You’re standing in front of a class ready to try an exciting new piece of tech, and it doesn’t work. Blank faces stare back at you.
This is the moment we all dread when experimenting with something new. You were promised time saving and higher engagement, but instead are left with an awkward silence as you move onto the next part of your lesson.
Technological fragility or the fear of breaking the system is a key barrier in digital CPD. With a wealth of tools at our fingertips, and new revolutionary systems being shouted about in every corner of the internet, we have never been so equipped to tackle this new digital revolution.
However, due to the time constraints teaching staff face it’s difficult to provide them with confidence and security as they explore new tools. So new technologies are more often than not seen as more tight ropes to walk and boxes to tick.
I’m sure you’ve been presented with a tool in a digital CPD and told to click here, there and up there to save yourself 10 minutes of admin time, only to not truly understand what the tool is, how it works, or the plethora of features it has to offer. Leaving you scratching your head about how to implement this into an effective workflow.
Maslow’s foundation
During our training we probably all learnt of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the need for a sense of safety to comfortably attain and innovate.
If a teacher feels threatened by a new system, whether from a fear of the unknown or of breaking something and looking silly, they cannot reach the self-actualisation level required for creative teaching and understanding the technology.
When a teacher is in survival mode, they cannot innovate. Their confidence must be established before we can expect curiosity.
Gabor Maté talks about play being a biological necessity for learning and how this must come from a threat-free environment. He defines play as “activity with no consequence”.
The same is true for learning new technologies. We must create an environment where staff can play with a system free from fear, angst or worry.
Digital CPD sessions must facilitate a sandbox environment where teachers feel safe to fail, where they can click all the buttons and find out how a system works.
We don’t need more ‘how to’ guides, we need more ‘what if’ spaces. How can we truly facilitate the space and time for play and how does this change the approach to a digital CPD session?
I propose a no-stakes session, where staff are given a tool and the time to play, understand and make links directly to their curriculums.
In practice, this means flipping the CPD script. Instead of a ‘click-along’ webinar, we should be creating ‘break-it’ sessions. In these spaces, the goal isn’t to produce a resource by the end of the hour, but to explore the boundaries of the software.
When we give staff permission to explore without a looming deadline or a required ‘output,’ we’re building their digital resilience. They learn how to troubleshoot, adapt, and crucially they learn that the ‘undo’ button is their best friend.
Investing in resilience
It’s clear that the biggest barrier will always be time. But from a management perspective we need to be patient and provide the time, space and confidence for practitioners to be curious.
Transformation will happen one confidence boost at a time. When we provide a structure for play we move from a culture of caution to one of innovation.
Time to play is not lost time but rather an investment in resilience, something we all need more of in this digital era. I challenge you, at your next CPD day, don’t just provide instructions on a million tools. Provide the space, safety and time to cultivate the one thing that actually matters: a confident practitioner.
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