Before a school begins churning out learner guides with abandon, those involved should be clear about the answers to some questions:

1. Where is the initiative or leadership for moving to a learner guide approach coming from? The provincial government? The school district? Parents? The Principal? A group of teachers? One teacher? A department? The students? All of these? None of these?

2. How much support is there for the idea? From the district? From the school administration? From the teaching staff? From anyone?

3. What problem is the school trying to solve? Poor results? Rigid curriculum structure? Boring approaches to instruction? Poor PR in the community? Discipline? Poor student results? Need for teacher professional development? Student diversity in interests and abilities? Need to free up teacher time? Scheduling? Desire to reduce the number of teachers? Desire to cut costs? Students too dependent on the teacher? Desire to try something new? No particular problem?

4. What resources will be committed to developing learner guides? Money? Time? Expertise? Technology?

5. How ambitious is the plan? What is realistic in terms of (a) interest, (b) time, and (c) money? Will it affect the whole school or one department or program or grade level? When should it be finished?

6. What are the consequences for the school? For management of the school? Assignment of teachers? Working style of teachers? Curriculum? Resources like library and Internet? Scheduling? Record keeping? Student guidance and mentoring? Student learning?

7. Where can you turn for help? The school district? A community college or university? Faculty of Education? People in the community? Another school in the district or elsewhere in Canada?

8. What strengths does the school have than can be built upon?

9. What lacks and weaknesses must be compensated for?

And, not the least of considerations . . .

10. Who is actually going to do the work on the project?

When you have answers to these questions and when you are comfortable with the answers, you may wish to proceed.

Change depends on vision and determination and collaboration and work. It also depends on organization.

In recent years we have learned a lot about how to effect change, what works and what doesn’t. Before committees are set up, people appointed and tasks assigned, it is a good idea to look at the change process and see how it could work in a particular setting.

Michael Fullan and Matt Miles suggest eight basic lessons of the new paradigm of educational change. These are:

1. You can’t mandate what matters - the more complex the change, the less you can force it.
(Education bureaucrats and school administrators need to think about this.)

2. Change is a journey not a blueprint - change is non-linear, loaded with uncertainty and excitement and is sometimes perverse.
(Reformers need to be patient and to control their dogmatism.)

3. Problems are our friends - they are inevitable and you can’t learn without them.
(It is useful to think of problems as challenges rather than obstacles; it’s not much fun to play tennis without a net.)

4. Vision and strategic planning come later - premature vision and planning blind.
(Visions and plans have to grow and be nurtured, otherwise planners will suffer from the hardening of the categories.)

5. Individualism and collectivism must have equal power - there are no one-sided solutions to isolation and groupthink.
(Some things are better done by a committee but other things are better done alone.)

6. Neither centralization nor decentralization works - both top-down and bottom-up strategies are necessary.
(It’s in the middle where the tension and creativity are found.

7. Connection with the wider environment is critical for success - the best organizations learn externally as well as internally.
(Schools need to be linked with the "real" world of their communities.)

8. Every person is a change agent - change is too important to leave to the experts.
(Each one of us must take charge of change or it will just be someone else’s change.)

Changes need champions - someone who will get things started, inspire, coordinate, and keep things moving along. The key leader in a school may be the principal or another administrator, one or more teachers or other professionals, or someone from the community.

As the change process develops and gains support and momentum, leadership may also evolve from a single person to a network of leaders or a small leadership team. This gives the process a more solid footing and makes it less dependent on one person for its continuity.

Institutions usually have their own ways of organizing themselves and when major changes are planned it is generally best to try to use these customary ways of proceeding. This way, change is embedded in the normal life of the school, even if new committees and structures are formed.

If the school plans a major transformation of its curriculum and instruction, it needs a committee to steer the process and co-ordinate the activity. It also needs working groups and teams to work on specific tasks and prepare learner guides.

The CRSP experience with developing learner guides at the secondary level suggests some ways of proceeding:

• There has to be a clear set of goals or targets established at the beginning, but also a procedure for changing and adapting these as circumstances alter.
• Committees and teams should be small (around five members) otherwise scheduling meetings becomes a nightmare.
• Committees and teams need not be too concerned with being "representative" of all the elements and perspectives related to the task; other members can be co-opted for short periods of time as needed.
• It is a good idea to have at least one "outside" member for each committee or team, someone from outside the school for a school-wide committee, a member from outside the department for a departmental team.
• Most teams would benefit from having a student member.
• People on committees need released time and teacher time is the major area in which resources must be invested. This is a test of the seriousness of the project.
• Committees and working teams need to meet regularly and a schedule of meetings should be set up at the outset.
• If the project involves a number of schools in a district, different teams should be concentrated in different schools. Otherwise, travel will be a major cost.
• If a district has good e-mail and fax links, it is possible for teams to have members from different schools, but some face-to-face meetings are essential for good communication.
• There should be a clear system of submitting progress reports to a coordinating committee or senior administrator and clear deadlines for production of materials.
• Regular communication with the wider school community is vital to give everyone, in the school and outside, a sense of involvement.

This is one possible set of steps which may be considered:

1. Explore the idea and interest in restructuring in the school (teachers, students, administrators)
2. Explore the idea and interest in restructuring in the community (parents, business, community leaders)
3. Form a small working group of administrators, teachers, students and community members (maximum 5-7 members) to explore possibilities
4. Prepare a proposal for the school community
5. If there is interest, bring the proposal to the larger community.
6. Form a coordinating committee to launch the project
7. Prepare an overall plan for the project, including goals, limits, time lines and expected results
8. Involve school and community in a discussion of the plan and modify it as appropriate
9. Form working groups to prepare various elements such as learner guides
10. Prepare learner guides and other materials
11. Review and edit materials
12. Test materials
13. Report to the school and community
14. Plan limited piloting and assess results
15. Plan implementation.

The CRSP model of learner guides is built on the identification of learning outcomes. These outcomes have to be identified and their implications explored.

There are different sources of expertise on outcomes:

• For occupational outcomes: expert workers in the occupation
• For post-secondary outcomes: teachers in community colleges and universities, as well as former students
• For social/psychological outcomes: counsellors, psychologists, social workers, physicians, lawyers and other professions
• For cultural outcomes: people in the arts and media
• For personal outcomes: high school students themselves.

One way to begin the process is to form a panel of persons interested in and familiar with the type of outcomes to be attained.

For example, a school beginning a new technology program in graphic design or desktop publishing would turn to people working in the field for the skills and knowledge required. Science and mathematics teachers often keep close links with counterparts in post-secondary institutions to discuss expectations for first-year students. Social workers, psychologists and other professionals can provide data and first-hand experience about outcomes related to mental health, problems of drug abuse, health, human rights and the law. People in museums, art galleries, libraries, media and community centres can help schools develop outcomes in the areas of culture and the arts. And for outcomes related to the current concerns of adolescents, where to turn except to the student themselves?

Writing a learner guide is not as easy as it looks.

Many gifted teachers and many people very knowledgeable about their subject have a lot of trouble writing a textbook or a piece of learning software or a learner guide. Often our teaching is oral and spontaneous; often our writing style is influenced by our academic training in university.

In our teaching we usually assume a lot because we are there to answer questions, to backtrack and clarify. In our more academic or scholarly writing, we also assume a lot because we are usually writing to interested people who are knowledgeable in the subject.

But learner guides are a different form of communication: more direct, simpler, less complex sentences, shorter paragraphs, more ... well, zip!

1. Committees cannot write learner guides ... or anything else, for that matter. Individuals write. There must be one person on a committee or working group who can write and will do the writing.
2. The ideal is that the person writing the learner guide knows little or nothing about the content. She or he is writing on behalf of the learners, not the teachers.
3. It would be a good idea for the learner guides to be written by one of the following: (a) a teacher in another curriculum area, (b) a community member (parent or former student) interested in writing, (c) a student. Teachers and curriculum specialists don’t have to do everything.
4. It would also be a good idea for the writer of a learner guide to be a good writer.

A general process could be the following:

Step 1: A working group is formed to create the learner guide.

Step 2: A writer is designated and is the secretary of the working group.

Step 3: The working group discusses the context of the guide (relation to other parts of the curriculum, outcomes, etc.)

Step 4: The working group discusses the contents of the different elements of the guide (introduction, outcomes, activities, resources etc.). This may take a number of meetings.

Step 5: The designated writer prepares and circulates the first draft of the guide.

Step 6: The working group meets and goes over the text, word by word, line by line. Suggestions for wording and additional content are made.

Step 7: The writer prepares and circulates a second draft of the guide.

Step 8: The working group meets one or more times to set the final wording of the guide.

Step 9: The draft guide is sent for feed-back to outside people (experts in university, industry, the community, the school, other guide writers in the same school or in other schools).

Step 10: A new version of the guide is prepared by the writer, incorporating the feedback.

Step 11: The working group "signs off" on the final (for now) version of the guide.

Step 12: The working group arranges for trials of the guide with real students and supervises the modifications indicated as a result of the feedback.

Web sites on the Internet are only good (a) if people use them and (b) if they are regularly maintained and updated. The same is true for learner guides.

With more schools having home pages, Intranet and other forms of internal electronic links, learner guides can easily be on-line and accessible to students, teachers, parents and others. Learner guides become part of the normal documentation on which the school relies for it services. Some people may wish merely to visit the guide, some may copy the file, others may wish to have a hard copy.

Increasingly, guides will be electronically based and interactive, providing all the necessary hyperlinks and explanations, and allowing students to ask questions and make choices.

Someone in the school must be responsible for maintaining the guide, keeping it up-to-date and modifying it as the need arises.

Maintaining a certain number of guides and preparing new ones will likely become one of the important, normal tasks of a teacher.

Many school administrators and teachers complain about isolation, a lack of contact with others who share similar interests or who are engaged in similar projects.

Sometimes we know what is going on in our local district, less frequently what is happening in our province, and more rarely what is going on across Canada. Because of journals and television, we often are more familiar with developments in the United States than we are with those in our own country.

This lack of contact with others means we sometimes "reinvent the wheel" and do not benefit from the opportunities to build on what others have done.

Fortunately, this is changing rapidly. Schools across Canada are being integrated into the information network of the Internet and the WorldWideWeb. Industry Canada’s SchoolNet is linking schools across the country and providing a variety of services and links to institutions, databases, and resources. Many schools now have their own home page (often designed by students) and they are putting up on the site information about the school and its programs.

Schools are now building what are called "intentional communities" or "virtual communities" of links with other institutions, independent of location. A rural school in northern Alberta may be enriched by a link with a school in rural New Brunswick; large urban schools in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver may be working together on a common project.

A school interested in beginning to develop learner guides can begin by looking at some of these sites:

Good learner guides can be prepared and used without the benefits of modern communication and information technology. But it would be a pity not to use the advantages that are provided by computers, modems, CD-ROMs, learning software, e-mail, and the Internet.

More and more, schools are using these resources to enhance their teaching and learning activities in many areas.

Technology can enhance the development and use of learner guides by:

• permitting authors to prepare guides electronically (the frequent editing and revisions are much easier using a word-processing program, and multi-media features can be integrated)
• facilitating communication among authors and others working on a guide (e-mail transfer of files permits joint writing and editing with less cost and suffering .. well, a little less suffering!)
• giving schools an effective structure to manage individualized learning and to track student progress (scheduling, preparing and editing course information and requirements, registration, student tracking all lend themselves to computer-managed learning systems)
• presenting students with learner guides in electronic form (students can down-load learner guides at their convenience or copy them on their own diskettes for regular reference)
• directing students to electronic learning resources (major sources include software, e-mail, Internet, CD-ROMs, multimedia, etc.)
• encouraging students to use databases, search engines and the Internet in their learning activities on a guide (learner guides present a good opportunity to acquire and perfect the learning skills of the information age)
• giving students the opportunity to prepare their assignments in electronic form (submitting assignments and receiving feedback from teachers through fax and e-mail reinforces learning and teaches students the work styles they will need in their careers)
• expanding the reach of secondary schools (distance education services can give learners anywhere access to the services of the school and can expand the concept of what it means "to attend" the school)
• expanding the influence of gifted teachers (imaginative, skilled and innovative teachers can influence learners beyond their individual class and school)
• allowing schools to put some of their learner guides on their school HomePage (schools should be proud of their best learning "products" and may wish to share them with others; trading and selling are not out of the question either)
• building intentional communities of schools using innovative and individualized instruction (schools across the country and around the world may begin to organize networks, sharing resources and perhaps teachers and students).

Some schools have only a few computers and very limited access to e-mail and the Internet. Other schools are wired, have an extensive Intranet setup, have rich resources in computers and other equipment, are integrating modern technology in their regular activities, and - most important - have teachers and students who are comfortable using the new technologies.

In developing learner guides, schools have to start where they are, with the resources they have in place. They can’t wait for the last word in technology (there is only the latest word!).

High quality learner guides can be produced with paper and pencil, or, better still, using a standard word processing program. We have to be aware, however, that the technology is advancing rapidly, the costs are declining, the software is getting easier to use, and the potential for learning is increasing.

A system of learner guides is the content side which complements the process side of computers and the personal side of teachers. Working together, teachers, guides and technologies can revolutionize learning.

Yes, but . . .

• How can we tell that a learner guide is a good one?
• How do we know that using learner guides is more effective for student learning than not using them?
• Under what conditions are they effective, for whom, and effective for what?

As professional teachers, we have the duty ask these questions about any method we are using - lecturing, using a textbook, having discussion groups in class, using a video, introducing a new curriculum. How do we know what we are doing is any good? How do we know this is better than other methods (better for what? by what criteria?) How can the use of the method be made most effective?

We would like our doctor’s practice to be based on a knowledge of effective procedure. Likewise our dentist and our car mechanic. Sometimes what we intuitively believe to be good practice really is not.

Educational research can tell us a great deal about what practices are effective for specific outcomes, and what practices are less effective. Teachers and schools have little effect on certain variables affecting learning (home environment, student’s health, personal ability). But they can have considerable effect on other variables affecting learning (degree of student involvement in learning, method of mastering a skill, learning habits, classroom organization).

Giving a student an overview of what she/he is to learn, involving the student in learning activities, providing feedback, tailoring the program to the student’s interests and needs, teaching learning skills - these are the research principles on which learner guides are built.

Some guides are better than other guides because they are clear and have focus, because they stimulate the student to be involved in learning, and because the learning itself is significant, accurate, and up-to-date.

Preparing a guide involves research into the subject of the guide. In the past we often relied on (a) what was in the approved course of studies of the province, (b) what was on the official examinations, (c) what was in the textbook, and/or (d) what we learned at university.

Guides need to be built on a variety of resources in libraries and increasingly on the Internet. Whether the guide is about understanding opera or learning graphic design, consumer protection or the Industrial Revolution, the guide will be judged on the basis of the quality of the information provided and the range of resources with which the learner is put in contact - how accurate, how up-to-date, how useful.

Many schools are using learner guides in some form or other and they use guides in different ways:

• paper-based or computer-based
• for whole programs or for individual courses
• for whole courses or for sections of a course
• as a complete system or as part of traditional methods
• for all students or for gifted students or those experiencing difficulties

Schools thinking of introducing learner guides and other forms of individualized learning should do background research on practices in other schools that are using such approaches. Increasingly, this information is available in WorldWideWeb discussion groups and on the web pages of individual schools. The CVA offers links with sites that have participated in the CRSP project.

Introducing a system of learner guides should be accompanied by a research strategy for evaluating their effectiveness.

There are a number of approaches to researching the effectiveness of guides.

One approach is to survey users of guides - the authors of the guides, the teachers who use them in their teaching, the students to whom they are addressed, and others who would be in a position to know how effective they are (e.g., instructors in first-year college or university).

These surveys could be questionnaires, interviews or, ideally, a combination of both.

Some of the key questions:

• Do you find using the guide a more effective approach to learning than other approaches such as regular classroom work?
• What did you learn from using the guide?
• Did the guide help to improve learning skills?
• What is the major advantage of the guide, its strongest feature?
• What is the major disadvantage of the guide, its weakest feature?
• Was the guide clear in its expectations and instructions?
• Was the guide challenging, interesting, exciting?
• How can the guide be improved?
• Were the expectations and activities reasonable?
• How would you rate the guide in terms of:
  (a) efficient use of time,
  (b) ease of administration,
  (c) individualization of instruction,
  (d) effective use of teachers,
  (e) access to resources and services,
  (f) motivation,
  (g) cost effectiveness?

This approach evaluates, not so much the effectiveness of the guides, but how different people perceive their effectiveness.

The effectiveness in terms of learning outcomes can be evaluated directly using an experimental approach. The major steps would be:

1. Identify the outcomes to be measured (specific level of skills, factual information, understanding, attitudes, metacognitive procedures, etc.)
2. Divide a population of students (e.g. a grade level, the larger the number the better)) randomly into two groups, (a) one or more experimental groups that will use learner guides alone or with other methods, and (b) a control group that will continue with existing methods and without learner guides.
3. Give both groups a pretest of the expected outcomes.
4. Have the experimental groups(s) use the learner guides at the same time as the control group is using other methods.
5. After a determined period of time, give both groups a posttest on the outcomes.
6. Compare the results to see if there are significant differences.

These research results should give guidance to future activities: to continue using the guides, to modify their content, to change how they are used, to limit their use to certain learning outcomes of types of students, or to abandon them.

"The devil," they say, "is in the details." Many great plans, inspired in their conception, noble in their intent and solid in their support, founder in their implementation.

There can be many reasons. The speed of implementation may be too hasty - reformers are usually impatient people and politicians want fixes. The difficulties and complexities may be underestimated - reality is often messier than a proposal. The will may be lacking. The resources inadequate. The preparation shallow and careless.

But often it is inattention to detail, carelessness in follow-up, and distraction with other issues that blur the focus of a project, deflect it vision and cause it to falter.

If a system of learner guides is to be implemented successfully, it requires the following:

• leadership in launching the project
  A VIP needs to be out front.
• management of details
  Budgets, structures and staff assignments DO matter
• staff development of those who will work with guides
  If not, forget the project
• good communication with affected professionals and communities
  People want to be included in the project, otherwise they will start getting nervous and suspicious
• adequate resources assigned to the first stages at least
  This is the test of the seriousness of intent
• continuous assessment of progress
  This is important politically, financially but especially psychologically
• clear implementation targets
  People need to know what has to be done when
• an appropriate time frame
  Too much, too soon can result in too little, too late
• a sensible plan of action
  The test of the plan of action: does it seem sensible to those involved in the project?.
• a modest start
  Trial runs and pilot projects smooth the transition from plan to action

Each school and school district has its own style of implementing change, sensitive to its values, traditions, resources and expertise.

But the key point is this: as much attention should be given to the implementation of learner guides as is given to their development.

Learning systems have their own life and structure, whether they are embodied in a school, in distance education, in a corporation or in the lifelong activities of an individual.

There are a number of key elements:

• the learner
• the teacher
• the goals, objectives, expectations, outcomes
• policies of admission, promotion, graduation
• the processes and products of curriculum content
• the activities of learning
• the activities of teaching
• evaluation
• technology
• institutional structures and cultures
• the organization of learning in schedules and tasks
• management and control
• physical resources
• learning resources
• financial resources and allocations

These elements are interconnected; changes in one or two elements affect others directly or indirectly, slightly or substantially.

To use learner guides is to introduce a new element in the system and there are implications.

• Students use learner guides.
• The role and tasks of the teacher change.
• Some teachers seldom "teach."
• Curriculum is organized in a new way.
• Curriculum is fluid and changing.
• Outcomes are defined clearly.
• More stress is placed on outcomes than on methods.
• Students want more control over their learning.
• There is less control of student learning by staff.
• Group activities decline in importance.
• There is greater demand for learning resources.
• Evaluation is closely linked to expectations.
• More use is made of technologies.
• There is greater variety in how students learn.
• There is greater variety in where students learn.
• There is greater variety in when students learn.
• There is more attention on why students should learn.
• Class attendance regulations become more flexible.
• Class size becomes more varied.
• Student grouping becomes fluid.
• Timetables are made more flexible.
• Students may attend the school without being present.
• Students may attend more than one school at a time.
• Schools assume more control over their operations.
• The duration for completing a program or unit varies.
• The distinction between full-time and part-time blurs.
• Schools attract learners of different ages.
• School management becomes more sophisticated.
• School-community links get closer.

As the song says "... this could be the start of something big."