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Three Types of Teachers Whose Lives are Transformed by Project Based Learning | E206

• Magnify Learning • Season 7 • Episode 206

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What if transforming the educational landscape was simpler than we thought? Drawing from my extensive decade-long journey with PBL, this episode offers insights into how educators can harness this methodology to not only engage their students more effectively but also invigorate their own teaching practices. We explore how PBL addresses educational challenges, providing opportunities that traditional methods often miss, and how this approach fits into Simon Sinek's innovation curve. By understanding the roles of innovators, early adopters, late adopters, and laggards, we can tailor our strategies to create a more dynamic and responsive educational environment.

Join Ryan as we delve into real-life transformations of teachers and unravel the unique needs of the late majority and laggards. The journey isn't one-size-fits-all; it requires time, patience, and the right kind of support. Personal stories highlight the necessity of meeting each teacher where they are, ensuring that the integration of PBL is both successful and sustainable. Whether you’re leading a classroom or an entire district, your leadership is pivotal. Explore a wealth of resources on pblsimplified.com, designed to support and inspire your PBL journey. Embrace the opportunity to become an educational pioneer and lead your community with renewed vigor and vision.

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Ryan Steuer:

What are the three types of teachers whose lives are transformed by project-based learning? Last week, we looked at three types of students whose lives are transformed by project-based learning, and today we're going to be talking about how teacher lives are transformed, and there's three specific types that I've seen in my 10 years of doing PBL and trainings across the country that are transformed. Welcome to the PBL Simplified Podcast. I'm your host, ryan Stoyer, chief Inspiration Officer here at Magnify Learning, and what we do here is we add value to PBL movement makers, just like you, so that you can lead inspired, because everyone wins when leaders are inspired. So, whether you're leading a classroom, a school or a district, your leadership matters and we at Magnify Learning we're obsessed with helping you transform your school. So thanks for being with me today. If it's your first time, or it's your 100th time or your 204th time, maybe you start at the very beginning.

Ryan Steuer:

I want you to go to pblsimplifiedcom. If you go to pblsimplifiedcom, you can geta video series. Whether you're a teacher or administrator, they're both differentiated for you. It gives you a series of YouTube videos, mostly talking head. It's going to be me in talking head style, but there's resources connected to them and you can use them for professional development. They're great to bring to your leadership team. You don't even have to agree with everything that I say in the videos. You could do a four A's protocol protocol, in fact, on each video with your leadership team or with your teachers so you could look and say what are the assumptions that ryan's making, what do you agree with what ryan's saying, what do you argue with and what do you aspire to? What do you want to act upon? Use those four a's and just start a discussion.

Ryan Steuer:

If you're at the very beginning of your pbl journey, it's a great way to start out to say, hey, I'm thinking about doing project-based learning because I've heard some really good things. I've heard that it transforms students. I've heard that it transforms teachers. I've been to a PBL school and a visit and it was awesome. I wonder what it would look like here. You want to go through this video series with me. Maybe it's one or two videos. For teachers, we've got a whole series. It's like 52 videos that we go through everything, from driving question to entry events and for administrators, we go through everything. How do you start your PBL vision to? How do you get people involved to start a grassroots movement to just like you.

Ryan Steuer:

Like, we've been doing magnified learning, pbl trainings for a decade now. We've trained over 10 000 plus educators and tons of schools across the country. So whether you're a rural school, suburban, urban, you're big, you're small. Wherever you're at, we've been in a school just like yours that was teaching traditionally and had this kind of inkling of, like you know, I think things could be different. I think it could be different. I think there are some opportunities that our learners are not getting that they could use. I think that we could have more engagement. I think our learners can do it and maybe we just need a different way to package things. And we've been having this conversation for a very long time and we've talked with all types of teachers. You hear my segue? That's. My segue into our topic today is there's three types of teachers that are transformed by project-based learning.

Ryan Steuer:

And I like to explain this using the innovation curve. And Simon Sinek uses the innovation curve in one of his TED Talks and he says you know, there are people that are on the front edge of this innovation curve and they're the ones that wait for the brand new iPhone, like they're going to camp out. They're going to be the first ones to get it and they don't care if it's good. There's this new thing out there and they want it and they're those innovators that are right out front. And then, as you go up the innovation curve, like that's a pretty small percentage of the population, right. And then you've got folks that are going to go grab it on day two and there's no lines, but they want the newest phone. And then you've got some early adopters that you know they're going to switch. And you've got late adopters that are going to say you know what, I'm two or three versions behind and I'm just okay with that. It works for me. And you've got laggards on the back end of that innovation curve that are going to stick with, you know, their flip phone or whatever phone they have, because they're good with it and they know how to use it and it's fine.

Ryan Steuer:

And if you look at the innovation curve, it applies to technologies that come out and I've noticed that it often applies to a staff at a school and that's just because that's how we're made up of. You know, it's just how we kind of think and that's how teams are formed and it's positive, right, like it's a. It's an is that we have innovators. You know early adopters, late majority laggards but they all help us in different ways. Right, you can't get rid of some percentage of this innovation curve of your staff? You need those people. You need innovators to push things and you need laggers to hold things in. And I'm going to give you three types of teachers that are transformed by project-based learning, and the first type is the innovator. The innovator is the one that says, well, that's a new idea. I saw this at a conference and they bring it back and they read a book, they watch all the videos in, like one day, and they say I'm going to try it tomorrow, right, and they just, they just go.

Ryan Steuer:

This is me personally, like when I was in the classroom, I was an innovator. If I saw something that I thought could work in my classroom, I tried it the next day, and it wasn't always perfect. I I think it'd be safe to say it was never perfect, right, but I saw things that worked and I wanted to continue growth mindset wise I don't think I knew that term at the time, but I wanted it to grow so we could get to something better. That's why I was in the classroom, so I was teaching traditionally and I was using all these different best practices right, I would try them out and they would work in pockets right, they'd work in these pockets. And then, when I found project-based learning, I saw this. It wasn't pockets of change, right, it was a bigger change. It was like, wow, this seems like it could be a big deal.

Ryan Steuer:

And it was for us, because we started a school within a school, at a large urban middle school. So it was a very big change. We took 25% of the kids and we gave them project-based learning for their four core classes. So there's a lot of planning, a lot of things changed schedule wise, the experience for learners was a huge difference and some people did not want to do that. They were not excited about that.

Ryan Steuer:

I was super fired up because it's like there's going to be a bunch of change, it's going to be hard work, but there's going to be results, or at least we're going to learn something. Right, and there were results, like we found out with, you know, stratified lottery. So we looked just like the rest of the school in every way we could imagine and we had 25% of the kids and we had a percent and a half higher in attendance, we had 8% of discipline. So, with 25% of the kids, we had 8% of the discipline because kids still aren't perfect even in PBL. And so, with 25% of the kids, we had 8% of the discipline because kids still aren't perfect even in PBL. And in an F school we would have been a B on standardized tests. So it's like a huge change, right, but you need innovators to stir that up. But if our whole team was made of innovators, then we'd still be changing things, right. So it wasn't. We had some early majority that were like, yep, I can see this, I've visited, I'm going to go. And then we had some late majority that were like, well, what about this? And maybe we should stick to this practice because it works. And it's like oh, you know what? I think you're right, and so it's this mix of the innovation curve that works.

Ryan Steuer:

But your innovators, it gives them an outlet for what they're looking for and it transforms their life with project-based learning, because it's an outlet, but it's also a framework that they work within. Sometimes the innovator the con to an innovator is that they're always changing. There's kind of that shiny squirrel syndrome where they're like, oh well, what about this now, what about this? And within project-based learning, there's parameters, there's structure. It's not loosey-goosey, it's not mess in the middle, we've got things. We've got the six steps lined out. We've got you covered, from entry, event to presentation. So the innovator knows where they're at and where they're going to go. So there's freedom in there to experiment, but you have some guardrails, which is really important for your innovators. So that's the first type of teacher that is transformed by project-based learning.

Ryan Steuer:

The second type of teacher that is transformed by project-based learning is that early adopter. The early adopter is the one that wants to see it first and the transformation is. It's just as exciting, but it looks different, right, and they need some more supports. They want to say like, okay, well, this worked. I want to go visit someplace, right. Which you know is one of my favorite suggestions is go visit a place where they're doing project-based learning, because now you're going to get that early majority that says, okay, I see it working here. I've talked to the learners, I talked to the teachers, I talked to administrators, I asked all my questions. No-transcript, they don't change on a dime. They might want some research, they might want to talk to somebody, they might want to read a book first. So they might want to go to conference, which all those things are totally legitimate.

Ryan Steuer:

So if you're leading a building or you're trying to lead a PBL movement and people aren't moving at the speed you think they should move, this might be the seed that you need right Is to figure out where your people at. Which of these three types are they? Because early majority are open to those ideas. In fact, I was just talking to a coach at a large district and she's at an elementary school and they were at a school that was pretty traditional and the way she described it in her words is we had just this core group, the majority of the teachers that just loved kids. They just loved kids. Now, their instructional practices maybe weren't the best, they weren't as high as they could be, they weren't using best practices in a lot of areas, but they loved kids, they wanted to do it. So she brought in some best practices, some PBL moves, I would say, and they were open to the idea, but they weren't like, hey, give those to me and I'm going to run with it. They wanted to say, well, let's play this out, let's role play this for a second, and then they would go, use these practices and they'd see that they work and they'd run Right. So that was an example of. There was a good chunk of early majority there, of teachers that were ready to go but they wanted to make sure it was the right direction. They didn't want to start running left and then right and then left and then right and then diagonal right. They weren't into that. They wanted best things for their kids and that's how they kind of see the world. So that's the second type of teacher that can be transformed by project-based learning.

Ryan Steuer:

The third type of teacher that can be transformed by project-based learning is the late majority. The late majority are going to wait a little bit longer. Right, it seems obvious in the wording You've got early majority, they're going to step in first. Late majority is going to hang on a little bit longer, so they might go for a visit and say, yep, that makes sense. That was neat. I wonder what that looks like here. And they're going to wonder a little bit longer than the early majority. They might not see the vision when they come back, like they're going to need help connecting those dots. So you might bring in some community partners, even on a traditional unit, so they can see what it looks like, see what happens.

Ryan Steuer:

When the learners see someone from the outside world come in, how do they interact? How do they light up? Is it a positive interaction? They want some of those so they can take a step forward, and they're going to need to take a few more steps. Right, they're farther back on the innovation curve. So they're going to want training. They're going to want to have a three-day training and they're going to want to know if there's coaching coming throughout the year. They say, great, I built the PBL unit over the summer. What happens if I need help over the school year? That's one of the questions that late adopters ask. So somebody asks that like they're a late adopter, and sometimes they won't ask.

Ryan Steuer:

So I like to tell principals, like you've got teachers that are this type and they're going to want to know right now if there's coaching involved. Are they going to have support for this initiative or is it one they can just wait out? Like it's kind of a flavor of the month kind of thing for you. So that's kind of I would say one of the hedges that they have is they don't want to get caught up in a flavor of the month where we know that happens in education, where something comes through and maybe it lasts one, maybe it lasts two years and then we're going to move a different direction. They don't want to get caught up in that. They want to know what's going to last for the next five to 10 years. That's what I want to step into, because late majority they're not zigzagging all over the place. That's not how they roll.

Ryan Steuer:

So they want to know their supports and training is often one of those big ones and they also want to have some collaborative environments where they can help out. So what I mean by that is maybe it's a, maybe it's a book study. You say, well, book studies take too long, it's too much work. Maybe, but sometimes that's what this group needs is they need it to take a little longer. They want to process longer, right, they're those detail-oriented teachers. That, again, they're. These are all positive traits, right, and they're all part of keeping your school in line and moving in the right direction, but they're different, right? So each of these three types of teachers can be transformed by PBL, but I would also say that they're different in how you interact.

Ryan Steuer:

And let me give you because that's all three types and I'm going to give you a bonus. I'm going to give you a bonus because, I mentioned it earlier, there's the laggard, and it's again you can't fire all the laggards, and you shouldn't. They're there for a reason, right? The laggards are there to say prove to me that what we're doing will be enhanced by this new change. Right, that will be enhanced.

Ryan Steuer:

And here's how I know that because I've led a lot of professional development all across the country and I've talked to a lot of staff and most of the time I'm the outsider coming in right. So immediately my job is to gain trust and to show that I'm there for them, for your teachers, not for me, and I'm not there to fix things right, I'm there to magnify the good things that are already happening. So once we kind of get that culture and norms established, typically people open up. They're like, wow, this PD is something that's actually going to benefit me. Like immediately, I'm excited about this, it's helping me do what I want to do. And once we get there, there's still a few teachers usually arms are crossed right in the back of the classroom somewhere, or the back of the PD room, the lunchroom or wherever you do your PD, and at some point you need to engage those people, right, like, we get it. But it's like, well, why, like, why aren't you jumping in? And I'm open to those conversations.

Ryan Steuer:

So I talked to Mike. He was one of these teachers, social studies teacher, middle school and he's like, well, I know that what I do worked for Allison. And he gave me Allison's story. I said, okay, what about Samuel and what about Luke and what about April? Right, and what about Javon and what about Ryan and what about Andrew? Right. And so we talked through that a little bit and he wanted to know, you know, how can you prove to me that it's going to help Andrew and Javon and Allison and all these people? And so I gave research right, which isn't usually what people want, right? They don't want national research. What they're really asking is how can you prove to me that this will work in my classroom? Right, and I get that right.

Ryan Steuer:

And again, it's a personality style in some ways and it's a legitimate question that we should be able to answer. So the way I answer that question is let's do some PBL moves, right. If you're not ready to go full-blown PBL, let's bring in a community partner. Let's do an entry event for your traditional unit, like what's the harm in taking half a class period to get kids really excited and engaged about what they're going to do over the next four weeks? Doesn't that seem like it would be a positive if kids started your unit engaged? It's like, well, yeah, probably. And what if? For your presentations that you typically do with just the class and yourself for a grade, what if you invited a community partner in? What if somebody got to come in and hear those presentations? That's a pretty low threshold as far as a threat in our classrooms, but it's also a big step for some people.

Ryan Steuer:

So this bonus of laggard on the back end of that innovation curve, somebody doesn't really want to move. You know there's some kind of a step that they can take right and then once they see that step now we can encourage them to take another step and another step and another step. They just want to make sure that they can see it right. So those are the three plus one types of teachers that can be transformed by project-based learning. You've got the innovator early adopter, late adopter or early majority, late majority, however you want to word that and then you've got the laggard, and every one of these teachers is in your school. I guarantee you, if you pull up innovation curve on Google, you will see a graphic. Go to images. Take any one of those graphics and you can start plugging people in. You can plug your whole staff in.

Ryan Steuer:

I've done this during PD with admins and it's amazing what happens. Because then what you do here's the secret sauce. Are you ready? The secret sauce is once you've done that, you need to say well, how do I best support these teachers and these different buckets of innovation? Because the innovator needs help. Still, they need some rails. That early majority, they need to go see it. The late majority they need training before they're going to move.

Ryan Steuer:

When you say, hey, everybody's going to do a PBL unit each semester, we didn't train you guys, but get with somebody who was trained and they'll help you that's not going to work. For your late majority. Your innovators, yeah, maybe right, they could run with that, but your late majority, you're going to lose them and they might even comply, but you're not going to really get what you want out of that PBL movement. And you know, same thing, you've got some laggards in your staff and that's okay, right, you need those people and they just need some different things from you. You need those people and they just need some different things from you.

Ryan Steuer:

So, as you look at your PBL movement, movement maker, whatever leadership position you're in, whether it's classroom or front office take a look at these three types plus one of teachers that are in your building and start to think about where do you start your PBL movement? Where do you start asking questions? How do you ask questions of them? Hey, I'm thinking about PBL. What kind of questions would you have? What kind of training or support would you need? And let them tell you and then provide those things and then say, hey, you said that this would work. You know, if I gave you these supports, let's go Right, and that's how you start getting a movement started and not just one or two crazy people running off up front to go do the work. You want to get a movement, so you need to be able to talk to all these different types of teachers to invite them in to this work, because it's life-changing work for teachers and for your learners. Thanks for tuning in today to get the three plus one types of teachers that are transformed by PBL Go out and lead inspired.

Ryan Steuer:

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the PBL Simplified Podcast. I appreciate you and honor that you tune in each week. Would you please take two minutes to leave a rating and a review. When you leave a review, it lets the next person know that this is a podcast worth listening to. When they go into their player and search project-based learning, and PBL Simplified popped up, when they see those reviews, they know that high quality, visionary leaders are listening, so they tune in too and they can find their way into the PBL journey. Thank you so much for leaving a review. Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate you.

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