Re-tooling teacher professional development: The pandemic as a catalyst for change

Normally at this time of the year, our Educator and Leadership Institutes would be in full swing. By the middle of July, we would have completed a full week of training in Nepal, a weekend of intensive leadership training in Haiti, and a week of in-class support for teachers in Egypt. We would have been doing last minute planning for the August ELI in Haiti with 600 teachers and 200 children participating. And this year, we were planning on a week of teacher training in Ethiopia during this very week.

None of these has taken place.

But we have discovered new and innovative ways to engage in teacher and principal professional development.

Our website (www.ELICollaboration.org) is currently being "re-tooled" to include dozens of easily accessible and free resources for educators around the world. We will be informing ELI participants  about these resources in the next few weeks to help them in their individual pursuit of learning.

We have received a small grant to develop a new online course that educators from anywhere in the world can complete. We anticipate having the course up and running before the start of the new school year.

Our Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) camp in Haiti is being re-imagined with the help of our Haitian university student leaders as we hope to provide children in northern Haiti with STEAM activities that they can do without gathering socially.

These are incredibly complex and challenging times. Educators around the world are struggling with what it means to teach in a pandemic. The big question that unites educators globally is: How can we provide opportunities for children to learn in a safe and supportive environment? Traditionally, the physical school environment has provided the structure to allow these opportunities. Take the building out of the equation and the challenges of teaching and learning escalate, particularly in parts of the world that cannot easily, reliably, or cheaply access the Internet. I've written about how the pandemic has exacerbated the educational divide.

But that doesn't have to be the end of the story. I've also written about innovative leadership in challenging contexts such as Haiti. Creative principals and teachers CAN make a difference in the midst of a pandemic, both in local and global contexts.

I've written a lot about "critical incidents" as catalysts for change. We all experience these types of situations that, in hindsight, we see as having changed a particular direction or trajectory in our personal or professional lives.

The pandemic is a critical incident on a scale the world has not seen in many years. For ELI, it has led to some disappointment but it has also served as a catalyst to re-focus on how we can engage in collaborative professional development ... from a distance.

The devastation of the coronavirus: The global and the local seem very close and very far apart

The spread of the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, has been devastating. Schools have been closed, businesses deeply impacted, and many lives have been lost. Individuals are experiencing debilitating anxiety and profound loss. The pandemic is having a world-wide impact and many global communities are experiencing similar challenges and outcomes.

In this way, the coronavirus has reminded us of the intense "proximity" of individuals and communities around the world. We are sharing in the same challenging experience.

Yet, at the same time, the divides which separate us are being made particularly clear through the pandemic.

A simple illustration can be found in my own university teaching. In my university context, as with many around the world, faculty are moving classes online. It's not an easy process to do this well and I've tried to take an approach that "does no harm" by minimizing the disruption to my students. I have access to incredible resources to make this happen. I have a laptop, high speed Internet, access to colleagues who can help me, and online resources that can help me in my online teaching.

At the same time, I've been reminded that moving classes online is a privilege that many do not share.

Locally, many of my students are struggling to access high speed Internet or library resources they need to work on projects. Globally, many of my faculty colleagues in contexts such as Haiti don't have access to the same resources and can't simply "go online."

The pandemic is shedding light on even more significant divides which exist globally: Who has money to buy basic supplies at times like this? Who doesn't? Who has access to health care? Who doesn't? What governments are able to provide a safety net to citizens? Which governments cannot?

As much as the concept of "glocal" is very important to me - after all, there is much solidarity we can demonstrate at times like this - it is also a reminder that the divides which exist in our own communities and globally are still profound.

By that I am deeply saddened, disturbed, and angry.

Haiti 10 years after the 2010 earthquake: Reflecting on justice and solidarity

I had been providing leadership courses for principals in Haiti, primarily in the Port au Prince area, for about five years before the January 12, 2010 earthquake struck. I was fairly familiar with the main roads, institutions, and geographical landmarks of the city. What I saw on the television screens the night of January 12 and in the days ahead did not look like the city that I had become increasingly familiar with.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the tragedy - both that which occurred in a few seconds on January 12 and that which has unfolded in the ten years since.

The response to the earthquake has been the subject of many, many articles, documentaries, and books. Three that I would recommend are:

1. Jacqueline Charles, correspondent with the Miami Herald
Read her 10th year anniversary series here: Haiti Earthquake: A Decade of Aftershocks

2. Jonathan Katz's The Big Truck That Went By


3. Paul Farmer's Haiti After the Earthquake


I too have written extensively about Haiti, primarily documenting efforts to foster education in the country. This work has been published in books and scholarly journals but has also received a lot of attention through this blog (see this entry from October 23, 2019 as one example)

Ten years after the earthquake, Haiti continues to struggle. Some have called it a "failing state". But these types of terms fail in describing the complexities of Haiti.

An anniversary such as today provides an opportunity to join in solidarity with our Haitian friends and colleagues. It is a day to reflect on the injustices that have been perpetuated against many Haitians who deserve better.

It's also a day when we can commit to pursuing justice going forward.

One way we - Haitian and Canadian teachers - are striving to pursue justice is by working together to learn from each other and to support each other in improving our teaching practices. The Educator and Leadership Institute (ELI) provides a "meeting place" for where this learning and support can take place. Over 1,000 Haitian and Canadian teachers have participated in ELI in northern Haiti in the city of Cap-Haitien in the five years since it was established. At its core, ELI provides an opportunity for relationships to develop. Relationships are foundational to solidarity, to reciprocity, and ultimately to a commitment to social justice.

Today I will remember my friends and colleagues who have had their lives dramatically impacted by the 2010 earthquake. And I will reflect on how I can work for justice in solidarity with my Haitian teaching colleagues.