Blogging in Education

Kim Moritz, principal over at G-town and fellow admin-blogger, writes about her new disclaimer and the issues around being a edu-blogger. She's a fearless blogger, and one of those bloggers who demand my attention whenever I see a new post from her in my aggregator. She writes:

I am always aware of audience when I write and 98% of the time, I tie anything that I’m writing about in my personal life to school. I’ve fearlessly written in this blog since July when I attended training, paid for by the district, at High School’s New Face. I’ve heard of colleagues who won’t even comment on a blog for fear of “tenure”. I’m not tenured yet either, but believe that if I write honestly, with integrity, conducting myself as a professional, that G-Town Talks could only extend my communication and influence. I’ve written honestly here and I’ve never “hidden behind” the blog, never written anonymously about anything, and never been inappropriate.

It's an honest appraisal of her thoughts about her blog, and it's this kind of writing and thought-process that makes her such a must read. Inside her comments above you can read a sense of frustration that someone would think that she needs a disclaimer.

It's something I think a lot about as well, and I really ask myself one question before I publish an entry -- "Would the people who put their faith in me to start SLA be embarrassed by this entry?" If the answer is even "maybe," I re-read and re-write. (And yes, they do read it... in fact, back when I was applying for the job, someone asked me about the blog -- including back when it was hosted on beaconschool.org -- and the person said, "Well at least we know where you stand on the war..." Eep. But they still gave me the job. No one can argue they didn't know what they were getting into....)

Blogging as an educator is a tricky, tricky thing. For me, I think it's essential to have teachers and administrators blog. It's not about getting a world-wide audience, although I check out my ClustrMap as much as anyone else does. It's about making our schools as transparent as possible. I always assume that some subset of my students and parents are reading my blog. And while there are lots of issues that we all can't blog about, there are lots of things we can blog about. And I think the personal (within limits) is bloggable. (Did I just invent a word?) I would have never dreamed of keeping Theo's struggles off of this blog a few months ago. After all, if we want to connect with our students as people, don't we, at some point, have to be willing to connect with them as well?

And at SLA, I hope teachers will blog... I even considered moving Practical Theory over to scienceleadership.org, but decided against it because I like this interface more. (And because, I keep thinking that I'll find a use for my elgg account over there that is different than what I do here.) And it's with that, that I read with some dismay this "Blogging 101" memo from the Pennsylvania State Education Assocation:

Blogging 101 Prepared by the PSEA Legal Division January 2007

As a school employee, you must exercise extreme caution when you engage in blogging or other forms of internet communication. Keep in mind that your First Amendment rights can be limited by virtue of your position as a school employee.

If you blog or maintain a web page, you should adhere to the following tips:

I. Minimize the risk associated with internet communication by limiting access to your blog or web page using a "friends only" or similar restrictive setting.

2. If visitors can post to your blog or web page, monitor postings constantly and remove any that are inappropriate.

3. Do not blog or post about your job duties, colleagues, supervisors or students. This will reduce the danger that you might disclose confidential information, share information about a private workplace complaint, or otherwise carelessly or unintentionally engage in speech which could affect your future employment.

4. If you choose to blog or post as a citizen about a non-job related matter of public concern (i.e., the elections, terrorism or environmental issues) take care that what you say will not impede your employer's effectiveness or efficiency or otherwise disrupt the workplace.

5. If you are blogging or posting about innocuous information (i.e., your favorite football team or family geneology), you still must be careful not to engage in comments that could adversely affect your employer (i.e., damage the employer's reputation) or interfere with your ability to carry out your job duties.

6. Do not blog or post about personal subjects (i.e., dating, romance, or drug or alcohol use). Your blog or web page should not contain any references to sexual subjects, or contain vulgar or profane language or graphics. If your blog or web page was a movie, it should be rated "G."

7. Blogging and posting anonymously does not protect you. Names of bloggers, web page authors and other internet users can be discovered through litigation.

8. Check to see if your employer has any policies regarding blogging or web pages. If so, you should review the policy with your PSEA Uniserv.

In conclusion, you should be aware that if you blog or maintain a web page, you must use prudence and be extremely careful in your comments. You must give the necessary time and attention to the content of your blog or web page to make sure that it satisfies the general principles above.

Please contact your PSEA Uniserv Representative if you have any questions.

While many of these posts could be debated individually -- some do have merit, some are more dubious -- what I don't like is the tone, which to me is suggesting that teachers really would be better off not blogging. This is really a shame, because blogging, when done intelligently, can be such a huge boon to the teaching practice, as many of folks in the edu-blogger world can attest. I really can't imagine having started SLA without this blog, and I think SLA is a better school because of the blogging proces.

In the end, I think Christian's Blogging Guidelines provide a much more intelligent and prudent set of guidelines for edu-bloggers:

The best defense, in some respects, is a good offense:

• Be public about who you are, what role you have...anonymity while somewhat logical at first has no real currency in time. Give one of your decently tech-savvy kids 1 hour and challenge them to find the identity of any anonymous blogger. And then wonder how long it'll take your boss if they become curious or get an anonymous email from an 'interested' colleague.
  
• Assume that your boss is reading every blog entry you write. Not just the ones you wrote today, but the ones you wrote 6 months ago when you were just getting started and were venting and perhaps said something you wouldn't have shouted down the hallway during a passing period.
  
• If you wouldn't say it in a faculty meeting or yell it down the hallway during a passing period, perhaps you need to re-think posting it.
  
• When in doubt, never use your students' names. Never. And if you're writing about your colleagues, school, superiors, or district policies, you have 3 choices: 1) Write positively without hesitation or 2) learn to ask great questions that remain open-ended while refusing pejoratives and in lieu of criticisms or 3) do not write about any of the above.
  
• And simply use a "blog smart" mind-set. There are no specific rules; it's a mind-set. And there are no second chances unless you're comfortable in the looking-for-a-new-job process.
  

Oh, and if you're not helping your students wrestle with these issues in your classrooms when you launch into blogging (etc) programs, you're failing the #1 opportunity. Yes, give them rules. But teach them how to use common sense, too. They'll thank you for years and years from now when their first job isn't lost because they did something foolish under the guise of being 'anonymous' and they get the job they really wanted because someone recognized/valued their passion and common sense and unique voice/brand.

I love what Christian writes about anonymity. I know there are some great blogs out there that are wonderful looks inside of some dysfunctional schools, but I hope all those bloggers know that they are putting their jobs on the line, should they be discovered. Being an anonymous blogger is a very different thing than blogging publicly, and I know that the prospect of putting my name to what I write every day makes me think powerfully about what it is that I'm putting out there.

(And for the record, I believe there are times when using student names is utterly appropriate, such as when you are promoting something amazing that a student did. My general rule on that one is that if it is something I'd be willing to call up the local papers and get published, then it's o.k. to publish on my blog. At SLA, the world "blog" is included in the press waiver the families sign at the beginning of the year, and I always ask students before putting their names up.)

In the end, every teacher / administrator / educator has to come to their own comfort zone with blogging, and yes, there are times when we all push the envelope. It's part of the changing nature of schools, I think, where we have to recognize the new transparency we have to deal with. By blogging, by honestly grappling with the questions and issues that face us, we as educators get to embrace a piece of that transparency. Any student who wants to come to SLA, any teacher who wants to teach here, could Google SLA, find this blog and learn a lot about our values, our process, and the thoughts (and ramblings) of the principal. With luck, that will be part of the process of enhancing our community and strengthening its values. If nothing else came of this blog, that'd be worth it.