Finish this sentence... “Imagine a place where students could...” Is that place your school? What would it take for that place to be a reality for your students? What do you think school could, and should be? That question is the focus of thousands of conversations in school communities across America and the rest of the world today. It’s a sign of the concern, the angst, and for some even the desperation to better understand how we can more relevantly prepare our students for the rapidly changing modern world we all now live in. It’s no longer a world of certainty and stability, but rather one of unpredictability and exponential change. It’s no longer a world where students in schools should be asked to go to a set class, at a set time, to be given set content, predetermined by tradition, habit and largely guesswork as to whether it will ever be relevant to them. On the contrary, we now live in a world where our young people can access whatever they need to, whenever … [Read more...]
The Unpleasant Truth About Equity
Equity is a topic that takes center stage in many education conversations, and rightly so. It’s about every child being given a “fair go." We often voice our concerns about the plight of the underserved in our communities, and as educators, we always strive to address their disadvantage within the resources we have available. At times, it can seem almost pointless when faced with the barriers and handicaps that society has placed in front of so many of our young people, yet as educators, our moral compasses guide us to try and give every child equal opportunity. It’s not easy. Whether you are dealing with disability, cultural or demographic limitations, or probably the most challenging, financial disadvantage, every day schools across the globe seek to offer a leg up to the less fortunate in our communities. It can be as minor as funding books or technology or lunches, or as major as comprehensive welfare support programs such as those that are now common place in many … [Read more...]
The Rise of the Learning Economy
It’s been a long time coming, but the emergence of the learning economy has been as inevitable as it is has more recently become overwhelming. This is a time when learners rule. When it’s not so much about what you know now, but rather what capacity you have to learn. When it’s not about what someone can teach you, but far more importantly what you can teach yourself. It’s not just about the knowledge you have, but rather what you don’t know, and most importantly what you will need to know to grow and prosper, both personally and economically. We are seeing the emergence of what can best be described as learning economy. Just to be clear, there are states, countries that are acknowledging their economic futures will be driven by the learning capacity of their constituents. Not by the natural resources they can mine, nor the amount that they invest in manufacturing because all sectors are in a state of perpetual change. Many of yesterday’s processes and business decisions no … [Read more...]
How Long is the Long Run?
I recently reviewed a Seth Godin podcast called the Long Term. It was an interesting commentary by Seth on the significant benefits we see when we are committed to the long run...olive farmers and investors included. So given this week's post will be our 250th Shifting Conversation, I’m giving myself the luxury of reflecting on just how far we have come with Modern Learners over the past five years, which in the world of new media startups is undoubtedly a long time. It’s a journey, as many of you know, that actually started towards the end of 2010, when Will and I were sharing our observations about how the increasing rate of change in our lives was making schools less and less relevant. As you might expect, we were going hardcore on what we saw as the increasingly obvious, urgent and inevitable need for change in our schools, but at the same time we were both drawn to thinking about how we needed to also change how we were working if we were to have more impact and … [Read more...]
Who Are These Modern Learners?
With all the talk around modern learners, it’s probably time we got up close and personal to understand a little more about their motivations, behaviors, and attitudes. First up, let’s be clear. Modern learners aren’t defined by an age group or demographic but rather by their habits, dispositions, and most importantly their ideas about the rapidly changing world in which they now live. They identify by how they function within that modern context. They’re motivated by unlimited access to the world around them and a freedom to learn, and consequently, their behavior is in stark contrast to learners of old. These are not young people who come to us tabla rasa, empty vessels to be filled with prescribed, testable lumps of knowledge. Rather they aspire to be designers of the changing world. They are producers and contributors, not just passive consumers. Ten years ago, at a small research and development operation at ideaslab in Broadmeadows, Australia we spent several years … [Read more...]
Accountability and the Tyranny of Metrics
I think it might be high time we called “accountability” and its kissing cousins “metrics” and “performance indicators” to account. For educators, that draws a focus to assessment, where maybe it's time we asked if high-stakes standardized testing has finally reached its use by date? I mean what do you think it will take before we see public acknowledgment that the damage such ill-conceived tests have done to our kids and their learning, far outweighs any real or perceived benefits? Will it be when we have evidence that supports the depth and breadth of the damage to our learners? In my mind, there is no doubt we already have that, in fact, an overwhelming amounts. Our recent Whitepaper, 7 Strategies to Win the War on Learning references a significant number, and the thousands of downloads would suggest it's already provoking a wider conversation. Will it be when we see policy action at a senior government level that acknowledges the need for alternatives? That is also already … [Read more...]
Agency and the Rise of New Power
Surprisingly, it wasn’t Deputy Headmaster Rohan Brown abruptly cutting a student’s hair that was front page news, but rather what came next. It was a day in early March when school photos were being taken, and as the young lad walked through the front gate of Trinity Grammar, a prominent boy’s school in Melbourne, Brown noticed the length of his hair. As he had done on other occasions, he pulled a pair of scissors out of his pocket and snipped a lock of hair. Only this time, it was captured on a fellow student’s iPhone, posted on social media, and within days Brown was dismissed, after more than thirty years teaching at the school. However, that was not the end of the story but rather the start, with several weeks of student-led protests, meetings, and online petitions to “Bring Brownie Back” which reached out to drive strong parent support. Within weeks Brown was reinstated, the Headmaster resigned together with several School Board members. Now in light of the massive … [Read more...]
How Do You Discover and Develop Talent in Your School?
“It’s hard to find good talent these days.” It’s a catch-cry becoming more and more familiar as the demands of our exponentially changing world force a quite radical shift in the way companies attract, retain, and build talent. Over the years, the Human Resources Department grew from what was previously known as the Payroll Department, and in doing so, its role expanded as novel ideas such as professional development and staff well-being started to take precedence over the traditional bureaucracies associated with hiring, firing, holidays and sick pay. But Human Resources never accurately defined the secret sauce of the people business and today the modern corporation has moved on, and talent has taken center stage. Today's workplace is all about Talent Discovery, Talent Development and Talent Management as (finally) companies recognize that they are only as good as the talent their employees bring onboard. Of course, this was just a question of establishing priorities, and … [Read more...]
How Does Your Practice Reflect the Modern Context?
For all of the discussions we have shared in these posts and beyond in our Changeleader Community and in Change School, the cold hard facts are that many educators are reluctant or rather, immune to change. The irony of this comment is that for the most part, anyone reading this post has already self-selected as an exception to the rule, and certainly those that are part of the previously mentioned communities, by their very commitment to the dialogue there, are in fact contrary cases. But let me be even more specific. What puzzles me most is how we can now be so aware of the increasingly rapid changes in our world around us, yet be so oblivious to the implications they have for classroom practice. We’ve often written about context as the Modern Learning lens that provides relevance to practice, but I’m yet to be convinced that there has been much shift in classroom practice that has impacted the learning experiences of students on any real scale. Our "adoption" of … [Read more...]
Will Learner Voice Lead to the Learner’s Revolution?
Brodie is an interesting kid; not precocious or in any way insolent, but also not afraid to share his opinions. He’d been going to one of Melbourne’s leading schools when late last year he decided it was time he and the school parted company. It was about that time his father, Nicholas, a local realtor, was asked to come to a meeting with Brodie’s principal. “Brodie appears to have a lot going on in his life,” said the principal. “We know he’s already successfully running his own business, and I really don’t think we’ll be able to help him further in his endeavors. He’s told me he thinks he should be running his party entertainment business full time, and I agree with him.” And that is exactly what Brodie is doing right now. He started his business at fifteen, and by the time he entered Year 11 at school he was earning more than some of the adults he connected with. But he did still need his dad (and any other adult he could find) to drive him to his gigs two or three … [Read more...]