Why blogging makes good CPD sense
Blogging has a major role to play in the modern school leader’s professional development, says headteacher and veteran blogger Michael Shepherd.
The educational landscape is constantly shifting. We live in a time of continuous change where the boundaries between home and school are blurred and where the gap between a school leader’s formal and informal professional development is closing.
Learning doesn't finish at the end of the school day, nor does its reach extend only as far as the school gate. Learning happens anywhere, at anytime and this has never been more apparent than now.
The traditional models of education and professional development have been ripe for a change for some time but with the advent of modern web technology, such ambition can become a reality.
The opportunity to work on what you want, when you want, where you want and with whom you want is now a possibility. Online educational forums provide round-the-clock access, freeing us from the constraints of time and space.
Blogs – a form of an online journal – enables me to share my thoughts on a huge raft of educational issues. It allows me to engage with other educators from around the globe, wherever I am and whenever I want. It provides me with a space for educational thinking and dialogue, and a fitting vehicle for keeping a log of my ideas, reflections, musings and deliberations.
So much of the school day is given over to operational work, to maintenance rather than development, and this can be a constant source of frustration. It is great to be able to sit down and collect my thoughts, to think about the bigger picture and wider educational issues.
Blogging is also a way of relieving the stress one can feel as a headteacher. It provides me with the opportunity to consider in my own time a myriad of matters and to share my thoughts and ideas with others beyond my immediate group. It helps me keep abreast of international thinking and enables me to see things from a number of different perspectives.
I began my first blog a few years ago. Using the blog platform Wordpress I set up smichael920 and later added edthoughts for shorter posts. These two platforms give me the opportunity to collect my thoughts and share ideas. Sometimes it’s just good to know that you are not alone in your thinking and what you are doing is supported and greeted with encouragement, backing and a genuine desire to see you do well. Other educators will feed back and leave comments saying that they have thought about or tried something similar. People will share their experiences, the difficulties they’ve faced and the challenges they’ve overcome. We can learn from each other’s journey and the open, online collegiality is hugely beneficial with quick responses from around the world helping to shape new ideas and thinking.
“Blogging provides me with a space for educational thinking and dialogue, and a fitting vehicle for keeping a log of my ideas, reflections, musings and deliberations.”
Last year we had an overhaul of our school blogs and I thought this would be a good time to introduce a headteacher’s blog. This has enabled me to expand on thoughts, idea and news from our weekly bulletin to parents and carers. I have found this is a useful way of logging those important events in school and opening up dialogue with the wider community on issues and events that concern them. I would like to say I set time aside to update this but the reality is it happens where and when I can. That’s the beauty of blogging though; I don’t need to be sat at my desk in order to post an entry!
Blogging, along with the use of Twitter and other social media, has enabled me to develop a personal learning network that supports and challenges my thinking and links me to like-minded professionals the world over. I can quickly find out if heads and teachers in America and New Zealand have tried the things we’re trying. I can hear how colleagues in Australia have developed their curriculum and how staff in Japanese schools are dealing with the devastation of the earthquake and tsunami. The ability to communicate with other educators at the click of a mouse gives blogging an immediacy of feedback and connection that would have been impossible before. 
Michael Shepherd is headteacher of Hawes Side Primary School, Blackpool. He writes a number of blogs including myedthoughts and smichael920.
RSS
Print version
Email to a friend
Sign up to receive our newsletter
Share with...