Last year I wrote a post called Don’t think you are brilliant? Think again… and in it I shared my insights from being an assessor for CMALT, ALT’s peer-based accreditation scheme and how I observed that reflecting on practice can help you realise your own strengths and gain a sense of achievement. Since then, I have assessed a lot more portfolios and also explored those shared by other Certified Members (thanks for sharing!) and I…
Category: leadership
As you may have gathered, I like Star Trek and Captain Picard is my favourite captain in that particular universe. I don’t agree with every aspect of his approach to leadership, but I like to think that we share a lot of values and every now and then I come across something he says or does that really resonates with me. I was watching an old episode of The Next Generation recently (fellow nerds: this…
Recently, I have started writing a series of blog posts with my colleague Martin Hawksey. It’s an interesting undertaking in which we take an open approach to leadership, to sharing our perspective on leading the organisation we work for through a period of change towards adopting a virtual mode of operating. And it’s got me thinking on parallel lines about my own professional practice and how it’s developed over the last 20 years, from being…
This morning my least favourite social media platform reminded me of a post from 6 years ago, and it linked back to this announcement from 2012, written by Martin Oliver, then Chair of ALT, about my appointment as CEO of the Association. Since then, I have written many times to Members to report on progress and together with others shared the work we do, which I am very proud of. But this post is more…
One of the things I did this week was to help test a diagnostic tool, which is part of the work Mozilla is doing on open leadership. The questionnaire had lots of questions helping me reflect on my approach to open leadership, how I support and empower others, but one question in particular made me pause: The question asked me to indicate (I am paraphrasing here) how often or to what extent I practice self…
Recently I have been spending a lot of time writing references, quotes and feedback for colleagues. And I found it easy to talk about their achievements, to praise their outstanding qualities and to describe how they made a difference. It’s easy to do when it’s for someone amazing, it’s easy to do when it’s not yourself you’re writing or talking about, I find. But then I read something others or I write about ourselves, about…
This is part 2 of my look back at my year in Learning Technology in 2017 (read part 1). The rise of the robots and the power of shared values Another story that has shaped my work this year is the ‘rise of the robots’ with headlines once again prophesying a future where every job is under threat and where, in education in particular, robots will soon replace teachers and lecturers all together. From gleefully…
With the end of the year around the corner, I’m adding my contribution to the many excellent reviews and reports reflecting on Learning Technology in 2017. I work at the intersection of policy, research and practice, focusing not on technology as such, but on the professionals, the human dimension of technology in education. As such, it’s been an interesting year as the relationship between people and machines evolves. I hope that there will be three posts…
… and yes, I am thinking about you 😉 But, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s go back to the beginning and how I came to (nearly) write those words on an assessment form. As a Certified Member of ALT I act as a peer assessor for portfolios submitted by candidates hoping to gain the accreditation. It’s part of my continuous professional development in Learning Technology and in the most part it…