Effective Approaches To Adoption
“Consciously we teach what we know. Unconsciously we teach who we are”
How can we manage the change effectively in the adoption and embedding of technology across school communities?
'We can reflect back on many, many things that we have learned during those periods of remote schooling, not least of which are some pretty basic. Such as where and when does learning take place, and what is the role of schooling within children's wider lives? Let's embrace those challenges. Let's embrace those big questions and think, OK, what can we do now to build on all of that learning and take those valuable experiences that we all had during remote schooling forwards to the next chapter of our teaching and learning journey?'
Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith (Founder of PedTech) PPedT 10a
What advice would you give to other teachers considering using technology to support everyday teaching and learning?
'My advice would definitely be to sort of embrace that process and just go with it and try it.'
Matthew Clements (Y4 Class Teacher, Cheam Fields Primary) LeoPedT 2 What
How can you secure impact when you do not have 1:1 ratios?
'I think where schools don't have onetoone devices or don't have an abundance of technology at their fingertips. It's about using the technology that they have to have the greatest impact.'
Natasha Dolling (LEO Academy Trust Director of Maths) LeoPedTech 13
How do you generate the capacity to change?
'One of the key drivers of all this is pedagogy over technology. So we don't ask teachers to use these devices for the sake of it, we asked them to use it where it's meaningful and effective.' Pedtech 2 RGS
John Jones (Director of Innovation RGS Worcester Family of Schools)
Why should we prioritise a PedTech focus when workload is so high already?
'For me, at our school, we recognised very early on that technology, whatever it was, had the ability for us to work in a different way, had the ability for us to, for example, not have to write a report, print a report, have a report edited, re-upload that report, re-edit it, but actually collaborating on the same document at the same time, reduced hours of workload.'
Simon Pile (Headteacher, Anson Primary) Ans PedTech 13a
Managing and supporting change
'Already our plans for next year are changing, and we are making sure that the professional development that we offer is useful for our teachers and is streamlined for different departments. So each department doesn't get the same CPD as the other departments. In fact, they get the CPD that they need to progress in terms of pupil progress and impact.' PedTech RGS 1
John Jones (Director of Innovation RGS Worcester Family of Schools)
How can we generate enough capacity to change?
'Because it's really when you open up teachers to the chance of what they could do with a piece of technology, that something amazing happens because they've got really time to digest what that technology can do, what they can do with it, and how it's going to impact on their learners.'
Simon Pile (Headteacher, Anson Primary) Ans PedTech 13b
How to you support staff to make the necessary changes?
'It's really important that we open up the freedom of people to make mistakes with their use of technology... not be punished for it BUT learn from it; so that ultimately ALL children benefit from the new found confidence that those teachers have.'
Simon Pile (Headteacher, Anson Primary)ch Ans 1
Research papers linked to quotes above:
Hamachek, D., (1999) Effective teachers: What they do, how they do it, and the importance of self-knowledge. In (eds) Lipka, R., and Brinthaupt, T., (1999) The role of self in teacher development. State of New York University Press. New York.
As Professor John Hattie found through his research – “If teachers and leaders are able to choose tools that help them to be the teacher or leader that they want to be, then both the tool and the person become more effective, and that lead us towards greater collective efficacy which we know trebles the impact on student achievement” (Hattie, 2020). So it’s worth us understanding what makes ‘us’ effective. What are our individual pedagogical beliefs, and what tools and strategies will help ‘us’ to become the very best teacher that we can be?
Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher (15) pp.4-14.