A discussion between soon to visit New Zealand, Gary Stager, and teacher Tom Barrett evolved when Tom posted a review of the Developing Leaders NCSL Conference and shared his Classroom Without Walls workshop slides. Gary asked where was Tom’s historical perspective and theory?

I know that Twitter is tapping into the wisdom of the masses but in many ways my Personal Learning Network on Twitter and my RSS blogroll are about all I have time for. I have three really good theoretical books that I want to read and need to read that are crying out for attention but the day-to-day stuff of teaching all day, everyday, across all curriculum areas, is more pressing. Every weekend I think- this will be the weekend when I crack into my reading but other things get in the way. I will read them but it won’t be mid-week.

For those that like the theory, all power to them and where would we be without them but apart from some action research- which I really want to know more about, I haven’t the time. I’m sorry, I haven’t the intellect or attention span to digest heavy theoretical works. There are only so many daylight hours and they are already all accounted for, with a few after midnight ones as well. I rely on my PLN to let the good stuff bubble to the surface and bring it to my attention.

Leaping into learning through Web2.0 technologies just seemed right to me in the beginning so I gave it a go. The learning was pretty straight forward and I gathered followers and friends to help ease my path and learnt more as I went along. Too much emphasis on pedagogy alone can leave people frustrated with a feeling they are not going anywhere. Having no theoretical basis leaves people lurching from gimmick to gimmick, with little idea of purpose. Teachers are generally a fairly practical bunch and like to get on with it- I know I do! I wonder where Mr Stager was really heading with his comment?