Conference Day!

Today was Conference Day, an opportunity for M.Ed students to work within the greater population of the school, to take in lecture style presentations from speakers who they may not regularly get to hear from.
I attended all three sessions today, and will outline some key thoughts, and take-a-ways from each of the presentations.

Mike Corbett's Keynote "Improvisations and Unanticipated Outcomes in the Global Countryside".

I really enjoy watching Dr.Corbett orate on a stage.  He approaches the podium singing and always captivates the audience with a unique combination of unapologetic intelligence spiced with a sense of the activist academic that I imagine would have prevailed in Berkeley in the heyday of the Vietnam War protests.  Dr.Corbett reviewed his recent work on the Improvisational Educator. He began by identifying improvisation as the realm that fits between structured knowledge and constructed knowledge.

I immediately felt a connection to the idea of improvisation.  I remember, as a child, believing that everybody other than myself knew what to do, and how to do it.  I never wavered in my understanding that other people (especially adults) had a game plan they were working from, and always knew what to do at any given time.  I, on the other hand, was always kind of making it up as I went along.  I believed that this was the meaning of youth, and someday i would know more, be more, have more, and I wouldn't need to make it up anymore.   I didn't have a good idea of when that might happen, but I was pretty sure THAT'S what being an adult meant.  Now, I think adulthood may be the understanding that NOBODY knows what is going on, and we are ALL just making it up as we go.  But, and here is the crux, adults need to make it up in a way that doesn't ruin things for other people.  This is what an adult does (or so I think).

The second thing I took away from Dr.Corbett's discussion was an idea for research that might be interesting.  Dr.Corbett spoke in a digression about the way we used to work with people by attempting to model a desired behaviour (in his case it was communication) in an attempt to teach.  The term he used was "affect abnormal with our normality".   I immediately saw a connection to the way we treat students with severely disruptive behaviour.  We model appropriate behaviour and we demand our students to act in a certain way, and we hope that they learn THIS is the way we in society behave.  When I was working at a behavioural school in New Zealand, I remember the director explaining to me that "if kids practise being good for long enough, it becomes a habit".  In a sense, we were affecting abnormal behaviour with our 'normalcy'.  I wondered if this technique for working with complex case students is as outdated as it would be for working with nonverbal students.

The third take-a-way from Dr.Corbett's keynote was just how powerfully an improvisational classroom can be.  I have always been just a little ashamed about how much I feel I improvise in my room.  Sure, I have a plan and I know where I am going with my students, but I am always MORE than happy to jettison off into another direction when the class needs a change.


Joanne Syms "Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity in Schools"

Joanne spoke from a place of experience about the struggles and challenges, of the Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, Transgendered and Queer (GLBTQ) student and how we as educators can work to create a place of safe haven within our schools for students who feel left out of a heteronormative society.

My first point that touched base with me was what Joanne referred to as the 'policing of gender identity'.  These actions are those which work to segregate people into two distinct genders, and then suggest that to fall outside the common expectations of an outwardly assumed gender is a negative thing.  This is seen when a male is told they act like a girl, and its meant in a negative way.  Joanne suggested that this is done mainly by males, and is often a way of teasing a person.  The second, less common, way this is done was outlined as women discussing what it means to be a woman in the sens of beautification (long hair, make up, dressing a certain way).  The reason this struck a cord with me, is that I am guilty of making comments to friends that would be considered gender policing.  This is an area I don't do often, but I do need to cut completely out of my discourse.

The second point that I took away from Joanne's discussion was the alarmingly high rate of suicide amongst GLBTQ youth.  Joanne cited statistics which say GLBTQ youth who consider themselves to be supported by their family in their sexual orientation are 4 times more likely to commit suicide than non GLBTQ youth.  For those young people who consider themselves to be unsupported by their family in their sexual identity, they are 8 times more likely to commit suicide.  Forty nine percent of transgendered youth have considered suicide, and 19% have actually tried to end their own life.  These are very serious statistics.
I was also impressed by the positive health benefits for those who are able to live in their felt gender.  Actual health biometrics improve when a person lives in line with their felt gender.

The third key that I took away from Joanne was a collection of things I can do in my classroom, and at my school to work to make my environment feel as safe as possible.  I have an 'Ally' sticker on my window, and I am VERY vocal about not allowing comments which may make someone feel less than because of their gender or sexual identity. But I can do more.  I will be joining the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) this year.  I will help to promote issues we identify. I will encourage the students in my class to join with me.  I will also suggest to the administration at my school that the GSA might be a welcome addition to the staff meetings.  I will also seek to find ways to include the GLBTQ community in my curriculum presentation.


Rola Abihanna, Cindy Giffen, and Brenda Newcombe - Working Cross-Professionally in Schools"

This was a panel discussion about how people can work with other organisations in the school

Rola Abihanna discussed Schools Plus.  This is an initiative which seeks to join the forces of Community Services, Justice, Health and Education, an d bring them together in the school to increase access, and decrease barriers between the groups.  All to better help the student in the classroom.  Rola spoke with excitement and energy about the role of Schools Plus and its impact for the student.

Cindy spoke about HOW one works collaboratively.  She outlined the necessary skills that one needs to be an effective collaborator. These include:

1. Focus on the child, 
2. Define collaboration,
3. Make scheduling a priority
4. Take time to plan
5. Reflect and analyse on your collaboration

The statement which she said which rung true to me is "first seek to understand".  This to me is the key to working with anybody.

Brenda then took the floor, and she spoke about the challenges of implementation of Schools Plus in her school.  She outlined the fact that there is insufficient money for the program to be effective.  She also suggested that remote rural areas are unable to receive the full support of the program because people are not willing to go there to do the work.  This is clearly a point of contention which the school board and Department of Education must come together to solve, if the enthusiasm of Rola's presentation is going to be followed up with the action needed to achieve its potential.