“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, […]
How Do You Discover and Develop Talent in Your School? Read More »
Over the last dozen years, one of the things I’ve become most interested in is the ways in which schools define their value in the world. In fact, it’s one of the first things I try to suss out whenever I visit a school or a district or a board. What matters here more than
If You Really Want to Change School, You Need to Change the Lens Read More »
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
How Does Your Practice Reflect the Modern Context? Read More »
What if one primary goal we had in schools was to develop kids as “professional learners”? As in people who make money because they are learning. That’s the intriguing phrasing that one of my favorite workplace bloggers Jane Hart uses to describe what people formerly known as employees need to be to thrive today. In
Wanted: Professional Learners Read More »
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,
Will Learner Voice Lead to the Learner’s Revolution? Read More »
One of the most interesting online debates I’ve come across lately is this one from the NAIS blog about the Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC) which is trying to “reimagine the high school transcript.” (If this is your first introduction to the Mastery.org folks, you may want to spend some time digging into their site and
Is it About Teaching? Or is it About Learning? Read More »
As happens more frequently these days, the idea for this Shifting Conversations post had its start in a Zoom coaching session in Change School last week. Most weeks we now have the very good fortune to be talking regularly with some outstanding educators, and it was on one of our calls that several teachers wanted
The Dark Arts of Our Agents of Change Read More »
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
The Artistry of Teaching Read More »
I’m reading another one of those books that’s profoundly changing my thinking about change in schools. And yes, as always, it’s like 20 years old. It may seem weird that I keep going back in time to find the most powerful ideas for this moment. I mean, not a week (day?) goes by any more
Well, 2018 has certainly kicked off with some extremes. In the first week of the year, we saw –37°C on top of Mount Washington in NH US, while on the same day in Melbourne Australia it was +37°C. (that’s –36°F to +100°F ) I’m glad I had the beaches, but I’m tipping this is a
2018-The Year For Living Dangerously Read More »
If we’re talking about kids and schools, and I say “success,” what do you think of? How about “achievement”? Or “high expectations”? I’ve written many times about my surprise at how little consistency I find among groups of teachers and leaders from the same school have around the word most basic to our work: “learning.”
The Importance of Common Language Read More »
It’s conference time, and you’re off to the opening keynote. What are you expecting? Do you want to be entertained, informed, inspired or provoked, or maybe all of the above? Are you looking for your current thinking to be affirmed, challenged, or dismissed? So, which of those emotions will impact on you the most? Which
The Value of a Cold Shower Read More »
A few days ago, while unpacking some boxes from our recent move, I came across a “book” of magazine articles that I’d assembled and copied for teachers at my school back in January, 1996. It was for a course titled “Basic Internet for Educators” that I had taught as part of a tech focused PD
What the Internet is Becoming Read More »
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
The Art of Unlearning Read More »
A content-focused school experience or a skills-focused one. That was the choice posed to me by a parent in Luxembourg during my visit there last week. As in which did I think would be best for his daughter who was entering school next year? Before I could respond, he added that at first he was
Will Skills Save Us? Read More »
