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Learning should always be an active process and a two-way partnership between teaching and learning. In essence, learning and its counterpart exist as a vibrant dialogue between individuals whose role in the relationship is continually transformative. I'd like to explore this thinking further.

How can your learning network help you? By helping you to sift through all the data to identify the information that will be most useful to you. By helping you to identify learning resources and opportunities. By coaching you and answering your questions as you try to apply your learning to your work. By sharing their wisdom with you through dialogue. Building a personal learning network is requires that you not only seek to learn from others, but also that you also help others in the network learn. Even when you are a novice in a field of learning, you can still make contributions. Did you read an article that might be of interest to others? Then distribute it to other in your network with a short note that you thought they might find it interesting. Did you hear of a conference on the subject? Let others know about the program and speakers and, if you attend, circulate your notes and papers you collect to other network members. A personal learning network can be your most powerful learning tool no matter what the subject.

"In the documentary Mission: Joy - Finding Happiness in Troubled Times, the Dalai Lama and retired archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died in 2021, share two lifetimes' worth of wisdom on how to live with joy in troubled times. When writing The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, they asked co-author Doug Abrams to investigate the science of happiness.  "They said, 'This shouldn't be a Buddhist dialogue or a Christian dialogue. This should be about the nature of being human,'" Abrams recalled in the documentary. "They asked me to find out whether what they were saying was confirmed or contradicted by science.""

"The rush to grit is pretty intense, but so is the push-back. I've been writing about grit in articles and a book (Fostering Grit) and giving lots of presentations on the subject. I've spoken to schools and parents; presented at conferences; and have been a guest on NPR. Universally, grit is embraced. Everyone sees the merit in teaching our kids to accept challenges, step out of their comfort zones, and know how to respond to failure. So far, so good. Grit is hanging in and never giving up, but it's more than that. Grit is being comfortable when you are outside of your comfort zone, and it's forging ahead when you hit the wall because you know that you'll get up and continue moving forward. Grit is a life skill! But sometimes teachers are uncomfortable with the notion of fostering or teaching for grit. They're uneasy with the role they must play and I get that. We went into education because we wanted to help students: we like it when they succeed and it gratifies us when our class is filled with smiles. When our kids do well, it tells us we've done a good job!"

"It's a golden age of education podcasts. Teachers, professors, education innovators, and tech skeptics have switched on their microphones to share their insights and analysis-and you'll find plenty of lively characters and fresh voices via your earbuds. After all, let's face it, teachers can be great talkers (we mean that in a good way), and they're also seasoned storytellers. Check out the latest reboot of the EdSurge On Air podcast! Take Michael Wesch, for instance. Inspired by the long-running radio show This American Life, he tags along with his students to better understand their lives and struggles on his Life101 podcast. (That includes crashing a frat party-you'll want to check out that episode). Other education podcasts take a more Socratic approach, drawing out their guests through dialogue. When asking around, several folks we talked to praised Teaching in Higher Ed as a podcast with particularly engaging discussions. Below are our favorites (including our own podcast, which relaunched this week), organized by topic. Please share your own picks in the comments section below."

"Arguably one of the more difficult aspects in teaching for understanding is to decide when to teach the desired understanding! In other words, to put it as an essential pedagogical question: When should you state the Understanding and when should you engineer students to come up with it "by design"? Whether we consider the famous example of Socrates in his Dialogues or some of the best teachers we have ever had as students, many of them had the ability to help us "discover" the understanding on the basis of their clever design groundwork, their probing, and their facilitation of discussion."

"Dialogue circles, arts programming, and team-building activities create a positive school culture and support academic growth at Glenview Elementary School."

"Questioning is a fundamental element of pedagogy, one you could read endlessly around, but the reality is using questioning to challenge and engage all learners is demanding and potentially problematic to get right. Recently I've been working with a team of teachers, shaping our CPD model in preparation for the new academic year. Engaging in dialogue around teaching and learning with colleagues is always a pleasure and extremely informative, and one aspect continually crops up; deep, challenging and engaging questioning. Firstly, I think it's crucial to outline what we are trying to achieve when we think about the purpose of questioning, for me it includes the following: Allowing students to develop a fuller understanding of a concept because they have tried to explain it themselves To easily recall existing knowledge To be able to link the ideas in the lesson with existing knowledge To tackle problems at a deep level and be able to extend their thinking To engage easily with a task because they are clear about what is expected To develop independence in the way they learn and think"

...Current developments with technology and social software are significantly altering: (a) how learners access information and knowledge, and (b) how learners dialogue with the instructor and each other.

This is the second edition of quotes we have complied to complement the philosophy that underpins our website www.leading-learning.co.nz We believe that the quotes provide unified collection of thoughtful ideas to transform education. It is often said that we are entering the 'Information Age' but we prefer to believe that we are entering an 'Age of Ideas, Talent and Creativity'. We present the quotes as part of on ongoing dialogue to give all who read them the courage to transform schools so as to meet the exciting challenges of the 21stC.

"One by one, in a room just off the gym floor at Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland, Calif., seventh graders go on the interview hot seat. Kyle McClerkins grills them on aspects of adolescent life: "What is the biggest challenge for middle school girls?" he asks. "What has changed about you from sixth grade to now?" Some 80 students have applied to be "peer leaders" in this school's new, alternative discipline program. Called "restorative justice" this school and the Oakland Unified School District are at the forefront of a new approach to school misconduct and discipline. Instead of suspending or expelling students who get into fights or act out, restorative justice seeks to resolve conflicts and build school community through talking and group dialogue. Its proponents say it could be an answer to the cycle of disruption and suspension, especially in minority communities where expulsion rates are higher than in predominantly white schools."

"There has been much focus on shifting our assessment practices in education and, particularly in BC, moving toward more Assessment For Learning (or formative assessment) in schools. This is such an important conversation and needed change but at some point along the way, Assessment OF Learning (or summative assessment) has been given a bad rap. To have sound assessment practices in a classroom and school, we need a solid balance of ongoing formative assessment (click here for more info) as well as an effective way to verify that learning has occurred (summative). Formative assessment should be where we spend most of our time but summative assessments are still very important. As we engage in dialogue in our school around assessment, I recently posed a question at our staff meeting that said: Are we marking assignments or assessing learning outcomes?"

"Teaching compassion, empathy, or knowing how to help someone is best learned through direct experience. Autism Discovery Tool, by Spectrum Idea Lab Inc. is one such app that promotes not only understanding, but also ways to help address an individual's needs, and gives kids and adults a chance to "walk a mile in someone's shoes". It was intended as a tool to help kids on the spectrum, their families and caretakers identify both sensory styles and compensatory techniques so that they could open up a dialogue to communicate and share experiences. This little app however, has a much more powerful impact and reach. I consider it an essential app for all classrooms and families who deal with sensory issues, and not limited to those on the autistic spectrum alone."

"Students are writing more than ever before. They are tapping out rapid-fire fingerstrokes across multiple platforms. From text messages to social media, children and adults of all ages are engaging like never before with the written word. This type of transliteracy emphasizes more than ever the need for thoughtful conversations and clear instructions that guide students in how best to express high quality feedback. Most remarks in the comment sections of Instagram and YouTube are useless. They are either crass or curt, sprinkled with emoji that do more to satisfy the ego of the commenter than to further the richness of the page. Instead, high quality comments on blogs and social media should create a dialogue that furthers the colloquy and deepens the learning. Replies on Twitter, for example, should offer suggestions or make interpersonal connections. Thoughtful comments in social media should add information, incorporate links, or most importantly, ask questions."

"Why don't students read more? Digital distractions? No books at home? Too much testing? Kim Kardashian? It depends on the student. It depends on illiteracy vs aliteracy. It depends on how you define reading (does reading long-winded character dialogues in Square Enix games count?) So below, I've gathered some of the most common reasons students don't read, and provided some ways you can begin to address that issue."

"Finding new and human ways to connect and empower the next generation to play is one of the ways that Ikea says it hopes to change the world, and bringing extra life to cardboard that would otherwise end up in the recycling bins is part of that push. It's an idea that came about quickly, and was revealed at a panel at Cannes today (20 June). Wunderman, Kantar Consulting and Mini Mad Things decided to put the pedal to the metal and workshop an idea in just five weeks. The catch? The idea had to be 'prototypeable' as the final would be presented on stage at Cannes Lions, alongside Ikea's chief marketing officer. Ultimately, the brief was to come up with an idea that shows how Ikea inspires and facilitates child's play, all while helping to improve home life for parents, whole families and even communities. After evaluating 17 years-worth of online conversation with parents and analyzing 15m rows of dialogue data, the team realized that behavior and development is the most talked about topic within childcare, second only to pregnancy. Pressing further in the research, the team learned that 50% of parents surveyed struggle to find ideas to encourage creative play amongst their children. Ikea, which has been one of the largest distributors of cardboard packaging, and team were able to flip their script so the brand could see the world through a child's eyes and create an interactive mobile app that brings cardboard waste to life. By following simple instructions any piece of cardboard can be transformed into something new. The Ikea Toybox app gives cardboard waste a new lease on life and, as play doesn't require a price tag, families will see big results with small means."

Powerful learning begins with the perfect provocation. Creating, refining and skilfully presenting the perfect provocation is an essential capability for teachers hoping to engage their class in rich dialogue. Claims that the percentage of students engaged by their learning declines from 75 percent in fifth grade to 32 percent by eleventh grade suggests a need for a more provocative environment. 

"Our recent article on reading levels and the dangers of using strictly prescribed leveling systems in libraries for young readers sparked much dialogue and debate. One of the most popular and widely used reading systems is the "A to Z" gradient, developed by Irene C. Fountas, professor in the School of Education at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, and Gay Su Pinnell, professor in the School of Teaching and Learning at Ohio State University. Both researchers have been adamant that their leveling system was designed as "a teacher's tool, not a child's label." We caught up with Fountas and Pinnell, who jointly gave their perspective on leveling, libraries, reading comprehension, and what they say to districts mandating leveled collections. "

This week I joined with teachers, students, researchers and policy writers at Melbourne University to discuss student voice. This conference was hosted by Social Education Victoria and made possible by the conference partners, The University of Melbourne, Education and Training Victoria, Foundation for Young Australians and Connect. Over three days, participants engaged in rigorous dialogue about the significance of student voice and what is required to ensure its benefits are maximised for all.