Learning to Change

As I wrote about in last week's column, this new book titled Timeless Learning by Ira Socol, Pam Moran, and Chad Ratliff may just be the best book I've read about how to change schools and bring all the things we know are important about progressive learning to traditional public and private schools. In this interview, I get a chance to talk to Ira and Pam about a number of topics including why this is the right time for progressive education to take root, the challenges of moving centuries old practice in classrooms forward, some of the best ways to make change happen in schools, and what skills, literacies and dispositions do kids need to have to thrive in the modern world. I know you're going to enjoy the conversation.

The illustration at right, by the way, was done by Linda Ashida, a Change School alum who was watching and listening on Facebook during our live interview. (Click the image for a larger version.)

Could it be that one of the biggest barriers to change is that we rarely have any real shared understanding of the language we use around learning?

That's one of the many interesting conclusions that Dr. Beth Holland arrived at while doing her recently published dissertation from Johns Hopkins University. And it's one of the many topics we discuss in this great conversation about the intersection of learning, language and leading in today's modern schools.

Among some of her conclusions:

* That leaders really need to embrace models of learning that may be foreign to their existing mental models.

* That great systems around the world share a language of pedagogy.

* That the role of the leader now needs to shift to be more about brokering relationships and helping people navigate the different layers of their organizations.

* That trust and collegiality are the most important parts of culture when change is in the offing.

* And that we're going to have to get beyond "symbolic language" like "personalized" and "blended" and "future ready" if we are ever going to see real change occur.

For more about Beth, please visit her home page.

Could it be that one of the biggest barriers to change is that we rarely have any real shared understanding of the language we use around learning?

That's one of the many interesting conclusions that Dr. Beth Holland arrived at while doing her recently published dissertation from Johns Hopkins University. And it's one of the many topics we discuss in this great conversation about the intersection of learning, language and leading in today's modern schools.

Among some of her conclusions:

That leaders really need to embrace models of learning that may be foreign to their existing mental models.

That great systems around the world share a language of pedagogy.

That the role of the leader now needs to shift to be more about brokering relationships and helping people navigate the different layers of their organizations.

That trust and collegiality are the most important parts of culture when change is in the offing.

And that we're going to have to get beyond "symbolic language" like "personalized" and "blended" and "future ready" if we are ever going to see real change occur.

For more about Beth, please visit BethHolland.com.

In the kickoff to our Modern Learners Community July 2018 theme of "Refresh, Renew, Relax," we hand the podcast reigns over to Missy Emler and Lyn Hilt of our Modern Learners team who talk with Dr. Joyce Young and Liza Engstrom from the High Health Network, an organization dedicated to helping leaders harness the power of networks to spread real health throughout their organizations.

Missy shares why this topic is such an important one for educators, and Joyce discussed the work of their organization, addressing common misconceptions about employee health and wellness. Joyce and Liza outlined the 7 Essential Skills for Real Health, and they talked about the necessity of school leaders to not only plan to provide support for the well being of teachers and students, but to also commit to self-wellness in order to lead the changes we want to see in our schools.

We'll be having month-long conversations with Liza in our community, and we hope you can join us for other health and wellness related events.

In the kickoff to our Modern Learners Community July 2018 theme of "Refresh, Renew, Relax," we hand the podcast reigns over to Missy Emler and Lyn Hilt of our Modern Learners team who talk with Dr. Joyce Young and Liza Engstrom from the High Health Network, an organization dedicated to helping leaders harness the power of networks to spread real health throughout their organizations.

Missy shares why this topic is such an important one for educators, and Joyce discussed the work of their organization, addressing common misconceptions about employee health and wellness. Joyce and Liza outlined the 7 Essential Skills for Real Health, and they talked about the necessity of school leaders to not only plan to provide support for the well being of teachers and students, but to also commit to self-wellness in order to lead the changes we want to see in our schools.

We'll be having month-long conversations with Liza in our community, and we hope you can join us for other health and wellness related events.

Do we have an evaluative gaze in schools?

In this episode, Bruce and I discuss a powerful essay written by Carol Black titled Children, Learning, and the Evaluative Gaze of School, one that discusses the very real effects on kids of a culture of surveillance and assessment. Some of the questions we kick around:

* Why have we gotten to this point where we want to monitor and assess every mood and movement of kids?

* How do we provide more of a balance for students between their school and personal lives?

* How do we break out of traditional narratives and habits to start with a different question?

* How do we start with the question "Is this good for kids?"

* How do we start a process for bringing people together to hold different conversations around our interactions with kids?

We also chat about some first steps that school leaders might take to create some new conversations forward in their communities.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

In this episode, Bruce and I discuss a powerful essay written by Carol Black titled Children, Learning, and the Evaluative Gaze of School, one that discusses the very real effects on kids of a culture of surveillance and assessment. Some of the questions we kick around:

Why have we gotten to this point where we want to monitor and assess every mood and movement of kids?

How do we provide more of a balance for students between their school and personal lives?

How do we break out of traditional narratives and habits to start with a different question?

How do we start with the question "Is this good for kids?"

How do we start a process for bringing people together to hold different conversations around our interactions with kids?

We also chat about some first steps that school leaders might take to create some new conversations forward in their communities.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Today I am excited to welcome Dr. Susan Blum to the show. Susan is a professor of anthropology at Notre Dame University and the author of one of my favorite reads of the last couple of years, a book titled "I Love to Learn; I Hate School: An Anthropology of College." And, she's also the author of the blog "Learning vs. Schooling" which should give you another indication of why her work intrigues me, so I'm really looking forward to this conversation.

Some of the more challenging topics we discuss are:

* Why schooling as we know it prevents learning

* Why she sees that as "a crisis preceding a radical transformation" in education

* Why we should get rid of grades

* And why we should aim to make college strange instead of familiar to students

Show Notes:

Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn

Hacking Assessment by Starr Sackstein

The End of College by Kevin Carey

Today I am excited to welcome Dr. Susan Blum to the show. Susan is a professor of anthropology at Notre Dame University and the author of one of my favorite reads of the last couple of years, a book titled "I Love to Learn; I Hate School: An Anthropology of College." And, she's also the author of the blog "Learning vs. Schooling" which should give you another indication of why her work intrigues me, so I'm really looking forward to this conversation.

Some of the more challenging topics we discuss are:

Why schooling as we know it prevents learning

Why she sees that as "a crisis preceding a radical transformation" in education

Why we should get rid of grades

And why we should aim to make college strange instead of familiar to students

Show Notes:

Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn

Hacking Assessment by Starr Sackstein

The End of College by Kevin Carey

How important is it to ask what students think of their education? It is vitally important for us to ask this of our students, and we may not be satisfied with what they say about their classroom experiences. We’re discussing this concept today, along with my recent eye-opening visit to a school in Ontario, homeschooling and self-determined learning, and an impressive new school opening soon in Albemarle, VA.

"Students say much of what they learn is not really relevant."

At a recent meeting with students in Ontario, they gave their input about what they would want to be different at their school. Many of them say that much of what they learn is not relevant to today’s world and many are bored and disengaged. The question is, “How can we change things for them?”

We also discuss the topic of homeschooling, noting that one of the world’s leading astrophysicists was homeschooled for several years. Another one of Australia’s leading intellectuals calls himself “largely self-educated.” These two products of homeschooling have found success as students and rewarding careers as adults.

There has been an interesting shift regarding schools and learning and the “modern learning lens.” One example of this is a new school opening this fall in VA. The Albemarle Tech Center for Creativity and Invention was designed “using the best contemporary research on education” and is intent on “removing potential barriers to learning.” Fortunately, there are more and more powerful examples like this happening every day.  We have to ask, “Why aren’t other schools doing this?”

Resources:

www2.k12albemarle.org