Hello everyone!
I enjoy designing professional development programs that help educators and children deepen their creative thinking practices and take an active part in their own learning, problem-solving and meaning-making. Because of my commitment to and belief in the importance of this work, I recently returned to school to pursue a Master’s degree in Education and Innovation in order to acquire a deeper understanding of, as well as gain invaluable insight into, innovative educational practices and learning strategies.
My philosophy of education (and innovation in education) has been largely influenced and inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. As some of you may know, it is a pedagogy that values the competence and capabilities of each child and promotes an active approach to learning where knowledge is constructed through learning experiences in relationship-driven environments. These ideas are rooted in the research and theoretical work of pioneering educational theorists, such as John Dewey, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, among others. My studies of other innovative approaches, with similar philosophical renderings, include: Design Thinking, Transformative Learning, Global Citizenship and Creative Multimedia Design for Innovative Learning -- all of which have introduced me to creative thinking and learning strategies that I plan to integrate into my educational work.
Obviously, addressing the kinds of changes that challenging times like these bring with them will also require different thinking strategies, as well as ways of acting and being. For these, and all the reasons mentioned above, it seems to me that there is no better time to develop innovative ways to support educational programming and improve teaching and learning, while supporting our young children, teachers and communities in need.
In terms of ideas for an innovative education design project, I am interested in creating a facilitated online professional development model designed to support transformative learning opportunities for early childhood educators interested in deepening their creative thinking, teaching and learning practices. Although models like these do exist, I would like the focus here to be on the personalized learning aspect by creating a semi-open framework capable of being custom-tailored to accommodate the needs, interests, and educational contexts unique to each community of learners. In this sense the aim is to inspire and help inform emergent curriculum that is co-created as part of a relationship-driven, design thinking process, while introducing innovative technologies, methods and pedagogies along the way. I wonder if the potential for innovation will depend on its ability to be flexible and open-ended enough to meet the needs of every learner or learning community, while being structured enough to support a creative pedagogical approach that is somewhat replicable as a professional development prototype.
Some early iterations have included facilitating a dedicated learning community comprised of early childhood educators, who are asked to identify what learning goals they want to focus on for the year. Then, monthly modules are designed to support and follow their emerging needs, interests and understandings through the sharing of innovative pedagogical practices and resources they can learn and draw from; practicum exercises used to provoke their own explorations based on the principles they are learning about (e.g. interactive and meta-cognitive and self-reflective discussion posts and exercises); and online Zoom meetings designed to reflect upon the on-going learning, and enable the sharing of project work with peers.
I am excited to have the opportunity to connect with and learn from a broader network of educators and innovators like you through the Hive Community! I would be curious to learn what kinds of innovative professional development opportunities the rest of you have experienced, read about, or perhaps envisioned. How were they structured? What made them unique or particularly transformational?
Kimberly - I love that you come at this from a Reggio Emilia perspective! I've also found the approach to mesh well with the things I've learned throughout the Education and Innovation program at Webster U. I think the Reggio Emilia approach of fostering creativity in children and following their lead naturally aligns with what we have been learning about design thinking, transformative learning, creativity, and innovation.
I like your idea for professional development that is somewhat structured and somewhat open and that aims to guide teachers towards their own transformative learning experiences. I was lucky to attend a Reggio Emilia conference a few years back and one of the most memorable experiences for me was a studio where we were encouraged to experience a variety of artistic tools just as children might experience them. Being free to draw and paint and play the way young students might led to some interesting insights and conversations among the group!
This project is excellent. It has multiple parts so you might want to flesh these out by their distinctive goals. One aspect is the ongoing discussion and conversation. This is a natural fit for Hive. Another aspect is the video chats or conferences. These might fit best in Zoom or WhatsApp. Finally there is the instructional element. That might fit best in ODEM. Any one of these would be a very good project.
Hi Kimberly, I think you have a great idea here. Early childhood educators play a very important role in the development of our children. Creating an online platform for them to expand their ideas and creativity would be definitely helpful for them. I think that this would be a great project, thanks for sharing!