Thursday, October 20, 2011

PRO-D !!

Off tomorrow for some great professional development with the Pacific Slope Consortium. This is our 2nd annual Purden retreat, and our model caught the attention of the Ministry of Education last year. Some combination of the minister, deputy minister, and ministerial secretary thought this was exactly what was needed in our province and asked how they could support us. Ian has this dialed in, he's been hobnobbing with the higher-ups. We're looking into a camp-and-confer later this year or next year near 100 Mile? Our model is pretty basic -- bring together sharp minds, rich topics related to teaching, learning, citizenship, sustainability & identity, and a setting that inspires revery, discourse & self-reliance. This fits into the larger vision of the PSC that sees small-scale self-sufficient cells of innovative educators practicing as if the ideal learning environment already exists, combined with a willingness to take its pedagogical cues from history as much as the future-focus that drives most of the current educational discourse in British Columbia. Anyways, our topics for tomorrow's session include: role-play simulations in SS10 and SS11, what we're learning from our use of twitter, considering the possibilities for a Vimy Ridge trip in 2017, a 10-year futureshock exercise, and collaboration for call-for-papers (ed journals) & conference presentations. I must remember to update my professional growth plan with the details. Although I love my job and I have great classes, the climate for professional growth is often polluted by politics and agendas. That's one of the reasons I started maintaining a growth plan -- I would rather anticipate and respond creatively to what will no doubt be perceived as a burden by teachers in years to come... do something well now (at least to me) so that nobody can ask me to do something crappy in 2 years... I should make that my motto. So, it is with some real joy and enthusiasm that I look forward to the critical inquiry and exploration of social capital that the PSC brings to the campfire.

1 comment:

Big T said...

O.K. that was great... trend analysis (society, student identity, teacher evolution), Vimy Ridge Tour 2017, Role Play throughout the SS continuum, and celebration of all things Social Studies