In at least one way, faculty at UVEI are unusual in comparison to professionals in many other fields: we love meetings!  Well, we love well-facilitated meetings – and we know that well-facilitated meetings are an important element of how schools improve:

“A professional community that is characterized by a collaborative culture is defined by norms of collegiality and experimentation (Little, 2006, 1982) and typically includes shared values and purposes, collective responsibility for student learning, coherent professional learning efforts, learning focused on problems of practice that teachers experience in the classroom, and collective teacher control over important curricular decisions (Little, 2006; Kruse, Louis & Bryk, 1995).”  

But what does this actually look like day-to-day?  What does it look like, for example, on a Wednesday afternoon, during a Friday inservice, at a PLC, or during common planning time? Meetings that truly help drive school improvement require intentional planning and thoughtful facilitation.    

We thought January would be a good time to invite folks in the UVEI network – and beyond – to come together for a convening, “Level Up Your School Meetings.”  In January, enough of the year has passed such that schools can see areas for improvements, and there’s enough of the year left such that improvements can still make an immediate difference!  

About 11 people joined us, including alumni, current members, and future members of our principal certification program, as well as leaders and other educators from NH/VT schools and educational organizations. 

“Building a foundation of trust and belonging is an essential element to effective and meaningful convenings.”

We opened with a scenario for reflection and discussion:  “It is next fall or late summer.  A colleague sees you in the school parking lot and says, “Oh my gosh I was just at the best meeting…”  We asked participants to do some creative writing and complete the rest of what the colleague says.

This provided us a wonderful window into each other’s thinking about what makes a good meeting with colleagues.  One person shared a vision of a meeting that felt joyful and inspiring  Another person was envisioning a meeting where people experienced such a sense of community that, mandatory or not, they wanted to be part of it!

After this introductory activity, we (the facilitators) each shared 5 elements of good meetings that we’ve come to believe can be important.  For example, Elijah shared a list of five protocols that every leader should consider having in their toolbox for collaboration of different types over the course of the year, whether you are presenting a proposal, sharing a dilemma, reading a text or seeking consensus.  And Audrey shared, among other guidance, that building a foundation of trust and belonging is an essential element to effective and meaningful convenings.  Participants were invited to reflect on which of the meeting elements are or could be important to them in their settings.

In our follow up email to the group we shared our slides/agenda for the evening, which include links to additional resources.  And we invited the group to stay in touch – with us and with each other.  If you’d like to talk about what meetings and collaboration look like in your setting, share ideas, get resources, or learn about UVEI professional learning opportunities in leading deeper, collective teacher learning, please reach out!

Audrey Richardson, Literacy Educators Program Coordinator

Elijah Hawkes, Director of Leadership Programs