The moral of the fable of the Blind Men and the Elephant is that each of the blind men has a different perspective on what an elephant is – depending on which part of the elephant they are touching.

In many ways the various interest groups involved in education can behave as “blind men” as they tend to only “see” the parts they can touch.

I believe that only by sharing our own perspective and also taking account of others’ perspectives can we begin to properly understand the “elephant” that is education. 

For the purposes of this competition a Learning Log will be defined as any personal on-line space where a person uses Web 2.0 technology to share their perspective on the education process and engages in a dialogue with a wider audience.

To qualify as a learning log the person must engage in some reflection of their own experiences. John Dewey’s assertion sets out the definition even more clearly:

“We only learn from experience…………..if we reflect upon experience”

Is it a Learning Log?

Here are ten questions you might like to consider when judging the quality of a Learning Log:

• Does the person reflect upon their own experiences?
• Does the person reflect upon their own effectiveness?
• Does the person explore a range of issues connected to education?
• Does the person demonstrate a capacity to make use of others’ blogs/logs to enhance their own thinking?
• Does the person engage with those who comment on their Log?
• Does the person demonstrate a capacity to link back to previous posts to show progress in their thinking?
• Does the person refer to research or other evidence to support their perspectives?
• Does the person have a capacity to explore alternatives to current practice?
• Does the person introduce readers to new resources?
• Does……? (please suggest other criteria)

I’d welcome nominations for Learning Logs for the following perspectives: 

        Teachers

Doug Belshaw – from the perspective of a teacher at an English secondary school.

John Johnston – from the perspective of a teacher at a Scottish primary school. 2

Neil Winton – From the perspective of an English teacher, Perth, Scotland

Gilbert Halcrow from Hong Kong – articulate, reflective, provocative, lively. 1

       Specialist staff

Alan Coady – from the perspective of a guitar teacher 3

       Parents

Mumble – from the perspective of an early years child’s parent. 1

Guineapigmum – from the perspective of a high school parent. 2

       School Leaders/managers

Mark Walker – from the perspective of a primary school principal in Melbourne, Australia 3

Ollie Bray – Depute, Geographer and, in the words of the late, great Ken Campbell, a Seeker. 1

Donald MacDonald– from the perspective ofa secondary school head teacher in Edinbburgh, Scotland

       *Class

Essentially a primary school category, this really boils down to the collaborative relation between teacher and pupils and the joie de vivre evident in the work – Campie PS – P6b (Miss Collins) 1

       Librarians

Anne Johnston – from the perspective of a school librarian 2

       Students

      *School

Law Primary School – for trailblazing and for “the proof of the pudding” in their recent excellent HMIe report.

       Media

Ewan McIntosh – from the perspective of public service media 3

Sarah Ebner – from the schoolgate on the Time on-line

       Politicians

       Technology 

John Connell – from the perspective of technology in learning and teaching. 4

        Local Authority/District education leaders

Greg Whitby – from the perspective of a district administrator in Sydney, Australia 2

Niel Rochelle – from the perspective of a school superintendent, East Aurora, New York, USA 3

       National/District/Local support staff

I’d also like to nominate Mick Burns for his blog Careers

       National government staff 

I’m happy to accept nominations and votes from any country drop me an e-mail dledingham@eastlothian.gov.uk

I’ll keep a running total of votes against each nomination.

Please feel free to suggest other perspectives. (* indicates nominated perspectives)

I’m not sure if there will be any prizes (unless there are any sponsors out there?)

Nominations and votes will close on the 10th December.