There have been some fantastic resources that have surfaced through our team’s recent introduction to Project Based Learning. This one, though, is a great one that I know I will keep referrring back to as we get started. Thanks to Daniel Gibson for putting it together.
Category Archives: Learning and Teaching
My introduction to PBL
This past week I had the great opportunity to spend three days at the PBL World conference, which, fortunately for me, was held very close to home at Parramatta Marist High, Westmead. The conference was hosted by our own Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta and the Buck Institute for Education (the people who know Project Based Learning)
I went into the conference knowing very little about the specifics about Project Based Learning is, and without any particular opinion as to whether it is something I should be doing. I also had the benefit of attending and participating with a number of my colleagues from my school, so that we can look PBL together. Certainly when a school makes such an investment into professional learning, it can be incumbent upon the attendees to do bring something back from the conference. Each day began with a keynote address. After morning tea, the rest of the day was primarily spent engaging in ‘101’ workshops that had us working, hands on, through the process to designing our own PBL experience and learning by doing. For our group, these workshops were led by the talented and engaging Gina Olabuenaga. There was such a positive atmosphere throughout the room all the time, and what quickly became evident was the risks we were prepared to take as learners because we were able to challenge each other within a safe environment. Yes, this is part of what PBL is and requires.
There is a lot I could say about what PBL is, and try to explain it in ways that would not do it justice compared to those with much greater experience than I. The explanation that resonated with me most over the three days, however, came from keynote presenter Glen O’Grady, who said that PBL is not just a method, it’s a philosophy. It managed to sum up exactly what I had been thinking. PBL is not about having to do different things or stringently sticking to a ridig process. Yes, there are essential elements within a project that are essential if it is to be effective. That said, however, from what I can see, you don’t abandon everything you once did as a teacher in order to ‘do’ PBL. What I did see was all the best practices teachers use and want to use, and all the great hopes and beliefs teachers have for learning and for their students, drawn together. What I saw was learning that was relevant, engaging, demanding, inquiry-driven, and that shapes people as learners and as people who can engage in society just as much as it shapes their academic knowledge and understanding. Certainly those of us who were there are now eager to go back and give it all a go.
Finally, if you want to browse through an amazing record of what was being said, done and thought about at PBL World, you must check out the hashtag #pblaustralia on twitter. I’ve been on twitter for a while, and used it sparingly, but during this conference, I tweeted like I’d never tweeted before! It helped me see just how powerful twitter is, and what can be gained from it. The end result from those three days (and from anything that follows) is an phenomenal bank of crowd-sourced information.
“Every member of staff did their job”
Areas surrounding Sydney have been affected in recent days by destructive bushfires. While there is something of a reprieve at present, the danger has not yet passed, and hotter weather predicted for coming days will potentially exacerbate the already fragile situation.
Two schools in our system, one primary and one secondary, were the subject of emergency action on Thursday. St Thomas Aquinas Primary was evacuated, while St Columba’s High School was locked down pending later evacuation. All students of both schools were safely evacuated and returned to their parents during of the course of the afternoon and evening.
While news of the emergency made its way through our system of schools yesterday, this story appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald today:
What this story reminds us is that working in a school often requires so much more than trying to ensure the highest possible learning outcomes for every student; something that is a big enough challenge in itself. It often involves many other things that are necessary for the wellbeing of students, staff and families, including first aid, meals, counselling, social skills and, sometimes (fortunately not very often), getting children out of harm’s way and being surrogate parents until they can be reunited with their parents and guardians.
Being a teacher can be costly. Not necessarily a financial cost (but perhaps so if you want to start comparing professional salaries), but certainly a social and emotional one. Teaching is demanding, not only of your skills and knowledge, but of your time, your energy and your complete and total commitment to the cause.
So why do they do such a demanding job? The answer for Serge was simple: it’s their job. Some people might not fully comprehend what that means and implies, but teachers do. And from what the story suggests, so too now (if they didn’t already before) do the parents of the St Thomas Aquinas school community. They saw it modelled for them, in a selfless, Christ-like manner on Thursday.
To the teachers and school staff who have had to respond to this disaster, you have done us proud. Your commitment to the safety and wellbeing of your students, and our appreciation for that, cannot be expressed strongly enough. We are sorry for the losses you and your school communities have faced, and may still have to continue to face. Our thoughts and our prayers are with you all.
It's Crowded in Here 