive, then these qualities will disseminate throughout the school community. In short, the relationships among the educators in a school define all relationships within that school's culture. Teachers and administrators demonstrate all too well a capacity to either enrich or diminish one another's lives and thereby enrich or diminish their schools. Schools are full of what I call nondiscussablesimportant matters that, as a profession, we seldom openly discuss. These include the leadership of the principal, issues of race, the underperforming teacher, our personal visions for a good school, and, of course, the nature of the relationships among the adults within the school. Actually, we do talk about the nondiscussablesbut only in the parking lot, during the car pool, and at the dinner table. That's the definition of a nondiscussable: an issue of sufficient import that it commands our attention but is so incendiary that we cannot discuss it in polite societyat a faculty or PTA meeting, for example. (For more on this topic, see m y article The Culture Builder in the May 2002 issue of Educational Leadership.) Consequently, the issues surrounding adult relationships in school, like other nondiscussables, litter the schoolhouse floor, lurking like land mines, with trip wires emanating from each. We cannot take a step without fear of losing a limb. Thus paralyzed, we can be certain that next September, adult relationships in the school will remain unchanged. School improvement is impossible when we give nondiscussables such extraordinary power over us.
Reprinted with permission. The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development is a worldwide community of educators advocating sound policies and sharing best practices to achieve the success of each learner. To learn more, visit ASCD at www.ascd.org.
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Relationships in Schools So let's discuss the elephant in the room the various forms of relationships among adults within the schoolhouse. They might be categorized in four ways: parallel play, adversarial relationships, congenial relationships, and collegial relationships. Parallel Play Parallel play, a wonderful concept from the preschool literature, is thought to be a primitive stage of human development through which 2- and 3-year-olds soon pass on their way to more sophisticated forms of interaction. To illustrate, imagine two 3-year-olds busily engaged in opposite corners of a sandbox. One has a shovel and a bucket; the other has a rake and a hoe. At no time do they share their tools, let alone collaborate to build a sandcastle. They may inadvertently throw sand in each other's face from time to time, but they seldom interact intentionally. Although in close proximity for a long period of time, each is so self-absorbed, so totally engrossed in what he or she is doing, that the two of them will go on for hours working in isolation. Parallel play offers, of course, a perfect description of how teachers interact at many elementary, middle, and high schools. The term also aptly describes the relationship between one school principal and another whose school is only blocks away. One teacher summed it up with discouraging accuracy: Here, we all live in our separate caves. A playful(?) notice on the wall of a faculty lounge captured it even better: We're all in thisalone. The abiding signature of parallel play in education is the self-contained classroom, with the door shut and a piece of artwork covering that little pane of glass. The cost of concealing what we do is isolation from colleagues who might cause us to examine and improve our practices. Adversarial Relationships I once heard a Boston school principal offer this sage observation: We educators have drawn our wagons into a circle and trained our guns on each other. Adversarial relationships take many forms in schools. Sometimes they are blatant: The 7th grade algebra teacher on one side of the hall lobs a metaphorical hand grenade into the classroom of the 8th grade geometry teacher on the other side, saying to parents, You don't want your child in that classroom. All they do is fool around with blocks. Reciprocal unfriendly fire is returned: You don't want your child in that classroom; it's a grim, joyless place with desks in rows and endless worksheets. One principal concluded his remarks to a large parent group with I thinka slip: Here at John Adams Elementary School, we all live on the bleeding edge. No wonder so many teachers engage in parallel play. Barricaded behind their classroom doors, they escape the depleting conflicts so rampant among the adults outside. More often, we educators become one another's adversaries in a more subtle wayby withholding. School people carry around extraordinary insights about
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their practiceabout discipline, parental involvement, staff development, child development, leadership, and curriculum. I call these insights craft knowledge. Acquired over the years in the school of hard knocks, these insights offer every bit as much value to improving schools as do elegant research studies and national reports. If one day we educators could only disclose our rich craft knowledge to one another, we could transform our schools overnight. But I find educators reluctant to make these gold nuggets available to others. Sadly, when one educator persists in repeating the failures of the past while another next door has great success, everyone loses. When a teacher does place value on what she knows and musters up the courage and generosity of spirit to share an important learningI've got this great idea about how to teach math without ability-grouping the kidsa common response from fellow teachers is, Big deal. What's she after, a promotion? Regrettably, as a profession, we do not place much value on our craft knowledge or on those who share it. Just think. This June, thousands of teachers and principals will retire. With them will go all they have learned over the years, forever lost to the profession. The following September, newcomers will arrive to spend their careers painfully learning what those who just left had already figured out. We also become one another's adversaries through competition. In the cruel world of schools, we become competitors for scarce resources and recognition. One teacher put it this way: I teach in a culture of competition in which teaching is seen as an arcane mystery and teachers guard their tricks like great magicians. The guiding principles of competition are, The better you look, the worse I look, and The worse you look, the better I look. No wonder so many educators root for the failure of their peers rather than assist with their success. Congenial Relationships Fortunately, schools also abound with adult relationships that are interactive and positive. We all see evidence of congeniality in schools. A lot of it seems to center around food: One teacher makes the coffee and pours it for a colleague. Or around the activities of daily living: A principal gives a teacher a ride home so she can care for her sick child. Congenial relationships are personal and friendly. We shouldn't take them lightly; when the alarm rings at 6:00 in the morning, the alacrity with which an educator jumps out of bed and prepares for school is directly related to the adults with whom he or she will interact that day. The promise of congenial relationships helps us shut off that alarm each day and arise. Collegial Relationships Congenial relationships represent a precondition for another kind of adult relationship highly prized by school reformers yet highly elusive: collegiality. Of the four categories of relationships, collegiality is the hardest to establish. Famous baseball manager Casey Stengel once muttered, Getting good players is easy. Getting 'em to play together is the hard part. Schools are full of good players. Collegiality is about getting them to play together, about growing
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a professional learning community.1 When I visit a school and look for evidence of collegiality among teachers and administratorssigns that educators are playing togetherthe indicators I seek are

Educators talking with one another about practice. Educators sharing their craft knowledge. Educators observing one another while they are engaged in practice. Educators rooting for one another's success.
Creating a Culture of Collegiality The good schools in which I've worked and observed have replaced parallel play and adversarial relationships among adults with congenial and collegial relationships. Let me offer a few examples of what I have seen teachers and other school leaders do to create a culture of collegiality in their schools. Talking About Practice I once had an appointment with a teacher in the faculty lounge. On the way in, I noted a sign on the door that read, No students allowed in the faculty room. It seemed a bit unfriendly, but I remembered during my days as a teacher needing a few moments of fire-free time. When I asked the teacher about the sign, she said, That's the written rule in this teachers' room. What's the unwritten rule? I asked. She replied, No talking about teaching in the faculty lounge. Regretfully, I find that unwritten rule firmly in place in many teacher and administrator gatherings. A conversation about the Red Sox or the Yankees can be noteworthy and livelyan example of congenial behavior. But a professional learning community is built on continual discourse about our important workconversations about student evaluation, parent involvement, curriculum development, and team teaching. I know one principal who boldly suggested to the faculty that for one week, they try permitting in the faculty lounge only education-related conversation. To everyone's amazement, this simple trial worked, giving permission to teachers and administrators alike to talk about their work. They decided to continue the practice. They banished the Yankees and the Red Sox to the hallways and the parking lotat least until the playoffs! Sharing Craft Knowledge In some schools, a typical meeting begins with a participant or two sharing a front-burner issue about which they have recently learned something important or useful. A teacher new to the school might explain how students were evaluated in a previous workplace. A parent might share in a PTA meeting an idea about helping children with homework. A principal might share with other principals a new policy about assigning students to classes. Once the exchange of craft knowledge becomes institutionally sanctioned, educators no longer feel pretentious or in violation of a taboo by sharing their insights. A new tabooagainst withholding what we knowreplaces the old.
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Repeated practice soon embeds generous disclosure of craft knowledge into the culture of a school or a school system. Observing One Another Perhaps no practice evokes more apprehension among educators than the prospect of one of our peers camping out in the back of our classroom for a few hours and watching us engage in the difficult art of teaching. Another unwritten rule in most schools seems to be, If you want to see me, come in before school, during recess, at lunchtime, or after school. If you come in and plunk yourself down while I am teaching, you die! I used to think this was a message only parents received. But I now see that we educators telegraph it to one another as well. Making our practice mutually visible will never be easy, because we will never be fully confident that we know what we're supposed to be doing and that we're doing it well. And we're never quite sure just how students will behave. None of us wants to risk being exposed as incompetent. Yet there is no more powerful way of learning and improving on the job than by observing others and having others observe us. In one school I know, the principal and a few teachers wanted to do away with the taboo against observing in one another's workspaces. They decided to hold each faculty meeting in the classroom of a different teacher. The host teacher devoted the first 10 minutes to a show-and-tell: Here is my reading area. Here is my science corner, and these are student projects on the weather. In two years' time, everyone had observed the sacred space of everyone else and had in turn been observed in their own space. Follow-up conversations often ensued: When I was in your classroom last week, you mentioned your work with cooperative learning. Can you tell me more? Such mild observations reduce the anxiety surrounding visits that probe a teacher's practices. But general, unfocused bathing in one another's classrooms usually yields only modest results. Deeper and more instructive peer observations emerge when both parties forge an agreement beforehand. Elements of an effective contract might include some of the following: Our visits will be reciprocal. You visit me this week; I visit you next week. What we see and say will be confidential, between us. We will decide together, beforehand, just what I will attend to during the visitfor instance, how you are handling two students with attention deficit disorder. We will agree on the day, time, and length of the visit. We will have a conversation afterward to discuss our observations and share our learning. These contracts increase the ownership of mutual observation, reduce the fear surrounding it, and increase the likelihood of worthwhile learning. Nonetheless, as a principal, I found that creating a school culture in which mutual visits were commonplace was enormously difficult. So I created an array of carrots and sticks, each intended to address the litany of reasons why we can't possibly do this:
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Time: I'll cover for you or get a sub. Administrative fiat: Before March 31, I expect each of you to observe for one half-day in the classroom of each teacher to whom you might be sending students next year. It does make a difference with which teacher we place Johnny in September. Social pressure: A chart on the wall of the faculty room noted who had and hadn't yet observed. But still nothing happened. Parallel play continued to rule. Finally, one teacher observed in a faculty meetingwith a bit of hostility, I thought!Well, Roland, when was the last time we saw another principal observing you running a faculty meeting?
Well, duh! As the bumper sticker states so well, You can't lead where you won't go! So at the next faculty meeting, a neighboring principal sat at the back of the room. At the conclusion of the meeting, she shared her observations and compared the meeting with faculty meetings at her own school. Then two teachers and I visited her school, observed its faculty meeting, and offered our observations. The logjam was broken. Mutual classroom observations began. You can lead where you will go. Rooting for One Another All too common in our profession is widespread awareness of a fellow educator in trouble: the principal under siege from a group of parents, or a beginning teacher being worked over by a tough classroom of kids. We monitor the situation from afar as another person is hung out to dryand we do nothing. Imagine, on the other hand, a school in which all 32 teachers not only are aware of the punishment that you are experiencing at the hands of those difficult students but also offer to help. To take a youngster or two into their own classes. To invite you into their classrooms so you can observe them handling these same students. To meet with you after school to reflect on the day and help plan the next. To share manipulative curriculum materials capable of engaging students with a short attention span. Imagine each of these 32 teachers being vitally interested in the current frontburner issue of every other teacher. One teacher might be working on integrating language and social studies instruction. Another might be working on multi-age grouping. Colleagues put relevant articles into your mailbox. Others share effective practices from other schools in which they have worked. Everyone on the faculty periodically asks how things are going and what they can do to help. I suspect that every one of us would give a lot to work in this school. What School Leaders Can Do Leadership has been delightfully defined as the ability to foster consequential relationships. Easier said than done. To promote collegial relationships in the school, someone has to make relationships among adults a discussable. Someone must serve as a minesweeper, disarming those landmines. I can
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think of no more crucial role for any school leader. What else can a school leader do to promote a culture of collegiality within the schoolhouse? Researcher Judith Warren Little found that school leaders foster collegiality when they State expectations explicitly. For instance, I expect all of us to work together this year, share our craft knowledge, and help one another in whatever ways we can. Model collegiality. For instance, visibly join in cheering on others or have another principal observe a faculty meeting. Reward those who behave as colleagues . For instance, grant release time, recognition, space, materials, and funds to those who collaborate. Protect those who engage in these collegial behaviors . A principal should not say, for instance, Janet has a great idea that she wants to share with us today. This sets Janet up for a possible harsh response. Rather, the principal might say, I observed something in Janet's classroom last week that blew my socks off, and I've asked her to share it with us. In this way, leaders can run interference for other educators. A precondition for doing anything to strengthen our practice and improve a school is the existence of a collegial culture in which professionals talk about practice, share their craft knowledge, and observe and root for the success of one another. Without these in place, no meaningful improvementno staff or curriculum development, no teacher leadership, no student appraisal, no team teaching, no parent involvement, and no sustained change is possible.
Empowerment, recognition, satisfaction, and success in our workall in scarce supply within our schoolswill never stem from going it alone as a masterful teacher, principal, or student, no matter how accomplished one is. Empowerment, recognition, satisfaction, and success come only from being an active participant within a masterful groupa group of colleagues. Endnote 1 For my thinking about collegiality, I am deeply indebted to the work of Judith Warren Little: School Success and Staff Development in Urban Desegregated Schools (Center for Action Research, 1981) and Norms of Collegiality and Experimentation (Education Research Journal, 1982). Editor's note: This paper is based on the 11th Annual William Charles McMillan III Lecture, delivered by the author at Grosse Pointe Academy, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, March 2, 2005. Roland S. Barth (rsb44@aol.com) is a former public school teacher and principal and Founding Director of the Principals' Center at Harvard University. He is author of Lessons Learned: Shaping Relationships and the Culture of the Workplace (Corwin Press, 2003).
Copyright 2006 by Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
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Gibson-Langford, L and Laycock, D. October 2007. So they can fly building a community of inquirers. Presentation at ACEL/ASCD National Conference. Sydney, Australia.
So they can fly building a community of inquirers

Linda Gibson-Langford & Di Laycock Collaboration is a promising mode of human engagement but in order to become more than a passing fad a theoretical structure and framework are needed to guide individuals and groups towards successful collaboration (John-Steiner 1992). John-Steiner cautioned us over a decade ago to consider the framework in which to enable collaboration to be all it can be, while Fullan (1999) has written evocatively on the meaning of collaboration as a force for renewal; a force for change. Their wisdom, for the most part, has not been integrated into successful structures and processes that facilitate the transformation of teachers' learning communities from knowledge confusion to knowledge fusion. If we are willing to heed the lessons of collaboration, then the reimaging of schools as knowledge-oriented cultures, as collaborative cultures, is ready to soar with a little help from Web 2.0 social technologies. This paper will explore the notion of collaboration as a deeper concept than the more superficial enactment of working together in cooperative partnerships. It will consider the factors that work against a deeper commitment to the collaborative process and suggest a framework for developing a community of practice - a community in which collaboration is fundamental to innovation and change. The paper will situate collaboration in a knowledge construction environment, on the premise that a knowledgebased community is a collaborative community. Finally, acknowledging the doctrine of shared creation as posited by Schrage (1995), this paper will provide an example of a community of practice developed along guidelines that ensure cognitive and affective concerns are fundamental in building a knowledge-oriented culture - a collaborative culture.
Collaboration - shared creation

Collaboration is a powerful force - a promising mode - for human engagement. For Michael Schrage (1990 p6), it is 'an act of shared creation and / or shared discovery' involving significant cognitive involvement including the acceptance of others in contributing toward the creation of shared 1
Reprinted with permission.
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understanding. He emphasizes, as a critical factor in collaborative cultures, that collaboration is a process of shared creation generated within a shared space; that part of working together when talking turns to innovative thinking and change. Whether the shared space be virtual or physical, without it, he warns, shared creation is lost. As Avery (2006) notes,... collaboration doesn't happen in a vacuum. It happens about or on something and that something is the shared space. Collaboration has earned a popular culture status in our contemporary world of unbounded social networks filled with promises of generative knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. Education systems, for example, have promulgated collaboration as the mode in which students and teachers will gain maximum learning and teaching outcomes (see IARTVs Professional development: A great way to avoid change 2004, the New South Wales Institute for Teachers Continuing Professional Development Policy 2005, DET (NSW)s Quality Teaching in New South Wales 2003). Entering the brave and exciting Web 2.0 world of enabling social technologies, the pressure to go collaborative - to get on board, to collaborate or perish - is even stronger. As Thomas Friedman explains (2007 online), 'We are going from a world of vertical silos of command and control to a world where value is created horizontally by who we connect and collaborate with'. By whom we connect and collaborate with! Think about this. Two words - connect, collaborate! One needs the other but which one? You can connect to things without collaborating but you cannot collaborate without connecting. It just does not work! Unless we can learn the lessons of collaboration and get them right, it doesn't matter what technology can offer us. As we jump onto the Web 2.0 bandwagon of social technologies, we should also consider that we have been brought up competitive - to compete, to get the best results, to have the brightest ideas, to hoard our best practices and to copyright everything we have ever given out (Todd 1999). Not only does the flat earth concept put pressure on us to go global but it also forces us into knowledge commons where what we know can potentially be owned by anyone. Today we are teachers and leaders in a copyleft world of open
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learning spaces, open communication modes, open sharing opportunities and - who owns what anyway! But let's get serious here. Collaboration is a deeper concept than hooking into the nearest blog, sharing ideas on a forum, jointly planning an assessment task or transferring information from me to you. It has a deep intellectual and emotional edge. It relies on the art of transforming tacit knowledge (that which is buried deep inside each person) into explicit knowledge (that which can readily be documented) and this relies on relationships (Nonaka & Takeuchi 1995; Prusak 1997, Tsoukas 1996)! Relationships centre on people - the one commonality across any interpretation of collaboration. Little people! Big people! Pimply-faced people! Plugged in people! Unplugged people! Bookish people! Myspace people! Facebook people! People! The funny thing about people is that every single person wants to know something yet at the same time wants to rely on their own thinking and ideas and opinions. Every single person wants to share their knowledge in some way; yet they also want to protect their ideas for a number of reasons of which fear of ridicule is often cited as the more pressing (Gibson-Langford 2006). Herein lies an important lesson wrapped around two powerful words - human emotion; the heart of collaboration. Sensitivity is required in order to discern the difference between collaboration and its shallow partner, cooperation and this requires partnerships steeped in empathy.
Collaboration - lessons to learn

Cooperation or collaboration? Mistakenly enacted as collaboration, we tend to plunge headlong into cooperative partnerships with colleagues, assuming we can collaborate because we have something to share. In our endeavours to cultivate the collaborative ground, so needed to transform our deeply buried knowledge into a generative and creative sharing of ideas, we fail to focus on human emotions as we develop structures and processes for professedly bringing the dynamism of learning together. We fail to develop that deeper insight necessary in leveraging our colleagues' professional knowledge; we fail
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to be sensitive to the collaborative moment. In fact, so often we confuse collaboration with what Perkins (2003) coins coblaboration [co-blab-oration] characterised by chaotic patterns of conversations such as over talking, talking because we are near someone, giving information, repeating the obvious for the sake of being social, groupthink or at best, dialogue with no action or new ideas being generated and trialled. Teachers learn best in a social context. As identified in the research into how teachers' learning communities create, share and use knowledge (GibsonLangford 2006), it was clear that teachers want to make sense of ideas, to construct real meaning from the information they are viewing, hearing and reading; they want to share, create and use their knowledge; they want to talk - to communicate, to participate in critical dialogue, to cross that first intersection from independence to interdependence toward shared creation. Crossing that first intersection, turning down a different avenue, trying a different boulevard - that's risk taking for many teachers! Thus, the quality of that first experience will in turn determine if the collaborative moment is alive, transforming the relationship from coblaboration to cooperative sharing to collaborative intent. Unfortunately, as Huberman notes (1993, p34), despite this desire to collaborate, the co-operative work amongst teachers is sparse because collaborative planning and execution [are] not grafted onto a pre-existing web of dense social interactions. For teachers to move from coblaboration to collaboration requires planned structures and processes that are dedicated to facilitating shared creation. They need, as Schrage (1995) describes, a table napkin on which to outline, imagine, design, change and work on ideas that matter to each partner. In schools, this requires a belief in teachers' knowledge as valued and valuable (Hord 1997). It requires a safe crossing of that first intersection toward the sizzling potential of shared creation. That collaboration requires an element of safety begs the question 'Are there rules enabling successful negotiating of that first intersection?' Perhaps there are no rules but certainly there are guiding principles in transforming a person's tacit knowledge into community knowledge. The literature tells us that collaboration is about community growing and that community growing 4
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is based on common principles of engagement (Senge 1990; Shaw 1999). At the intersection between independence and interdependence, there is that quintessential moment where community building and knowledge building intertwine and collective capacity develops as the community grows (GibsonLangford 2007 in press).
To firstly understand
As discussed previously, before we can benefit from the richness that a collaborative culture offers, we need to be sensitive to our colleagues as well as to ourselves. We need to understand that colleagues do not want us teaching to them, we do not want colleagues teaching to us. Ideally the boundary between the creation and sharing of knowledge is blurred with egos being subsumed for the greater good. With the understanding that human behaviour is pivotal to the concept of collaboration, we need to focus on the quality of our social interactions and herein lies the hardest part of the collaborative journey. As noted earlier, collaboration requires dense social interactions. against If the organisational structure of the school does not work silos, an organisation-wide mentality that is knowledge
counterproductive to the sharing of knowledge (McHugh 2002), the journey toward a collaborative culture will be thwarted. Perhaps if collaboration was thought of as an art, it would be given serious consideration as a force in shaping the processes and structures in learning communities. It would be regarded as the highest form of human engagement supported by a charter that frees it from destructive and debilitating elements such as groupthink and manipulation as well as from the disconnection and incoherence that arises from poor communication structures. It would be free from the crunch of time stacking up against the drive for productivity (Fullan 1999). It would be understood, not as a how thing but as an empathy thing, a faith thing, a trust thing, a genuinely mutual respect thing - as shared creation (Senge 1992, Schrage 1995). In its purest sense, collaboration is what we humans should be capable of building into our social experiences through sensitivities to and deep
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understandings of, the conditions/principles that lead to the transformation of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. however, is not. What seems simple to enact,
The knowledge reservoir - at capacity or incapacitated?

What then constitutes a collaborative culture? Leonard-Barton envisaged
collaborative cultures as knowledge reservoirs where tacit knowledge transforms to explicit knowledge on a continuous and renewing basis; where the flow of ideas form wellsprings 'constantly replenished with streams of new ideas constituting an ever-flowing source of corporate [school] renewal' (1995, p3). This ideal of corporate renewal rests on successful processes and structures that encourage and reward shared creation, the central tenet of learning communities (Senge 1992, Shaw 1999). In schools, teachers are also learners - they have to be. Whether learning experiences are outside the workplace or within, whether teachers work in close proximity to each other or through the myriad of digital opportunities offered, without a deep analysis of the processes of collaboration, the transformation of knowledge from the personal to the explicit remains at best a cooperative transfer of information with no generative or creative input into the school's knowledge reservoir. Until such time as we learn the lessons of collaboration, we will continue to teach in cultures that express the dynamics of collaboration as cooperation and collegiality. Whether we are Web 2.0 savvy or remain in our traditional hierarchical structures, professional knowledge will continue to remain buried deep inside each teacher. Dewey (1915) passed the baton up the years, Vygotsky (1978) transformed our understanding of how we learn with his emphasis on knowledge construction, business re-imaged our thinking about schools as learning communities and now our digital natives are more influenced through collaborative learning: they seemed to have learned the lessons we are still struggling to learn. Can we re-image the workplace as a knowledge-oriented culture of shared spaces through integrating social technologies and face to face learning, being mindful of the
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lessons in developing a collaborative community? Can we break through the geographically isolated work units and begin to develop those dense social interactions that are the precursors for a strong and vibrant knowledgeoriented culture? Can we replace the knowledge silos with a school-wide knowledge reservoir?
Theoretical structure and framework

Research on teachers' learning communities (Gibson-Langford 2006) clearly identified the development of a collaborative culture as having deep intellectual and affective dimensions. It sustained the notion that a collaborative culture is deeply rooted in empathy, giving rise to a community of dialogue, which actively works against forces such as groupthink and hierarchical decision making. It endorsed the enactment of deep collaboration as a foundation for not only refreshing the community's wellspring of knowledge but in strengthening community capacity through: the knowledge, skills, norms, habits and values necessary to adapt, renew, rethink and inform [through] sustained, rigorous enquiry and dialogue with curious and committed colleagues leading to informed strategic thinking and action. In short, it [building community capacity/ knowledge flows/] is the enactment of a learning community Shaw (1999, p150). The research, underpinned by the notion that knowledge creation and knowledge sharing is a mutual quest for shared creation, emphasised the position of the individual in collaborative cultures as having little regard for promotion of self and full regard for promotion of the community as a knowledge-oriented culture. Establishing CAR-TL lessons learnt In working towards the development of a knowledge-oriented community, the journey of collaboration was deeply felt by both authors. We shared a belief in evidence-based practice as being vital to our professional engagement in learning and teaching. Guided by the literature focused on collaborative communities, we posited that a community of practice will evolve if teachers experience working in a knowledge-oriented community. We envisaged our
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community as being constructed in such a way that each member would find their own wings to fly. Using the analogy of the barnyard duck leaping a foot or two into the air in an attempt to join the wild migrating birds (SaintExupery2002, p108), we believed that we could grow a collaborative community through applying guiding principles of knowledge creation and knowledge sharing (Gibson-Langford 2006). This gave us a theoretical framework on which to build the community, one that recognised both affective and cognitive dimensions of human engagement (see Appendix 1 Table 1). CAR-TL Named the Community of Action Researchers - Teacher Librarians (CAR-TL), our community's purpose was to explore, engage in and enjoy action research with the intention of developing intuitive knowledge of practice into intentional evidence-based practice. The notion of shared creation (Schrage 1995) would be pivotal to our construction of this community of researchers because at the back of our minds hung Schrage's (in Connor 2000-2004, online) comment that the properties of the shared space shape the quality of the collaboration'. We adopted a clearly defined set of rules governing the shape of the shared space (see Appendix 2 Groundwater-Smith and Sachs). As the community co-ordinators - the lynch-pin to the successful 'planning, building, launching and nurturing [of] virtual learning communities' Nussbaum-Beach (2007 online) - we needed to ensure that our leadership of the community was itself based upon a genuine collaborative relationship (Perkins 2003). Expressions of interest to join the community were called for and to our surprise we had replies from across Australia as well as internationally. This seemed a clear indication that teachers want to share and want to create knowledge when moral purpose is strong. But now we seriously needed to consider the question What type of shared space will enable shared creativity/ shared discovery for a community that crosses geographical borders and time zones?'
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Lesson 1 Constructing the communitys infrastructure Schrage (in Connor 2000-2004, online) cautions that the infrastructure for developing a collaborative environment needs to be tactically and strategically managed. Consequently, and encapsulating Gibson-Langford's (2006) findings that teachers like to learn together through informal knowledge creation and sharing opportunities characterised by critical dialogue, frequent feedback, critical reflection and appreciative behaviours, we were encouraged to consider a variety of digital and real life environments. We chose a mix of Web 2.0 social technologies and real life events where members could share ideas, comment on each others work, share images, listen to interviews, upload resources and basically contribute to the knowledge pool of the community. We trialled an infrastructure that relied on a wiki, a blog, group email and face to face events in hope that this mix would encourage intellectual discourse and shared creativity, always mindful of the lesson of informality preferred by teacher learners (Gibson-Langford 2006). According to Haythornthwaite et al. (in Johnson 2001 online) 'the use of a variety of Internet technologies simultaneously [will] help minimize [the] ubiquitous problem' in virtual communities of members fading or withdrawing. Well aware that an open community can easily corrupt into coblaboration, we set up a blog as a space for 'chatting' and organised the wiki as a focus of intellectual endeavour. As a more ubiquitous tool for direct communication with our mostly digital migrants, group email was chosen in which to post invitations to face to face events and to assist those in need of supervised support in using the social technologies. Such an offline facility; a social technology at the lowest level of abstraction, was deemed important for individuals as they were able to share their early concerns and build their sense of self-esteem (Gibson-Langford 2006, p199). Just as we perceived the need to create a shared space for the community where 'collaborators must feel free to play at their activities, to explore and to experiment, without the constraints of a more formal commitment to their positions and ideas' (Schrage in Connor 2000-2004, online), we recognised the need to create a similar space for ourselves, outside the CAR-TL
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environment. Because of its versatility, we chose to use another Internet social networking tool to create our shared space. Skype allows synchronous communication via live chat (with text, audio and visual options). The provision of a chat history allowed Skype to become our table napkin and the emoticons, which unbelievably, have the power to express more than words at just the right time, helped us to seek that sense of play, that sense of meaning making, during our deeper conversations. Here, in an environment that grew out of dense social interactions, mutual trust and respect blossomed, rich discussions in which knowledge was shared and created ensued and led to the vision and values on which the community was to be founded. We trialled Google docs as a collaborative writing tool and are convinced that both these social networking tools will also prove invaluable to our community of researchers. Bearing in mind teachers uptake of new ideas is higher depending on the level of abstraction at which they are introduced, all these experiences were critically analysed in terms of the medium and the input/output potential as possible structures to include in our overall infrastructure. Through serious consideration of the infrastructure for shared creativity and through applying guiding principles in developing collaboration, our community began to fly. Lesson 2 Not everything happens to plan Sending an invitation to join in a community does not guarantee participation and even if it did, there is still no guarantee that the participation will be collaborative rather than coblaborative. Our blog was the first technology to be jettisoned. Despite our purposeful designing of our community to include a place for chit-chat, we found that our members were gravitating to our wiki space, perhaps because this is where their intellectual artefacts were housed. The informal structure of the wiki could serve as an information commons, where resources are shared across a community, or as a knowledge commons, where the knowledge of the community is not only created but shared. The wiki has now become our communitys main communication and working tool, once again supporting the principles of knowledge creation and
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knowledge sharing in that the wiki has been accepted by our members as their knowledge commons. They respect their wiki as a non-threatening environment where they can view others work in progress, make critical comment, add value through helping each other problem-solve, whilst at the same time take advantage of the open pathways for critical dialogue, reflection, praise and a bit of chit-chat. The entire environment of research creates, for many teachers, a sense of trepidation. Of the twenty-nine members who initially professed a commitment to the community, considerably fewer actively developed their member pages, while many lurked or never did enter the wiki zone. This lack of involvement is something we understand as part of the developing phase of a collaborative culture. The notion that teachers must feel safe, must feel that they have something to contribute, must be able to access ideas at the lowest level of abstraction is well documented in the literature, as is the need for teachers to de-privatise their practice (Louis, Kruse & Marks 1996): hence the decision to choose, as our main medium for shared creativity, our wiki. We were also aware that we needed to continue to encourage our less public members and hence we included several face to face events as well as simply supporting the individual via email. Johnson (2001, online) indicates that a face-to-face component in communities of practice is essential 'especially for initial contact between members and to maintain rapport between members in a web-based environment that often runs the risk of becoming impersonal. It is also noted that some of those that committed to the community but have failed to engage with it, did so possibly out of an eagerness to be involved or to be recognised as part of a community of researchers. Our response thus far is to understand, to encourage, and to remain patient as these members eventually buy in or choose to leave, thus giving support for the understanding that collaboration begins with a big measure of empathy. Lesson 3 Serious Play At the heart of knowledge-oriented cultures is an appreciation of human nature. Consequently we felt the need to infuse the community with a sense of
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play - a sense of fun - as an important ingredient in the human experience toward understanding; in bringing knowledge out into the open. At one of our face to face events, therefore we presented our motif, in the form of a wooden duck, to each participant. It was a surprise that brought smiles to all of us. We began to see duck images populating members' pages and indeed saw evidence of their duck's pride of position in their offices - a symbol, perhaps, of their determination to fly. Play comes into its own as a powerful socialising process for not only making sense of experiences (the internalisation process of knowledge creation) but as a way of combining new ideas with prior understandings to develop better insight and deeper knowledge. Within the wiki, we uploaded meaningful images, stories and podcasts to engage members through playing, through doing and through reflection in hope that such activities would empower them to lead discussions, demonstrate an exciting idea or share their writing. Increasingly, as this happens, the individual voice in our community is becoming as valuable as the collective voice. Serious play is also a motive behind planning our forthcoming annual weekend residential research retreat at a location free from the interruptions of daily life; interruptions that all too often blunt our intellectual edge and stifle the flow of creative juices. With the bush at our front door, the retreat will interlace a number of informal, but intensive workshops led by our researcher-in-residence with periods of camaraderie over a glass of wine and a chocolate or two. Lesson 4 Tyranny of time Throughout the development of the community, we have been conscious to ensure that our teachers receive timely and critical feedback, an important principle in developing a collaborative culture, whether online or other. We have modelled our own discourse in the wiki - clearly articulating our thoughts, our changes of plan and even our disagreements to demonstrate the creative abrasion so necessary for innovative thinking.
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We also appreciate the tyranny of time for our members and so we have set no deadlines in which our members must have, for example, their research question developed or their research proposal completed. As long as they are committed to the learning of each other, their membership in our community is welcome and valued. The openness of our online community allows teachers to dip and dive when the time is right for them. It gives us a sense of warm amusement to see our teachers getting really active over two days and then disappear for weeks. Like the migrating duck, we know they will return with new ideas and ready to share again. And the wonder of it all... The critical dialogue between members is producing what Nussbaum-Beach (2007 online) refers to as knowledge capital where 'the community becomes a sort of an online brain trust, representing a highly varied accumulation of expertise'. In our community, the development of a brains trust has resulted in the beginnings of a flat community. At the inset, the coordinators initially set up the structures for bringing together a coherent and connected community, provided resources, encouraged participation and interaction. Now the members, feeling respected and empowered, and using their wings to fly are now perhaps taxiing across the knowledge pool, preparing for their first flight.
Conclusion
Collaboration is a deep intellectual and emotional endeavour. It draws it strength through structures and processes that transform tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. enriching zone of It empowers a community of learners to enter an shared creation/ shared discovery through an
understanding that collective capacity relies on the leveraging of tacit knowledge in a spirit of co-creation of knowledge for the greater good: the schools knowledge pool. Learning is an outcome of collaboration and hence the more emphasis on the social nature of learning and the cultivation of a spirit of inquiry, the greater chance that collaboration will foster innovative thinking. Sergiovanni, in describing communities, remarks that:
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If our aim is to help students become lifelong learners by cultivating a spirit of inquiry and the capacity for inquiry, then we must provide the same conditions for teachers (1996, p52). A strong collaborative culture will ensure that leaders invest in the structures that focus on socially shared learning, where each teacher is supported emotionally and intellectually, where unsafe ideas can be expressed in a safe environment, where teachers work interdependently, where a knowledge pool replaces knowledge silos and where teachers feel and are valued for what they know. The lessons learnt from our establishing of CAR-TL are transportable to a school community in that the infrastructure for creating and sharing knowledge rests on building social relationships through de-privatising teachers' work and developing structures that incorporate a mix of communication media to enable critical dialogue, feedback, encouragement, appreciative behaviours, reflective practice. Oh yes, and of course it rests 0n the nurturing of sensitivities to the collaborative moment! Collaboration is a powerful force. It is worthy of intense analysis because it has the potential to change the way in which teachers create, share and use their knowledge. It brings to the surface a belief in each teacher that what they know is valuable to the learning community. It is the flight path toward a knowledge-oriented school.
References
Avery, C 2006, Shared space supports collaboration for innovation, in Christopher Averys Blog 2007, viewed 8 September 2007, <http://www.christopheravery.com/blog/shared-space-supportscollaboration-for-innovation/> Connor, M 2000-2004, Our shared playground: An interview with Michael Schrage, viewed 12 September 2007, <http://linezine.com/3.1/features/msmcosp.htm> Department of Education & Training (NSW), 2003, Quality teaching in NSW public schools: Starting the discussion, Professional Support and Curriculum Directorate, Ryde, NSW. Dewey, J 1915, The school and society, 2nd edn. University of Chicago, Chicago. 14
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Friedman, T 2007, FlatPlanet Project, viewed 4 May 2007, <http://flatplanetproject.com/about/> Fullan, M 1999, Change forces: The sequel, Falmer Press, London. Gibson-Langford, L 2006, How do teachers create, share and use knowledge: A case study, unpublished thesis, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW. Gibson-Langford, L 2007, Collaboration force or forced? in press Scan Groundwater, S & Mockler, N 2005, Desiderata for Practioner research, AARE Conference Hargreaves, D 1999, The knowledge creating school. In British Journal of Educational Studies, 47,2, pp. 122 - 144. Hord, S1997, Professional learning communities: Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin, TX. Huberman, M 1993, The model of the independent artisan. In Teachers work: Individuals, colleagues and contexts, eds. J. Little & M. McLaughlin. Teachers College Press, NY, pp. 30-37. Incorporated Association of Registered Teachers of Victoria (IARTV) 2004, Professional development: A great way to avoid change, IARTV Seminar Series Paper 140, December. John-Steiner, V 1992, 'Creative lives, creative tension', Creativity Research Journal, 5,1, pp. 99108. Johnson, C 2001, A survey of current research on online communities of practice, Internet and Higher Education, 4, pp. 4560. Leonard-Barton, D 1995, Wellsprings of knowledge: Building and sustaining the sources of innovation, Harvard Business School, Boston. Louis, K, Kruse, S & Marks, H 1996, Schoolwide professional community. In Authentic achievement: Restructuring schools for intellectual quality, F.M. Newmann et al. (eds.), Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, pp. 181-183; pp 179-203. McHugh, J 2002, Knowledge management, new product development and nonprofit publishing, viewed 18 September 2007, http://www.asaecenter.org/PublicationsResources/whitepaperdetail.cfm? ItemNumber=12231 Nussbaum-Beach, S 2007, Virtual communities as a canvas of educational reform, in Techlearning Blog 2007, viewed 13 September 2007,
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<http://www.techlearning.com/blog/2007/07/virtual_communities_as_a _canva_1.php> New South Wales Institute of Teachers 2005, Continuing Professional Development Policy [confidential draft for restricted circulation], Sydney. Nonaka, I & Takeuchi, H 1995, The knowledge-creating company, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Perkins, D 2003, King Arthur's Round Table: How collaborative conversations create smart organizations, John Wiley & Son, Hoboken, NJ. Prusak, L 1997, Knowledge in organisations, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston. Saint-Exupery, A 2002, Wind, Sand and Stars, Harcourt, New York. Schrage, M 1990, Shared minds: The new technologies of collaboration, Random House, NY. Schrage, M 1995, No more teams: Mastering the dynamics of creative collaboration, rev. edn., Currency (DoubleDay), NY. Senge, P 1990, The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Currency Doubleday, NY. Senge, P 1992, The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organisation, Random House, Sydney. Shaw, P 1999, Purpose and process in effective learning communities, in J. Retallick, B. Cocklin, & K. Coombe (eds.), Learning communities in education, Routledge, London, pp. 149-170. Sergiovanni, T 1996, Leadership for the schoolhouse, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Todd, R 1999, Knowledge management 4: Towards a community of learning, Scan, 18, 4, pp. 43-46. Tsoukas, H 1996, The firm as a distributed knowledge system: A constructionist approach, Strategic Management Journal, 17 (Winter Special), pp. 11-25. Vygotsky, L 1978, Mind in society, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
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Appendices
Appendix 1 Table 1 Guiding principles for Building Teachers' Learning Community (Linda Gibson-Langford 2006 p. 219)
Knowledge creation Knowledge is created when teachers learn together. Knowledge is created when teachers are involved in critical dialogue. Knowledge is created when teachers further their study. Knowledge is created when teachers are appreciated. Knowledge is created when teachers moral purpose is strong. Knowledge is created through serious play and through reflective practice. Knowledge sharing Teachers prefer to share their knowledge in a social context. Teachers share their knowledge with reflective/ critical friends. Teachers share their knowledge when feedback is frequent and critical. Teachers need time to share their knowledge. Teachers credibility influences how they share their knowledge. Teachers prefer informal structures when sharing their knowledge. Reflective practice enables knowledge sharing. Knowledge use Teachers commit to new ideas that demonstrate relative and economic advantage. Level of abstraction is important to the adoption of new ideas. Teachers adopt new ideas through trialling. Observing new ideas in action influences how teachers use knowledge. Teachers use new ideas that are deemed effective Appendix 2 Desiderata for Practitioner Research
(Susan Groundwater-Smith and Nicole Mockler, AARE Conference 200)
Be prepared for disputation and vigorous debate. Shun the veneer of politeness. Take the time to take risks. Be bold. Trust and be trustworthy. Seek for action which transforms rather than that which reproduces. Remember that there may be more power in critique than in celebration.
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Hickey, A. 2011. "Developing Inquiries." The Changing Face of International Education. Walker, G, ed. Cardiff, Wales. International Bacclaureate Organization.
Developing inquiries
If the culture is to be internationally minded, the minor oeuvres must reflect that mindedness. The oeuvres of the inquiry seem a fitting place to reinforce and develop that major part of the IB culture.
A community of learners
Another feature of Bruners culturism is the interactional tenet. Only a very small part of learning, Bruner argues, takes place in the congenial mould of the omniscient teacher explicitly telling or showing to learners something they know nothing about. The classroom, he insists, must be conceived as a community of learners. This community is a place where learners can and do help each other to learn. If IB classrooms are to be places where students learn, among other things, good judgment, self-reliance and self-motivated work, this concept of a community of learners will need to be articulated and taught across the programmes. The culminating experience should not be individuals asserting their individuality, but rather individuals working together to produce an inquiry that is a result of their communality, an inquiry in which members of a learning community collaborate. This is not collaboration for collaborations sake. Peter Johnston describes the relationship between the learning communitys growth and that of the individual as symbiotic: to become accomplished at individual problem-solving requires the ability to profit from and internalize collaborative problem-solving Students learn how to use the diversity of experience, perspective and intellectual resources to solve problems that arise but also to ratchet forward [their] own intellectual development.8 Christopher Dede would seem to have Bruners community of learners in mind when he argues strongly that schools should provide students with opportunities to collaborate on articulating and addressing together real-life wicked problems that no one profession, discipline or perspective can solve.9 It is worth noting that the DP group 4 science project offers an option for schools to collaborate, and this option is increasingly being taken. In the 21st century the three programme inquiries will probably become collaborative culminating experiences, offering students and schools the opportunity to do something special collaboratively. The PYP exhibition is already doing this, but the personal project and the extended essay are the achievements of individuals. (Of course, one could argue that the personal project and the extended essay demand collaboration with a supervisor and also with the creators of past knowledge, in the same way that Newton claimed he had seen further by standing on the shoulders of giants.) If the future is about collaboration, the inquiries offer the obvious experiences for teaching and learning collaboratively. Before this can be done, however, research is necessary to define what collaboration implies in each of the inquiries.
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Perhaps schools in the 21st century should consider expanding student-led inquiries to be both individual and collaborative. If this kind of learning is to be explicitly valued, time will need to be allocated within the school schedule for the preparation and sharing of inquiries. Currently the personal project and extended essay are in practice add-onshomework that students complete outside of their class schedule. The issue of more and varied inquiries and the sharing and celebration of learning through them might prove the impetus to schools to rethink the four key programme structures Heidi Hayes Jacobs identifies as key to school change in the 21st century: scheduling, how students are grouped, how teachers are allocated, and the use of space, both real and virtual.10 Jerusha Conner supplies evidence to support the importance of Bruners interactional tenet to in-depth inquiries.11 In her study she examines student engagement during the senior high school year in schools offering the IB Diploma Programme, focusing on their engagement with the core project, the extended essay. Conner quotes self-determination theorys central argument that engagement rests in feelings of autonomy, belonging and competence and she argues that these feelings fit with the basic design of the extended essay assignment. Using a mixture of affective, behavioural and cognitive measures, she generated an index of engagement based on self-determination theory. Using this index she found stark differences in student engagement among the schools she studied. Differences in how the schools support and structure student work on the extended essay did not seem to affect engagement, and neither did the age of the IB system at the school or the demographic make-up of the students. The schools with students who were fully engaged in the extended essay, as distinct from not at all engaged or purposefully engaged, were schools that had a cohort culture. Conner describes cohort culture as the attitudes, values, beliefs and practices that students in a particular group negotiate through interaction with one another and in reaction to the requirements and expectations of their institutional context. Exactly as Bruner claims, it is the culture of the learner that determines the learning and values of the learner. Conner concludes that her findings call for a reconsideration of how and from whom students learn not just skills and information but also values, attitudes and practices. Conner concludes her study by, among other things, advising DP coordinators to attend to the student voice and consider how cohort cultures form and change over time. Conners findings are entirely compatible with a contemporary phenomenon closely related to the concept of a community of learners, a phenomenon Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger call communities of practice. Wenger gives a simple definition: Communities of Practice are groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.12 For Wenger a primary focus of learning is social participation. The motivation to become a more central participant in a community of practice can provide a powerful incentive for learning. The PYP exhibition is certainly an example of a
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community of practice. Such communities of practice will, I suggest, become an increasingly significant feature of IB World Schools in the 21st century.
Assessment
Ahead of the Curve, edited by Douglas Reeves, looks at the role of assessment now and in the future. It shows clear indications that formative assessment (assessment for learning) is much more productive in terms of learning than summative assessment (assessment of learning).13 This is particularly so when the summative assessment is expressed only as a grade. The IB has long been a champion of criterion-related assessment and the IB standards have emphasized the need for transparency of the criteria to students as they embark on new learning. However, these criteria are usually judged summatively. At the outset of any inquiry, the assumption should be that the process of the inquiry is more important than the product of the inquiry or the summative grade. The culture of the classroom and the collaboration of the learning community should guarantee that. Formative feedback should encourage the learner to see opportunities for improvement and development, and should give the learner confidence to produce an inquiry that gives a sense of personal ownership and achievement. This sense of achievement should whet learners appetites for learning, ensuring this love of learning will be sustained throughout their lives. The inquiries should be at the core of the IBs goal to inspire lifelong learners. What Reeves does not emphasize is the importance the three IB inquiries place on self-assessment, reflection and reflexivity: learners becoming metacognitive, pulling back from involvement in the act of learning to reflect on the process of thinking and how they know. Kathy Short of the University of Arizona argues that the power of these major inquiries is that the learner is challenged to go beyond familiar strategies of self-assessment and become more reflexive in analysing and critiquing their own thinking and work.14 The need for this metacognition, important as it is for the individuals intellectual development, is reinforced when the inquiry is shared and the learners are accountable and forced to be aware of what they know and dont know. The increasing awareness and understanding of the relevance of metacognition to learning may well be one of the major assessment developments of the 21st century, with students becoming involved in the formal assessment of their own inquiries. It is increasingly argued that effective professional development takes place within a school when teachers look collaboratively at student oeuvres.15 The inquiries could certainly be a focus for teachers professional learning, allowing them to look at student progress and learning over time. A professional post-mortem on the inquiries each year would give teachers and administrators opportunities to analyse the process with the aim of understanding how the learning process can be enhanced.
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Heidi Hayes Jacobs says: It is striking how rarely teachers who share a child over time and over years meet.16 While this may not be accurate in all IB World Schools, it is likely that teachers seldom meet in vertical teams to focus on the culminating inquiries of the programmes. School heads and curriculum coordinators are very concerned about articulation of the curriculum from ages 3 to 18. Perhaps one of the relatively untapped sources for reviewing the curriculum is the in-depth study of the student learning that takes place during the culminating experiences of the programmes, focusing on what this tells us about what is being learned in our schools. Perhaps a system to analyse and study on an annual or biannual basis the process and products of student inquiries from across the programmes would provide a rich source of understanding of what is taught and what is learned in IB World Schools.
New technology
The ease of communication that modern technology has brought could create a real international-mindedness. Teachers and students in IB World Schools could link up with their counterparts in any part of the world. The extended essay on free speech could become a dialogue between Ahmed in Geneva, Janine in Houston and Fatima in Beirut. Not only would students become internationally minded, they would also, through their inquiries, act collaboratively and internationally. In 2010 Beijing International School and Hong Kong Academy have both pioneered the use of technology in presenting their PYP exhibitions online, making them available to the world and inviting virtual participation. Technology for networking and communicating across the wider IB community is already here. The 21st century will certainly bring sharing of the planning and process of the inquiry as well as promoting the products. The programme inquiries will demand that students make use of and develop the so-called new literacies, which include computer literacy, information literacy, media literacy, television literacy and visual literacy.17 The inquiries will demand that students use these literacies to pull their learning into focus, to comprehend, sift and synthesize and then to apply what they have learned to the domain of their choice.
The inquiries will demand that students use new literacies to pull their learning into focus, to comprehend, sift and synthesize and then to apply what they have learned to the domain of their choice.
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Negotiatingthecurriculumwithstudents:a conversationworthhaving
Recentreformsincurriculumencourageteacherstoinvolvestudentsmore closelyindecisionsaboutlearning.KathMurdochandNadineLeMescam suggestsomekeyprinciplestohelpmovethisfromanidealtoapracticalreality intheclassroom.
Humanconversationisthemostancientandeasiestwaytocultivatetheconditionsforchange personalchange,communityandorganizationalchange,planetarychange.Ifwecansittogether andtalkaboutwhatisimportanttous,webegintocometrulyalive. [MargaretJ.Wheatley(2003)inTurningtoOneAnother:Simpleconversationsthatrestorehope tothefuture,BerrettKoelerPublishersInc.,SanFrancisco] Thevalueofincreasingtheroleof studentsindecisionsmadeaboutandfortheirlearningisa persistentthemeinthecurrentdiscourseofeducationalreform.Manyteachersareexploringnew waystogivetheirstudentsastrongervoiceinthelearningconversationthattakesplacein schoolsandthereisplentyofevidencetosuggestsuchinvolvementenhanceslearning.When studentsarereallylistenedto,whentheyarevaluedandincludedinsuchdecisions,theyarefar moreproductiveandmotivated. Researchalsoconfirmstheveryrealdifferencesbetweenlearners,highlightingtheneedto recognisethelearningpreferencesoftheindividual.Ifouraimistonurturestudentsasactive, capableandresponsiblelearners,thenwemustinvitethemintotheteachingandlearning conversationthathastraditionallybeensecretteachersbusiness. Theconceptofnegotiatinglearningisfarfromnew.Welloveradecadeago,thevisionary educator,GarthBoomer,wroteextensivelyonthesubject.Yet,therealityinmostclassrooms remainsalongwayshortofhisideal.Involvingstudentscloselyindecisionmakingsparksa rangeofstrongreactionsfromtheexcitementofpossibility(Iwonderwhatmystudentswilldo withthis?)tothefearoflosingcontrol(Asateacher,whatcanandshouldIdecide?). Newconversationsforsuccess Inrecenttimes,wehaveeachbeenfortunatetoobserveandparticipateinprimaryandmiddle yearsclassroomswhereatleastsomeofthecurriculumisnegotiatedwithstudents.Inthese classrooms,teachersandstudentshavetakenrisksandhavebeguntohavenewkindsof conversations.Here,wesharesomekeyprinciplesdistilledfromthoseexperiences:
KathMurdoch&NadineLeMescam'sarticle'Negotiatingthecurriculumwith students:aconversationworthhaving'firstappearedonpage42inEQAustralia IssueOne,Autumn2006,'TheBigPictureineducation.EQAustraliaisa quarterlymagazinepublishedbyCurriculumCorporationAustralia. www.curriculum.edu.au/eq<http://www.curriculum.edu.au/eq
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Teachersareactivelisteners
Teachersconsciouslyandgenuinelylistento(anddocument)studentsideas,wonderings,stories andexperiences.Suchconversationsmaybeplannedorspontaneousandcanoccurwiththe entireclass,smallgroupsorindividualstudents. Structuressuchasdevelopmentalplayworkshops,smallgrouplearning,orscheduled appointmentsforindividualorgroupconferencescanprovidemoretimeforquality,purposeful conversation.AsoneYear5/6teachersaid,Ilovegettingthechancetotalkwiththekidsabout whattheyaredoing,asindividuals.Inthecrowded,busy,daytodayofteachingyoudontget muchofanopportunitytodothatitsworthit.

Studentsparticipateindecisionmaking
Therearemanytechniquesteacherscanusetoinvitestudentstoparticipateinmakingdecisions aboutwhatandhowtheywilllearn.Findingoutwhatstudentsareinterestedinlearningabout,or inlearningtodo,canprovidefascinatingresponses.Olderstudentsmaybeaskedtoidentify morespecificallythethingsthatinterestorconcernthematapersonal,communityandglobal level.Thisinformationcanbeusedtocreateandinformprograms. Similarly,evenwithinamoreteacherdeterminedenvironment,studentscandevelopquestions orissuesthatinterestthemaboutthattopicparticularlywhentheyareprovidedwith stimulating,handsonexperiencesthatactivatethinkingandwondering.Whenteacherstaketime toobservewhatmotivatesindividuals,theyareoftenamazedbythedepthandbreadthofstudent interests.
Choiceandresponsibilitybeginsearly
Ifwewantourstudentstodevelopasindependentandresponsiblelearners,wemustgivethem plentyofpractice.Providingchoice(evenaboutthesmallestthings,suchaswheretositinthe classroom)buildsimportantdecisionmakingskillsandtellsourstudentsthatwetrustand respectthem. Observingapreschoolenvironment,wherestudentsareoftengivenmanymorechoicesthan thoseatschool,canbeasalutaryreminderofthecapacityevenveryyoungchildrenhaveto managethemselves.Studentswhoareempoweredtocontributetotheconversationabouttheir learningfromtheoutsetbecomehighlyskilledintheprocessastheymovethroughtheschool.

Teacherplanningisinformedbystudentlearning
Whenwethoroughlyplanourday,week,termoryear,wecanfallintothetrapofleavinglittle spaceforthelearningopportunitiesthatariseunexpectedly.Plansneedtoremainflexiblesothat wecanactuponwhatstudentsrevealtousabouttheirneedsandinterests.Itisalltoocommon forteacherstoaskstudents,Whatwouldyouliketofindout?,thenproceedwithwhattheyhad plannedtodoanyway!Whenthishappens,themessageisclearitiswhattheteacherwants thatreallycounts.

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Ofcourse,thoroughplanningisessentialhowever,inthesuccessfulclassroomswehaveseen, teachersregularlyaskthemselvessuchquestionas:Whataremystudentsrevealingtome?How willthisrefinewherewegonext?Howdomyplansneedtobemodified?Thisisconscious, empoweringteaching.

Differentstudentsexploredifferentcontent
Oneofthegreatestblockerstoamoredifferentiatedandstudentcentredpedagogyisthe perceptionthatstudentsneedtobecoveringthesamethingoftenatthesametimeandatthe samespeed. Whilewewouldarguethatnotallcurriculumsshouldorcanbenegotiatedinthisway,the pressureofwhatwehavetocover,andthetimeavailabletodoit,canblindustothepotential ofmoreindependent,variedpathways.Increasingly,curriculumdocumentsidentifybroader, genericskillssuchasthinking,collaboration,communicationthatcanbedevelopedacrossa rangeofcontent. Brittany,aYear6student,reflectsonwhathernegotiatedinquiryhastaughther.Whilethe contentofherinquirywasrich,itisthepersonaldevelopmentthatshinesthroughwhenshesays, ThisinquiryhasgivenmeabetterviewontheworldandIwillbeawholenewMEInow knowIwilllookattheworldthoughadifferentperspective,asifitwereadifferenteyeI wouldliketoknowhowotherstakeintheirunits(topics)andhowtheynowviewtheworld.I wisheveryonecouldhaveabetterperspectiveandlearnwhatIhave.Justimagine
Negotiationiscarefullyscaffoldedandstructured
Inconsideringgreaternegotiationwithstudents,manyteachersworryaboutpotentialchaosor lossofstructureintheclassroom.Fromwhatwehaveexperienced,negotiatingcanbemuch morepurposefulandmeaningfulifstructures,routinesandrecordkeepingaretightlyinplace. Essentialskillssuchasquestioning,timemanagement,selfassessment,decisionmakingand criticalthinkingneedtobeexplicitlymodelledanddiscussed. Inaddition,successfulteachersactivelyworkondispositionsthataccompanyindependence persistence,risktaking,patienceandhavingtheconfidencetoseekassistanceandreceive feedback. SuchskillsanddispositionsareclearinthisreflectionfromaYear6studentwhorevealed,I havefoundmyconfidencehasdeeplyimproved,andIamamazedattheorganisationskillsI havedeveloped.InowfeelconfidentaboutconferencingwithmyteacherandIknowthatI aminterestedinmytopic,andreallyenjoyit.Ithinkitsgreattolearnabout(negotiating) becausewhatyoulearnprettymuchstayswithyouforever.
Teachersandstudentsseethemselvesinnewways
Manyoftheteacherstowhomwehavespokenhaveidentifiedtheprocessoflettinggoas criticaltotheircapacitytotrulyvalueandlistentothevoicesoftheirstudents.Whatarethey
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lettinggoof?Notrigourorstructureasissooftensuggested,theyarerelinquishingtheneedto controlthelearningexperienceandtomakeallthedecisions. Similarly,studentsthemselvesmaynotinitiallyrespondwelltotheinvitation,particularlyifthey havebecomeaccustomedtomostdecisionsbeingmadeforthem.Honestdialogueaboutthese challengesisanimportantpartofmanagingchange. Therewards Allofuswanttofeelvalued,tohaveavoiceandtohaveouropinionsrespectedbyothers.As adults,weusuallyconsideritourrighttobeheardandtohaveasayinmattersthataffectus. Whenthisisdenied,weareleftfeelingdisempowered,unmotivated,distrustfulorevenangry. Similarly,studentshavearighttoparticipateindecisionsabouttheirlearning. Acknowledgingandrespectingthisrightintheclassroomcanrewarduswithlearningoutcomes thatoftenfarexceedourexpectations.Itisdefinitelyaconversationworthhaving.
KathMurdochisanindependentconsultant,authorandafellowoftheUniversityofMelbourne.
NadineLeMescamisateacheratRingwoodHeightsPrimarySchool.
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Planning the inquiry
1. What is our purpose? To inquire into the following:
Class/grade: Title: Build It Teacher(s):
Age group: 7-8 years
transdisciplinary theme
How the World Works An inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment
Proposed duration: 54 hours over six weeks
PYP planner
central idea
The properties of construction materials influence the design of buildings and structures.
Summative assessment task(s): What are the possible ways of assessing students understanding of the central idea?
2. What do we want to learn?

What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry?
Key concepts: form, connection, causation (Structure has a purpose)

What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea? Different building materials and their properties The structure of buildings and bridges The materials and shapes used in making different stable, weight bearing structures
Summative: Children are asked to construct a self supporting, weight bearing structure and explain why it remains standing and why it supports the weight it does. Students will keep a notebook that will include their research and a record of their building projects from start to finish. Student self-assessment: Students assessed their own plans, designs and structures, constantly looking for ways to make improvements.
What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for?
What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries? 1. What materials/shapes are buildings made of? Why? 2. What properties do building materials have? 3. How have building materials changed over time? (look at origins & uniformity) 4. How do buildings stand? 5. Which materials make structures strongest? Last the longest? 6. Why do we (humans) create all these various structures?
Students are able to identify materials used, properties of materials, structure design, load bearing, anchorage points
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3. How might we know what we have learned?

This column should be used in conjunction with How best might we learn?
What are the possible ways of assessing students prior knowledge and skills? What evidence will we look for? Pre-Unit: The children collect and bring pictures of bridges and structures to share with each other. This will be an interactive display that can be constantly updated, locations added, materials considered and posted. Students will collect various materials* to generate a base for vocabulary development and reference for later exploration of materials and their properties (cardboard, metal, Styrofoam, plastic, paper, leather, cloth, wood, plant fibers, etc). * Make sure that students know that different materials can appear in different forms demonstrating different characteristics, e.g. plastic (thin, thick, flexible, or solid) Look at the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and talk about which ones are no longer standing and why. What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for? The exploration of collected materials, materials used in the school and our community will allow us to see how. Through observation we will be able to see how the students become familiar with a timeline of the development of materials and so can look at structures over time in relation to this. Our experiments with the arch, beam bridge, plastic straw structures etc will allow them to explore and talk about structures that are more stable, and factors that influence stability. We anticipate that open ended exploration will raise the issues of stability and use of base, anchorage, connectors etc. The learning will be recorded through photos and their own self reflections about their learning. After the visit to a nearby architecture museum, where students will learn about push and pull, and how these forces affect structures, we would expect to see this learning demonstrated first in the construction of the paper strip tower and repeated in their construction of the stick bridge, newspaper bridge and their final structures.
4. How best might we learn?

What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to encourage the students to engage with the inquiries and address the driving questions?
Develop class definition of material. Students go for a walk around the local area and discover the types of materials that are used for houses, apartment blocks, roof tops, churches and the overpass. Put up photographs of the town and encourage students to name the various materials they recognize and guess how old the structures are. Students bring in a picture or a model of a structure or building that they like or know. They research some information about their building and write a paragraph in their journal. Information may include how tall it is, how old it is, what it is made from, where is it located? These structures can be sorted and their location, especially in relationship to geographical elements (e.g. lighthouse on the coast) can be a point for further discussion.
ESL students will be introduced to the unit and asked to bring in photos of bridges from their home town/country to be shared with classmates and used during discussions. New vocabulary will also be introduced: names of materials and tools, adjectives to describe properties of materials, action verbs to talk about function of tools. At different stages during the unit, ESL students will be introduced to some of the scientific terms used in this unit (variables, hypothesis) in the context of discussions and hands-on activities. They will receive support with their experiments write-ups (writing will be scaffolded by using sentence starters). Ongoing language development build a class word bank to help with spelling and vocabulary; sort words into categories of buildings and materials; write definitions in their journal e.g. structure, tool, bridge etc. In small groups, make a 20 cm bridge out of sticks, hemp twine, and rocks. Investigate and explore how difficult it is to use materials in their natural state. Through trial and error, students should come to the understanding that structures are best built with uniform materials. This is the first activity where students must plan, design (sketch) and trial their designs. Read a play of the Three Billy Goats Gruff in groups (emphasize fluency and expression). Use playground equipment as props for performance. Challenge: build a rope bridge for the Goats in class or at home and see what other materials will help their bridges stand up or be stable for the goats to stand on. Students will present their bridge informally to the class telling how they made it and what tools and materials they used. Extra challenge: can the bridge bear the weight of the three goats? Students will write a procedure of how they made their bridge for the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Include tools and materials, step by step instructions and a diagram of their bridge. In small groups, make houses out of cardboard. Use various designs and methods, recording each process. After at least 5 trials, give students the opportunity to build cardboard house with the same sized card, cut with tongue and groove notches. Students should determine which trials were most successful and reflect on why. Fold, Twist, Roll challenge: Can you lift another student (seated on the floor) off the ground using newspaper? Students will each get 10 sheets of newspaper per trial. Firstly they will investigate how strong a sheet of newspaper is when folded. Next, they will trial twisting a sheet of newspaper and finally rolling a sheet of newspaper. Students should then combine methods to see which provides the strongest "rope" of newspaper. A combination of all three should allow one student to lift another from a seated position. This is a good segue into getting visiting expert in to talk about how pressboard and plywood is made and why and where it is used around the school. Three Little Pigs experiment: students build three structures based on those of the pigs (use real straw, sticks and LEGO for bricks). Students should test the sturdiness of the structures using a hair dryer and 25g weights. Field trip led by the German teacher to the architecture museum to look at buildings and structures from Stone Age through to modern day. Opportunity to design and make a stable structure from cardboard strips. Forces, push and pull, will be introduced and explored as part of a handson workshop at the museum. Field trip to a nearby mathematics museum. While there, build a stick bridge with no supports (DaVinci Bridge) and an arch bridge. Experiment with 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes. On return to school, research beam, arch and suspension bridges and keep a record in journals. Students create their own comparison table to compare the differences and similarities of various structures. A local civil engineer who works for an international bridge building company will give a presentation. Challenge: in pairs, using what they have learned about structures, the students will build their own newspaper bridge over four sessions. Students will choose from a limited set of materials, (e.g. newspaper, string, cartons) to build their structures with the goal of holding a certain weight. Their structures will be tested and the students will keep a record of the process in a work journal that includes an overall plan, predictions, materials, daily notes, changes made to the structure over the four sessions, and final results.
What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the development of the attributes of the learner profile? Transdisciplinary skills thinking, social, self-management, communication, research (see box 7 for details); Learner profile
thinker, knowledgeable, reflective, communicator (see box 7 for details).
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Reflecting on the inquiry
5. What resources need to be gathered?

What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available? Pictures of bridges and structures, sweets and cocktail sticks,
square beer mats, dominoes, Hundreds, Tens and Units material, straws, wood, cork, paper, rubber, foam, sawdust, plastic , newspaper, string, National Geographic Videos from Megastructure Series, Hardhatting in a Geo-World by Aims Education Foundation, Under Construction by Aims Education Foundation, Tangrams and book 3 pigs, one wolf and 7 magic shapes , building sets (lego, building straws, magnetic blocks), Seven Wonders of the Ancient World books or websites, scales, rulers and meter sticks. Books for ESL students Building Bridges by David Gover; Fairy tale of The Three Billy Goats Gruff (with cassette); Books for class use - Building the skyscraper by J. Korman, 7 Wonders of the world - Kids Discover, Build your own model house by V. Fawcett & R. Hunt, Die Baustelle by Philippe Biard, Building a house by V. Fawcett, How a House is built by G. Gibbons, Bridges to cross by P. Sturges, Cross a bridge by R.A.Hunter, The greedy triangle.
How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry? Visiting speakers, e.g. civil engineer; field trips to architecture museum
and mathematics museum; walking tour of school and local community.
6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose?

Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of students understanding of the central idea. The reflections of all teachers involved in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included.
It took a while to develop the vocabulary that would enable individual students to make full description of the properties. The students manipulated their chosen materials appropriately to create and support their structures in their summative assessment. This was clearly an indicator of applying their understanding about the properties and uses of materials. The children talked about the materials used in real structures and why the materials used were appropriate, in discussion the pictures we provided as stimulus in the classroom.
7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP?

What were the learning experiences that enabled students to: o o o
Concepts Form developed through the exploration of materials, visit to architecture museum, video of structures, research of non-fiction books Connection developed through visit to architecture museum, practical building activities/challenges, walking tour of the school and local community to look at use of particular materials in particular structures Causation developed through push and pull work at the architecture museum, learning about change over time in structures and building, location, availability of materials. Learner profile Thinkers: this was a great unit to develop this attribute. The students engaged in lots of thinking through designing structures and coming up with solutions to each of the challenges. There was ongoing reflection and changing of plans. The summative assessment challenge really showed each students thinking process. Knowledgeable: students become knowledgeable about structures, and developed some sense of history and the timeline of particular materials. The research (visiting speakers, reading) gave them access to knowledge of factors that need to be considered for certain constructions (e.g. geographical conditions, suitability of materials). A strong connection was made during integrated German (visit to architecture museum) with increased awareness of time periods and how different generations build upon the work and learning of previous peoples. Communicators: students used many different modes of communication. Reflective: ongoing opportunities for reflection throughout the unit (as part of the individual, pair and group challenges. Reflecting on their work was part of the summative assessment. PYP attitudes A big unit for demonstrating student enthusiasm- they were really engaged in this unit; confidence developed through the unit especially as their understanding of the central idea and lines of inquiry increased; Curiosity, lots of hands on investigation and exploration, they were also very creative ad there was lots of cooperation. Transdisciplinary skills Thinking skills: synthesis creating and designing bridges; evaluation making judgments or decisions about their bridges. Social skills: Accepting responsibility for tasks, respecting other's ideas, cooperating, resolving conflict if there is a problem, group decision making. Communication skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, presenting. Self-management skills: organization, planning and carrying out activities effectively. Research skills: collecting data and gathering information about bridges and what makes them strong; recording data by note taking from watching documentaries and listening to visitors talk about bridges and buildings; presenting findings - children report back about what they have learned in relation to bridges.
develop an understanding of the concepts identified in What do we want to learn? demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary skills? develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes?
In each case, explain your selection.
How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more accurate picture of each students understanding of the central idea.
In the presentation of the assessment, students should have the opportunity to reflect on their individual ideas and plans before meeting with their group. This way, everyone comes to the meeting with ideas to share. There would still be a group outcome, but there would be evidence of individual thinking too. We could video tape each groups bridge challenges and watch the children's progress.
What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the transdisciplinary theme?
The trip to the architecture museum and the manipulation of different structures/shelters over time enabled them to make links between materials, shelters/structures and people and time. This is also where they first met the idea of forces acting upon structures and the need to consider this when building.
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8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning? Record a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any that were incorporated into the teaching and learning. Student questions What are we going to build out of all the materials we collected? Out of which materials are most bridges built? Can you build a bridge out of mud? What materials do you need to make a mud house? How many bridges are made of stone? What materials do you need to build a bridge? How many years on earth does it take to think about a good structure so that it doesnt fall down? How many years does it take to carve a statue out of stone or marble? Are there any bridges made of glass? Are there any bridges made of marble? How long does it take to make a bridge? How many big bridges are there in the world? How long does it take to build a triple deck bridge? Can you build a bridge out of grass? What materials are necessary to build a triple deck bridge? Can houses be built on bridges? Can bridges be made out of trees? Why do bridges have different shapes? Why is there gravity? Why did the Vikings build out of trees when it wouldn't last long? At this point teachers should go back to box 2 What do we want to learn? and highlight the teacher questions/provocations that were most effective in driving the inquiries. What student-initiated actions arose from the learning? Record student-initiated actions taken by individuals or groups showing their ability to reflect, to choose and to act. Several students also inquired at home and built bridges, structures and towers of various shapes and sizes to share with the class. Students were involving parents in discussions of bridges as they drove to school. Children are still bringing in and testing bridges at home after the assessment is complete.
9. Teacher notes
Physical education: Humans make structures using different materials and different shapes. Our bodies can make similar shapes that when positioned strategically they are able to form stable bases (with structural similarities) that can carry and bear weight. This unit exposes the students to a variety of gymnastic skills (on the floor) Students improve and expand their gymnastic skills: body control, balance and spatial awareness. They learn how to bear the weight of peers by making stable and broad bases. See PE planner for details. Music: A link was made to this unit through the concept of form by exploring musical compositions. Visual arts: 3D sculpture creativity. Mathematics: This is the most valuable unit for teaching 3d shape and our shape and space learning objectives.
Reminder for next time: The architecture museum workshop was essential to helping students develop their understanding further. The students really got to explore the change of structures over time and consider which forces influence the design of structures. This should happen before the civil engineer comes to discuss the bridges that his company builds as it helped to front load the students. Book the museum early. Agreed definitions for material and structure were useful in helping teachers and students to decide the scope of activities.
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1. What is our purpose? To inquire into the following: transdisciplinary theme How we express ourselves: An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.
Class/grade: School: Title: Teacher(s): Date:
Age group: 89 years School code:
PYP planner
central idea A powerful piece of art engages the audience and invites a response.
Proposed duration: 35 hours over 5 weeks
Summative assessment task(s):

What are the possible ways of assessing students understanding of the central idea? What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for?
2. What do we want to learn?

What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry? Key concepts Form people communicate ideas, feelings and experiences through the arts; there is a relationship between the artist and the audience; there are different kinds of audiences responding to different arts (responding) Connection arts have the power to influence our thinking and our behaviour (creating) Related concepts Locomotor, non-locomotor, gravity, balance, posture, gesture, rhythm, choreography, pattern, sequence, space, time, movement, symmetry, unison, levels What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea? Forms of dance, factors affecting dance (form) The elements of dance and creative expression (form) How music and space affect dance (connection) What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries? How do humans express themselves? What is art? (form) How can we dance? (form) What are the elements of dance? (form) How does music affect the way we dance? (connection)
Task: In six weeks time the annual school arts performance will take place. You have been asked by your homeroom teacher to create, choreograph and perform a powerful piece of dance for this event. In groups, using your skills and knowledge of expressive dance, you must work together and perform a dance which invites a powerful response from the audience. Before you undertake your dance you must explain the idea, feeling or experience you are aiming to communicate. After the dance the audience will be surveyed. You will also be required to respond to your peers performances. You will be given surveys and reflection sheets. Evidence: Students will develop a rubric (see final rubric in box 9). Anticipated action: As a result of their learning, in the future, we hope that the students will create their own dance pieces that stimulate a response from the audience. As an audience we hope students will respond dynamically to pieces of creative expression.
International Baccalaureate Organization
Sample 17.1
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3. How might we know what we have learned?

This column should be used in conjunction with How best might we learn? What are the possible ways of assessing students prior knowledge and skills? What evidence will we look for? Word splash: Students will be given the dance vocabulary list (in the form of a word splash which is randomly arranged selection of words on paper). The children are asked to: colour the words that they do not know; define or explain the words they do know and; make any connections by joining two or more words and explaining the connections along the joining lines. Know, think, wonder: as part of flash mob activity. (What do I know about flash mobs? What do I think about them? What do I wonder about them?) Analogy prompt: Periodically present students with an analogy prompt. (Designated principle, concept, or process) is like because Windscreen check: If children understand, windscreen is clear, if not sure they have bugs on their windscreen, mud on their windscreen (hand movements show this). Concept placemats: Place an image or an idea in the centre of a page and pose ideas or questions around the edges that invite a response from the students. What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for? The pre-assessment activity will be repeated on two other occasions during the unit and students reflect on their developing understanding of the significance of the vocabulary. The students will work with a peer to discuss the evidence of their learning and what developments they are able to see. The vocabulary relates directly to the lines of inquiry.
4. How best might we learn?

What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to encourage the students to engage with the inquiries and address the driving questions? Introductory activities: How do humans express themselves? What is art? (form) Play people bingo with boxes on the bingo board containing statements about art. This ac tivity will tune the students into their background knowledge of art and to use it as a springboard into the unit. Discuss the emotions and feeling from each of the categories. Search for key words flash mob on YouTube. Discuss what is happening both to the audience and to the performers. Is the audience engaging with the performers? How so and why do you think this is the case? Undertake pre-assessment Know, think, wonder (see description of activity in box 3). Word splash: Ask the children to complete the word splash (see description of activity in box 3). Use some of the suggested YouTube sites listed to show students a selection of pieces. (Ensure the teacher views these before showing them.) Once the students have watched the suggested links, discuss which the most powerful piece was for each individual. Students are asked to observe and take note of which of the pieces has the biggest effect on them. How does it make them feel? What does it make them think about? What does it make them want to do? Children take a moment to complete a Concept placemat using De Bonos thinking hats to help clarify their thinking. Line of inquiry: Forms of dance, factors affecting dance (form) Students work in pairs to create a mind-map on expression. This can be added to at a later date work in progress. Observation of dances: students take note of things/factors affecting dance, eg music, rhythm, space. Line of inquiry: The elements of dance and creative expression (form) In groups, brainstorm types of dance. Then in interest groups investigate a particular type/style of dances using YouTube and other sources (see example search words in resources section). Students will create a brief report about their dance interest. During this time students should be encouraged to explore the physical aspects of dance as well as what they learn from their research, eg copying or modifying the dance style. Introduce and then discuss the elements of dance explored in each interest group. Line of inquiry: How music and space affect dance (connection) Discuss the notion of dancing in various kinds of space. Explore movement and dance with the children specifically moving to different music, rhythms and beats. Explore the way the dance changes according to the music. Take this further by restricting space or giving children a specific space to dance in and discuss the necessary changes. What feelings or emotions can be expressed through dance in wide open spaces? Is this the same for all emotions or can the music, beat, rhythm and space affect the kinds of feelings and emotions being expressed? How can you be sure to express what you want to if you are limited on time? Look at Stomp, Bootmen. Discuss the notion of combining dance movement and percussion using environmental objects such as garbage bins, balls, squeaking shoes. Create a piece of movement and music involving these environmental objects. Perform this piece at an assembly and gauge audience response-talk to the audience-engage with them. Working towards the summative: Students discuss what it is that makes a powerful dance piece. Brainstorm the elements for inclusion in the summative performance. Organize themselves into working groups, allocate roles and responsibilities, begin creation of their group performances that will then be amalgamated into the final performance piece. What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the development of the attributes of the learner profile? Transdisciplinary skills: thinking, self-management. Application: taking dance moves and knowledge of the components of dance (see related concepts) and applying them to their own dance. Analysis: finding unique characteristics. Synthesis: combining parts to dance to create whole dance; creating, designing, developing and innovating dances. Safety, codes of behavior, informed choices: this will occur in respect to digital citizenship and group work. Knowing + applying appropriate rules or operating procedures within groups; selecting appropriate course of action. PYP attitudes: confidence, creativity, enthusiasm, appreciation. We want the students to develop confidence to perform in front of others and to demonstrate their own ideas; develop their creativity; be enthusiastic about dance and forms of expression; appreciate a range of dances from a range of cultures (including youth culture). Learner profile: Risk-taker, communicator, thinker. We want the children to take risks, trying out their own unique ideas in dances they choreograph. We want them to have the confidence to have a go at a range of dance styles. We want the students to understand that dance is a form of expression and therefore a way that we can communicate ideas, feelings, stories, etc. We want the students to think in particularly applying dance techniques and ideas and synthesizing these ideas to create their own dances.
5. What resources need to be gathered?

What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available?
Teacher resource: http://www.artsalive.ca/en/ Key words to search for on YouTube, other internet sites: flash mobs, cultural dance, ballet, hip hop, Blue Man Group, Stomp, traditional dance Picture books, poetry, music, visual art works that have a connection to expression and may stimulate a response from students.
How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry?
Various spaces around the school, space bags, percussion items, dance props, technical equipment.
Sample 17.1
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6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose?

Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of students understanding of the central idea. The reflections of all teachers involved in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included. Through the summative assessment, students achieved a dynamic connection between themselves and the audience. When questioned beforehand, they were able to explain the response they hoped to get from the audience, for example, one student said I want the audience to stand up and clap when the boys jump out of their bags because thats the best bit. Students demonstrated their understanding of the central idea through their everyday usage of the words powerful, audience, engaged, engaging. They were able to discuss the need for group work in order to make a powerful piece and they also recognized and verbalized the need for a choreographer or someone similar to help them to make their piece more powerful.
7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP?

In each case, explain your selection. What were the learning experiences that enabled students to: develop an understanding of the concepts identified in What do we want to learn?
Our introductory activities provided different opportunities to explore the concept of form. The students explored forms of dance, factors that influence dance, elements of dance through observing and participating in different dance activities. The research activities allowed students to make connections between different dance forms and the elements within each form. This was particularly helpful in creating their own performances.
demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary skills?

Thinking skills (application): Students explored and researched dance online and then incorporated and further developed these moves into their own pieces. Thinking skills (analysis): The students were able to identify relationships through their online research and through websites that classes looked at and were able to identify (using the placemat activity) which was the most powerful piece to them. Thinking skills (synthesis): Students took all of their knowledge about dance and worked collaboratively to create a powerful piece of dance for the summative assessment. Self-management (safety & codes of behavior): Students needed to learn to research sensibly and use appropriate key search terms to facilitate their online research. They needed to remember to scale down their search terms to increase the likelihood of finding the right images.
How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more accurate picture of each students understanding of the central idea. The students were fully involved in the development of the assessment rubric, and as a result they demonstrated a sound understanding of the assessment criteria. However, this consumed a lot of time and perhaps this could be better managed. One suggestion is that as part of units developed earlier in the year, the students could be involved in planning different aspects of the unit. The time spent on the rubric took away from time for the actual group planning of the dance piece. We had to insert an already choreographed piece into the dance simply because we had run out of time. Also, looking at the data collected from the rubric, the students performed very highly in the response section and therefore we could look at making this section more challenging. What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the transdisciplinary theme? How we express ourselves: An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic. This unit gave students ample opportunities to explore the sections bolded in the transdisciplinary theme description above. The students painted, danced and wrote in ways that allowed them to express their inner thoughts and feelings.
develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes?

Risk-taker: The students began the unit hesitantly. They were not at all confident about dancing with or for others. Over the course of the unit this improved dramatically. The introduction of the space bags helped to facilitate this as their heads could not be seen thus providing some anonymity. The students were experimenting with dance, visual art and writing and trying to really express their inner thoughts and feelings. Communicator: The students needed to develop their communication skills in order to be able to work together. They were responsible, as a group, for the success of their piece and given that it was a live performance, they were clearly motivated to make it work. Thinker: The students were able to synthesize everything that they had learned and researched and apply this to the creation of work and throughout the unit. They spoke articulately about what was needed or missing from their work to make it more powerful, for example in mathematics, If my robot was symmetrical it would look heaps better because it would stand out more. The attitudes of confidence, enthusiasm and creativity were clearly evident throughout the unit.
Sample 17.1
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8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning? Record a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any that were incorporated into the teaching and learning. How do they do that? I cant do that! Can we try that? That is too fast, can we do it? What music can we use to show we are angry? We negotiated the learning throughout the unit of inquiry and it was questions like those above that drove much of the direction of the inquiry. The students chose groups based on interest, skill level, friendship groups, etc. These groupings were fluid and changed almost on a daily basis depending on what they were working on.
At this point teachers should go back to box 2 What do we want to learn? and highlight the teacher questions/provocations that were most effective in driving the inquiries.
9. Teacher notes
Summative assessment rubric:
What student-initiated actions arose from the learning? Record student-initiated actions taken by individuals or groups showing their ability to reflect, to choose and to act. In Grade 3 we get together for a Karaoke Friday session on a weekly basis. During this unit the students expanded their range of performances. Previously, students had usually chosen to perform on a musical instrument or do magic tricks and tell jokes. The action we saw during the unit was that a) more students were performing and b) not only performing but doing different things. There were children who read poetry they had written, performed dances they had created, sang songs that they had written and shared stories. This has enriched the karaoke Friday sessions and given the children much more confidence to get up and try something new. Anticipated action: As a result of their learning, we hope that the students will create their own dance pieces that stimulate a response from the audience. As an audience we hope students will respond dynamically to pieces of creative expression. We also hope that students will transfer this central idea to other art forms.
Single-subject teachers: Music: Music teachers investigated the elements of music composition, creation of music and response to a musical piece. Rather than using dance to express ideas and feelings, the students were encouraged to look at the creation of musical pieces to express ideas, emotions and feelings. The students critically assessed pieces of music based on the types of reactions they invited and looked at how best to create their own pieces. PE: PE teachers worked with the connection between sounds and movement in PE, students watched some excerpts of the musical dance theatre STOMP or portions of the movie Bootmen. Both of these productions feature dancers using their environment in their performance. In PE these environmental sounds could include: squeaking shoes on a gym floor, slam dunking on a basketball hoop, bouncing balls, sounds made when exerting effort, skipping ropes whipping through the air, jumping, spring boards, etc. For next year the PE and music and homeroom/classroom teachers liaise more closely regarding the idea of rhythm and beat as well as the creation of percussion pieces of music. Homeroom/classroom teachers: Mathematics: Use the elements of dance as a way of learning through mathematics concepts specifically pattern, line, angle, shape, space, symmetry. Language: repetition in poetry, rhyme and rhythm in reading and writing, creative language that evokes emotion. If there is sharing of poetry, it needs to be poetry written by the children. Poetry reading also needs to include learning how to introduce the title and author of each poem prior to reading. Next year: this unit lends itself naturally to all art and creative work so the visual arts, music, PE teachers really need to be involved in planning for this unit to ensure transferability of the central idea.
Sample 17.1
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Action Plan Rubric Under Development

The expected achievement, people involved, or date of achievement is unclear.
Partially Meets Expectations Meets Expectations

The goal is stated generally in terms of what will be achieved, by whom, and when. The goal is stated specifically in terms of what will be achieved, by whom, and when. The stated goal is directly connected to one or more IB/PYP standards/practices. The stated goal can be realistically met by the date provided.
Exceeds Expectations
In addition to fulfilling the criteria for meets expectations, the goal also: is strategically connected with other action plan goals includes dated benchmarks to guide progress towards meeting the goal.
Goals
It is unclear how the stated goals The stated goal is indirectly are connected to IB/PYP connected to one or more standards/practices. IB/PYP standards/practices. The date provided for making progress towards/meeting the goal needs to be reconsidered. Considerable progress towards meeting the goal can be made by the date provided.
Evidence of Progress
In addition to fulfilling the criteria for meets expectations The evidence that the goal has Evidence that the goal has been Evidence that the goal has been evidence of progress towards the been met is either unclear, met relates directly to the goal met relates indirectly to the goal goal has been defined that can appears unrelated to the goal, or and can be readily and and/or it is possible to measure. be reflected on to make is not stated in measurable terms objectively measured. adjustments to strategies and resources. It is unclear how the chosen strategies and/or resources will lead towards achievement of the goal. Strategies are resources are indirectly aligned with the goal to produce evidence that it has been met. Strategies are generally aligned with PYP philosophy and practices. Strategies are resources are directly aligned with the goal to produce evidence that it has been met. Strategies and resources are directly aligned with PYP philosophy and practices. In addition to fulfilling the criteria for meets expectations, the strategies also: represent innovative ideas and/or creative use of resources are presented in a logical sequence that builds towards achieving the goal.
Strategies Chosen strategies are not in and alignment with PYP philosophy Resources and practices.
It is unclear who will be involved in implementing the strategies described.
People needed to implement the People needed to implement strategies in general have been specific strategies have been identified. identified.
From PYP Collaborative Planning online workshop, 2013: https://onlinepd.ibo.org/course
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Sample Action Plan Goal (connected to standards / practices): What do we want to learn/achieve? Help grade levels develop rubrics for summative assessment tasks that address (where appropriate) student application of technology skills. (Standards A2.11, C3.6, C4.3, C4.5, C4.11, C4.12) Evidence of achievement of, or progress towards, goal: How will we know what we have learned/achieved? Summative assessment rubrics, that address student application of technology in addition to general unit learning criteria, will be applied by teachers and students to assess tech integration in relation to at least 1-2 units in grades 2-5 Strategies to meet goal: How best will we learn/achieve our goal? Date to be achieved People and resources needed
explore various student technology rubrics (start with the ones that accompany NETS standards) with grade level teams, identify units that involve or would benefit from greater student application of technology skills identify specific technology skills that students will apply to demonstrate understanding of the central idea in 1-2 units per grade level develop criteria for tech integration within selected units and embed in unit summative assessment rubric students and teachers apply rubrics to assess level of tech integration
December 2010 Spring 2011 Spring Fall 2011 Spring Fall 2011 Fall 2011 Spring 2012
ICT specialist, classroom teachers, students
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Sample Action Plan Goal (connected to standards / practices): What do we want to learn/achieve? Assist 3rd 5th grade level teams in establishing an online collaborative environment, related to one PYP unit at each grade level, with a PYP school in another country. (Standards A2.1, A2.5, A2.11 and A2.12) Evidence of achievement of, or progress towards, goal: How will we know what we have learned/achieved? A collaborative workspace is created on Wikispaces, pbworks.com or epals for one unit of inquiry each at grades 3-5, and is being used by teachers and students to collaborate with peers from a PYP school in another country. Strategies to meet goal: How best will we learn/achieve our goal? Date to be achieved People and resources needed
explore collaborative online workspaces being used by classes on epals, Wikispaces and other sites contact other PYP schools to gauge interest in possible online collaborations get buy-in from grade teachers to explore online collaboration with other PYP schools set up free collaborative workspace train 3rd-5th grade teachers in use of this workspace put teachers in contact with colleagues at other school(s) to establish timeline and expectations for the collaboration help launch official unit collaborations provide ongoing technical support as needed 3rd-5th
January-February 2011 Spring 2011 Spring 2011 Summer 2011 Aug/Sep 2011 By September 2011 Fall 2011 Spring 2012 ongoing
ICT specialist, classroom teachers at our school; ICT specialist and classroom teachers at school(s) we collaborate with
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PYP Action Plan

Goal (connected to standard & practice): What do we want to learn/achieve? Evidence of achievement of, or progress towards, goal: How will we know what we have learned/achieved? Strategies to meet goal: How best will we learn/achieve our goal? Date to be achieved People and resources needed
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IB CONTINUUM
IB CONTINUUM
What is an IB education?
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IB CONTINUUM
IB CONTINUUM
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The IB programme continuum of international education
Published August 2013 Published on behalf of the International Baccalaureate Organization, a not-for-profit educational foundation of 15 Route des Morillons, 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex, Geneva, Switzerland by the International Baccalaureate Organization (UK) Ltd Peterson House, Malthouse Avenue, Cardiff Gate Cardiff, Wales CF23 8GL United Kingdom Website: www.ibo.org International Baccalaureate Organization 2013 The International Baccalaureate Organization (known as the IB) offers four high-quality and challenging educational programmes for a worldwide community of schools, aiming to create a better, more peaceful world. This publication is one of a range of materials produced to support these programmes. The IB may use a variety of sources in its work and checks information to verify accuracy and authenticity, particularly when using community-based knowledge sources such as Wikipedia. The IB respects the principles of intellectual property and makes strenuous efforts to identify and obtain permission before publication from rights holders of all copyright material used. The IB is grateful for permissions received for material used in this publication and will be pleased to correct any errors or omissions at the earliest opportunity. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the IB, or as expressly permitted by law or by the IBs own rules and policy. See http://www.ibo.org/copyright. IB merchandise and publications can be purchased through the IB store at http://store.ibo.org. General ordering queries should be directed to the Sales and Marketing Department. Email: sales@ibo.org
International Baccalaureate, Baccalaurat International and Bachillerato Internacional are registered trademarks of the International Baccalaureate Organization. Printed in the United Kingdom by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
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IB mission statement
The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
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Contents
Introduction 1 IB learners 3 The learner and the IB World School 3 Teaching and learning in the IB 4 Global contexts for education 6 Multilingualism and intercultural understanding 6 Global engagement 7 Significant content Conclusion Additional reading 8 10 11
Introduction
What is an IB education
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Introduction
The aim of this document is to communicate clearly what lies at the heart of an International Baccalaureate (IB) education. For educators, supporters, students and their families, it explains the ideals that underpin all IB programmes. By describing the IBs educational philosophy, What is an IB education? also offers support for schools on their IB journey through programme authorization and ongoing implementation. In 1968, the IB Diploma Programme (DP) was established to provide a challenging and comprehensive education that would enable students to understand and manage the complexities of our world and provide them with skills and attitudes for taking responsible action for the future. Such an education was rooted in the belief that people who are equipped to make a more just and peaceful world need an education that crosses disciplinary, cultural, national and geographical boundaries. With the introduction of the Middle Years Programme (MYP) in 1994 and the Primary Years Programme (PYP) in 1997, the IB identified a continuum of international education for students aged 3 to 19. A decade later, the adoption of the IB learner profile across the continuum described internationally minded learners of all ages. The learner profile continues to provide important common ground for these challenging, standalone programmes, each developed as a developmentally appropriate expression of the IBs educational approach. The introduction of the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC) in 2012 enriches this continuum by providing a choice of international education pathways for 16- to 19-year-old students. The IBs work is informed by research and by over 40 years of practical experience. This overview honours the vision that launched the IB and sustains its growth today. The dynamic legacy of the IBs founders continues to support a growing global network of schools dedicated to high-quality education, ongoing professional development and shared accountability. What is an IB education? aims to be informative, not definitive; it invites conversation and regular review. The IB has always championed a stance of critical engagement with challenging ideas, one that values the progressive thinking of the past while remaining open to future innovation. It reflects the IBs commitment to creating a collaborative, global community united by a mission to make a better world through education. As the IBs mission in action, the learner profile concisely describes the aspirations of a global community that shares the values underlying the IBs educational philosophy. The IB learner profile describes the attributes and outcomes of education for international-mindedness. The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. Informed by these values, an IB education: centres on learners develops effective approaches to teaching and learning works within global contexts explores significant content.
Working together, these four characteristics define an IB education.
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IB learners
At the centre of international education in the IB are students aged 3 to 19 with their own learning styles, strengths and challenges. Students of all ages come to school with combinations of unique and shared patterns of values, knowledge and experience of the world and their place in it. Promoting open communication based on understanding and respect, the IB encourages students to become active, compassionate, lifelong learners. An IB education is holistic in natureit is concerned with the whole person. Along with cognitive development, IB programmes address students social, emotional and physical well-being. They value and offer opportunities for students to become active and caring members of local, national and global communities; they focus attention on the values and outcomes of internationally minded learning described in the IB learner profile. IB learners strive to become inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, openminded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective. These attributes represent a broad range of human capacities and responsibilities that go beyond intellectual development and academic success. They imply a commitment to help all members of the school community learn to respect themselves, others and the world around them. IB programmes aim to increase access to the curriculum and engagement in learning for all students. Learning communities become more inclusive as they identify and remove barriers to learning and participation. Commitment to access and inclusion represents the IB learner profile in action.
The learner and the IB World School

The IB learner profile brings to life the aspirations of a community of IB World Schools dedicated to studentcentred education. IB programmes promote the development of schools that: create educational opportunities that encourage healthy relationships, individual and shared responsibility and effective teamwork and collaboration help students make informed, reasoned, ethical judgments and develop the flexibility, perseverance and confidence they need in order to bring about meaningful change inspire students to ask questions, to pursue personal aspirations, to set challenging goals and to develop the persistence to achieve them encourage the creation of rich personal and cultural identities.
These educational outcomes are profoundly shaped by the relationships between teachers and students; teachers are intellectual leaders who can empower students to develop confidence and personal responsibility. Challenging learning environments help students to develop the imagination and motivation they need in order to meet their own needs and the needs of others. IB programmes emphasize learning how to learn, helping students interact effectively with the learning environments they encounter and encouraging them to value learning as an essential and integral part of their everyday lives.
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Teaching and learning in the IB
Teaching and learning in the IB celebrates the many ways people work together to construct meaning and make sense of the world. Through the interplay of asking, doing and thinking, this constructivist approach leads towards open, democratic classrooms. An IB education empowers young people for a lifetime of learning, independently and in collaboration with others. It prepares a community of learners to engage with global challenges through inquiry, action and reflection.
Inquiry
Sustained inquiry forms the centrepiece of the written, taught and assessed curriculum in IB programmes. IB programmes feature structured inquiry both into established bodies of knowledge and into complex problems. In this approach, prior knowledge and experience establish the basis for new learning, and students own curiosity provides the most effective provocation for learning that is engaging, relevant, challenging and significant.
Action
Principled action, as both a strategy and an outcome, represents the IBs commitment to teaching and learning through practical, real-world experience. IB learners act at home, as well as in classrooms, schools, communities and the broader world. Action involves learning by doing, which enhances learning about self and others. IB World Schools value action that encompasses a concern for integrity and honesty, as well as a strong sense of fairness that respects the dignity of individuals and groups. Principled action means making responsible choices, sometimes including decisions not to act. Individuals, organizations and communities can engage in principled action when they explore the ethical dimensions of personal and global challenges. Action in IB programmes may involve service learning, advocacy and educating self and others.
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Reflection
Critical reflection is the process by which curiosity and experience can lead to deeper understanding. Reflective thinkers must become critically aware of their evidence, methods and conclusions. Reflection also involves being conscious of potential bias and inaccuracy in ones own work and in the work of others. An IB education fosters creativity and imagination. It offers students opportunities for considering the nature of human thought and for developing the skills and commitments necessary not only to remember, but also to analyse ones own thinking and effortas well as the products and performances that grow from them. Through inquiry, action and reflection, IB programmes aim to develop a range of thinking, self-management, social communication and research skills referred to in IB programmes as approaches to learning. Effective teaching and learning requires meaningful assessment. IB World Schools strive to clarify the purpose of student assessment, the criteria for success and the methods by which assessments are made. In IB programmes, assessment is ongoing, varied and integral to the curriculum. Assessment may be formal or informal, formative or summative, internal or external; students also benefit by learning how to assess their own work and the work of others. IB students demonstrate what they know and can do through consolidations of learning, culminating with the PYP exhibition, the MYP personal project, the DP extended essay and the IBCC reflective project. The entire school community can be involved in providing feedback and support as students demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and mastery of skills.
Global contexts for education
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Global contexts for education
In our highly interconnected and rapidly changing world, IB programmes aim to develop internationalmindedness in a global context. The terms international and global describe that world from different points of viewone from the perspective of its constituent parts (nation states and their relationships with each other) and one from the perspective of the planet as a whole. Sharp distinctions between the local, national and global are blurring in the face of emerging institutions and technologies that transcend modern nation states. New challenges that are not defined by traditional boundaries call for students to develop the agility and imagination they need for living productively in a complex world. An IB education creates learning communities in which students can increase their understanding of language and culture, which can help them to become more globally engaged. Education for international-mindedness relies on the development of learning environments that value the world as the broadest context for learning. IB World Schools share educational standards and practices for philosophy, organization and curriculum that can create and sustain authentic global learning communities. In school, students learn about the world from the curriculum and from their interactions with other people. Teaching and learning in global contexts supports the IBs mission to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
Multilingualism and intercultural understanding

For the IB, learning to communicate in a variety of ways in more than one language is fundamental to the development of intercultural understanding. IB programmes, therefore, support complex, dynamic learning through wide-ranging forms of expression. All IB programmes require students to learn another language. Intercultural understanding involves recognizing and reflecting on ones own perspective, as well as the perspectives of others. To increase intercultural understanding, IB programmes foster learning how to appreciate critically many beliefs, values, experiences and ways of knowing. The goal of understanding the worlds rich cultural heritage invites the IB community to explore human commonality, diversity and interconnection.
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Global engagement
Global engagement represents a commitment to address humanitys greatest challenges in the classroom and beyond. IB students and teachers are encouraged to explore global and local issues, including developmentally appropriate aspects of the environment, development, conflicts, rights and cooperation and governance. Globally engaged people critically consider power and privilege, and recognize that they hold the earth and its resources in trust for future generations. An IB education aims to develop the awareness, perspectives and commitments necessary for global engagement. The IB aspires to empower people to be active learners who are committed to service with the community.
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Significant content
PYP
MYP
DP
IBCC
An IB education provides opportunities to develop both disciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding that meet rigorous standards set by institutions of higher learning around the world. IB programmes offer curriculum frameworks and courses that are broad and balanced, conceptual and connected.
Broad and balanced

An IB education represents a balanced approach, offering students access to a broad range of content that spans academic subjects. In the PYP, learning aims to transcend boundaries between subject areas. As students develop in the MYP, DP and IBCC, they engage subject-specific knowledge and skills with increasing sophistication.
Conceptual
Conceptual learning focuses on broad and powerful organizing ideas that have relevance within and across subject areas. They reach beyond national and cultural boundaries. Concepts help to integrate learning, add coherence to the curriculum, deepen disciplinary understanding, build the capacity to engage with complex ideas and allow transfer of learning to new contexts. PYP and MYP students encounter defined sets of key concepts, and students in the DP and IBCC further develop their conceptual understanding.
Connected
IB curriculum frameworks value concurrency of learning. Students encounter many subjects simultaneously throughout their programmes of study; they learn to draw connections and pursue rich understandings about the interrelationship of knowledge and experience across many fields. Course aims and programme requirements offer authentic opportunities to learn about the world in ways that reach beyond the scope of individual subjects. In the PYP, students learn about and use knowledge, concepts and skills from a variety of subjects to explore six transdisciplinary themes of global significance. In the MYP, students study a range of subjects and often bring together two or more established areas of expertise to build new interdisciplinary understanding. In the Diploma Programme, students encounter a range of subjects, and through the creativity, action, service (CAS) component of the DP core may continue their own explorations of physical activity and the creative process. Interdisciplinary DP courses and requirements offer students ways to explore new issues and understanding that reach across subjects, and the theory of knowledge (TOK) course helps students connect their learning across the curriculum. In the IBCC, the components of the core act as a link between the DP subjects and the career-related studies to assist students understanding across the curriculum.
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In IB programmes, assessment forms an integral aspect of teaching and learning. To understand what students have learned and to monitor their progress, teachers use a range of assessment strategies In IB programmes, assessment forms an integral aspect of teaching and learning. To understand what students have learned and to monitor their progress, teachers use a range of assessment strategies that provide meaningful feedback. IB assessment supports good classroom practice by encouraging authentic performances of understanding that call for critical and creative thinking. Final assessments for older students in the IB continuum are internationally benchmarked. Assessment in the PYP stresses the importance of both student and teacher self-assessment and reflection with a primary objective of providing feedback on the learning process. A range of strategies for assessing student work take into account the diverse, complicated and sophisticated ways that individual students employ to understand their learning experiences. Assessment in the MYP features a robust design that includes rigorous, criterionrelated internal assessment (course work) for all subject groups, as well as an optional range of externally marked or moderated onscreen examinations and portfolios of student work. Assessment in the DP aims to balance valid measurement with reliable results, providing an internationally recognized university entrance qualification whose results are based on both coursework and external examinations. Assessment in the IBCC incorporates the validity and reliability of DP subject assessment together with summative and formative assessment in the IBCC core.
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Conclusion
An IB education is unique because of its rigorous academic and personal standards. IB programmes challenge students to excel not only in their studies but also in their personal growth. The IB aims to inspire a lifelong quest for learning hallmarked by enthusiasm and empathy. To that end, the IB gathers a worldwide community of supporters who celebrate our common humanity and who share a belief that education can help to build a better world. The IB connects this higher purpose with the practical details of teaching and learning. A global community of IB World Schools put these principles into practice, developing standards for high-quality education to which they hold themselves mutually accountable. An IB education represents a testament to the power of this collaboration. Education is an act of hope in the face of an always-uncertain future. An IB education calls forth the very best in students and educators alike. The IB believes that together we can help to prepare students for living and working in a complex, highly interconnected world.
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Additional reading
What is an IB education? was informed by multiple perspectives and readings, which included the following English-language titles: Audet, RH and Jordan LJ, (eds). 2005. Integrating inquiry across the curriculum. Thousand Oaks, California, USA. Corwin Press. Bates, R, (ed). 2010. Schooling internationally: globalisation, internationalisation and the future for international schools. London, UK. Routledge. Bok, S. 2002. Common Values. Columbia, Missouri, USA. University of Missouri Press. Boix Mansilla, V and Jackson, A. 2011. Educating for global competence: Preparing our youth to engage the world. New York, USA. Council of Chief State School Officers and Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning. Boyer, EL. 1995. The Basic School: A community for learning. Stanford, California, USA. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Brooks, JG and Brooks, MG. 1999. In search of understanding; The case for constructivist classrooms. Alexandria, Virginia, USA. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Bruner, J. 1996. Culture of education. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Harvard University Press. Bruner, J, Goodnow, J and Austin, G. 1986. A study of thinking. New York, USA. John Wiley. Collins, HT, Czarra, FR and Smith, AF. 1995. Guidelines for global and international studies education: Challenges, culture, connections. New York, USA. American Forum for Global Education. Cummins, J. 2000. Language, power and pedagogy. Clevedon, UK. Multilingual Matters. Delors, J, et al. 1999. Learning: the treasure within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. Paris, France. UNESCO. Dewey, J. 1909. Moral principles in education. In LA Hickman and TA Alexander (eds). The Essential Dewey volume 2. 1998. Bloomington, Indiana, USA. Indiana University Press. Dewey, J. 1916. Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. New York, USA. Macmillan. Dewey, J. 1933. How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Heath. Doll, WE and Gough, N. 2002. Curriculum visions. New York, USA. Peter Lang. Erickson, HL. 2008. Stirring the head, heart and soul. Heatherton, Victoria, Australia. Hawker Brownlow. Fairclough, N, (ed). 1992. Critical language awareness. London, UK. Longman. Gardner, H. 2011. Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York, USA. Basic Books. Gee, JP. 1990. Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses. New York, USA. The Falmer Press. Grant, CA and Portera, A. 2011. Intercultural and multicultural education: Enhancing global connectedness. New York, USA. Routledge.
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English, F, (ed). 2004. Sage handbook of educational leadership. Thousand Oaks, California, USA. Sage Publications. Hanvey, R. 2004. An attainable global perspective. New York, USA. American Forum for Global Education. Hicks, D and Holden, C. 2007. Teaching the global dimension: Key principles and effective practice. Oxford, UK. Routledge. Kincheloe, JL. 2004. Critical pedagogy: A primer. New York, USA. Peter Lang. Laverty, M. 2010. Learning our concepts. Journal of philosophy of education. Vol 43.1. Pp 27-49. Grainger, T, ed. 2004. The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Language and Literacy. London, UK. Routledge. McWilliam, E. 810 January 2007. Unlearning how to teach. Paper presented at Creativity or Conformity? Building Cultures of Creativity in Higher Education. Cardiff, UK. Murdoch, K and Hornsby, D. 1997. Planning curriculum connections: Whole-school planning for integrated curriculum. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Eleanor Curtain Publishing. Perkins, D. 1995. Smart schools: Better thinking and learning for every child. New York, USA. Free Press. Perkins, D. 1999. The many faces of constructivism. Educational Leadership. Vol 57.3. Pp 6-11. Piaget, J. 1970. Structuralism. New York, USA. Basic Books. Pike, G and Selby, D. 1989. Global teacher, global learner (second edition). London, UK. Hodder & Stoughton. Schn, D. 1983. The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. London, UK. Temple Smith. Steinberg, S and Kincheloe, J, (eds). 1998. Students as researchers: Creating classrooms that matter. London, UK. Falmer. Stiggins, RJ. 2001. Student-involved classroom assessment (third edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA. Merrill/Prentice-Hall. Waxman, H and Walberg, H, (eds). 1991. Effective teaching: Current research, Berkeley, California, USA. McCutchan Publishing Corporation. Vygotsky, LS. 1986. Thought and language (revised and translated by Alex Kozulin). Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. MIT Press. Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. 2005. Understanding by design. New Jersey, USA. Pearson. Wing Jan, L. and Wilson, J. 1998. Integrated assessment. Oxford, UK. Oxford University Press.
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Pyp Collaborative Planning Workshop Workbook Cistokyo Oct2013

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International Baccalaureate

Asia Pacific Collaborative planning Category 2

CIS Tokyo October 2013 English Jane Wallace

Teacher Training Workshop

International Baccalaureate Organization 2012

The IB mission statement

International Baccalaureate Organization 2012

International Baccalaureate Organization 2012

International Baccalaureate Organization 2012

Current version of the following IB documents:

What needs to improve or change, and why?

Collaborative Planning: A SWOT Analysis

POSITIVE factors in achieving your goal S STRENGTHS

NEGATIVE factors in achieving your goal W WEAKNESSES

INSIDE your school O OPPORTUNITIES

OUTSIDE your school

1 2 3 Not True of Our Team

5 6 Our Team Is Addressing

9 10 True of Our Team

Making Time for Collaboration

Adjusted Start and End Time

Group Activities, Events, and Testing

In-Service and Faculty Meeting Time

Copyright 2006 by Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

So they can fly building a community of inquirers

Collaboration - shared creation

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Collaboration - lessons to learn

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The knowledge reservoir - at capacity or incapacitated?

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Theoretical structure and framework

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Ofcourse,thoroughplanningisessentialhowever,inthesuccessfulclassroomswehaveseen, teachersregularlyaskthemselvessuchquestionas:Whataremystudentsrevealingtome?How willthisrefinewherewegonext?Howdomyplansneedtobemodified?Thisisconscious, empoweringteaching.

Planning the inquiry

1. What is our purpose? To inquire into the following:

Class/grade: Title: Build It Teacher(s):

Age group: 7-8 years

Proposed duration: 54 hours over six weeks

2. What do we want to learn?

Key concepts: form, connection, causation (Structure has a purpose)

International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

Planning the inquiry

3. How might we know what we have learned?

4. How best might we learn?

International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

Reflecting on the inquiry

5. What resources need to be gathered?

6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose?

7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP?