FYI, Episode 3 of 4 Guys Talking is today at noon Central. Follow the link to the live Internet stream, which also includes the call-in number if you want to give us a ring!
FYI, Episode 3 of 4 Guys Talking is today at noon Central. Follow the link to the live Internet stream, which also includes the call-in number if you want to give us a ring!
Wow. You guys were so negative this time. I think I am a little more optimistic than that, if we are patient. You can’t expect the public school system to turn on a dime – there is a lot of inertia there toward traditional teaching methods. But, slow and steady, she will turn. We turn a little bit more each day. Maine, districts in Virgina … even if they don’t have a ton of success initially, it is change.
Don’t forget, from Democracy’s perspective, there is safety in slow change. The system literally works against fast-paced change, and that is not always a bad thing. It’s not always good either, but the trick is finding that middle ground — and that’s why leaders are the key. They are that hesitant point, but they are also willing to jump if they feel it is safe for their kids and their school.
It will probably be exponential. A few leaders, a few more, a handful more, a bunch more, suddenly its the hot thing (like PLC’s or something – you are all going to be talking at every PD meeting in the country!) and then loads more adoption.
Hang in there fellas … and cheer up! We need all of you to be positive to reassure those leaders that are thinking of jumping on board!
Thanks for sharing the conversation. I need to catch up on your previous recordings.
How do we reinvent existing schools? Hint: the answer is not technology.
If Jim Collins has anything to say about it, great organizations, including schools, are able to discern a single answer to three critical questions: What can we be the best in the world at? What drives our economic engine? What are we deeply passionate about?
How many schools can you name with a vision that answers those three questions? Most of the school visions and mission statements I’ve seen are simply exercises in education buzzwords.
Nearly all of a school’s members (administration, teachers, staff, students?, parents?, etc.) must arrive at the same answer to these three questions to begin down the road to real change. At the point of agreement on a big goal and the means to that goal, then members may begin to apply technology strategically to a process of high effectiveness.
Until that goal is decided, and the means to that goal are plotted, technology will be simply a distractor, and possibly a deterrent to real change.