How Might We Lead? Designing our new narrative

In my previous post I focused on the view that the number one principle seems to be that effective schools have clearly articulated and shared beliefs about learning that are lived in every classroom.

This post proposes that the clearly articulated and shared beliefs about learning that are lived in every classroom need to be driven by a vision and mission which are deeply informed by new contexts for learning. In the previous post I stated that, in the end, it doesn't matter what the core beliefs about learning are but that it was vital that they were lived in every classroom. But, of course, it does matter.

If we start, as we should, with the question:

• "How do children and adults learn most powerfully and deeply in their lives?" (Modern Learners).

and we add:

• "When they leave us, what will our students need to be able to do, and what kind of people will they be?" (Modern Learners)

and we take into account the rapidly changing and threatened world in store for our current learners (climate crisis, pandemics, increasing inequity, war, biodiversity threat, AI, world of work), we must explore, embrace and fully incorporate in our design of schools and of learning new ways in which we can learn and become educated.

These new ways of learning which will better prepare our ākonga for the realities of their fast-changing world need to be central and visible in a compelling narrative of what the school stands for and the principles that guide it.

Charles Leadbetter in Learning on Purpose (Centre for Strategic Action) says, " A compelling narrative has to convey both purpose and possibility, it speaks to identity (who you are, where you've come from and what you stand for) and intent (where you are going, what you want to achieve)." He also talks of the importance of being able to tell a coherent story about yourself. "with an arc into the future."

He describes a process to follow to establish the compelling narrative:

• clearly identify the dominant narrative which you wish to challenge and "how it disables you from making change and what its weaknesses are, how it does not add up."
• settle on a metaphor to build the narrative around. But make sure this reflects the new narrative (eg rather than competing, getting best scores etc more relevant metaphors might be around a growth in important dispositions that better prepare young people to flourish in the realities of the modern world.)
• contextualise the narrative and metaphor to your current setting and propose new structures to support the narrative.
• show what the way ahead looks like and the likely ways of navigating through
• focus on the narrative being invitational so that it becomes compelling to be part of

In thinking about the new contexts for learning that should be driving our vision and mission and be central to our new compelling narrative I'd like to highlight Michael Fullan (quoting Hargreaves and O'Connor) in The Right Drivers For Whole System Success (Centre for Strategic Education) who identifies "collaboration embedded in the culture and life of the school," as a key factor in effective schools.

Another useful framework to assist with a new narrative for schools and learning is that described by the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (OECD) with their 7 Principles of Learning.

• Learners at the centre
• Social nature of learning
• Emotions are integral to learning
• Recognising individual differences
• Stretching all students
• Assessment for learning
• Building horizontal connections

As well, in one of their Horizon Reports NMC looking at future trends to develop deeper learning identifies project-based learning and inquiry learning as effective pedagogical approaches for deeper learning.

The Innovation Unit in the UK encourages schools wanting to be more effective to personalise learning, connect learning to the outside world, adopt a version of project-based learning, develop approaches that have students doing the teaching and inviting students into the learning design process.

Developing a compelling new narrative for your school, especially one that is fully informed by new contexts for learning (collaboration, connected, co-constructed), could be demanding work, but it is also rewarding and exciting work.

We know what makes for deep learning. The next step is to capture that in a compelling narrative for our school.

I'm happy to help.

How Might We Lead With a Set of Common Beliefs (about learning!)

 

While exploring the Education Leadership group on Linkedin I came across this:

•  "A competent curriculum leader is able to clearly articulate their philosophy on 'how students learn best.' They and their team need to lead with a common belief."

This jumped out at me as I've been spending some time delving into what seems to be the most important factors/principles that determine whether a school is effective or efficient (see previous post). What I have discovered to be one of the most important principles is no surprise as it has driven my work as an educational leader and has been the area where I have been focusing most of my work with schools and organisations with my consultancy HMWLead.

The number one principle seems to be that effective schools have clearly articulated and shared beliefs about learning that are lived in every classroom (Modern Learners). The simple bit might be determining what the shared beliefs about learning should be. Often, the harder bit is ensuring that they are lived in every classroom. The Education Leadership quote above, in my view, is pointing the way towards this happens - it is, in fact, by everyone leading with these common beliefs. If this happens then the practices to ensure it is happening in every classroom will emerge.

The quote also points to the fact that it is important that the core beliefs that drive a school should be about learning and about how people learn. It is all very well to have a set of core beliefs and values that are largely behavioural (eg respect, honesty, integrity etc) but learning beliefs and values should be front and centre in a school.

Determining what these shared beliefs about learning are should start with answering the question:

• "How do children and adults learn most powerfully and deeply in their lives?" (Modern Learners).

The investigation I am carrying out certainly supports the assertion made by Will Richardson and Bruce Dixon from Modern Learners that without a collaboratively created/developed belief system about what makes learning powerful that is lived each day through classroom norms for learning and a common language, schools cannot develop each child to their potential as a learner.

If we accept that being a self-directed and self-determined learner is the most important skill to develop within our learners then it is vital that we take the time to discuss how we can create the conditions in our schools for these skills to develop. And when we have settled on the principles/beliefs that we believe create these conditions we have to make sure that they are visible everywhere in our school, in the language we use and the classroom practices we adopt.

Based on what we see in the research about what makes for powerful learning for today's students what are examples of some elements that could be the core of our beliefs about learning? Here are a few:

• Know your students (Education Leadership, Bishop)
• Learners at the centre (OECD, Innovation Unit)
• Student agency (Education Leadership, Wenmouth)
• Connect learning horizontally and to the real world (Innovation Unit, OECD)
• Inquiry based approaches (OECD, Innovation Unit)
• Experiential learning (Centre for Strategic Education, Innovation Unit)
• Promote collaboration and interaction (Fullan, Education Leadership, OECD)
• Measure what matters/A4L (Innovation Unit, OECD)
• Stretch and support all learners (OECD, Education Leadership)

This is by no means an exhaustive list and cleverer people than I will be able to add to it. It is a good starting point for discussion as groups of teachers interrogate their beliefs and the beliefs of others about what makes for deep learning.

The key, of course, is then to discuss and agree what impacts these beliefs would have on our teaching practice. For example:

• truly knowing my students and how they best learn will mean I'd have to adopt a relationship based approach to my pedagogy and implement culturally sustaining practices
• knowing my students would mean I'd be aware of their needs, interests and passions and would incorporate them into my learning design, and my belief in student agency would have me co-constructing learning and assessment programmes with individual learners
• belief in connected learning (across subjects and with the real world), inquiry-based approaches and experiential learning would have me exploring a relevant project-based learning model
• promoting collaboration and interaction would mean incorporating appropriately organised and structured co-operative group work throughout my learning design
• a belief that we should measure what matters will require me to search for ways to track how well my learners are collaborating, showing self-determination, being resilient in their learning etc. I will also need to ensure that all learners know what is expected of them and why that is expected
• if I'm wishing to stretch and support all learners I will need to be designing learning according to the principles of Universal Design for Learning

In the end, it doesn't matter too much what the core beliefs about learning are (though I'll cover that in another post). What matters is that the core beliefs about learning are known, understood, shared and drive the learning in all classrooms.

I wonder if all schools can say they have a set of clearly articulated and shared beliefs about learning. If they do, I wonder if they know that they are truly lived in every classroom. I also wonder if all leaders lead with those common beliefs. I know that I couldn't have answered 'yes' to those questions throughout much of my leadership.

Once again, this looks like demanding work, but it also looks like rewarding and exciting work.

What Could Schools Do To Promote Personalisation and Authenticity

In this next post on my sabbatical I provide suggestions on what schools could do to explore PBL and make learning more personalised and authentic and forming connections between learning areas.

What Could Existing Schools Do To Reflect These Principles?

• Explore models of Project-based learning. A clear model that all staff understand and commit to and through which students are scaffolded is essential to provide rigour and prevent low quality experiences and outcomes. The following links could be a good place to start:
• Best brief introduction to current thinking I’ve seen for a while
• Buck Institute for Education is very useful not only with the ‘why’ but awesome for the ‘how?’ - great, easy to use tools
• Wiggins’ model of Understanding by Design used by the Science Leadership Academy
• The Stanford Model driven by Design Thinking and used at High Tech High, Nueva High School and DesignTech.
• Make every effort to provide opportunities for learning to be connected across subjects. Even with a traditional, single-subject timetable it’s not difficult to change mindsets and school practices to enable students to establish connections.
• Schools could start by determining common themes that could drive learning contexts across the whole school or particular year levels. This would, at least, allow all subjects to connect to the common theme.

  

  Grade level Themes at SLA

• Meeting structures could be turned on their head and regular meetings for the common teachers of each class to discuss how learning could be connected across more than one subject. Students could work on high-interest projects which they have had a say in creating in classes timetabled for 2 or 3 of their subjects. Completing one piece of work, drawing on several subjects and being supported by several teachers will not only result in a quality outcome and deeper learning, but reduce workload for students and for  teachers. Perhaps Departments could be required to find times to run their meetings when necessary, rather than having them scheduled. This reinforces that the focus in our school is on collaborative practice rather than subject silos.
• Teachers in all classes could share with their students the responsibility of determining the context in which learning could take place. Teachers would still take responsibility for developing the important learning/achievement objectives but invite students to be design partners in determining the context.
• Rather than informing a class that they are studying Migration and that they would do this by learning about Victorian English people and their migration to and settling in New Zealand, a Social Studies teacher could explore with students the concept of Migration and establish its worthiness of study. They could then invite students to suggest which example of migration from across history, or in the present, they (individuals, small groups) would like to explore to increase their understanding of this concept. Teachers and students would design activities together which allowed the important learning objectives to be met.
• Wherever possible, provide multiple opportunities for students to provide evidence of their learning.
• If all students have to write an essay to show their understanding of an important science concept, then those who are poor essay writers will not do well, despite perhaps having a high level of understanding of the science concept. As long as the learning objectives can be met allow students to show their understanding, whether it be by essay, piece of art, spoken word etc.
• Include some contact or experience with the community or expertise from beyond the school in all planning of learning programmes.
• At the very least, this could be a guest speaker/facilitator but can include off-site visits, individual/small group mentor relationships, on-line communication and connection with expertise, or a client relationship.
• Encourage the public sharing and discussion of student work.
• At the very least, this could be presenting findings back to the class with high expectations of how to make a quality presentation and how to provide quality feedback but can include presenting to students from outside the class or at another school, parents, and mentors and clients who have been involved in the learning.
• Think about where these presentations should take place.The school might be appropriate but so might a community space (library, parks, malls), a conference or place of work.

I hope these suggestions show how schools, no matter their context, can bring life to the principles of personalisation, authenticity, connection and collaboration.

Principles in Practice - Observations from Sabbatical

In this post I try to capture how each school brought to life the principles of personalisation, authenticity and connectedness. I conclude with an elevator statement that captures what is common across the schools.

How Do These Principles Play Out In Practice?

All schools saw a type of project-based learning, with learning connected across a high interest project, as the best vehicle to bring all of their learning design principles to fruition. All believed this led to more engagement and deeper learning.

A range of practices that were driven by personalisation was evident across all schools. The most common approach was to give students choice. At DesignTech High School 2 full days were dedicated to students selecting appropriate Labs. Teachers could use the LMS to direct students to compulsory Labs or students could select the Design Garage (Maker Space), Office Hours (individual or small group access to a teacher, independent work or Fitness.

At NYC iSchool students from all grade levels can take whatever ‘Elective’ which was appropriate to their interest, resulting in Grade 9 - 12 students in the same class.

All schools gave opportunities for students to use multiple ways to evidence learning. There were very few times when all students in a programme had to produce the exact same assessment.

Authenticity was achieved in each school in similar ways. They all ran programmes that were centred around high-interest projects and involved learning by doing. Students work on real-world problems and pose and/or tackle big questions. All schools required students to have some form of public presentation of much of their work and most schools ran an internship programme with whole school or certain year levels out of school.

The connectedness nature of learning was apparent in a number of ways. At High Tech High because the same group of students had the same teachers for all of their subjects the teachers would collaborate and support students to complete their projects across two subjects. Examples are described in this blog post.

At DesignTech they suspend their timetable for two weeks 4 times per year. During this time, known as d.lab, students opt to work on a solution to a real world problem, drawing on a range of subject disciplines.

During 2 days a week at Nueva High School students opt into a range of labs where they have opportunities to pursue their passions in a multi-disciplinary project.

The common feature across all schools was that student inquiry and a rigorous process of project-based learning underpinned the learning model.

• At NYC iSchool their Challenge-based Modules (1 per term) had students focusing on real world challenges so they could build their understanding of big ideas and broad global concepts. It was their view that this allowed for the development and application of 21st century skills.
• At the Science Leadership Academy all courses had students involved in inquiry learning and completing projects that they co-construct with each other and their teachers. This school followed Wiggins Model of Understanding by Design.
• At High Tech High project-based learning was at the core of all learning programmes. Here they followed the Stanford model (Empathise, Define, Ideate, Test).
• Inquiry-based and project-based learning was also at the centre at Nueva High School. Following rigorous design thinking processes students become active participants in learning, identifying solutions where they can make changes for the better while developing the personal and collaborative tools to take action.
• At DesignTech students used a project-based  learning approach, supported by design thinking, to work on local and global challenges, research real problems and develop authentic solutions.

My Elevator Statement

If we want learning to be personalised, authentic, and connected and to be preparing students for their lives in the 21st century, learning must be centred on high-interest projects, drawing on a range of specialist subjects, with opportunities for hands-on application and partnering with the community. There should be a genuine outcome from the learning and students must be partners in designing the learning.

Other Observations (some still to be explored)

• A clear set of principles needs to drive learning design and learning decisions.
• Maker Spaces are key spaces in schools
• Build in time in weekly schedule where students have responsibility to make good decisions and self-regulate. Do not water this down to the lowest common denominator as the majority of students will miss out because of the few who cannot self-regulate.
• A learning design model is vital in providing frameworks and rigour, but students (and staff) must be scaffolded through to be comfortable within that framework.
• Students don’t need an adult in front of them supervising their learning at all times. Some learning can be a blend of teacher and on-line learning (Language learning at NYC iSchool) or of teacher and un-supervised sessions.
• Restorative practices that develop trust and responsibility and require empathy and self-regulation support the development of vital 21st century dispositions.
• Internships and externships provide wonderful opportunities for authenticity in student learning.

Common Principles That Guide The Design of Learning in Furure-Focused Schools

What I Discovered From My Visits on Sabbatical

The purpose of my school visits was to find out if the principles that drove the design of learning in other innovative, future-focused schools were similar.

Please access a fuller blog post for each of the schools:

• DesignTech High School
• Nueva High School
• High Tech High Point Loma
• High Tech High Chula Vista
• Science Leadership Academy
• NYC iSchool

I’ll attempt to provide some observations by referring to my three focusing questions.

What Principles Have Guided The Design of Learning?

• Learning should be personalised

“At DesignTech, we believe that students are most successful when their education is personalised to their needs, and they are asked to use their knowledge to improve the world around them.”

“High Tech High teachers practice a learner-centred, inclusive approach that supports and challenges each student. Students pursue their passions through projects, and reflect on their learning.”

• Learning should be authentic

“At Nueva, Learn by Doing, Learn by Caring permeates everything we do. Nueva teachers craft curricula that enables students to bring classroom learning to life by designing original experiments, running simulations, and solving real-world problems.”

“The NYC iSchool program is designed to offer students opportunities to engage in meaningful work that has relevance to them and the world.”

“[At High Tech High] students engage in work that matters to them, to their teachers, and to the world outside of school.”

• Learning should be connected

“High Tech High school projects integrate hands and minds and incorporate inquiry across multiple disciplines, leading to the creation of meaningful and beautiful work.”

“With a focus on developing collaborative and cross-disciplinary thinking, the d.tech curriculum is designed to engage students in finding and developing their passions.”

• Learning and design of learning should involve collaboration (between teachers and with students).

“High Tech High teachers collaborate to design curriculum and projects … while seeking student experience and voice. With students as design partners, staff function as reflective practitioners.”

• Learning should address dispositional development.

“We [d.tech] also believe that students must learn not only academic skills such as literacy and mathematics, but the transferable success skills of collaboration and persistence.”

“[Nueva High School] gives students essential tools that enable them to: develop ability to self-regulate, managing their attention, focus and learning; take risks that enhance their growth, both personally and academically; overcome setbacks, both big and small; develop supportive relationships and embrace diversity; collaborate successfully.”

Why Were These Principles Decided Upon?

Julie Abraham from DesignTech High School spoke of her experience in previous, more traditional schools where she witnessed stressed students, university dropouts, conflicted parents, subject siloisation and conveyor belt schooling. She used the analogy of students as cyclists biking faster and faster, competing with the rest of the field, but getting no nearer the finishing line.

Davion from The Nueva High School shared with me that universities had been telling them too many students arrive without being able to write competently, having mental health issues (anxiety around schooling) and little resilience and self-regulation.

Isora Bailey from NYC iSchool was adamant that high school could no longer be about learning a defined set of concepts - that high school for the 21st century needed to emphasise the learning process and thinking skills.

At Nueva, as at all schools, it is a recognition that the rapidly changing world requires a different curriculum:

“Our inquiry-based curriculum develops students who are resilient, thoughtful leaders and collaborators with robust problem-solving skills, and the creativity required for success in a rapidly changing global environment.”

Chris, at The Science Leadership Academy, was of the view that deeper learning required subjects to be viewed as lenses and not as silos. Students saw learning as more relevant when it was connected across learning disciplines.

NYC iSchool - final school visit

It says Chelsea Vocational College but nyc ischool is the 4th and 5th story

Top 2 floors are nyc ischool

I must admit I was disappointed with Andrew Little's automatic, knee-jerk opposition to the concept of  "urban schools" that Nikki Kaye floated soon after I set off on my sabbatical travels. The 2 schools I have enjoyed the most on this trip have been so called  urban schools that operate on some of the floors of an existing office building in urban areas with ready access to transport, parks and libraries etc (in fact everything an urban centre has). Schooling needs innovative, ''out of the box" thinking to return to being relevant, not automatic oppostional positions by politicians. I hope someone in Labour thinks  more deeply about this concept. Give me an urban office building packed full of effective pedagogy and a relevant engaging curriculum any day!

I spent almost 2 hours with the very busy, but welcoming and wonderful Isora Bailey, Principal of NYC iSchool.

This school has been operating for 11 Years with Isora as Principal for the last 5. As she took me through the principles that drove their learning design I was impressed with her openness about what was working well, what needed improvement and what were the biggest challenges.

She started by sharing the "Big Rocks", or Pillars, which underpin learning design and drove all decisions in the same way "Innovate, Engage and Inspire" does at our school.

The foundations for their pillars (Real World Relevance, Choice and Responsibility, and Developmentally Appropriate) are familiar themes in schools that aspire to be more relevant for young people.

Students at each Grade Level take 5 Core Experience courses and 1 Module per quarter when they reselect a new set (this happens each quarter). 

Core Experiences
The lower grade levels have more compulsory Core Experience Courses but as they move up through the grades they have more freedom to choose. Core Experience Courses are usually, but not always, provided to a set grade level. At Freshman level the course titles all begin with "ï" and across the 4 quarters cover i learn, i research, i analyse, i argue. An example of a Freshaman English Course which goes for a quarter is iAnalyse and its course description is:

In the second quarter, students will read, compare, and analyze a selection of fiction and non-fiction literature, focusing on how the author develops the theme and/or central idea through the text's structure, development, and order of ideas. Students will also address various methods of constructing an argument in their own writing. Students will continue with the theme they selected for their first quarter iLearn course.

Included in the Core Experiences are an offering of Electives, mostly open to all grades (some have prerequisites) that a student can select once they have included their compulsory courses. An example of a Science one is  "Physics of Super Heroes" and its description is:

Physics of Super Heroes is designed to have students ask questions about the physical reality of comic books such as: can spider silk really support the weight of Spiderman as he swings from building to building; how much food would the Flash need to eat to be able to run as quickly as he does; how would Superman be able to leap over buildings in a single bound? Through answering these and other questions students will learn about general physics concepts and equations.

Modules (open to all grades)
These are intensive, nine-week interdisciplinary courses developed around real-world challenges. Modules are designed to develop students' understanding of big ideas and broad global concepts, and their development and application of 21st century skills. Modules are developed with real work and real world challenges in mind. Both the content and skills students learn each day contribute to their understanding of the task or challenge, provide content-related context, and enable them to complete the challenge with a high level of quality. 

Astrobiology is an example:

What are the origins of life on Earth, and what is its fate?  Is there life elsewhere in the Universe, and if so how do we find it?  These are the questions concerning scientists in the emerging field of astrobiology, the study of life in the universe.  For the last decade astrobiology has been one of the most productive branches of science, with a nearly constant stream of new discoveries.  For example, we have identified and confirmed over 1,741 planets orbiting distant stars.  We have also discovered that life can exist and thrive in environments previously believed to be too hostile.  In this class students will explore the major concepts of Astrobiology including the characteristics of life, the physical and chemical conditions necessary for life, and the search for habitable worlds in our solar system and beyond.  Students will use their understanding of astrobiology to design and curate an engaging and educational Astrobiology museum exhibit.



Blended
All courses have an element of being on-line so that students can progress at own rate from anywhere. Some courses have a large % delivered on-line eg languages have one face-to-face lesson per week with the other (2 or 3?) being on-line with students completing that in a Silent Working Commons (supervised Study Hall).

Grading Policy
Grades are achieved  in all courses by displaying mastery and students cannot move on until they have displayed this. This might be by way of a test or by the collectionn of evidence in a  range of ways.

Advisory
All students are in a grade level Advisory. They meet twice a week for 15 minutes and once a week for 45 minutes. For the weekly 45 minute session there are set lessons depending on thhe grade level that all teachers follow and deliver at the same time. During the 15 minute sessions teachers focus on building and mainntaining relationships and keeping students focused on their goals. Each teacher is  given a timetabled block of Advisory preparation. (Each teacher also gets a timetabled 1 hour of department meeting time).

Field Experiences
This describes an internship model. Isora, however, quite happily admitted that this was not operating strongly as they have had difficulty in finding enough partners for placements so only a  small number of students participate. This  is an area she wishes to problem-solve.

Other
Teachers are contracted to be on-site until 4pm. Classes finish at 3 20. Staff meet on Mondays from 3 20 - 4 00pm. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays all staff are "on the floor" (my words) until 4pm to be available  for students who need help or support of any type. See you later on Friday at 3 20!

They have 3000 apply from Middle School for the 130 places. They use own screening to get 2000 to do an on-line activity and submit a written piece stating why they should go to this school. They then submit 800 names they would happily have to the State who use an algorithm to allocate kids to schools throughout the city. They get the 130 this software produces.

Isora described her biggest challenges as ensuring staff ongoing commitment to the foundations of their pillars and to guaranteeing consistency of teacher judgement for passing courses. As well, she is often dealing with parent push-back in relation to their model despite its approach being very clear from the outset. She says she consistently worries whether they are preparing their kids in the best possible way (however, she is confident they are). Her highlight is knowing that the kids can carry on being themselves and not be subjected to the one-size-fits-all approach.

What Have I Taken Away From This Visit

• The space is nothing special (looks like converted offices or it's a very old school building) but the pedagogy, driven by real world relevance and student choice and inquiry, was not being held back.

Pedagogy has nothing to do with thhe Space

Silent Commons

• I loved the many mixed grade courses (it is not uncommon to find Grade 9 - 12 in same course). I think 3 years of NCEA does limit our opportunities in this area.
• Leaders of innovative schools face the same issues with parent push-back. I believe this is worsened with NZ's competitive enrolment processes driven by competition for resourcing. I hate to admit it but I am starting to think if we could put in a  "special character"  filter it might be worth considering opening up our enrolments!@#*
• Isora has reminded me of the importance of  having all learning design decisions driven by the key set of principles.
• I interacted with students much less here than in my other visits but I was privileged to spend the whole time with the Principal. I enjoyed the 2 way conversation about leading schools and felt the visit was all about making sure I got out of it what was important for me.
• Great principals always worry about whether they are doing enough for their kids.
• Students posing and/or tackling big questions is a great driver of engaged and deep learning.
• Reading the course and module descriptions (some quoted above) reminded me so much of our Modules.

Well, that's the last of my scheduled visits for thhis part of my sabbatical. Shortly we head back to  San Francisco and after a couple of days we head back to Aotearoa. My job is to pull together what I have seen and thought about to guide future development of HPSS, hopefully provide other schools with some areas of thinking to carry on their journies of transformation, and to help create the impetus for my continuing journey in educational leadership.

I might do a lot of that thinking out loud.