Category Archives: Resources

How Appreciative Inquiry Makes a Difference in Education

Recently the Inquiry Institute conducted an interview with Marge Schiller and Joyce Lemke, two of our well-known PCC members.

Between them, Marge and Joyce have conducted 15 Education focused Appreciative Inquiry Summits, ranging from 50-700 participants.

In this conversation they discuss some of what they have learned and the importance of strength-based schools.

You can listen to the podcast here. (24 minutes) If you are interested in strength-focused approaches in schools, it will be very well worth your time!

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Skype in the Classroom

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Skype in the Classroom is a website taking advantage of the global reach of Skype to connect teachers around the globe!

As the site explains:

Skype in the classroom is a free community to help teachers everywhere use Skype to help their students learn. It’s a place for teachers to connect with each other, find partner classes and share inspiration. This is a global initiative that was created in response to the growing number of teachers using Skype in their classrooms.

Once teachers create a profile that sets out their interests, specialties and location, they can create projects. Projects are a way for teachers to find partner classes, partner teachers or guest speakers for a specific learning activity. You can browse through projects or even search by keyword, which makes it easy for teachers to share expertise and collaborate on projects even when they don’t already know each other.

Teachers can also browse through a members-only directory to find teachers who can offer them help, or whom they might be able to help. Once teachers find someone they’d like to connect with, they can add that person as a Skype contact. There’s also a directory of resources to help teachers share inspiring videos, links and tips around using in their classrooms.

While there is a lot you can do on Skype in the classroom, there are also a few things you can’t do. This is a community for educators to work on education-related endeavours. It is not a place intended for personal projects or for anything from which you might make any commercial gain.

Using their Skype accounts, teachers can collaborate on projects, connect with other teachers around the world and discover new inspiration for their classrooms.

The site is young – it was launched at the end of March, so is only two months old. But at time of writing, you can already find over 12,000 teachers, 500 projects and 450 resources on the site.

Well worth a visit for any teacher!

Via Marge Schiller,
from Adrienne O’Neill and Joseph Rochford
of the Stark Education Partnership

Hip Hop Genius: Remixing High School Education

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Here is a wonderful video, created by Sam Siedel.

It illustrates … literally! … the concept of “Hip Hop Genius” – a way of viewing the transformation of education.

As Sam says on the Vimeo website:

.. Drawings were done by Mike McCarthy, a student at College Unbound , a school that exemplifies many of the values espoused in the film. the entire video was shot in College Unbound’s seminar space, where Mike has built a studio for his company Drawn Along .

The end sequence was shot by Graham Wheeler, a recent graduate of the East Bay Met, a high school that also embodies many of the principles of Hip Hop Genius. Graham and Mike edited the whole video as well.

The beat at the end was made by DJ Tek, who worked with me at the AS220 Broad Street Studio back in the day… our work there was the genesis of much of my thinking about Hip Hop Genius. Several of the young people in the video are or have been affiliated with that program.

Contributed by Natalie Shell

The Future of Education

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If you’ve not watched this graphically recorded talk by Sir Ken Robinson, then you’re in for a treat. In it, he presents a cogent argument for a new paradigm in education with his customary clear reasoning and sharp wit.

Sir Ken Robinson is a British author, speaker and international advisor on education in the arts to government, non-profits, education and arts bodies. He received his knighthood in 2003 for services to education.

Thank you to Natalie Shell for the ‘heads up’ on this presentation.

Evocative Coaching:
Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time

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A new resource is available for those working with classroom teachers and school leaders. Written by Bob & Megan Tschannen-Moran, Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time (Jossey-Bass, 2010), incorporates the principles of Appreciative Inquiry into the process of one-on-one coaching for personal and professional development.

The Evocative Coaching model works with Story Listening, Expressing Empathy, Appreciative Inquiry, and Design Thinking to move educators beyond old ways of thinking, doing, and being. It inspires and invigorates educators with the passion for making schools better, one conversation at a time.

David Cooperrider had this to say about the book: “If you could choose only one inspiring and resource-filled book on coaching, what do you suppose it would be? For me the answer is right here. Evocative Coaching is a gem; it’s something that should be read by anyone involved in a helping profession—and that’s everyone!”

For more information about the book and the coach training program based upon the book, visit www.SchoolTransformation.com.

Bob Tschannen-Moran

All My Work is Peace Education

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Martha Llanos, Peru

In my varied career, including my time as the first UNICEF Regional Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean, I have worked for the rights of the child in Peru and around the world.

Last year I had a wonderful time sharing Peace Ambassadors workshops with women and girls from India, Nepal, and Greece.

I just completed three presentations at the International Conference on Human Development that took place in Lima.

Now I am preparing to journey to Slovenia and Croatia to work on intercultural issues and coping and resilience in emergency situations.

All my work is peace education. The heart of peace education is understanding people’s lives, dreams, cultures, and practices and appreciating them in whatever contributions they make to society.

Peace education encompasses flexibility, creativity, discovery, and finding value in every way that collectivity can be built for the common good. Values such as cooperation, trust, solidarity, and respect are essential for peace building.

As Mahatma Gandhi said:

If we want true peace in the world, we shall have to start with the children. We will not have peace in the world if we continue to violate children’s rights.

To build a global culture of peace we must build a collective vision in which the culture of peace features presented in the UNESCO Manifesto are expressed in our everyday life: Continue reading →

“Alphabet Meditations” by Nancy Oelklaus

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Reviewed 06/27/2009 by Rebecca Boudin

There are people out there who do not understand what the life of a teacher is like. They’re not difficult to find.

They’re the ones who think teachers have an easy job, one that pays far too much for only nine months of work out of the year.

They’re the ones who might not admit it, but really think our educators are nothing more than glorified babysitters.

Only those of us who have gotten a glimpse at a teacher’s life, either by doing or purposefully observing, truly understand how much work a teacher is expected to do.

There are lessons to plan, papers to grade, parents to meet, meetings to attend, classrooms to design and decorate, fights to settle, discipline to be determined, etc.

Contrary to popular belief, a teacher’s job does not end when the final bell rings.

Nancy Oelklaus is someone who understands all the stresses and strains of an educator. In her book, Alphabet Meditations for Teachers, she provides teachers with a way to refocus themselves and prepare for a new day in the classroom.

Continue reading →