Interlead - The Appraisal Tool

This year we have started on a new pathway of inquiry and reflection using the tool 'Interlead'.  The interlead tool provides a space for teachers to inquire into their professional practice through high quality inquiry, high quality journaling and high quality reflection.  The process encourages teachers to be introspective thinkers, sharpening the edge of their practice.

Over the course of the year so far I have had opportunity to attend PLD sessions on the tool, each one giving me deeper insight into how the tool can be used most effectively.  Each session has opened doors on my own thinking around professional practice.   This post is a collation of notes I have gathered across the sessions I attended.  I think the biggest learning around using this tool for me is the 'pull model' of learning - receiving feedback.

Feedback is important for growth, I know this and I appreciate it.  However, it is difficult to receive feedback and at times not take offense to being criticized.  An important point of learning for me has been not being defensive.  Challenging my own thinking of how I think is paramount to raising my capacity as a school manager.  During the one of the interlead sessions, discussion focused around learning and two types of learning were identified;

• Information learning - My students need to be fixed.  
• Transformational learning - I need to be fixed. 

Transformational learning is introspectively thinking about what I've changed in my teaching/leadership to improve my capacity?  A shift from a push model of learning (where learning is selected from an outside source or authority) to a pull model of learning (that is motivated from within based on ones own preferences and decisions).   The pull model is where teachers/managers ask for areas to work on, seek critical feedback, question what it is they need to be asking themselves what they need to improve, drive their own learning.

A good resource given during our interlead sessions was a brief clip from the Harvard Business Review of an interview with Sheila Heen, co-author of "Thanks for the feedback" - Douglas Stone, Sheila Heen.  There is a great explanation in this interview of the importance of receiving feedback to develop capacity.  For me as a leader, the importance of developing a culture of learning through critical thinking and feedback is critical to progress.  Learning how to receive, positively react and learn from feedback is an area I would like to focus on and personally work on.

Thinking points from PLD around Interlead as an appraisal tool:

• Do you want to learn? Do you want to improve?

• 3 types of feedback - appreciative feedback, evaluative feedback, developmental feedback.

• What feedback do teachers ask their students?  What are the right questions we should be asking them as constructive criticism?  Data collation of student voice provides data to inform inquiry.

• Teaching Practice - how I teach - behaviour management, current curriculum knowledge, instructional practice, formative assessment(constantly need to be sharpened and honed).  These reflections are often introspective journalling.

• Teaching strategies - what I teach - Maths, Reading, Writing.  These reflections are often diarised  journalling.

• How do we raise student achievement and raise teacher capacity?

• Learning through dialogue - learning about differences
• Learning through criticism - Learning through critical feedback

• To exponentially improve the our teaching/leadership we need to seek criticism. 

• Observation as part of appraisals includes 2 fifteen minute obs - as expected by the Education Council. 

Using the interlead tool to create an inquiry:
1st staff meeting - I want you to select/rate out of the ten things how I'm going in the area of...
2nd staff meeting - Last week I asked you to rate how I'm going in this area out of 10 things.  I noted that 8 out of 11 of you though # 5 was an area to work on, and 5 out of 11 thought #8 was one.
3rd staff meeting - present my inquiry

OBSERVATION FRAMEWORK:
Appreciative feedback
Evaluative feedback
Coaching feedback
Reflective questions
Resources and Useful materials