Category: Systems Theory

childhood memories

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It is clear that our schools play a central role in developing self-actualizing behaviors in children in keeping with our goal of preparing learners to thrive in adulthood. If we ever get it right, we will find just the right mix of curricula and lessons and collaboration designed to produce highly competent and confident young adults who are aware of their place in the world and their purpose in it. Still, no matter how well we do, these rich experiences will never happen in schools alone. Aspiring to such lofty heights for learning will require a wider reach for school systems and grander expectations around school-community partnerships.  One way to envision such a shift in the industry is to view our local communities not as…

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Student freedom

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The secret recipe for all successful ventures is three parts innovation, two parts resourcefulness, and at least one part sheer trust and will. What’s true for the successes of innovative companies like Apple and Pixar is true for public schools. The rise of these corporate giants from intriguing concept to tepid interest to universal rejection to dogged determination to faithful execution and unimaginable comeback are blueprints for those hoping to push our school systems to incredible heights. In one form or another, such ventures operate in ways that those inside and those outside the system find purposeful and meaningful. In a highly compelling manner, the system itself is both self-actualized and self-actualizing at the same time. What results is an experience that is both profitable…

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freedom, success, students

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School systems are social systems or what some call “human systems.” The entire structure is built around people, with planned social interactions and (get this) with a common sense of purpose. School systems, neighborhood associations, and even political parties are social systems that (if fully functioning) are designed to produce a great deal of energy and, hopefully, synergy around a common cause that brings together people and processes in connected and meaningful ways. Let us be clear that no system can be fully mature (self-actualized) until it is fully competent and fully connected. To frame what this means, let us imagine what a school or school district would look like if it was functioning adequately per its day-to-day operations, but was not truly inspiring its…

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childhood memories

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The secret recipe for all successful ventures is three parts innovation, two parts resourcefulness, and at least one part sheer trust and will. The lessons learned from successful corporate ventures, inspiring civic endeavors, and superstar public schools are the subject of countless books and movies in our never-ending fascination with what works. Though we may debate the attributes of success, most of us know it when we see it. There is something about hard-won victories that is so alluring that we find it difficult to avoid staring at them and wondering how they did it. In truth, the greatest of great ventures have always found success in transformative places that exist somewhere beyond corporate structures, business plans, and spreadsheets. In one form or another, such…

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Student freedom

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The cheerless depictions of our public schools from the 1800s are famously etched in our minds by writers like Charles Dickens and memorialized in countless black-and-white photos of pupils staring forward, blankly, with arms folded, behind rows of wooden desks. As we fast forward a couple of centuries, these images have been replaced by a more colorful assortment of engaging lessons and student interactions more befitting a 21st Century education. Yes, yes, have no worry. It is true that across the wide landscape of public schools we have made progress in discovering greater collaboration among children, richer technologies in use, and even deeper relationships among teachers and students. The monochromatic curriculum and routines of the past are harder to find, and that is a good…

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No matter what schools look like in the future, success will come when all decisions are made with each student’s best interests in mind and with relationships at the core. This will include deep consideration of each child’s strengths and passions and even how curricula and lessons are designed to enrich the home lives of children and families. Deeper human connections will be paramount because schools must be focused on developing students social-emotionally and not just academically. If we do this well, the entire experience of schooling will feel more organic and personal for all students, from the relationships they form with their teachers to the assignments they interact with. Creating such schools will require districts to build systems and processes from the student outward.…

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Summer affords all educators some much-needed time to reflect upon and improve our practice and industry. Like many of you, I am bent on mastering the art and science of teaching and my latest quest for answers took me to a book that most would find terribly dense and boring: The Struggle for the American Curriculum from 1893-1958 by Herbert Kliebard. It’s a book for those curriculum nerds like me who want to understand why we teach what we teach. It’s a short history of the key curriculum changes in American secondary schools during the early 1900s. Kliebard begs to explain why we do what we do and he names the men (very few women voices were heard in the 1920s and 30s) whose philosophies shaped…

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High Expectations in School, boy with book

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We have no better evidence of inequity and blindness than that which is found in our public schools every day across America. No matter the dedication, passion and training of our educators and school leaders, the devastating impact of generational poverty has led to a number of related and varied biases that can emerge when our neediest students learn among and from adults who have never experienced (and cannot picture) such challenging life circumstances. No matter how caring and well-meaning our educators are (and they are), many cannot comprehend the struggles and even trauma that our students experience. As a result, we are often lost in our attempts to compensate for the deficits that these students face. Or worse, we believe that we are doing…

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student hands of hope

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Personalized learning to improve student engagement Though all educators are quick to tell you that schools are about children and meeting their needs, the level of disengagement among kids paints a much bleaker picture. In fact, most students do not describe their schools and classrooms as “child-centered.” The good news is that we are getting better at it. We are learning and growing as an industry and don’t let anyway tell you that schools are not more engaging than they used to be. We’ve come a long way in the past 20 years in giving more learning over to students and providing more time for students to engage with each other. These are good steps for a community of educators that is evolving in positive…

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