CHANGEd: What if school leaders practiced the change they preach…and developed a people strategy? 60-60-60 #57

Posted on May 4, 2012 by boadams1

Thinking about CHANGEd 60-60-60: PEOPLE STRATEGY and re/pre-flecting…

In Pat Bassett’s TEDx St. Georges School talk, he reveals seven big shifts in the larger world that are changing the landscape of education and schooling:

Knowing…Doing
Teacher-centered…Student-centered
The Individual…The Team
Consumption of Info…Construction of Meaning
Schools…Networks
Single Sourcing…Crowd Sourcing
High Stakes Testing…High Value Demonstations

If we administrators expect teachers to proactively respond to these big shifts for the futures of their students, mustn’t we do so ourselves?

Shouldn’t we be transforming faculty meetings (and other “PD”) into faculty doings? Shouldn’t we be experimenting with PBL with adults…and with projects that are relevant and meaningful to teachers? Are we even asking them what they want and need?
From the admin view, how can we make school more “teacher-centered” so that teachers can, in turn, make school more student-centered? Shouldn’t we admin be modeling “student voice and choice” by providing such to our faculties?
How are we un-silo-ing our schools to facilitate teachers working in teams?
How are we facilitating the construction of meaning among our faculties, instead of asking them to consume information? Do decisions feel top-down or bottom-up? Or inside-out? Or outside-in?
How are we admin employing and engaging learning networks and advocating for OPEN and SAFE and THOUGHTFUL use of such endless learning resources in the network…outside our school walls?
How are we crowd-sourcing our collective wisdom within our faculties and among our faculties from school to school? How are we refusing to re-invent the wheel and instead partnering with the crowds of other doing schools…I mean networks?
How are we refusing the high stakes testing of teachers and engaging high value demonstrations of professional practice?

A people strategy begins with EMPATHY. It moves along the stepping stones of the Golden Rule. A people strategy refuses to commit the fundamental attribution error (see the Heath Bros’ Switch).

Be the change you want to see in others! Show the way; don’t just tell the way. Blur the lines among “admin,” “teacher,” “student.” In fact, any of us should be all three. It’s not about the titles. It’s about learning…together.

CHANGEd: What if…60-60-60 Project Explained

[This post was cross-published on Connected Principals on September 14, 2012.]

CHANGEd: What if we used the Big Shifts to evolve? 60-60-60 #56

Posted on May 3, 2012 by boadams1

Do educators really listen to the leaders of our national organizations? Shouldn’t we? As a member of an NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) school, I believe I should listen and respond to the leadership of Pat Bassett. Will you take 27 minutes to watch his talk about the Big Shifts for schools of the future? Isn’t it worth 27 minutes to understand more fully how our NAIS president believes schools must be disturbed and evolve to become relevant and effective schools of the future? And it’s not just for independent schools; it’s for all schools!

Oh, watching and listening is only a start. We should be inspired to DO. We should be inspired to ACT.

As I have continued to plan for a faculty meeting that I will not be leading in August 2012, I would add Pat’s TEDx talk to my list of “brainfood” resources. And I think I would add the NAIS Commission on Accreditation’s – A Guide to Becoming a School of the Future.

CHANGEd: What if…60-60-60 Project Explained

CHANGEd: What if we invited, even prayed for, disturbance? 60-60-60 #55

Posted on May 2, 2012 by boadams1

Recently, I heard my school president open a meeting with a prayer written by Sir Francis Drake in 1577. I accessed a copy of the prayer here. In the prayer, I am reminded of a line from Pat Bassett’s TEDx St. George School talk (upcoming in post #56), which paraphrased basically communicated – Parents, we should seek teachers for our children who are experimenters. And earlier in the talk he stated, “Be an advocate for your children and your schools to be innovative.”

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

CHANGEd: What if…60-60-60 Project Explained

CHANGEd: How ’bout we challenge patterns and routines? 60-60-60 #48.5

Posted on April 25, 2012 by boadams1

Some say the future belongs to the pattern see-ers. I think our future belongs to the pattern makers and the pattern challengers.

How ’bout we challenge patterns and routines more in school? Worst thing that could happen – we surprise some folks and realize the world won’t stop spinning. Best case scenario – we open new lenses of perceiving and learn from our risk…discover something new…create something better!

[Really, I just wanted @mmhoward to have to write for 61 days! I love what she’s writing!]

CHANGEd: What if…60-60-60 Project Explained

CHANGEd: What if we built school-innovation labs…in schools? 60-60-60 #34

Posted on April 10, 2012 by boadams1

This weekend, I watched the first TED talk below, which comes from Lucy McRae. McRae worked at Philips Electronics in the Far Future Design Research Lab. Some time ago, I watched the second TED talk below, which comes from Homaru Cantu and Ben Roche. Cantu and Roche utilize a research lab to design dining innovations for their Chicago restaurants Moto and ING.

If the future of schooling is as important as electronics and restaurant-ing, why aren’t more schools operating research and innovation labs or partnering together to do so? Sure, there are pockets of innovation in many schools – usually particular teachers who are innovating practice. But are there many systemic approaches to building and operating “school laboratories” within existing schools?! There should be! Transforming existing schools may depend on such R&D efforts.

Lucy McRae: How can technology transform the human body?

Homaro Cantu + Ben Roche: Cooking as alchemy

[NOTE: After I scheduled this post to auto-publish, John Burk left a great, related comment on 60-60-60 #32, so I am linking to it here. Also, @jbrettjacobsen and I talk quite a bit about this “school-within-a-school” idea – that existing schools seem to innovate by leveraging the non-monolithic nature of schools and amplifying the innovative practices, formal or informal institutes, etc. – essentially creating competition with oneself…two versions of one’s school. Interesting how this also relates to creative destruction concept.]

[NOTE #2: Sorry for length of this “60-word” post!]

CHANGEd: What if…60-60-60 Project Explained