Getting Unstuck #132: Encouraging Greater Student and Teacher Agency
In this episode of Getting Unstuck
Beth Hawkins is a lifelong journalist who has written about K-12 education for the last 15 years. She has a particular interest in innovative schools that may yield lessons on increasing equitable access to high quality learning. She is the parent of two young adults with radically different experiences in public education.
The Essential Point
What makes it challenging to simply replicate the successful approach in one system in another is the supply of human talent. How do you do the very difficult work of assembling enough people with the requisite skills to really engage in higher level work – in deeper thinking and working in groups – to make that happen? I think that when you start talking about taking “this” system and simply plugging any teacher or any adult or any paraprofessional in that building, and assuming they will function well it in, you’re engaging in “silver bulletism.” Sooner or later you’ll hit a point where you have a human capital problem. — Beth Hawkins
Connect with Beth
Referenced
The 74 – The 74 is a non-profit, non-partisan news site covering education in America.
Jeff Ikler = jeff@queticocoaching.com
Kirsten Richert = richertkirsten@gmail.com
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Does your district or school have a story to tell about a complex change initiative it undertook?
• Maybe you moved to more of a teacher- or student-centered learning environment.
• Maybe you dove into the deep end of the change pool by using open education resources where you routinely share tools and learning with other districts or schools.
• Maybe you shifted away from traditional grading to a competency-based system.
• Maybe you’ve moved to micro-credentialing professional development.
• Maybe your district moved or is moving to a micro-school environment.
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