Suggested activity

This chapter has described a theoretical base for thinking about how ISTEs can communicate with other educators in ways that foster mutually satisfying collaborative relationships. In doing so, it has touched on a number of specific skills, attributes, and practices that ISTEs need if they are to achieve their goals for professional learning and student outcomes.

Some of these skills, attributes, and practices are listed below as a starting point for critical reflection and discussion. The word “must” is intentionally provocative – the intention is for you to debate these ideas, to think about how you would prioritise them, and to ponder on what is missing.

• ISTEs must be able to build relationships with others that are focused on a shared vision, which identifies specific measurable outcomes for professional learning and considers both changes in teachers’ practices and the effect of those changes on student learning.
• ISTEs must choose ways of communicating that support the development of those relationships.
• ISTEs must understand, respect, and value the knowledge and sense-making processes of all those involved in professional learning. This must include an understanding of kaupapa Māori pedagogy. (See pages 122–124.)
• The relationships ISTEs establish must be founded on trust. Without trust, people will not take the risk of participating in critical inquiry.
• ISTEs must be reflective practitioners, taking take time to focus on their own values and beliefs both independently and collectively.
• ISTEs must make their theories of practice explicit to themselves and to each other.
• ISTEs must be open to criticism, modelling a world in which mistakes are an accepted part of the learning process and where conflict is conceived as being between competing theories of action rather than between competing people.
• ISTEs must be able to suspend their judgment and listen to what others are really saying.
• ISTEs must actively seek new ideas beyond their own communities of practice.
• ISTEs must regard diverse viewpoints as potential sources of better ideas and new breakthroughs.
• When inquiring into problems of practice, ISTEs must be able to combine rigour with respect.
• ISTEs must demonstrate emotional intelligence. (See pages 130–131.)
• ISTEs must be open-minded, responsible, and wholehearted. (See page 118.)
• ISTEs must be friendly, empathic, and honest – at times, courageously so.
• ISTEs must understand the importance of the context and purpose of learning and of getting to know and appreciate the learner.
• ISTEs must understand the difference between first- and second-order change, recognising that this can differ for different people. They must provide support for those who are finding learning and change difficult.
• ISTEs must be able to use and choose ways of talking (for example, analytical, critical, or challenging) that are appropriate to particular conversations. (See page 140.)
• ISTEs must challenge their fellow educators to make time for professional conversations and to use learning talk in their everyday professional lives.
• ISTEs must be able to provide feedback in ways that minimise defensiveness and maximise opportunities for people to reflect and to learn.
• While ISTEs must be able to confront difficult issues, they must do so with an ethic of care and interdependency in mind.

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