Thoughts and reflections on teaching and learning – Cohort 21 Member Blog
Written by Garth Nichols
“The Future is Analog” (2022) is David Sax’s follow up to “The Revenge of Analog” (2016). In this very readable, incredibly well researched, with a wide diversity of people referenced and interviewed, David Sax offers a welcome version of the future based on the tough lessons that we’ve learned through our experiences of the pandemic. […]
Written by Garth Nichols
As part of an upcoming PD experience, I am reading this book by Richard Barrett, and thought I would share some of the learnings. The subtitle of this book is “Cultural Health and Employee Well-Being as a Pathway to Sustainable Performance”. This alone makes this book compelling, as a resource to offer some answers / […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Recommended to me because of their useful analogy of: “The Rider” (logic and reason), “The Elephant” (emotions and relationships), and “The Path” (the environment and context), this book is a great source of inspiration, reminders and ideas for initiating change, for change management and it provides tools & language to support and lead others through […]
Written by Garth Nichols
“Potlatch as Pedagogy” was recommended to me by Mike Carlson, a teacher at Wandering Spirits school (TDSB) and an Indigenous educational consultant. This book strongly resonates with “The Nordic Secret” and “Ecological Learning“, in that the approaches are student-centred, holistic and reciprocal. What I really enjoyed about this book was the 9 Principles of “Sk’ad’a”, […]
Written by Garth Nichols
“School is an institution that is deeply, systemically, designed for compliance. The whole apparatus of rules, punishments, timetables and bells, syllabuses and set texts, marking and examination requires and rewards the disposition of diligence, obedience, conscientiousness and correctness: of willingly doing what you are told regardless of whether it seems senseless or untimely. Student choice […]
Written by Garth Nichols
I came to this book through an OECD conference, where one of the participants had mentioned Bildung (German for “forming”) as the heart of what education can and should be. This book is an odyssey through foundational educational thought and evolution that have led to an educational philosophy that began in Germany, and made its way […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Heading back into the classroom to teach a bespoke course developed within the Strategic Direction of my school is one thing, but to do it in one of the most difficult and disrupted times in education is daunting. I have always love the art and science of education, so I am looking deeply into how […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Written in 2019, this book is an excellent extension of Edmondson’s work that I reviewed HERE. I read The Fearless Organization through the lens of change leadership: What might I learn to inform a digital transformation? This book delivers through its use of case studies, self-reflection tools and the Frequently Asked Questions section at the end […]
Written by Garth Nichols
I really appreciate being directed to the work of Amy Edmondson and “Teaming”. Her work is well written, includes case studies, and reinforces that the way we worked is no longer going to get us where we need to be going. Teaming is not a natural leadership stance, or a natural cultural stance within organizations. […]
Written by Garth Nichols
Trying to make sense of our fluid circumstances is one thing; however, leading schools through change is a complete other endeavour. It requires empathy as we depart from the roles, habits and ways of being in our lived experiences of the past and chart a new direction. It requires asking challenging questions about the role […]
