I am creating an active learning workshop for educational business leaders in the fall and found myself falling into a common trap that can kill innovative practices before they have a chance to sprout: creating before destroying. That sounds harsh, but wait a moment. How often have you and your colleagues said something like “we [...]
Dive in. It’s the 5th of July, tipping point of the summer for many U.S. schools, starting that long slide towards the start of the new school year just 6-7 weeks away. Schools live in this strange quantum of 10-12 month cycles; if we don’t plan and do something one school year it almost always [...]
How many great jazz musicians create their masterpieces working alone, meeting with other members of the group once or twice a month to see how their own riffs merge with those of their collaborators? None. Many of use have been talking and writing about breaking down silos in schools. Modeling this change in how we [...]
I just realized we have been missing a "P". For years we have referred to the three key organizational elements at our school as the Three P's: people, program, and place. I imagine many others see their school in these same terms, as well as folks in other organizations. They reflect the main characteristics of [...]
Innovation is a word that we all now use: “schools must innovate in order to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world”. But before we start something, we should know WHY. Jeffery Phillips, writing on the Innovation Excellence blog site notes five key factors that are driving that need to innovate; my commentary is [...]
There are two kinds of people in the world and they solve problems very differently. Some people look forward to solve the problem; others look backward to understand the problem. Both have a role to play, but for darn sure we should know not only our own natural approach, but also that of others on [...]
I had a great meeting yesterday with Bob Ogle, Head at the young Pacific Ridge School in north San Diego County. Eight yeas ago this school was an idea; five years ago it was a collection of portable buildings on a hillside; today it is fully-enrolled, grades 7-12, with an impressive array of intelligently designed [...]
I am catching up on my blog reading after taking all of about three days off. If anyone ever questions the pace at which our knowledge base is increasing, take a few days off of reading the outputs of thoughtful educators; we are always behind no matter what we do to keep up! Bennett, Kern, [...]
I have been thinking and writing a lot about the need to introduce the discussion of value proposition into how we think strategically about our schools. The consideration of institutional value is quite different than the consideration of strategic goals as practiced by most schools. Importantly, value directs us outward to the view of our [...]
What does a future of flipped classrooms and blended learning look like? I don’t know, but that is the point: we have to adapt to a world of more continuous evolution where success is not guaranteed. This struck home two days ago following a Twitter conversation; thanks to Josie Holford, Head of School at Poughkeepsie [...]