Dr. Bette Gray’s virtual visit to speak to our class was very informative. It was interesting to see to at least some degree how decisions were made in Alberta Education. She introduced some new terms that will further my vocabulary in this field – “policy entrepreneurs”, “appetite for policies” and “reframing the problem”. I think of the problems that I have encountered over my career. If I had “reframed” the problem differently in order to appeal in a more time relevant way to the agenda of my decision makers, I see how I might have had more success. I am an entrepreneur at heart and I do ‘shop’ my ideas around. I now have a term with which to label that behavior.
She did an excellent job of providing a theoretical framework to help me interpret the realities of dealing with change in the political world. Kingdon’s ‘Policy Streams’ were a very useful tool that I will refer to in the future.
I found her comment that teacher PD without increasing the capacity of principals didn’t work very well. I need some time to process this but I think it has tremendous implications for me in the development of my technology plan.
She carried on the dialogue section of the presentation in a way that made me feel that she was listening to what I was saying. The responses from the group provide a wide range of concerns and suggestions that honestly reflected many of the discussions we have had in class during the last 2 weeks.
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