Big Challenges to Education

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Strategy Now Focuses on Change

Nothing could be more true for K-12 education than this by a team of seasoned management consultants writing in the MIT Sloan Management Review: A fundamental assumption underlying traditional approaches to strategy is that industry boundaries and economics remain broadly stable over time. This assumption is no longer realistic... Change, not stability, are the key [...]

A Call For Educators To Take a Stand

Americans from across the political spectrum were horrified and saddened watching the video of George Floyd's death more than a week ago. And Americans from across the political spectrum are horrified and saddened by the scenes of senseless violence and destruction perpetrated by rioters in our cities. We don't have to agree on everything; heck, [...]

There Is No “One Source”: Welcome To the Cognitosphere

The new normal you are experiencing is not new, but has been "becoming normal" for many years. I first used the term "cognitosphere" in about 2008 to describe the rapidly-growing global neuro-network that increasingly connects everyone in the world who has access to the internet.  Others have called this system the "metaverse" or other made-up [...]

Education Equity Exacerbated By Covid-19

The Covid-19 crisis is shining a huge new spotlight on inequities in K-12 education.  Every school and district in America, and many around the world, are racing to figure out how to educate children and prepare adults during long-term closures.  The range of problems is enormous, from access to technology, support for students with learning [...]

What Comes First, School or Well-Being?

What really drives your big, long-term school-wide decisions? In a video call yesterday with Corwin Press president Mike Soules and a group of Corwin authors, I noted that at virtually every school I have visited in depth for the last couple of years, student well-being has been at or very near the top of stakeholder goals and concerns.  We [...]

By | 2019-09-10T15:35:40+00:00 September 10th, 2019|Big Challenges to Education, Leading Change|0 Comments

The Simple Thesis of New Book THRIVE: How Schools Will Win the Education Revolution

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 [...]

Build a Team of Teams at Your School

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 [...]

Schools Are Not Forever

There is something in our affinity for the institution of education that makes it seem immutable and timeless.  Schools that have been part of our lives will always be there. New schools will rise as communities grow, but it seems unfair or tragic when schools disappear as communities wane.  Yet the reality is that the [...]

39X: Best, Most Affordable PD I Know; Register Now!

Most educators who read my blog or follow me on Twitter are already in the "deeper learning" choir.  You believe that learning should be increasing student-centric; inquiry, project, and thematically-based; incorporating creativity and design more than recitation and regurgitation.  Some educators need to re-tool their skills to shift classroom practice to "get there". I don't [...]

Where Is the Balance of Technology and Humanity in K-12 Education?

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 [...]