It's been a while since we had a "Sarason Moment." And since I'm spending some of my 14 hours on a plane to South Africa rereading one of my most powerful influences, I'm thinking this is as good a time as any. For the uninitiated, Seymour Sarason authored over 40 books, and is the person who penned the book that lies at the heart of much of our work here at Modern Learners, And What Do YOU Mean by Learning? (I'm sure many of you are sick of hearing me talk about it by now.) While not all of his works were focused on schools and reforming them, and while he was never a uber popular voice in the educonversation, I've been profoundly influenced by Sarason's sometimes blunt yet sincere assessment of education and the many inconsistencies between the practices of the systems we bring kids into and the ways in which people learn. So with that, here's our mediation for today: "There is one goal [of education] that, if not achieved, makes the achievement of all other goals very … [Read more...]
This is What Powerful Professional Learning Looks Like
In the midst of everything else we have currently going at Modern Learners, recently I was lucky enough to set aside time to sit in on one day of the exceptional professional learning program that runs at one of our local schools here in Melbourne. It’s the start of the school year here in Australia, and most schools schedule one or two days of professional learning for all faculty before students return. In this case, the two days were set up as an off-site retreat at a small resort a couple of hours from the school. We have written about this school before, Princes Hill Primary (Elementary), a public school of around 500 students in an inner suburb of the city, so I was interested in checking back and seeing how the school was progressing, two and a half years on. Princes Hill runs an inquiry-based program for students 5 ot 12 years old, and late last year you may have been fortunate enough to hear details of their work in the Inquiry Workshop we ran in the ChangeLeaders … [Read more...]
The Power of “Live-By” Professional Learning
So, I want to tell you why I think you should join us for Change School 4. And I want to get personal, which many of you know is one of my favorite words. For the last dozen years or so, I've spent a lot of time on the road visiting lots of schools, keynoting and speaking at lots of conferences, offering workshops...doing all the things that people who make careers out of speaking and writing and consulting do. I've been trying to poke and prod and get people out of their comfort zones without making them hate me. And for the most part, I've really loved it. I've seen amazing places, met amazing people, and learned so much about the world, education, and myself. I don't regret this journey at all. But it's always felt incomplete on some level. As much as I hate the term, I've primarily been a purveyor of "drive-by professional development," the kind where I show up, get people motivated (or pissed,) and then get on a plane and leave. The kind where many people in the audience … [Read more...]
The Art of Unlearning
Are you one of those people who always follow the same route to work, every day, for years? I am. Yes, I know it's boring, but it's a habit, it’s intuitive, and I can drive without thinking too much about it. And to be honest, while there may be better, faster ways for me to get there, I feel comfortable taking that same route. What about when you hire a car in a country where you have to drive on the "wrong" ( opposite) side of the road? How do you handle that? To be frank, over time I have gotten used to it, and coming from a left-hand side of the road country, it’s more common than not for me when I travel. But that doesn’t mean it was easy when I started. The worst time is when you have stopped for gas, and you are pulling out onto the road...hmmm. And, I have only been pulled over twice in the US, which maybe says I am a slow learner. Or rather was it that I'm just not a very good unlearner? We often talk about our learning, but how often do we give thought to how much we … [Read more...]
The Rise of the Learning Professional
It's inspiring, isn't it, to think that what was once just a whisper is today the voice of the crowd? The voice for change. Seventeen years ago as a new century was launched with fireworks and fresh ideas, a growing number of educators had an optimism for new models of school for the new millennium. Many thought the pendulum for school change was finally turning, provoked not least by the unprecedented opportunities that ubiquitous technologies were potentially offering students. However, as we know this energy for change was very quickly undermined by the clutter of anything related to "21st Century learning" which was busy putting new labels on old practice, and the momentum for change was subverted yet again. But fortunately, it didn't take long for the clutter to become a splutter, and by the time we hit the end of the first decade the dialogue around school change became even more urgent, and now, inevitable. Like so many others, Will and I were frustrated by how easily … [Read more...]
From Traditional Teacher to “Modern Learning Advisor”
What is the role of the single teacher in a classroom in a world where millions of potential teachers are now a few keystrokes away on a laptop or phone? To ask that question seriously, you have to buy into the premise of "millions of teachers" (if not billions) being within reach online. You have to be open to the idea that physical space teachers are no longer the smartest people in the room when it comes to content and curriculum if that room has access to the Web. And you also have to see that development as a) pretty amazing, and b) great for learners (read: kids.) I fully realize that all of that is a tough sell for a lot of educators who pride themselves on knowing their stuff and having developed expertise in any given subject area. It doesn't comport with the traditional narrative of what teachers are and do in the classroom. Some, when they consider that shift, feel devalued and, in some cases, insulted. I've gotten this feedback in many of my workshops where I press … [Read more...]
Learning About Learning
After more than forty years learning about learning, I'm intrigued by how much I still need to learn. I mean, from time to time, I’ve had profound insights on the topic, aided by the research and writings of many of the people Will and I often reference in our work, (and in our most recent White Paper 8 Must Read Books for Educational Change Leaders which you can snag in the sidebar at ModernLearners.com), but there is still so much more I want to know about learning. As a result of our work in Change School, and many of the workshops we’ve run, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on people’s beliefs about learning. Sadly, by far the most significant insight I have gained from that is just how little we talk about it, think about it, or allow those beliefs to guide practice. Learning is, after all, what we are here for isn’t it? And yet over many decades we have too often come to accept schools as places dominated by a teaching culture, rather than one of learning, as Will … [Read more...]
The Urgency to Unlearn
"Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned." ~Mark Twain It's been over a decade (yes...a decade) since I wrote one of my most commented upon posts ever (ah, those were the days) titled A Steep Unlearning Curve. One of the nice things about having 15+ years of thinking and reflecting archived online is being able to go back and see how things have, or haven't changed. In this case, it's feeling like the latter. To be blunt, in the 10 years since posting, none of the things on my list of "10 Things We Need to Unlearn" have we actually unlearned. In fact, I'm hard pressed to argue that we've even made inroads on any of them. That said, is anyone surprised? Yet, the idea that we need to unlearn huge swaths of the school experience is embraced by a lot of educators. Ten years ago, the comments on that post made that obvious. And I relearned that again last week when, without much thought, I posted the following to LinkedIn: I'm just wondering what my LinkedIn friends … [Read more...]
Modern Learners Podcast #20: Norms for Learning – An Interview With Brett Jacobsen
What norms do you have in your school, not just for behavior, but for learning? In most schools, norms exist, but they are not as clearly articulated as these five at Mount Vernon Presbyterian School outside of Atlanta, Ga.: Start with questions Assume the best Fail up Share the well Have fun Those norms form a powerful guide for learning at MVP, according to Headmaster Brett Jacobsen, interviewed in this week's podcast. Originally recorded three years ago, there's still a lot of learning for those interested in changing culture, raising student engagement, doing real work in the world, and much more, such as: Crafting a unique, intentional mission statement Developing a culture for learning How to read as a school community The importance of common language What transformation really means How to ship ideas in school How relationships are foundational to learning In addition, Brett goes into detail about his interest in design thinking and … [Read more...]
ISTE a Wrap!
Last week, one of the premier edtech events in the world took place in San Antonio, and it was our good fortune (Bruce, Missy, and I) to all be in attendance at the ISTE 2017 conference with about 16,000 others. In this podcast, Bruce and I reflect on the love/hate relationship we both have with the conference, and on ISTE's historical context as we reach a half a century of living with the idea of computers for learning with kids. We also entertain our very first SpeakPipe comment and question, one from Cheryl Doig in New Zealand who made us think about the humanity of technology and ISTE and edtech in general. We invite you to add your questions or comments below, and we'll weave them into our discussion next week. Some quick links: Taking IT Global is Michael Furdyk's amazing site for social justice and great projects for students who want to change the world. The ISTE17 conference page. Our conversation at ISTE17 with Michael and Gary Stager. … [Read more...]