In-tu-it-think

Each year talent searching and recruiting seem to start earlier as administrators are bombarded by applications that find their way into our email boxes. My first email arrived on September 17. (Is that early?)

Even without definite position openings, I somehow find myself participating in both formal and informal interviews as candidates pass through town! While unexpected, nothing was more mind blowing than my first virtual recruiting experience. It all started with a simple (free) Skype conversation- a teacher at the end of a school day in his classroom in conversation with a principal on the other side of the world!

Our dialogue began but a parent who entered the classroom interrupted us. Parent and teacher discussed how things were going and she thanked him for everything he had done for her child. I was able to follow the conversation! The parent departed and the teacher and I were back to our conversation. By now I had already seen and heard the respect and appreciation between the teacher and parent.

In the background I could see the classroom that contained the context of the teacher’s craft. Our conversation along with the capability of Skype naturally evolved into a virtual tour of the classroom. I could see how different this space was and how it enhanced the learning described so vividly by the teacher.

An idea came…I was asked whether I would be interested in watching a lesson “tomorrow”- via Skype. Well, of course I was…but I added, I was equally interested in talking to a few students after the lesson!

On arrival at school the next morning, I received per email a rubric and a number of Internet sites related to the lesson I would follow later that day. The power point presentation that would be used during the lesson did not make it through the email. Too bad!

I invited a few colleagues to be part of the virtual “lesson”, “learning”, “observation”- what would we actually call this???
After connecting via (free) Skype we sat and watched…taking notes…for 35 minutes. But the power and WOW came after the lesson while talking with the students. These two students clearly articulated their learning as we continued to ask them about their learning. The main points included:
We are learning about the freedom fighters…that people have choices. We have learned about the traits of freedom fighters. Some of these people are famous like Gandhi or Malcolm X…but we are researching some of our own “heroes” who have similar traits….It’s about non-violent communication…
This year we are learning new ways of learning…our teacher doesn’t ever want to tell us, he wants us to THINK about it. He asks a lot of questions…the big questions are not yes/no questions, they are questions that make us think, they usually do not have right or wrong answers…we have learnt to listen to the opinions of other people…

These students were obviously emotionally involved in their learning. Their reflections revealed to us something much deeper about their learning than a teacher could in any interview. This was real! This was instant! This was different!

That evening I followed up with another (free) Skype reflection- this time with the teacher. I asked him what the students did well, what they learned and the evidence he used. He discussed what hindered the learning. He shared the changes he could have made to enhance/deepen the learning. This teacher demonstrated the ability to deeply reflect on best practice and clearly articulated his own learning.

It is clear that this teacher is a risk taker, comfortable with technology (he used a SMART board), has an open door to his classroom, invites everyone in, and wants to talk about, reflect on, and learn from his work. You can tell all of this instantly without asking one question!

And what have I learnt?

We can engage in different hiring strategies by observing student learning in their classrooms AND tap into student reflections AND follow up with teacher reflection and, and, and…this is endless…and VERY exciting!!!

Finally, my new tech learning is how to RECORD all of the above Skyping!!!

If we can virtually step into any teacher’s classroom, do we need to go recruiting?
I wonder whether recruiters and/or applicants see any real alphas or deltas to the choices we have when it comes to hiring strategies.
What are the essential elements when we go searching for talent?