Why do we as parents and educators push our kids to do “whatever it takes” to get into the best college they can? We think we are helping our kids, but are we really setting them up for all kinds of challenges in which they cannot be successful? Do we tie our own self-worth into
#38: The Costs of High Expectations Read More »
There’s change, and then there’s change. We all know what I mean by that, right? I mean, in some schools, the changes are easy to see. Everyone has a device. Teachers meet in their PLCs. “Competency-based” is the approach du jour. Or “personalized learning.” Or “flipped.” It occurs to me that most change that really
Our Moral Imperative Read More »
Templestowe College, or TC as we call it in Victoria, Australia, was built to accommodate 1,000 students. At the start of 2010, those numbers had dwindled down to just over 200. Peter Hutton took on the challenge of rebuilding the school, despite severe challenges. Today, you will get to hear the story of the past
#37: Revolutionizing Education Through Student Empowerment Read More »
It’s time to get a little existential. In this episode, my friend an colleague Bruce Dixon and I are discussing the profound artistry of teaching. Fueled by our mutual love of the works of Seymour Sarason, Bruce and I are going to weigh in on some of the topics mentioned in our last Shifting Conversations
#36: Changing Educational Norms That No Longer Serve Us Read More »
As happens more frequently these days, the idea for this Shifting Conversations post had its start in a Zoom coaching session in Change School last week. Most weeks we now have the very good fortune to be talking regularly with some outstanding educators, and it was on one of our calls that several teachers wanted
The Dark Arts of Our Agents of Change Read More »
Today’s show is another one of the “thought exercise” episodes, so get ready for your thinking to be challenged! We’re discussing a book that came out about 20 years ago, The Answer to How is Yes, by Peter Block. This book twists the way we think about how change happens and explores the relationship between
#35: The Answer to How is Yes Read More »
It’s been a while since we had a “Sarason Moment.” And since I’m spending some of my 14 hours on a plane to South Africa rereading one of my most powerful influences, I’m thinking this is as good a time as any. For the uninitiated, Seymour Sarason authored over 40 books, and is the person
The Artistry of Teaching Read More »
In the midst of everything else we have currently going at Modern Learners, recently I was lucky enough to set aside time to sit in on one day of the exceptional professional learning program that runs at one of our local schools here in Melbourne. It’s the start of the school year here in Australia,
This is What Powerful Professional Learning Looks Like Read More »
In today’s conversation, we take a deep dive into a recent article in The Guardian by Cathy Davidson, a professor at City University of New York. Cathy says we have to “reverse the outcome-oriented educational monster we have unleashed . . .” We also are discussing Peter Gray’s article in Psychology Today, “The Joy and
#34: Are We Doing the Right Thing in Schools? Read More »
I’m reading another one of those books that’s profoundly changing my thinking about change in schools. And yes, as always, it’s like 20 years old. It may seem weird that I keep going back in time to find the most powerful ideas for this moment. I mean, not a week (day?) goes by any more
Well, 2018 has certainly kicked off with some extremes. In the first week of the year, we saw –37°C on top of Mount Washington in NH US, while on the same day in Melbourne Australia it was +37°C. (that’s –36°F to +100°F ) I’m glad I had the beaches, but I’m tipping this is a
2018-The Year For Living Dangerously Read More »
Scott Looney talks to us about grades We are thinking outside the box today about the foundational elements of grades and high school transcripts in the US educational system. Scott Looney is the Headmaster at the Hawken School in Cleveland, Ohio, and the founder of the Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC). He discusses his attempt to
#33: Mastery Transcripts to Replace Grades? Read More »
Happy Holidays everyone, and welcome to the final Modern Learners podcast for 2017. We’ve really enjoyed putting these together, and we hope you’ve enjoyed listening to them even more. This week, Bruce and I cover a couple of different topics. First, we pull back some of the layers around the language we use in schools,
#32: Words Matter, and an End of the Year Wrap Up Read More »
If we’re talking about kids and schools, and I say “success,” what do you think of? How about “achievement”? Or “high expectations”? I’ve written many times about my surprise at how little consistency I find among groups of teachers and leaders from the same school have around the word most basic to our work: “learning.”
The Importance of Common Language Read More »
Building on Bruce’s post earlier this week, in our latest podcast we dive a little deeper into the expectations we bring to keynotes and presentations at large (or small) conferences. Do we want to be affirmed? Challenged? Both? Our feeling is that it’s incumbent upon those with a platform to use it to provoke a
#31: Cold Shower Keynotes Read More »
