“I know that change is difficult, and comes slowly, and that it is the work of many days strung together in a long line until the origin of them is forgotten.”

Excerpt From: Roth, Veronica. “Allegiant.” Divergent Series, 2013-10-iBooks. 

In an effort to improve my educational leadership skills, I watched the videos:  Changing Education Paradigms. (Shown above) and Educational Change and Leadership.  My head is spinning with thoughts of divergent thinking and the diversity of learners.

The videos left me thinking that we need to reframe how we define reading.  Reading is no longer paper and print.  It is that, but it is a lot more as well.  It is multi-modal, and multi-media.  Frontline educators are pioneering methods of teaching these new literacies. Educational leaders need to guide these educators through this massive change.

We need to ensure that students are exposed to all types of reading and available  texts.   They need to be presented as of equal value.  Educators must now be tasked to teach the skills to read traditional texts and e-texts, and access the built-in supports available with e-texts.  This does not mean abandoning traditional texts, it just means that it isn't everything anymore.

To support the needed educational change, leaders need to guide teachers through the needed change. Educators must make available all types of reading materials that are specifically geared to the abilities and interests of the students in the class.   They also need to ensure that the texts students are reading represent all the principles of social justice.   Educators can learn alongside students, trying new strategies, covering new topics and reading in a new way.