Modern learners Lab

I was fortunate to attend a deep-dive into change in schools at the Modern Learners Perth lab held at Hale School on 13 August 2018. Hosted by Bruce Dixon and Will Richardson, the group of educators were challenged to set aside the "how do we..." questions that flow so naturally from any thoughts of change in schools and instead focus on developing a compelling "why" narrative.

Question 1: What is on our minds? What do we want to learn?

The temptation to ask how without defining a compelling why is seductive! This is from the book "The Answer to how is Yes" by Peter Block:

Discussion centered on ideas such as the only competitive skill needed in the future is knowing how to learn. The dominance of content over learning to learn is a thing of the past.

The Modern learners' lens formed the scaffold for the discussion throughout the day:

PART 1 - BELIEFS

Discussion: If we visited your school, based on our observations, what might we conclude about what you believe about how kids learn? Think about:

• Assessments

• Physical Spaces

• Power Relationships

• Systems and Structures

• Curriculum

• Culture

• Norms

Discussion: So, based on what you currently do, what shared beliefs about learning exist in your school community? Are those beliefs clearly articulated?

Personal Check In #1: Learning

• What do you believe about how children learn most powerfully and deeply? (“I believe children learn most powerfully and deeply when…”)

• What conditions are necessary for long term learning to occur?

• What are the gaps between what exists and your beliefs and commitments?

These question prompts give rise to very interesting discussions and difficult to argue with reasoning about the gap between what we do and what we should do for kids in school.

Further, the glossy advertising spin that schools produce in many cases doesn't resemble the reality of what goes on inside the average classroom. If schools value high NAPLAN scores and spend time drilling students to do well on NAPLAN, then they should be honest and advertise with a big banner saying "WE DO GREAT AT NAPLAN". Similarly, if we went to many schools I suggest that we would come away with a belief that learning is when kids are busy, when they are quietly doing what they are told, when they are prepared for the test. Another great school banner:

Not likely.

It seems just common sense that asking these questions yields the left sides answers (or something similar). I don't think we would get many of the right hand side - yet that is the reality in schools today.

Discussion: So, what is your definition of learning?

Do we have a coherent definition of learning? Is this shared with parents?

PART 2 - CONTEXTS

Art Time:What are the realities of the students you serve? What are their hopes and their dreams? What are their concerns and fears?

A great activity of sketching our typical learners today reveals the pressures they are under to perform across a wide range of areas.

Check In: Change What are some of the major changes in the world that affect the way you think about classrooms today?

New Contexts Information, people, technologies are abundant College is no longer a guarantee to success Work as we know it is being redefined Aging, more diverse population Environmental change Rising global instability Privacy and security issues Growing illiteracy Unlimited choices for learning Speed of change

Check In: Change Given the world as it is today, what are the most important skills that our students will need to thrive?

Discussion: Mission So, given the kids you serve, and the realities of the world today, what are the most important outcomes that you want for your students on graduation day?

A clearer story about the importance of mission could not be told than the famous exchange between President John F. Kennedy on tour of the NASA site at Houston, when he asked a lowly janitor what work he did, the reply came "I am helping to put a man on the moon"

PART 3 - PRACTICE

Discussion: What’s Possible “Kids are capable of…” How well do schools currently allow students to reach their full potentials?

Discussion: What’s Possible In what ways has technology changed what’s possible in terms of classroom learning?

There are some amazing kids out there publishing podcasts at age 6, creating cures for disease, publishing books, creating apps etc.

Currently, technology is predominantly used as a tool to reinforce traditional methods of instruction that are teacher-centered, not a way for students to amplify and have agency over their learning. Laptops should be an imagination machine! The work of Gary Stager promotes this idea clearly.

Discussion: Vision Effective classroom practice that builds to your mission integrates:

• Your beliefs about how kids learn most powerfully and deeply

• Your deepest commitments to children

• Your sense of what children are capable of

• Your understanding of what’s now possible in the world

Vision is how you achieve your mission.

Discussion: Vision What if schools were places where students could…

Assess their own learning, have flexibility in their time, choose to be there, take responsibility for their learning, design their own learning, design their own learning spaces...

We would need teachers who… We would need parents who… We would need leaders who…

This was the apex of the day - discussing the attributes of teachers, parents and leaders that would lead to the kind of place that supported the kind of learning we had talked about. In conclusion to this section it was clear - THIS IS OUR WORK! To create the conditions where teachers, parents and leaders could develop.

PART 4 - CULTURE

Discussion: Culture Do you have a teaching culture or a learning culture? How do you know?

Are you a “School that Learns?”

• How do you differentiate between a teaching culture and a learning culture?

• What does a teaching culture look like in the classroom?

• What does a learning culture look like in the classroom?

• Is there a difference in the expected outcomes?

• What is the student’s role/responsibility in a teaching culture? Learning culture?

• What is the teacher’s role/responsibility in a teaching culture? Learning culture?

• What constitutes success in a teaching culture? In a learning culture?

• How does that culture serve your mission and vision?

PART 5: DNA

An example of a school with a compelling vision and mission - Mount Vernon

Mission: “We are a school of inquiry, innovation, and impact. Grounded in Christian values, we prepare all students to be college ready, globally competitive, and engaged citizen leaders.”

Beliefs:

• Relationships are foundational for learning

• Curiosity and passion drive learning

• Learning demands interactive and flexible spaces

• Empathy influences learning

• Learners apply knowledge to make an impact

MV Norms:

• Start with Questions

• Fail Up

• Share the Well

• Assume the Best

• Have Fun

Will commented that the effect of these clearly articulated and lived norms have a profound impact on the learning of the students and what they are able to achieve.

Reflection

Will and Bruce may a clear case for the why of fundamental change in our schools today. This is not a matter of tinkering around the edges and making wrong things "righter" but challenging cherished norms like timetable structures, groups learning together who are the same age, in the same place, at the same time, with one teacher.

Through the lens we can begin and continue conversations that can develop a mission and vision for learning unique to our context.