Policy and Risk Adverse Administration Issues.
MANAGEMENT’S job is not primary to change or innovate; but to ensure that the agreed goals of the organization occurs. It is not then surprising that when we talk about new methods, new tools, new ideas that out of their contexts; they are risk adverse.
Scott McLeod, Director Technology Learning, Iowa State University, talked about perception; attrition and change.
In fact they are just doing their job. Its not fair to blame them. The problems that teachers who want to see kids engaged in educational media; and that is, by way of current policy a risk. The burden of risk needs to be measured as it cannot be rested with the institution or the individual. The reality is that students use social media at home and the same thing is often banned at school. The line between academic and private use of social media is burred. Ban or allow is simplistic and interpreted. Policy should not rule in or out explicit social media tools in education, but force IT Managers and Schools allow school communities to interpret policy into operational practice. As this is ‘technology’ they often assume that the best person to interpret the policy is the IT manager - when personally I’d argue the most information literate is the librarian. Teachers meanwhile, excluded from policy development will react - often negatively. If we believe the internet is important, we should not take access away from students; or exclude teachers from using it by locking in or out particular technology.
Leadership requires negotiated interpretation following collaborative development of policy. This is problematic as the participants have previously had little affinity. Teachers, passionate about seeing ‘new’ need to recognise that part of ‘new’ is to assist in presenting solutions and experiencing the constraints, understanding and restraints of bringing new ideas to a sustainable ‘enterprise’ level.
Just as teachers influence teachers, boards influence boards - so teachers who are prepared to use edu-media and socially constructed learning models - need to extend their support past students to managers and senior executives.
