NYS ASCD 

by Dr. Bill Brennan (@drbillbrennan)

Michael Fullan states, “Most everyone espouses that ‘all kids can learn,’ but are less ready to say ‘all teachers can learn.” As school administrators we often expect teachers to teach the “whole child,” but do we “walk-the-walk” when it comes to educating the “whole teacher” or leading the “whole school”?

To be fair, in the factory model we inherited, schools were never about tapping and nurturing the human spirit or growing educators. Now, through the combined powers of connected learning, a systems thinking approach to leading, and cultivating the “whole school” we are seeing opportunities to accelerate organizational intelligence. But, how do school leaders reclaim and reshape the vision for professional learning?  How do school leaders connect with teachers and begin to tap the latent energy within our organizations and build this momentum for change.  

Below, I share some of our high leverage areas for leading professional learning aimed at unleashing professional capital. Call it a holistic, organic or even a “whole school” approach, our techniques are deeply rooted in the belief that all teachers and administrators continually seek their potential as educators, but need the structure and space to turn over old mindsets.  Our approach is echoed in this quote from Mahatma Gandhi, “Unless the development of the mind and body goes hand in hand with a corresponding awakening of the soul, the former alone would prove to be a poor lopsided affair.”

It’s been two years now that we’ve offered our Summer Tech and Learning Camp in Farmingdale. The first day of camp is about developing personal commitments to action and recalibrating our mindsets for the journey ahead. In these events, the group becomes the focus of change and as facilitator I’m attentive to group interactions, the energy, and cumulative learning being produced and shared. These enlightening experiences put aside technology and lesson plans, allowing time and structure for teacher and administrators to reflect on their purpose and role in leading and learning. Our success has been measured not just in the shifting mindsets, but in how engagement has created more natural leaders and system thinkers.

As I reflect back on the last three years, one theme emerges for us.  It’s about tapping and developing the deeper intelligences of self, others, and the collective system at a time when we really need them. I think more and more educators see the huge potential synergy here to reinvent professional learning. With a deeper understanding of systems thinking, grounded in mindfulness and creating an energetic and spirited learning organization, faculty and staff are becoming the agents of change. This new ecology represents an exciting and relevantly new dimension of the whole learning organization.  As lead innovator, I love watching how teachers’ and administrators’ learning is recalibrating and reorienting our organization to better cultivate the needs of our stakeholders – the children. As we forge new connections via our connected learners and see more natural leaders emerge, I am anxiously watching for the “turning point” and the key opportunities for our school to disrupt itself.  

Author: Dr. Bill Brennan (@DrBillBrennan) is lead innovator in Farmingdale Public Schools. A graduate of Fordham University’s Doctoral program in Educational Leadership, Bill led a National Study of School Principals, Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning. Dr. Brennan continues to teach, write and speak on building digital age learning organizations. He challenges school leaders to re-design organizations to better cultivate human and social capital.