Meeting with Erica McWilliams

I have just met with Erica McWilliams from MYSA - a link to her slide show from the conference is on the right tool bar. It was so great to meet her in person. She is an educator (classroom teacher), turned researcher and is now a Professor at the University here in Singapore. She was very interested to hear about what we're doing at SMC and particularly about the shared language we have created by using the Habits of MInd. Some of her most current work is around the idea of 'flocking'. She talked about flock mentality of birds and how the can move quicker and more effectively together. Apparently the birds in a flock 'talk' with the birds immediately around them, but also to the whole flock and are acutely aware of the fact that every other bird in the flock is doing the same thing. She is going to send me a paper explaining it in more detail, which I'll post here to - so you don't just get my water down version of what she is saying. She is very interested in developing a 'flock' with the 10 of us from SMC and 4 other Australian girls schools (50 in the flock). This is an incredibly exciting opportunity as we navigate our way through the uneven terrain of what it means to be educators in the 21st Century. Great news for us - I'll keep you posted, fellow flock mates!