A little while ago by friend Oliver Schiinkten sent me a tweet asking: 

I responded with a quick tweet back:

And I said that I would probably have to write a blog post to actually explain what I really think. In the mean time, my fantastic friends (and super fast bloggers) Denise Krebs and Joy Kirr responded with their ideas here and here. So now it is finally time for me to sit down and properly reflect on my answer to this question:

What is the purpose of school?

I think school has many purposes--a place for us to learn new things, a place for us to practice new methods of learning, a place for us to ask questions and share our thoughts. A place to play and socialize with others. A place to become more literate, develop a strong number sense and get elbow deep in paint and paper mache once in a while as we test out new ways to express ourselves. A place to be creative thinkers.  School has so many purposes. It is really a complicated thing--because it isn't completely clear and it isn't just one or two things. We get SO much out of school.  

But if I had to zoom in on one aspect that I think is of KEY importance it would be: thinking.

School is where we learn:
how to think. 
how we think. 
how others think. 
what ways of thinking work best for us. 
how to share our thinking.
and what we like to think about. 

It is about learning and learning is about thinking. And there are so many fantastic ways to do this. And the better we plan for opportunities for our students to think & learn the more engaged they will be and the more they will love learning and thinking. And that is really what I want out of all of this whole school thing for them: for them to continue wanting to learn. wanting to think. being curious. AND being life-long learners who LOVE this. 

That is what I think today anyway. What do you think?

Recently I have read a lot about critical friends, especially in articles and books by Stephen Brookfield, Arthur Kosta, Bena Kallick,Tom Russell, Sandy Schuck.  And I love the idea--someone who you agree to sit down with on a regular basis so that you are able to examine your practice through another lens.  Great idea!

But it had me thinking about the people with whom I do this anyway.  They aren't formal critical friends, per se, as we have not made any formal agreement or set any rules/expectations/time frame from which to operate. However, I would like to suggest that these informal critical friends are just as important as the formal critical friend relationship.  

Who are these informal critical friends?  They are the people that we talk to about education on a regular basis.  We may not have regular meeting times but we get together for coffee or dinner and talk about what is new and exciting in our classrooms and in education in general.  It's the teacher down the hall who you go and visit after school to celebrate with because you are bursting with excitement about a successful lesson.  Or, for many of us, the teacher down that virtual hallway (twitter).

Being a connected educator has enabled me to experience the perks of a critical friend without even really knowing it.   As I move forward I would like to explore the benefits of a more formal critical friend relationship (anyone with experience in teacher education want to sign up for that?), but I already know that that will never replace the energy I get from all of you, my friends and colleagues with whom I discuss learning, education, passion, and life.  

Thank you.  All of you.

Some of my critical friends: Tia Henriksen (@Tiahenriksen), DIana Williams (@teacherdiana1) and Robyn Thiessen (@robynthiessen).

We get together regularly to discuss education.  

Another critical friend, Antonio Vendramin (@vendram1n).

He is my former principal and has pushed my thinking and learning further than anyone else I can think of. I became a different kind of learner and teacher because of him and his mentorship.  

Thank you Antonio.

Here he is pushing me out of my comfort zone again.

Another place where I feel like I have a group of critical friends is on twitter.  On twitter, I have met so many people that help push my thinking forward.  Like Denise Krebs (@mrsdkrebs). Denise inspires me all of time!  More than she knows. 

Here we are together in person.  Denise drove up to Surrey, BC in the Spring of '13 and it was so wonderful meeting her and her wonderful family in person!  I love twitter, but there is something really special about talking to a person face to face!

And of course, I cannot leave out Hugh McDonald (@hughtheteacher), probably my closest critical friend!   I have learned so much from, and with this guy!  I miss teaching with you, buddy.


I could go on and on listing people who have taught me so much and who are such important informal critical friends, because there are so many!  But I will stop here as it is time for me to check out who is presenting next at #RSCON4 (http://www.futureofeducation.com/).  Check out the link to find another way to get connected!

And again, thank you all for being my critical friends.

How do you get feedback on your teaching/practice/thoughts/ideas?  Do you have a critical friend?  Is it a formal relationship, with arranged meeting times? Or more informal, like the ones I have described?  I would love to hear about them!  And again, if there is anyone working in teacher education who wants to arrange some sort of formal critical friendship, please let me know!