For me it was Alan November.
When I look at which speaker I saw who finally got through to me and made me think differently about teaching and learning, it would be Alan November. It was 2004, and the web 2.0 world was coming alive.
I have seen hundreds of speakers who suggested I needed to think differently but for some reason on that fall day at the Terry Fox Theatre in Port Coquitlam, Alan November got me thinking in new ways and I never looked back.
I have written on some similar shifts I have made – like My Aha Moment when I took what I heard from Alan November and brought it into my practice and My Own Watershed Moments when I reflected on influential conferences, people and presentations on my thinking.
The short version of what I remember from the November talk of 14 years ago, is that we need to have students own their own learning (He would ask, “Who owns the learning?”), and some of the new technology tools can help do this in ways we had only dreamed about before. Of course, he also had some great hooks, I am sure I am not the only one who remembers him showing Dog Island, The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus among other sites around information literacy.
So, why on that particular day, did that talk change my thinking? I think it is because:
- I was already thinking about things differently but needed someone to help me pull the ideas together
- I felt confident in my job, and ready to move beyond “just getting by” to be open to new ideas
- There was a culture in the District I worked that was open to new ideas
- I could see how the conversation in education fit into a larger shift in the world beyond school
- Some speakers just hook you in.
Several of us looked back on this event and referred to it as the “November Awakening” in Coquitlam. This was the right event at the right time. Of course, we never change our thinking based on a 2-hour-talk, but sometimes we can look back on certain sessions that really helped pull our thinking together.
So, who was it for you? If you had to identify one speaker you heard who changed how you think about your practice who would it be? What was it about that speaker on that day that led to a change of thinking?
cultureofyes.ca 
Dave Weinberger. Watched him present via live stream back in the day… 2006. http://ideasandthoughts.org/2016/09/01/watershed-moments-of-learning/
His message was about the changing nature of information, similar to Alan but less focused on education, he really pushed my thinking about the way we categorize information. His book, “Too Big to Know” really challenged the way I thought about community and school.
For me it was Dr. Fraser Mustard at a gathering called the Sparrow Lake Alliance, a powerful, off-the-radar, gathering of dedicated, brilliant souls from Education, Health, Justice et al who were committed to exploring how the ‘system’ could better support the development of children and youth. I had the privilege of participating in this group and in particular it’s Education focused workgroup. Then, unlike now, there was more to do to help people understand the inextricable connection between health and learning. Thankfully that’s now well understood – our challenge rests with the “how’s”. (Perhaps we could use that kind of informal ‘think tank’ here in BC? I’m in!).
Sounds great Cindy – maybe we could use that kind of think tank! I think we are definitely seeing a strong belief of the connection to health and learning in BC. I know the influence of the EDI and MDI surveys have been very important with this, and the seemingly almost universal commitment in school districts to the ideas of self-regulation and social-emotional learning.
I had the chance to see Dr. Mustard once – very influential!