Anthony Perrotta

The Matrix:

The education conference circuit is in full swing and common language is being shared: Student Voice, Tech-Enabled Learning, 21C, Collaborative Inquiry, Digital Portfolios, Creativity, Critical Thinking …… the rhetoric goes on and on (as part of the machine I say all of this we a flare for self-deprecation).

Sadly, although many conferences provide for great networking opportunities, the ideas being shared are becoming categorized, recycled and in many instances, copied. I am presenting at an upcoming conference where many of the topics have been shared in the past – and workshop descriptions are creating many occurrences of deja vu. This is not to devalue the importance of bringing people together or the opportunity to lead and provoke conversation. I suppose, I am seeking a matrix moment. This is the moment where pre-existing structures are re-imagined within a post-structural lens. Celebrated and infused with new interruption and element of surprise. Think about the slow motion bullet in The Matrix (1999), which has been exhaustively copied since. Think about when Neo moved within a freeze frame space – influenced by the films of John Woo but heightened and enhanced. The Matrix represented a turning point.

How does this all connect to education?

I’m seeking something new. I’m seeking an experience that acknowledges conversations of the past but reinvents convention and expectation.  Within the milieu of the educational conference, this can only be done by eliminating the Pseudo-Expert and ensuring those sharing ideas are actively constructing, reinventing and importantly practicing. For example, and this bold, but a Master of Education is pointless if not actively shaped and reshaped in a classroom with real human beings. I am growing excessively tired of “research” and am seeking action.  Another example. Although, I truly believe and value the practice of Collaborative Inquiry, I want to learn from someone who is doing and ideally hear from students – their experiences and reflections.  ARE WE BEING REAL?

The Authentic:

The PD experienced must be authentic – real. Not real in the sense that the ideas are meaningful but real in that the conversation being shared is rooted in practice. What works? What doesn’t work? What are next steps?  Share examples. What are the tips?

For example, this is great PD. Kristen Wellers, shares how she uses technology to ignite student centered learning – fantastic. Its real, it’s tangible and its transferable. It’s a matrix moment in that it borrows from the existing and reinvents by avoiding limitation. Using just one iPad, Kristen is able to empower students through technology. That is the reinvention – no limitations.

Find more on Kristen here: Blended Learning – Working with One iPAD

Final Thought:

Don’t get me wrong, more often than not, many leading education conferences provide for ideal networking and great inspirational moments. However, as I participant, presenter and consultant, I must provoke. Hell, this includes being my own harshest critic. If I am going to present, it needs to be something I can really speak to – an experience that is real.

Is being REAL, too much to ask?

Why Go Back?

Let me begin by saying that I haven’t watched Jerry Maguire recently and that this writing is based purely on personal reflection and not an extravagant attempt to bring life to a mission statement regarding educational leadership. This post is my declaration that my leadership discernment and practice as a resource teacher in 21C has taken a new life – one that embraces the dangers of the pseudo-expert and consequentially yearns for authentic and active practice. So, what does this all mean? Although I have been renewed for an additional three year term as a system resource teacher, I have humbly and enthusiastically accepted the opportunity to return to the ever important and heroic role of the classroom teacher. Trust, when I say that my excitement/nerves are palpable. I am eager to put into practice experience and to learn from a new and great teaching community with the sincere hope to have a positive impact on student learning.

A New Path

The journey to this point has been inspiring. From the classroom to the system, my professional learning and growth has been accelerated – it has been a breathless ride. As part of a dynamic team of educators who are working to support a change in teaching and learning through 21^st Century Skills and Technology, the opportunity to contribute, initiate, and extend what I believed in as an educator was a blessing. As a Communications Technology teacher my efforts with students was to scaffold a learning environment that initiated student voice, ignited curiosity, and brought to life knowledge through creative and technical application. My concern was not about potential student career paths or even post -secondary studies but more importantly the ability to nurture a love of learning and to use new skills and knowledge in transferable and far-reaching ways.

Bird’s Eye View

This volition motivated me to accept the opportunity to work at the system level. Instead of working with students, my hope was to collaborate with teachers to support promising practice and to share my love of what education could be.  To my pleasure, I had the opportunity to join forces with many like-minded individuals  and have achieved great professional and personal success.  Whether it was my extensive/intimate work with all levels of eLearning or supporting the inclusion of new media within a cross curricular milieu, the time has been professionally and personally rewarding on so many levels.  In many ways, my role as a resource teachers was to be  a provocateur – challenge, motivate and build conversation around new thinking. I suppose I have come to the point where I want provocation to be supported by self-directed action. This is really about me – thus with all of the incredibly good – turbulence did arise.

Back to Reality

Over the course of this past year and with conversations about my potential post-resource interests, I began to come to the realization that I was teetering on the side of the pseudo-expert (the turbulence). The pseudo-expert (Google and explore) is someone that is not authentically entrenched, active or practicing that is which they present in theory. Like the phenomenon of pseudo science where a Google search “makes” someone a medical professional, a dangers rests when a perceived expertise is not intentionally challenged in thinking, design or implementation. It is with the “pseudo” as married to both my leadership discernment and role as a 21C resource teacher that I felt a professional need to return to the trenches. So many personal and reflective questions came to mind that fueled my active thinking.

How can I continue to be a 21C resource if I’m not actively practicing what I  believe?

How can I be a potential administrator without living more time in the classroom/school?

How could I be a legitimate instructional leader if I haven’t authentically lived the challenges and realities of those I wish to serve? 

Beyond the “pseudo” I went into teaching from a creative career in film and new media with the goal to have a positive impact on student learning and share my love of film, new media and technology studies. This is something that I have missed – and I am exhilarated to put into practice all of my new learning and experiences.  In many ways, I am anxious to see what will authentically and tangibly work, won’t work and what will need to be evolved.

In the end (or rather beginning), this journey has been inspiring. I have made fantastic friends, collaborated with amazing people and supported system goals and initiatives – great things are happening.  From all of this, my greatest fear when moving from the classroom to the system was “losing touch” with the real successes, challenges and lived realities of the everyday teacher.  I feel that I have started to lose that touch – and hence it is time to become reacquainted with my profession in the most intimate of ways. Now, it is time to put all my experience (and so called expertise) to the test. Am I a pseudo- expert?

I hope not for the students’ sake.

Let the journey begin…