Will asks an excellent question.
So here is one of the burning questions in my brain these days: How do you take a fairly “typical” school that is currently steeped in a 20th Century model of teaching and successfully move it forward in a systemic way toward a more relevant 21st Century, or, if you will, School 2.0 model that fully takes advantage of a more connected, collaborative, creative world?
It appears as if he has a laboratory to work in and find some answers.
He is now working with a small school system to see how all the pieces of web 2.0 that are fundamentally changing communications in the world at large can work in the classroom.
Will paints an interesting picture of both the district and the challenge their leaders are trying to bring to their schools. But there was one part from his description of conversations with district leaders that jumped out at me.
The leadership team, despite already having a highly successful school in terms of test scores and traditional standards, recognizes what’s coming and wants to be proactive in helping teachers and students practice real 21st Century education, understanding that there is no set definition of what that is.
The overly large school district I work for fits that description of a system that is very successful “in terms of test scores and traditional standards”.
I wonder, however, if our leadership team and school board realize they need to be much more proactive in fostering some real and major changes to the way we educate students.
There have been some signs over the past year with their “strategic goals” that they are moving in the direction of new curricular approaches to teaching and learning.
However, I don’t get the feeling they are ready to buy into the major “disruptions” to the traditional education structure Will is discussing.
It will be fun to follow the progress of his experiment and maybe find more ideas to inject into the continuing conversation in our system.
Tim,
This is my world as well. As Collins might put it, “The good is getting in the way of the great.” Why bother to take risks when by traditional measurements, the organizations is doing quite well.
I believe it will need to reach a crisis state before our district fundamentally changes. But I can’t imagine what that might be.
Thanks for this entry. Good to know others are in the same boat.
Doug
Tim,
I’m in the midst of this battle every day also. The thing is, I teach in a college of education … you know, where we prepare people to become teachers.
If you have any ideas on how to motivate college faculty to embrace 21st century teaching I’d appreciate the input.