This week I spent two evenings talking with school boards about their work, particularly as it relates to vision. One board engaged in conversation that specifically focused on technology. How could we use it better? How do we know what kinds of questions to ask about it? Are we qualified to make technology questions. What does the term "cloud" mean?
The other board talked about vision and the need to include the community in conversations about the future of the district. One of the board members said, "It is clear technology has to be a central component of those conversations. And, again, board members expressed dismay that they don't know enough to make these kinds of decisions.
Well, school board members are not alone. In his blog, dangerously irrelevant, Scott McLeod talks about how educational leadership programs are not addressing this issue either. We need to prepare our school leaders, not so that they will have the answers, but that they will be able to ask the right kinds of questions, spot trends, and bring people together to figure it out.
And, technology is not the issue. The issue is educational relevance and the role technology plays in achieving that. Other questions: how will technology change our culture and are we ready for that? How big of a change are we ready for?
Showing posts with label transformation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transformation. Show all posts
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Sunday, November 14, 2010
What might the future look like?
Yesterday, at the Wisconsin Association of School Board's Legislative Advocacy Conference, innovation and transformation were center stage during the morning session. After presentations by CESA 1, CESA 6, and Wisconsin Way, school board members spent a little time talking about the information presented. One question posed to the group : For transformation to occur, what kind of advocacy is needed? One table talked about how they need guidance, they are not sure how to talk with legislators about new possibilities. School board members don't want to go to the state legislator, simply asking for more money. Some at the conference went so far as to say, "We need to stop whining." At the same time, they are not sure how to talk about possibilities for the future.
Here is a link that describes some of the activities a 21st Century Teacher would use in her or his classroom. I post this here to get the conversation started.
There are lots of ways to learn about possibilities that can serve as a starting place for conversations in your community. Read books. A number of relevant titles are listed on this blog. Don't have time for a whole book, watch TED Talks. They are short, interesting talks that will touch, move, and inspire you. In less than 20 minutes you can learn about something interesting and innovative that is going on in our world. Follow blogs. If you are reading this, you are off to a good start. Another interesting blog: dangerously irrelevant!: Technology, Leadership and the Future of Schools.
To develop meaningful talking points about possibilities for the future in your school district, you need to bring interested stakeholders together to talk about the future. What do teachers and administrators already know about transforming public education? What do your students think? They are most likely already plugged in in ways that the adults in your community may never have thought of. What do the business leaders in your community have to say about the needs of their businesses? How can you present possibilities to parents and others in the community who may not see the need for transformation?
From these conversations, you will begin to see what will work best in your school district. You can then develop your own stories to tell your legislators about the possibilities for your schools and your community.
Here is a link that describes some of the activities a 21st Century Teacher would use in her or his classroom. I post this here to get the conversation started.
There are lots of ways to learn about possibilities that can serve as a starting place for conversations in your community. Read books. A number of relevant titles are listed on this blog. Don't have time for a whole book, watch TED Talks. They are short, interesting talks that will touch, move, and inspire you. In less than 20 minutes you can learn about something interesting and innovative that is going on in our world. Follow blogs. If you are reading this, you are off to a good start. Another interesting blog: dangerously irrelevant!: Technology, Leadership and the Future of Schools.
To develop meaningful talking points about possibilities for the future in your school district, you need to bring interested stakeholders together to talk about the future. What do teachers and administrators already know about transforming public education? What do your students think? They are most likely already plugged in in ways that the adults in your community may never have thought of. What do the business leaders in your community have to say about the needs of their businesses? How can you present possibilities to parents and others in the community who may not see the need for transformation?
From these conversations, you will begin to see what will work best in your school district. You can then develop your own stories to tell your legislators about the possibilities for your schools and your community.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
More on technical change
Last week I posted a number of resources that examine the common core standards, assessments and the teacher accountability. In the New York Times Room for Debate, several nationally known education experts examine teacher assessment and the role value added testing plays in the process.
On the surface, value added seems like a pretty good solution to the question of how to hold teachers accountable. Yet, effective evaluation systems, most likely need multiple measures best illuminate both student progress and teacher contribution to that progress.
Complicating the matter, is the question of how to delivery high-quality instruction and the role of teacher in this process. In this TED talk, Sugata Mitra presents his research where he gave kids self-supervised access to the web and saw results that could revolutionize how we think about teaching. My favorite quote from the presentation: "If children have interest, then education happens." So, why don't we simply let students do interesting things?
On the surface, value added seems like a pretty good solution to the question of how to hold teachers accountable. Yet, effective evaluation systems, most likely need multiple measures best illuminate both student progress and teacher contribution to that progress.
Complicating the matter, is the question of how to delivery high-quality instruction and the role of teacher in this process. In this TED talk, Sugata Mitra presents his research where he gave kids self-supervised access to the web and saw results that could revolutionize how we think about teaching. My favorite quote from the presentation: "If children have interest, then education happens." So, why don't we simply let students do interesting things?
Monday, July 5, 2010
Innovation in Public Education--What is the most needed resource? Financial Capital or Human Capital?
I have been listening and engaging in conversations about public education for more than twenty years. Two of the dominant themes of these conversations are the need to improve the system and the need for more money to implement improvements.
I have learned that the argument about the need for more money for public education is much like culture war arguments. Just as we will never resolve culture war issues like abortion or gun use, we will never determine when public education has been adequately financed. (By the way, the funding argument has been employed since the Great Depression.)
Much like culture war issues, the funding issue distracts us from the bigger challenge--how to innovate so that all children learn what they need to survive as individuals and as productive citizens in our society.
Rather than investing resources in the funding argument, I think we need to turn our energies toward learning how to make school relevant and meaningful; how to sustain the system; how to provide opportunities for children to learn 21st century skills (which, by the way, the 21st century is already ten years old).
Recently I had a conversation with a good friend about the state of public education. She works very hard and firmly believes that the public education system in Minnesota needs more financial resources. She was having a down day because Minnesota had just released the results of the state test and, once again, little progress had been made.
I said that I thought the answer to the problem might be found in charter schools; that we need to radically restructure time if we intend to provide students with experiences that are relevant to their lives today and that charter schools provide a way around the structures--parents, teachers, communities--who don't want to change. My friend argued that she was not willing to lose a generation of children because the system cannot meet their needs. Implicit in her argument was the notion that charter schools create greater inequalities among students as motivated parents will enroll their children in charter schools that provide quality programs, leaving students with greater needs behind in the public schools. She firmly believes that if public schools were given adequate funding, the system could meet the needs of all children.
I, too, see the problem as one of resources, but not financial resources. We need to employ human capital if we expect to meet the needs of today's students. I want to see us employ radically new methods of engaging with students--one rooted in 21st century technology, not the 19th century industrial model.
In this TED talk, Charles Leadbeater: Education innovation in the slums describes radical forms of education--all of which are found in some of the poorest communities in the world. And this informal, disruptive new kind of school, he says, is what all schools need to become. We need to look at these models to learn how we might transform public education in the United States.
Improving the current system is not the answer. Rather than incremental innovation, the system needs disruptive innovation, change the brings a whole new way of doing things to public education. Rather than focusing on the money, we need to think about the structure. We need to reinvent public education. If we cannot transform the system from the inside, then we need to employ external models to do the work for us.
I just want to see it happen. If the public system can do it--Great. If it can't--I am ready to embrace what works, wherever it comes from. I, too, hate to see us waste another generation of students.
I have learned that the argument about the need for more money for public education is much like culture war arguments. Just as we will never resolve culture war issues like abortion or gun use, we will never determine when public education has been adequately financed. (By the way, the funding argument has been employed since the Great Depression.)
Much like culture war issues, the funding issue distracts us from the bigger challenge--how to innovate so that all children learn what they need to survive as individuals and as productive citizens in our society.
Rather than investing resources in the funding argument, I think we need to turn our energies toward learning how to make school relevant and meaningful; how to sustain the system; how to provide opportunities for children to learn 21st century skills (which, by the way, the 21st century is already ten years old).
Recently I had a conversation with a good friend about the state of public education. She works very hard and firmly believes that the public education system in Minnesota needs more financial resources. She was having a down day because Minnesota had just released the results of the state test and, once again, little progress had been made.
I said that I thought the answer to the problem might be found in charter schools; that we need to radically restructure time if we intend to provide students with experiences that are relevant to their lives today and that charter schools provide a way around the structures--parents, teachers, communities--who don't want to change. My friend argued that she was not willing to lose a generation of children because the system cannot meet their needs. Implicit in her argument was the notion that charter schools create greater inequalities among students as motivated parents will enroll their children in charter schools that provide quality programs, leaving students with greater needs behind in the public schools. She firmly believes that if public schools were given adequate funding, the system could meet the needs of all children.
I, too, see the problem as one of resources, but not financial resources. We need to employ human capital if we expect to meet the needs of today's students. I want to see us employ radically new methods of engaging with students--one rooted in 21st century technology, not the 19th century industrial model.
In this TED talk, Charles Leadbeater: Education innovation in the slums describes radical forms of education--all of which are found in some of the poorest communities in the world. And this informal, disruptive new kind of school, he says, is what all schools need to become. We need to look at these models to learn how we might transform public education in the United States.
Improving the current system is not the answer. Rather than incremental innovation, the system needs disruptive innovation, change the brings a whole new way of doing things to public education. Rather than focusing on the money, we need to think about the structure. We need to reinvent public education. If we cannot transform the system from the inside, then we need to employ external models to do the work for us.
I just want to see it happen. If the public system can do it--Great. If it can't--I am ready to embrace what works, wherever it comes from. I, too, hate to see us waste another generation of students.
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