I just made two new slides that seem to sum up pretty much the argument for, and the content of, my new book, THRIVE: How Schools Will Win the Education Revolution, due out in the early fall. Whether we like it or not, this is the hand we have been dealt as K-12 educators today [...]
My new book, THRIVE: How Schools Will Win the Education Revolution, won't be out until the fall, but I just had to share at least one bit of advanced praise, from Andy Calkins, Director of education innovation leading Next Generational Learning Challenges: Imagine you are climbing a mountain with a large group of people. Hard [...]
What does fighting a terror-based insurgency have in common with running a school? Fortunately the daily events are very different. But school leaders can learn critical lessons about managing large, complex organizations from how military, and increasingly business, leaders are learning to adapt to rapidly changing challenges. Retired General Stanley McCrystal led American forces in [...]
In his new book, Technology vs Humanity, futurist Gerd Leonhard explores the really big changes that are driving fundamental shifts in how we all lead our lives, and may, within our own lifetimes, challenge the very paradigm of what it means to be human. These shifts will have tremendous impact on the role and relevance [...]
How might we educate the rising generation to be more empathetic and understanding of what it means to be an American? How might we help heal increasingly deep divides by allowing young people to experience our world through the eyes of “the other” in ways that are both intellectually and emotionally engaging? If you have [...]
What is the nature of empathy? Can we really see through the eyes of those with radically different life experiences? Are we getting any better at this critical social construct, or just hoping that we will? Over the winter break I read two profound must-read books, written by or about women who have lived lives [...]
Over a relaxing holiday break I had plenty of un-scheduled time to just hang out with family. As I get older, hopefully a bit more reflective and a smidgen wiser, I know how sacred are these times when we set aside our devices and "things we have to do", and just be together. And play [...]
I am doubling down on the critical role of real strategy for schools. I have read a lot of school strategic plans, and most share one thing in common: they are not strategic at all. They are almost all tactical. Strategy is, simply, about making choices that gives your school or district the best opportunity [...]
Is your school contemplating a significant change in the year ahead? Is your team prepared with the skills and processes to make sure that change is well-designed? That your community stakeholders have had input and are on board? That you have the knowledge base to move forward with a set of first prototypes and pilots, [...]
In the last week I have posted two blogs about Harrisburg School District in South Dakota, where they are implementing a remarkable program of personalized learning. Here is the final of three posts; focusing here on the evolving program in the middle and high schools. For more details, look at Travis Lape's blog: Teachers [...]
