Digical Education

I recently had a conversation with Dave and Doug Sikkema, twin brothers, who are not only fun to talk with, but both of which have an abiding love for learning. I was intrigued at the combination of classical learning and digital innovation in their writing, work, and lives.

Dave quotes, Hicks in his article “Playful Minds” saying, the school is not meant to be a utilitarian institution, but rather, it is: "a normative institution . . . governed by the wise . . . cultivating the human spirit by presenting a complete vision of man as he lives and as he ought to live in all his domains—the individual, the social, and the religious. It teaches the student how to fulfill his obligations to himself, to his fellow man, and to God and His creation. Its understanding of man, therefore, is prescriptive—and its curriculum and organization allegorize the scope, the sequence, and the vision of all that men must recognize and accept as fundamental if they hope to grow to their full human stature."

This quote led us into questions about “the good life,” “what ought to be,” and how education plays a role in bringing this about amidst the disruptive nature of our digital age.

 

Biography:

Dave Sikkema is a 4th grade teacher at Regents Christian-Classical School in Austin, Texas. He earned degrees in History from Queens University, Baylor University, and University of Western Ontario. Dave frequently writes about the cultural impact of digital technology on his blog and for other publications, and is currently teaching an after-school program for 5th and 6th grade students on digital citizenship.

Doug Sikkema is a Senior Researcher for Cardus and the Managing Editor of Comment. Doug is also currently working toward a Ph.D. in American Literature at the University of Waterloo.

Jon and I have had prior conversations on Collective Leadership, and I’ve become more convinced that building the professional and leadership capacity of educators within our schools and profession who enjoy doing hard and innovative work together is the primary way to improve our schools, educational opportunities for students, and the enjoyment of our work. I recently wrote a bit about this in a blog entitled, Building Engaged Schools: Educators Crave It! where I argue for a rebuilding of our profession from within schools.

I’ve become more convinced of this necessity as Jon has written a final piece for the Center for Teaching Quality on the Teacher Shortage. His blog and the series will provide a fair understanding of the complexity of the problem, Teacher Shortage Reality: Numbers and Names.

This is why as you listen to the podcast I ask Jon about Collective Leadership and Strategic Compensation as they are intertwined in his research, expertise, and work with schools. I his first book he states,

Educators spend too much time down in the weeds worrying: Who is a leader? Who is not a leader? Is a leader defined by a position? Many times these conversations are driven by contracts and collective bargaining language that separates teachers and administrators. These can be important questions, but they are not the questions that will actually improve education. One of the primary attributes of great schools leaders—both administrators and teachers—is the fact that they don’t define, they do.

They get things done.

Therefore, I asked Jon two questions about Collective Leadership and the connection with Strategic Compensation:

In your research what are seeing that supports this comment, and how are you helping school leaders re-think how they build their faculties and even how we think about the Education profession?

I talk with a lot of people who want to solve the teacher shortage or low quality faculties by creating fancy salary structures. What are you learning about Strategic Compensation as you work with districts and schools as they seek to create high quality faculties?

Jon's Bio:

As a Professor of Education at Wheaton College, Jon’s research includes teaching effectiveness, teacher preparation, teacher evaluation, and teacher compensation. In addition to his work at Wheaton he is a Research Consultant for the Center for Teaching Quality and he has also consulted with the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching and the U.S. Department of Education. You can find his recent research on Collective Leadership in his new book, “Leading Together: Teachers and Administrators Improving Student Outcomes.”

In his blog, “No More Crappy Homework,” David Mulder poses a question to his readers wondering if homework is worthwhile. He concludes:

In some cases, yes. But in other cases...I would say it's probably crappy homework, the kind I assigned to my middle school students 15 years ago. I am embarrassed of the quality of homework I used to assign, honestly. And rather than trying to improve the homework, I just stopped assigning so much.

This was the first time I became aware of Dr. Mulder, and we’ve become great friends since and have talked quite a bit about our profession. However, the conversation of this podcast revolves around the ineffectiveness and ‘crappyness’ of a significant majority of homework that I, he, and most teachers have assigned in our careers.

Dr. David Mulder is a professor of Education at Dordt College. He taught in schools in California and Iowa for 14 years. His interest areas in education are varied, but include educational technology, online learning, teaching young adolescents, science education, social networks for professional learning, and teaching Christianly. His blog is a must read: http://iteach-and-ilearn.blogspot.com.

In this episode I got to talk to Andy Wolfe of the Foundation for Educational Leadership in England where he has developed great insights and resources to develop leadership capacity in Church of England schools, but also in the Education profession. www.cefel.org.uk/

Andy Wolfe is Networks Manager for the Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership. Prior to joining the foundation he worked for 10 years, initially as a middle leader, before being appointed Vice Principal, overseeing the development of Teaching and Learning, Coaching, Sixth Form and the school’s Christian ethos. Having previously lectured in Music, he has a wealth of educational experiences, and is committed to combining rich theological reflection with the most incisive and creative approaches to improving Teaching, Learning and Leadership in schools.

Open Sky Education is a multi-demensional school organization that I became familar with this past summer, which serves 6,000 students in three states. I became interested in learning more about Open Sky as well as education policy issues from their CEO Andrew Neumann.

Andrew Neumann: began his career as a teacher serving students at the high school and college levels while finishing his Ph.D. in educational mathematics. In 2006, he joined Open Sky Education and serves as its Executive Chair/CEO working to support the team to advance its mission nationally by growing its school networks (HOPE Christian Schools and EAGLE public charter schools), Christian wraparound programs (Compass Educational Programs), and the Character Formation Project.

This is a conversation with a long-time friend and former college teammate regarding the current state of Religious Liberty and how it pertains to Independent-Religious Schools.

Eric Kniffin is an attorney at the Lewis, Rocca, Rothgerber, Christie legal firm in the Religious Institutions Practice Group. His practice focuses on ‎religious liberty cases in the trial and appellate levels, as well as commercial litigation matters. He has ‎represented clients in high-profile religious liberty cases, including nationwide litigation challenging ‎the Health and Human Services Mandate. Eric has also successfully represented the United ‎States in three cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Thomas Arnett is an educational innovator and researcher for the Christian Instutite, and I had a conversation with him about how technology should and can amplify, magnify, and maximize the teacher effect in learning rather than replace it.

Tom states in an article, 

Great teachers are the most valuable resource in our education system. And expert teachers’ work is unlikely to be reduced to standardized procedures or automated algorithms anytime soon. Yet, ensuring that every student has access to excellent teaching is not a trivial task. Fortunately, as innovations simplify and automate distinct aspects of teaching, both effective and less-effective teachers will see their capabilities enhanced by computers.

Josh Riebock is an author, poet, and storyteller. He is the author of “Heroes and Monsters” and “My Generation” and hosts a podcast called “The Marrow” on which he interviews artists, musicians, and creatives. Josh has spent a lot of time in and around schools and has become a friend over the past 10 years.

Chuck Evans is a former head of school in Virginia and Texas, has been serving independent schools as a teacher, leader, and consultant for more than twenty-five years, has worked as a lobbyist in the Texas State Legislature, a certified mediator, and is a founding board member of (CESA).

Jon is currently a Professor of Education at Wheaton College, works with the Center for Teaching Quality, and  is the author of two books "The Novice Advantage" and "Leading Together" that begin to layout his research on crafting greater professional capacity for our profession, schools, and students.