This past week a colleague asked if I was familiar with the Modern Learners initiative headed up by Bruce Dixon and Will Richardson. At the time I was not, so this week I decided to look into this group. I was surprised to find out the Modern Learners initiative has been established since 2012. One of this group’s goals is to “move the discussion about change in schools into real action.” One of the steps to meet this goal was to establish a global community that could share ideas and experiences. Hence, the Modern Learner initiative. As I read more about this group I came across some eerily similar beliefs to those I have independently formed since my transition out of the classroom. Ironically, also back 2012, I first shared the idea of Schools as a Greenhouse, with someone other than my wife, when I became the new principal of Aurora High School.
The first of these common beliefs included the idea that schools today are at a crossroads. This was a topic in my very first principal’s newsletter to our staff which included the commentary Hope for Improving Student Achievement. Modern Learners addressed the same topic in whitepaper titled “10 Principles for Schools of Modern Learning” (see the free download at the bottom of this website). The second overlap was a shared belief that traditional schools which optimize on efficiency or “doing things right” are not meeting the needs of young people today who need schools to optimize on effectiveness or “doing the right thing.” (see Time, Priorities, & Sharpening the Saw and Do Your Practices Match Your Beliefs). Finally, I came across a third similarity between some of my own early ideas and those of the Modern Learners when reading that the founders of this movement believe “The modern world demands...classrooms where (young people) act as apprentice learners who work with teachers, who are master learners, first and foremost, not where they are seen as ‘empty vessels to be filled with knowledge.” (see also An Apprentice for Learning). Given all of these common beliefs, I started to think it was worth finding out a little more about Modern Learners. As mentioned earlier, this group produced a whitepaper which introduces what they believe are the 10 Principles of Modern Schools. I thought each of these principles would be worth reflecting on and comparing to Aurora or at least where I believe Aurora could go, so I think I found topics for my next ten posts. :)
Principle #1: Modern Schools have clearly articulated and shared beliefs about learning
The authors of the whitepaper propose that, “School communities without clearly articulated beliefs around learning create wild inconsistencies for students as they travel between classrooms…” I believe we, in Aurora, have captured the spirit of this principle in that we utilize Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to minimize the educational lottery that can take place from teacher to teacher in a particular grade level or subject area. The use of common math and ELA frameworks at the K-5 level also gives us a chance to create consistent experiences for the young people in our district. However, we do have room for growth under this first principle. I believe we all say that we want what is best for kids (ex. Kids come first), but I don’t think we have shared beliefs about what learning looks like. As an example, many of our classrooms are more teacher centered than student centered even though we say we want student centered classroom that include more voice and choice for young people. When we talk about “learning,” I think it is important to ask “Whose thinking are we talking about?” Is it the teacher’s thinking or the student’s thinking? We say we want young people to see relationships and make connections, which would point to the student’s thinking. However, if we find ourselves telling students what they should know or how to do something it points more to the teacher’s thinking than the student’s. Ultimately, I believe that to have shared beliefs about learning you have to value a shared vision.
Without repeating everything from my 2018 post The Value of A Shared Vision I do want to emphasize that we must overcome the fear of falling test scores or lower school rankings if we are going to truly design environments that are optimal for young people to learn and create a school culture focused on learning. “There are two fundamental things that brains want: to be safe and happy” (Zull, 2002, p.49). If there is a perceived fear, such as repercussions from low test scores, that exists than one of those two fundamental requirements of the brain are not being met. Often it is the feeling of loss of control that provides the fear for our brains to not feel safe. So, whether it is our young people in the classroom or ourselves in the schools, it is important to feel in control. “The brain evolved to detect and resist exactly this type of thing (loss of control) for over five million years. It is not going to give in now” (Zull, 2002, p. 53), so it is best to take this into account when supporting a culture of learning.
We are getting very close to rolling out a new strategic vision for the Aurora City Schools. I am excited for this event to take place because I believe this vision will allow us to have more conversations on what learning should look like in our schools. We will be able to use the six competencies of an Aurora student as a sort of north star for decisions both in and out of the classroom and move closer to meeting the first principle for a school of Modern Learning.
References
Zull, James (2002). The Art of Changing the Brain. Sterling VA: Solution
Tree Press.Stylus Publishing.
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