Professional Learnings NSWPPA Educational Leadership

Discovering the Power of Clarity Learning Suite for Principals and Educators

• NSW PPA Professional Learning • Season 1 • Episode 6

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Are you ready to revolutionize your school leadership skills? Join us as esteemed educational expert Dr. Lynn Sharrett shares her insights on the Clarity Learning Suite, an innovative platform for professional learning designed to support and empower New South Wales school leaders. In this engaging conversation, we discuss Dr. Sharrett's 14 parameters of school improvement, the alignment of these parameters with the school excellence framework, and the importance of principal wellbeing, principals as lead learners, and principals leading school operations.

Dive deeper into the practical and hands-on format of the Clarity Learning Suite, created by Dr. Sharrett and her team, as we explore its evidence-proven, collaborative, and accessible approach to professional development. Learn about the suite's range of resources, including videos, e-notes, and the Learning Leader Notes, as well as webinars and zoom calls for questions and answers. Discover how this powerful platform supports the New South Wales PPA and the school excellence framework while being informed by the research of John Hattie and Dr. Alma Harris. Don't miss this opportunity to expand your educational leadership toolkit with the Clarity Learning Suite.

To view our Professional Learning Offerings visit:
https://www.nswppa.org.au/professional-learning




Speaker 1:

Welcome to today's podcast. My name is Drew Janetsky, the New South Wales Primary Principles Association Professional Learning Officer, and I am thrilled to be sharing a pre-recorded webinar that we did with Dr Lynn Sharrett. We had the privilege of hosting this webinar with Dr Lynn Sharrett, who is an esteemed expert educational expert and, for those who missed out on that recording, the session was filled in cycle discussions, practical strategies to enhance teaching and learning practices. Dr Sharrett's expertise in instructional leadership and school improvement has made her a highly sought after speaker and consultant in the education field. The New South Wales Primary Principles Association are even more excited to share a partnership with Dr Lynn Sharrett and the work of Clarity Moving Sweet. We're hoping to start that and release that early next term through the association. So enjoy this discussion.

Speaker 1:

it's the webinar with Dr Lynn Sharrett, the New South Wales Primary Principles Association. Today I'm joined by Dr Lynn Sharrett, who should need no further introduction. Dr Lynn Sharrett is a highly accomplished practitioner, researcher, author and presenter. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work for the University of Walleroom, a Bachelor of Education from the University of Western Ontario, a Masters of Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, a Doctorate in Education from the University of Toronto and Supervisory Officer Qualifications from the Province of Ontario. She is a six-time author. It's been great pleasure to share her thinking around her new work Clarity Learning Sweet Welcome, lynn.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much, drew, and it's great to be with you and all of your principals.

Speaker 1:

Fantastic, lynn, looking forward to unpacking your work today and the relevance. First couple of questions I've got for you, lynn, in our current professional learning offerings for the New South Wales Primary Principles Association all we call it as the New South Wales PPA is to review our current professional learning offerings of the New South Wales membership and explore them. You might see that in my background there. It has principal wellbeing, which is such an important facet of our work principals as lead learners and principals leading school operations. These values are wrapped around support, empower, advocating and leading. Lynn, could you tell our audience about the Clarity Learning Sweet and how do you feel it would relate to the values outlined, including wellbeing, principals as lead learners and principals leading school operations.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, thanks, drew.

Speaker 2:

I must say that I've written six books now on school and system improvement and every one of the books has as its foundation the importance of relationships, the importance of establishing trust.

Speaker 2:

And when Michael and I Michael Fulin and I first wrote our books together, we investigated what makes a difference in schools that are very challenging to really increase students achievement. And we found through our research there were 14 areas and we called them 14 parameters. And I must say that parameter one and parameter 14 are really, as Michael calls them, the bookends, and that is about our beliefs and our understandings and also our accountability and responsibility to every learner. And when I think about learners I think about students and our co-workers, our support staff, our all learners. So in the 14 parameters you'll find that support for leading, for learning and for teaching. You'll find that in the Clarity Learning Sweet we talk about the learning leader notes, and those notes are how do you facilitate learning in your school, in your system, and become an advocate for all learners? And that, for us, parameter one is about all learners and we really do mean all. So all of the support that surrounds your fundamental and core beliefs is found in the Clarity Learning Sweet and unpacked with you.

Speaker 1:

That's great. It's just it's that leading question, lynne, of how to reassure our members of saying, well, where does this work fit in? and align with our values. And I'll go to the next part of you mentioned the 14 parameters of school improvement and system improvement. I guess the question is well, how is this relevant to the NSW education system and what is your understanding of the education system in NSW?

Speaker 2:

So for a long time now I've had the pleasure of working across New South Wales in government schools, in independent schools and in Catholic schools, so I really feel that I understand that you're context And recently I've worked with Dells across the New South Wales context as well Is those 14 areas that make a difference to all of us as leaders, learners, teachers, teacher leaders, support staff. And it's important in the in the Clarity Learning Suite to know that this is about alignment And this is about, for example, alignment with the school excellence framework, and we did a wonderful Gantt diagram and then it turned into a graphic organizer with the senior staff in New South Wales And it was really exciting to see that the parameters fit in every one of those components of learning, teaching and leading in the South. So I think having a vision is so important. That is, it's about all learners all learners growing and learning and achieving, and also that that vision is aligned throughout the system And that's what the Clarity Learning Suite brings to New South Wales principles.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, great Lynn, i believe you have something to share with us today. Are you able to to unpack that as we walk through that together, on how that those 14 parameters can align for the New South Wales education system?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. so it's really important in the, in the diagram, that you'll see that we understand what the staff says and we understand where that fits in to the work of the Clarity Learning Suite And we unpack really that staff being the what. this is what we need to learn and be about, and know that the Clarity Learning Suite is the how how are we going to do this? So the Clarity Learning Suite brings us the tools to do, to unpack and embed the staff, for example.

Speaker 1:

Lynn, can you tell our audience about the format of the Clarity Learning Suite?

Speaker 2:

So the Clarity Learning Suite mirrors the text clarity what matters most in learning, teaching and leading. What's great about the Clarity Learning Suite is it's very practical and hands on, and I've shared all of the videos I've ever used in presentations. In the suite There are articles to read to support every one of the sessions. So there are 12 modules in the suite and 43 sessions. So the sessions are really structured in a way that we support and also scaffold the learning. So there's always a mines on, followed by a learning intention and success criteria which we expect to see in our classrooms and in our professional learning meetings. There's beginning with data, there's a fundamental challenge after a video of my talking about the specific content of the session And the fundamental challenge is really exciting because this is where our learning leaders can really own the professional learning session. They can lead the session and the challenge And what's great is there are extensive notes, facilitation notes to help the learning leader. So you're leading while learning and learning while leading, which is something I really I really appreciate And as well, at the end of every session is a thinking matrix which allows us to look back at the session. What was the content, what was the process as we used. How will I use this in my classroom or in another leadership area that I'm engaged in, and what do I have to remember about the session? So after the thinking matrix, there's always an opportunity to write in the reflective journal, and we keep our notes as well in the clarity learning suite. And finally there are two quiz questions that lead us to the next session. So it's very thoughtfully prepared and scaffolded so that the learning leaders, your principals and leadership teams can lead this work with all staff.

Speaker 2:

To me, the Clarity Learning Suite is a whole system, whole school approach to improvement, and the benefit of that is, of course, we're developing the same common language right across New South Wales And we're believing in shared beliefs and understandings for all of our learners, and also we're thinking about the responsibility and the accountability for students' growth, students' achievement and students' learning. So the format is very exciting for me because it really does reflect strong professional development As well. Drew, i think we should all know that upon completion of the Clarity Learning Suite, you can get a master's credit. So if you apply early, before the Clarity Learning Suite starts or in the first couple of sessions, to take a university credit from four of the universities across Australia, you can get a Clarity Learning Suite master's of education credit. So that's very exciting for me That is exciting Wow.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it is really exciting, Drew, and the other thing we should note is that we're progressing the translation of Clarity Learning Suite into French and Spanish as well, so we're always thinking of how our learners right across the globe can learn but also interact with each other.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so the format is, I can hear so, well thought out, comprehensive And the alignment to the New South Wales education system is very, very, very clear. Yes, in terms of you talked about the whole school involvement. if leaders wanted to do this in pockets in their school, is there avenues with this course to be able to do that? Or what would you say is the recommended starting point for principals to lead this work?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So I think there are several ways to do this And one is to engage in the suite first as a leadership team to know the content and the clear expectations and then from there engage the entire staff, because my vision is that school and system improvement are whole school, whole system approach. So leaders want to do the work together first and then engage all staff in this work. Of course, depending on how big the staff is you might have you've got a very large secondary staff, which we have many of You might do it by cohorts or by departments.

Speaker 2:

If you've got a small school staff, you start first with your leaders and then engage all of your staff. So for me, the Clarity Learning Suite also offers the opportunity to join alike schools and also individuals who are signed up and are registered in the Clarity Learning Suite. These are participants from right across the globe, right across Australia, so a school team might find a similar school team in another jurisdiction, in another part of Australia, for example, and join together and learn together and communicate together. I really think we tried hard to make this very interactive and allow people to reach out beyond their own school group but to other school groups who are similar.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's a power of collective efficacy, isn't it, Lynn?

Speaker 2:

Yes, so, and I think the good thing is that it's readily user friendly. It's accessible 24-7, and it really contains some absolute gems of videos and articles from folks like my colleague and friend, john Hattie, from Vivian Robinson, from Ken Leithwood, from all over, where we've collected research articles and journal articles that really substantiate the work we're doing in the suite.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, sounds exciting. As well as that, the bonus of the master's credit as well to our colleagues is definitely a real added bonus to part of this process.

Speaker 2:

So they have. We have Notre Dame and Australian Catholic University, university of Southern Queensland and University of South Australia, so we have. We have folks who are working with me as professors in those courses to grant the master's credit. And if you are interested in a master's credit, there's only one additional thing you need to do, which is a final paper, which is also explained on our website.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so part of this unpacking would be. The question would be, do we do it at the end of each module? But what I'm hearing is is a final exam that is submitted and reviewed to the particular university for that master's credit.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's actually a paper And it really. If we're using the suite to write our e-notes in our reflective journal, it won't be a challenge to gather that thinking together into an essay And then we mark the essay and it's a pass-fail. So it's very exciting.

Speaker 1:

So exciting That is. so it's not just the suite as you get your masters out of that process. So fantastic Lynn. any other special features or move on that you could share or unpack with us today?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, i'm thinking that there are ways to read the articles that we've put up on Clarity Learning Suite and respond to them. And then our team And our team is just little So it's me and it's my husband, jim, who is the coordinator of all of us. It's Mike who is our technical guru and has developed this amazing platform that is so easy to use and very professional. And then we have I have two colleagues who look at the content, have developed the content and the Learning Leader Notes, for example, and that's Sue Walsh from Australia and Maggie Ogrem from New Zealand. So we have a small team and that team responds to the people who are thinking through the articles and writing us questions. So it's very interactive. We really are trying to be hands on with the learning which we think leaders and teachers alike will really appreciate.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, and in terms of timeframe, this isn't a short timeframe You're thinking is around three years for this course.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, i'm thinking that you can do it at your own rate. I think it is much easier to do it with a group, but some people have chosen to do it individually. We think that in New South Wales, having principals and leadership teams be the learning leaders will be conducive to a whole school or a network doing this work together. But it can take as long as two years to complete this, or it can take a shorter amount of time, depending on the commitment and the time that our participants have to do this work through. But at the same time, the participants have at least two years to access all of the resources, the videos, the fundamental challenges that we've put forward, all their e-notes. So they have that access to this resource, this rich resource, for a very long time.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's great. So a powerful tool that can lead and change learning and also that facilitation discussion and further in terms of the Where you could support orders, is there's flexibility where you can help and support different networks or different schools. As part of that ongoing support for the New South Wales PPA.

Speaker 2:

Yes, absolutely, and our work across Victoria, i think, would be similar in that we provide webinars at certain points and we also provide zoom calls for questions and answers, so We're very accessible and pretty proud of the work that we've put together in the clarity learning suite.

Speaker 1:

That's Congratulations. It's a gap that we have identified and can see would be beneficial to our membership at all. So most importantly is helping to improve our students learning outcomes.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, and I think throughout the suite, we really focus on parameter one, which is about all students can learn, given time and support. All teachers can teach given the right assistance. We have high expectations and early and ongoing interventions and all of us as teachers, leaders and students can clearly articulate the why, why we're teaching, learning and leading the way we do so. We stay true to that first parameter and also to the 14th one, and that is we all own all the faces of our students, our learners and us as colleagues. So we're in this together and the Clarity Learning Suite really steps you through how you can do this work, many tools to do this work, and they're all freely shared and built upon by other participants, which is really exciting.

Speaker 1:

That's exciting. It's really exciting to have you and your team and guidance in that space, and particularly the fact you've unpacked the school excellence framework. You know our context. So really you say evidence proven, you have done this, you have done the hard work.

Speaker 2:

And what's interesting, Drew, is that John Hattie, who wrote the foreword for me, was always pushing me. So what, Lynn? So what? Tell us why this is important. So you'll see throughout the Clarity Learning Suite that we've looked at data, different student workers data, We've looked at different ways of unpacking data And I'm always thinking about John's impact And he pushed me on what's the impact. I'm also really proud that Dr Alma Harris wrote the introduction to the Clarity Learning Suite And we featured her work as well, because I really believe in her work around leadership and distributed leadership and what that looks like. So we have researchers walking alongside us in the Clarity Learning Suite.

Speaker 1:

It's great to hear that, absolutely, the two highly distinguished educators leading the field of education and walking shoulder to shoulder, critiquing, supporting your work as well. So you see, absolute scrutiny.

Speaker 2:

So Thanks, drew, and I guess, kind of in closing, i just say that I strongly believe in professional learning that's timely, that's ongoing And, as you said, drew, evidence proven, collaborative and accessible. And I really think that the Clarity Learning Suite makes that happen And I'm really proud of it.

Speaker 1:

We're really looking forward to working with you, having a, as I've said, a long-term relationship with the New South Wales EPA or New South Wales Primary Principles Association, and it's a suite that our members can be able to do an expression of interest in terms of from this recording And then they'll be able to express that interest and will be able to work with you in terms of helping to start this process. I'm really excited about it And I know you are. That gap that we could see in terms of the lead I see is in that lead learning space that really captures, and particularly the fact that you mentioned it comes with a master's as well, which is amazing. So just another plus one in our language.

Speaker 2:

Exactly Yes, right, thanks, drew. I just want to say to all of your principles all of you are learning leaders and really can lead this work through the use of the Clarity Learning Suite, and I'm really looking forward to working with all of you.

Speaker 1:

Fantastic Lynn Sherrod, everyone, thank you very much for your time.

Speaker 2:

Thanks so much, Drew.

Speaker 1:

Professional learning for educational leaders is an initiative to support and inform New South Wales PPA members of the New South Wales PPA Professional Learning Suite offerings. Our professional learning suite is aligned to our values of principal wellbeing, principals as lead learners, as well as supporting principals to lead school operations. Our values are wrapped around support, empowerment, advocating and leading. The New South Wales Primary Principles Association is committed to supporting and empowering principals to effectively lead and manage school communities from a diverse range of contexts. The association responds to and supports school leaders as they address different challenges in rural, remote as well as metropolitan schools. Further information about our professional learning can be found at our website NewSouthWalesPPAorgau or by calling us at our website NewSouthWalesPPAorgau.

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