I am starting to research my next book and in the process will be interviewing education thought and action leaders from around the country. As I do so, I will run across great tidbits, and of course I love to share, and will drop them into Tweets and here on my blog from time to [...]
I am really excited to have connected with colleagues in Canadian schools who are taking a truly hard, sustainable, and determined look at the future of schools. The Canadian Association of Independent Schools new Project2051, brings together many educators and thinkers from outside of education to wipe the board clean, imagine what schools might look like in [...]
How long does it take to really change a school? I have previously written that "organic" percolation of ideas might require 12-15 years before we see true system-wide change. Even highly intentional processes need 3-5 years to really take root. What if we shortened our horizon to 6 months? Is it possible? Have courage; it's [...]
THE most critical element on the path to school innovation is to align precious resources with a forward leaning vision. If your school recognizes the need for innovation, for changing the assembly line model of learning, it is NOT enough to just talk about it. Sooner or later your customers will realize the disconnect between [...]
As promised, I made a short, very informal video of my visit with Hobsonville Point Secondary School in New Zealand. I wrote about HPSS last week with the comment that they are really an exemplar of what high schools can and might look like in the future. If you are interested in space, architecture, and [...]
This is HUGE for these kids. Ortiz Middle School (#ortizms) is a traditionally poorly performing school in Santa Fe, NM with almost 100% underserved students. Exactly one year ago, the overwhelmingly predominant learning style was "sit and get"; students lacked engagement and enthusiasm; they politely did their worksheets and listened to their teachers. The teachers decided to take [...]
Last week in New Zealand I visited a high school that may well be the exemplar for global high schools of the future. Hobsonville Point Secondary School (HPSS) on the outskirts of Auckland is just two years old, and only has about 20% of its build-out student population. It has been designed, physically and pedagogically to break [...]
I was honored last week to give the opening keynote address to more than 1,800 primary and secondary educators from across New Zealand and other regional nations. I hope you will get past the short self-introduction in Maori language. The audience was wonderful, enthusiastic, and obviously eager to share, and lead, a transformation to deeper [...]
I can only wish I had the chops to have written Building School 2.0: How to Create the Schools We Need. I read a lot of books, many on the current state and future of K-12 education, best practices of organizational change and innovation, and the nature of creative individuals and organizations. I don’t recommend [...]
Yesterday I tweeted “Innovation is limited by minds, not $$”. I am in Houston to work for a day with a highly respected independent school. In response to that, a Twitter colleague suggested that innovation is easy for those with money and not for those less well funded. Both historical and current evidence supports my sense of what [...]