Getting Unstuck: Refocusing on Our Kids and Schools
“I believe that education is perhaps more guilty than most fields at trying to stick to what is for fear of going bust. I believe that at the policy level, we would rather return to the certainties of the past than explore the possibilities of the future and hope that all the change around us can be contained by the call for ‘traditional’ values.”
Today on Getting Unstuck
Whether you’re a parent, an educator, or just a concerned citizen, you have a big stake in what happens in our classrooms – the incubators of our future. If you listen to education transformation advocates – Sir Ken Robinson, Ted Dintersmith, Tony Wagner, Richer Gerver – we need to change those incubators by recognizing that we’re in a post-industrial society and build an educational system that better prepares children for it.
What we see, however, is educational leaders and schools being barraged with suggestions and directives to do “this” and “that” to improve student performance and outcomes. At best these inputs result in “changes around the edges” and at worst, a bureaucracy that focuses on evaluating students instead of helping them become their best self for today’s world.
But the real problem is that we don’t have agreement on what we mean by “student performance and outcomes.” There is a critical need to define the kind of school and educational experiences kids really need given the world we live in today – and not for the world that existed more than 100 years ago. This special series seeks to turn up the volume on that much needed discussion.
Today we hear from Richard Gerver. Richard is a former award-winning principal and now a powerful advocate for transforming education. He is the author of numerous books including Creating Tomorrow's Schools Today, and Change: Learn to Love It, Learn to Lead It.
“Most education systems are predicated on the assumption of incompetence of both the faculty and the students. There is the need for policymakers at every level to control and make what exists more efficient so, therefore, their default setting is this assumption of incompetence. They believe that you have to hype and manage systems and people to get the best out of them.”
— Richard Gerber
Richard’s school transformation ideas
Empower the school and community at large to lead the change.
To initiate a complex change, ask one or more open-ended questions that get at the desired culture, not at a pre-packaged, systemic solution.
Give children the opportunity for hands-on learning and the demonstration of knowledge.
Teach by themes to create a more integrated learning experience.
Allow students the opportunity to self-select courses that interest them.
Wrap all learning in experience and context.
Don’t sacrifice innovation of what could be for endless efficiency of what is.
Create an environment where team members co-own both the context and the experience of change, and the design and development that follows.
Don’t try to glean complete consensus before you move forward.
Focus on collaboration, not competition.
Could a book on how to effectively lead change in schools be more timely?
“We need is to have the courage to create a new education system, and then find ways to hold that new system to account.”
We’re pleased to announce …
…that our book Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change is now available from Corwin Press or Amazon. You can preview the book by watching the short video.
From our publisher:
In Shifting, educators and leadership experts Kirsten Richert, Jeff Ikler and Margaret Zacchei empower educational change leaders to proactively and coherently navigate complex change in schools to achieve the desired outcomes.
Using a three-part framework—Assess, Ready, Change—this book leads educators to examine a school’s imperatives and readiness for change, identity the tools and abilities required to manifest change, and take action by defining the roles and processes necessary to effectively implement both sweeping change and smaller day-to-day adjustments.