I attended a professional
development conference on Saturday, November 17 at Delta Secondary School known
as “Ed Camp”. If you look it up online, you will discover that Edcamp is defined as an unconference - an organic, democratic, participant-driven
professional development model for people interested in education. The "organic" definition made me skeptical
and I half wondered if Ed Camp would also offer 100% of my daily requirements
of probiotics, fibre and would attract lots of people with wool socks and Birkenstocks. However, I was
intrigued that there were no entrance fees, keynote presentations from noted experts,
no formal pre-set agenda, and participants were invited to set the course of
the day by identifying and then choosing topics they are most interested in
discussing or learning more about.
Upon
arriving, I was welcomed by some students, picked up a name tag and was
given four post-it stickies. Participants at Edcamp are encouraged to
contribute ideas for workshops beforehand and are invited to share a short
presentation or propose a question.
There was a range of at least 30 topics posted on a couple of rolling
boards, and I was invited to read them and put my post-its on the session
topics that were most interesting to me.
From there, the organizers created a schedule and many sessions were
offered over four time slots during the course of the day. All participants were urged to bring a
device. There were no paper handouts.
The schedule, school map and session notes were all done online, using
QR code readers, Google Docs, Twitter (#edcamplbc) and the EdCamp Delta website.
The
four workshops I attended were informal, interactive, conversation-driven and
not typical stand and deliver (with power point) presentations from a guru where the
audience remains mostly passive.
While the Saturday event was full of like-minded people passionate about
education (including prominent edu-stars, as measured by number of followers in the Twitterverse), it was all
about reflective and engaging dialogue. Disagreement and counterpoints were
welcomed and encouraged, including a summative session entitled “What Sucks
about Education” where we were invited to agree or disagree about current hot
topics and defend our thinking.
It seems to me that the most thoughtful conversations and learning I
have had at professional conferences or in my career, were in between sessions
and after work or meetings, informally with other participants and colleagues. The EdCamp model is all about the informal
conversations where participants can listen, articulate, defend and reshape
their thinking. (See more on informal learning here).
Professional
development, like all learning, is determined by the level of engagement,
openness and reflectiveness of the participants. While EdCamp is certainly not a panacea, and it has limitations (read the ever thoughtful Bruce Beairsto here and here), for my
money (it was free), it was an excellent day. I was able to choose what interested me and the '21st
century, digital and connected learners & leaders' theme of my day was very helpful. Sessions were facilitated by current, practicing teachers,
principals, district innovators and students. They offered a brief overview of
things they are doing, now, in class, in their school or district and what they
have learned. The audience was comprised of people who serve in similar roles
and who can ask questions and pose what ifs and offer counter ideas. EdCamp recognizes that, collectively,
practicing educators have a lot of experience and expertise and, if we’re interested
in change and innovation, we can create this together. For me, it was far better than listening to even
the most riveting and current (and costly) expert from abroad, who often has not
worked in a school, with students and teachers, for years.
As I learned at a session entitled, “What
is Connected Leadership?” the digital world has flattened traditional
hierarchies in education and made ideas more powerful and influential than
roles. At this same session, participants were encouraged to get connected to
those with different ideas and perspectives, as defending our ideas while
entertaining conflicting points of view is the only way to learn and grow. Ed Camp offered an opportunity to meet a diverse cross section of interesting educators and hear and discuss some innovative ideas. It was certainly as good or better than any traditional conference I have attended, but like all pro-d, the long term, positive growth it will create is really up to me.
The
Edcamp model originated a couple of years ago in Philadelphia. Since that
time, the model has gained popularity and events have been held throughout
North America and beyond. Edcamp Vancouver took place in April 2011 with
approximately 90 participants. The
session I attended on Saturday, November 17, 2012 attracted over 200 educators,
parents and students from all over B.C.
Delta Secondary School administrators Terry Ainge and Aaron Akune and
the DSS students in attendance did a fabulous job organizing and participating
in the day.
