Virtual Keynote as part of a MOOC

1. LEVERAGING TRIBE
AS A MEANS TO
SELF
ACTUALIZATION
Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach plpnetwork.com @snbeach
TRANSPERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
IN A CONNECTED AGE

2. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
Co-Founder & CEO
Powerful Learning Practice, LLC
http://plpnetwork.com
sheryl@plpnetwork.com
President
21st Century Collaborative, LLC
http://21stcenturycollaborative.com
Author
The Connected Educator: Learning
and Leading in a Digital Age
Follow me on Twitter
@snbeach

4. Professional
development needs to
change.
We know this.
…….
Join the PLP Tribe
Year long, job
embedded, professional
learning for connected
educators.
http://plpnetwork.com

5. All of October
Free professional learning
Free for you– free for your staff
http://connectededucators.org/

6. edConnectr
• Robust matchmaking tool for
learning & innovation
• Uses tags to make it easy to
create rich, action-oriented
profiles
• Uses maps to make it easy
and fun to find others
• Helps educators find
collaborators, get help, or just
connect
http://edconnectr.connectededucators.org/

7. • THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR
Housekeeping
Paperless handouts
http://plpwiki.com

8. Mantra for today’s keynote…
We are stronger together than apart.
None of us is as smart, creative, good or
interesting as all of us.

9. Leveraging Tribe
as a means to Self Actualization
Photo Credit: http://newdriven.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/how-to-leverage-the-power-of-the-tribe/
• Humans have a natural
propensity to tribe.
• Social learning is a part of
our DNA
• We all have basic needs-
including the need to belong
• Collaborative Inquiry
produces a higher level of
cognition

10. Albert Bandura- Social Learning
• Learning can occur by observing others’
behaviors and the resulting outcomes
• Learning can occur cognitively without a
corresponding change in behavior
• Modeled behavior is reinforced by
producing desirable outcomes (for both the
observed party and the learner)
• Three variables in the social learning
context—the learner, the behavior, and the
environment—can influence each other
Late 1970s

11. Connected Learning has the potential
to takes us deeper
―The interconnected, interactive nature of
social learning exponentially amplifies the
rate at which critical content can be shared
and questions can be answered.‖
From: Collaborative Learning for the Digital Age in The
Chronicle of Higher Education
Cathy Davidson, professor at Duke
University

12. Connected sometimes trumps
F2F with deep learning…
Via Marc Andreessen’s blog, the findings of researchers as related by
Frans Johansson in The Medici Effect:

13. Diversity of thought
Allows for Greater Innovation
Frans Johansson explores one simple yet profound insight about
innovation: in the intersection of different fields, disciplines and
cultures, there’s an abundance of extraordinary new ideas to be
explored.

14. Leveraging Tribe as a Means to Self Actualization

15. Photo Credit: http://www.consciousaging.com/

17. Motivations
• Social
connectedness
• Psychological
well-being
• Gratification
• Collective
Efficacy

18. • Collaboration and teamwork allow us control our environment
• Reciprocal and trusting relationships create effective collaboration
• Social comparison establishes organizational structure, leadership
and order
• Social validation and social identity maintain emotional
engagement and enhance attachment to our mates and our group
• Competence contributes to the survival of our group and our sense
of security and safety ~ P. Rutledge
The amplification
ability of social tools
provides the possibility
for a more diverse,
purposeful tribe from
which to connect,
leverage and learn.
Photo Credit: http://flic.kr/p/8vn7B5

20. 20
We Are All Now
Free range learners
Free-range learners choose
how and what they learn. Self-
service is less expensive and
more timely than the
alternative. Informal learning
has no need for the busywork,
chrome, and bureaucracy that
accompany typical classroom
instruction.

21. Share
Cooperate
Collaborate
Collective Action
According to Clay Shirky, there are four steps on a ladder to
mastering the connected world: sharing, cooperating,
collaborating, and collective action.
From his book- “Here Comes Everybody”

22. Personal Learning Networks (beginning of your tribe)
It’s out of networks that community falls. ~ Nancy
White
Are you ―clickable‖- Can I find you and learn from
you?

23. Do it Yourself PD
A revolution in technology has transformed the way
we can find each other, interact, and collaborate to
create knowledge as connected learners.
What are connected learners?
Learners who collaborate online; learners who use
social media to connect with others around the globe;
learners who engage in conversations in safe online
spaces; learners who bring what they learn online back
to their classrooms, schools, and districts.

24. • THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

25. • THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR

26. • THE CONNECTED EDUCATOR
1. Local community: Purposeful, face-to-face
connections among members of a committed group—
a professional learning community (PLC)
2. Global network: Individually chosen, online
connections with a diverse collection of people and
resources from around the world—a personal learning
network (PLN)
3. Bounded community: A committed, collective, and
often global group of individuals who have
overlapping interests and recognize a need for
connections that go deeper than the personal learning
network or the professional learning community can
provide—a community of practice or inquiry (CoP)

27. Community is the New Professional Development
Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999a) describe three ways of knowing and constructing
knowledge…
Knowledge for Practice is often reflected in traditional PD efforts when a trainer shares
with teachers information produced by educational researchers. This knowledge presumes
a commonly accepted degree of correctness about what is being shared. The learner is
typically passive in this kind of "sit and get" experience. This kind of knowledge is
difficult for teachers to transfer to classrooms without support and follow through. After a
workshop, much of what was useful gets lost in the daily grind, pressures and isolation of
teaching.
Knowledge in Practice recognizes the importance of teacher experience and practical
knowledge in improving classroom practice. As a teacher tests out new strategies and
assimilates them into teaching routines they construct knowledge in practice. They learn
by doing. This knowledge is strengthened when teachers reflect and share with one
another lessons learned during specific teaching sessions and describe the tacit
knowledge embedded in their experiences.

28. Community is the New Professional Development
Knowledge of Practice believes that systematic inquiry where teachers create
knowledge as they focus on raising questions about and systematically studying
their own classroom teaching practices collaboratively, allows educators to
construct knowledge of practice in ways that move beyond the basics of
classroom practice to a more systemic view of learning.
I believe that by attending to the development of knowledge for, in and of
practice, we can enhance professional growth that leads to real change.
Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S.L. (1999a). Relationships of knowledge and
practice: Teaching learning in communities. Review of Research in Education,
24, 249-305.
Passive, active, and reflective knowledge
building in local (PLC), global (CoP) and
contextual (PLN) learning spaces.

29. Dedication to the
ongoing development
of expertise
Shares and contributes
Engages in strength-based approaches
and appreciative inquiry
Demonstrates mindfulness
Willingness to leaving one's comfort
zone to experiment with new strategies
and taking on new responsibilities
Dispositions and Values
Commitment to understanding
asking good questions
Explores ideas and concepts,
rethinking, revising, and
continuously repacks and unpacks,
resisting
urges to finish prematurely
Co-learner, Co-leader, Co-creator
Self directed, open minded
Commits to deep reflection
Transparent in thinking
Values and engages in a culture of
collegiality

30. • Connected Communities (Tribes) are forming everywhere
• You have the tools you need at your fingertips
• Your faculty, your students, your school community– need/want
leadership
• We are all leaders…
• You were called to lead..Not manage
• Share…Connect…Leverage…Co-create
• Inside, Outside, Upside Down
Leverage the Tribe

32. • Letting go of control
• Willing to unlearn & relearn
• Mindset of discovery
• Reversed mentorship
• Co-learning and co-creating
• Messy, ground zero, risk taking
Image: http://flic.kr/p/ch6kp3

33. Be a learner first—leader second
• It's all about asking hard questions and then listening deeply
• A connected learner isn’t afraid to admit that they don’t know the answer
to a question or problem, and willingly invite others into a dialogue to
explore, discuss, debate, or generate more questions. (@barb_english)
• Asking our questions out in the open in connected ways @lisaneale
• I believe that being a connected learner leads to more questions than
answers and that is good. I also believe that connected learners have to
learn to take risks - exposing your learning and thoughts can be challenging
@ccoffa
• Lurkers become learners. Learners become contributors. @sjhayes8

34. Wonder is both a
sense of awe and
capacity for
contemplation.

35. It also helps to ask questions and think about where you
want to go and how leverage will help you arrive.
1) Why am I planning to do this?
2) How will I initiate this change?
3) Who can I connect with that can help me?
4) How will I measure progress?
5) How will I know if I am growing and maturing as a learner?

37. ― Do you know what who you know knows?‖ H. Rheingold

38. In connectivism,
learning involves
creating connections
and developing a
network. It is a theory
for the digital age
drawing upon chaos,
emergent properties,
and self organized
learning.
Photo credit: Cogdogblog
George Siemens

39. Image: http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/images/2/24/Connectivism_chart.gif

40. Personal Learning
Networks
FOCUS: Individual, Connecting to Learning Objects, Resources
and People – Social Network Driven

41. “Twitter and blogs ...
contribute an entirely
new dimension of
what it means to be a
part of a tribe. The
real power of tribes
has nothing to do with
the Internet and
everything to do with
people.”
Internet tribes
ccSteveWheeler,UniversityofPlymouth,2010
“A tribe needs a
shared interest and a
way to communicate.”

43. Connected Learning Communities provide the personal
learning environment (PLE) to do the nudging

46. What
is community, really?

47. A Place to Build Trust and
Relationships

48. A Domain of Interest

49. A Place to Meet

50. A Place to Construct Knowledge
Collaboratively

51. A Community of Practice is a network of individuals with common
problems or interests who get together to explore ways of working,
identify common solutions, and share good practice and ideas.
• puts you in touch with like-minded colleagues and peers
• allows you to share your experiences and learn from others
• allows you to collaborate and achieve common outcomes
• accelerates your learning
• Improves student achievement
• validates and builds on existing knowledge and good practice
• provides the opportunity to innovate and create new ideas

53. Critical friends: Form a professional learning team who come together
voluntarily at least once a month. Have members commit to improving
their practice through collaborative learning. Use protocols to examine
each other’s teaching or leadership activities and share both warm and
cool feedback in respectful ways.
Curriculum review or mapping groups: Meet regularly in teams to
review what team members are teaching, to reflect together on the
impact of assumptions that underlie the curriculum, and to make
collaborative decisions. Teams often study lesson plans together.

54. Action research groups: Do active, collaborative research focused
on improvement around a possibility or problem in a classroom,
school, district, or state.
Book study groups: Collaboratively read and discuss a book in an
online space.
Case studies: Analyze in detail specific situations and their
relationship to current thinking and pedagogy. Write, discuss, and
reflect on cases using a 21st century lens to produce collaborative
reflection and improve practice.

55. Instructional rounds: Adopt a process through which educators
develop a shared practice of observing each other, analyzing learning
and teaching from a research perspective, and sharing expertise.
Connected coaching: Assign a connected coach to individuals on
teams who will discuss and share teaching practices in order to promote
collegiality and help educators think about how the new literacies
inform current teaching practices.

56. "Imagine an organization with an employee who can accurately see
the truth, understand the situation, and understand the potential
outcomes of various decisions. And now imagine that this person is
able to make something happen." ~ Seth Godin.

57. Change is hard

58. Connected learners are more
effective change agents