If you say it...Do it!

If you take the time to say you’re going to do something, then do it!  This seems to be an easy maxim to live up to; but I know I (at times) do not live up to it.  Aligning your actions to the philosophy involves two things.  First, be careful and deliberate about what you say.  Make sure that what you contribute to a conversation is relevant and worthwhile.  Second, if you say you will do something, then do it…simple!

In American Ulysses, author Ronald White tells the story of Ulysses S. Grant in such a way that the reader better understands the man behind the myths that have grown around him.  I admit that I am an admirer of Ulysses S. Grant.  This is the third biography that I have read about him.  I am drawn to him because he is relatable.  He was an average man from an average family who was extraordinary at leading armies in war.  In the middle of one battle that was not going well for the Union, another Union General approached Grant and asked if he had considered his retreat options.  His answer is classic.  He told the General, “I have not despaired of whipping them, General”.  His army won the battle the next day.  Constant forward motion and action were his hallmarks as a commander.  He coupled constant forward action with a reserved, quiet demeanor that calmed those around him.  At the battle of Shiloh after the first day in which the Union almost lost the battle, General Sherman found Grant alone, under a tree.  Sherman said, “Well Grant, we’ve had the devil’s own day today haven’t we?”.  Grant replied, “Yes, lick ‘em tomorrow though”.  The Union won the battle the next day.  Grant did not start a dissertation with Sherman about what went wrong in the battle up to that point.  Rather, he simply stated what he believed would happen the next day and did not give up.

We can learn a lot from Grant’s example of leadership:  don’t talk too much and always move forward.  In the world of education, there are too many examples of leaders who need to hear themselves talk while forgetting that ACTION is what really counts.  We must follow our convictions and quietly, forcefully, do what is right for the learners in our care.   We cannot start to plan a “strategic retreat” when a program that we started to help kids does not unfold the exact way we envisioned it.  We must have the courage of our convictions to keep moving forward! We must have the courage to see through to the end programs that help kids. We must learn to keep moving forward constantly, inevitably, moving toward our goals.  For me, this means creating learning experiences that place the learner at the center of everything that we do.  What does it mean to you?

Extravagant Ambition

I just finished reading Bruce Springsteen's autobiography, Born to Run.  I spend a lot of time in my vehicle and I listen to a lot of books on the Audible app.  What was cool about this book is that Bruce narrates it...nice!

He shared some nuggets of wisdom that stop and made me think.  He describes himself as having "extravagant ambition".  Imagine having ambition that is extravagant.  It is out of bounds, over the top, wildly impractical ambition.  Now imagine if we could help people peek into their own souls to tap into their own extravagant ambition.  Now that would be fun!  Another nugget that has made me ponder some things is: "Sometimes it ain't what your doing, but what happens while your doing it, that matters".  At work I worry that I get caught up in creating or developing programs for kids and school districts and forget to look for "what is happening while we are doing it".

At the most basic level, learning is built on a relationship created between people.  We can differentiate instruction, form cooperative learning groups, and rearrange the classroom, or any of a number of other things to try to "engage" students...and these are all good things.  However, the magic is not in the dry, technocratic strategies used by teachers.  The magic is in the relationship that is built between people that allows learning to take place.  A learning relationship occurs naturally in the "real world" and we don't even think about it.  We should approach our relationships with kids in the same manner and not overthink it.  Build the relationship!

Three Supports for the MCL Vision

IU8 has been extremely focused over the last three years on promoting and supporting learning that places the learner and the learning experience at the center of education.  I am so proud of the hard work that IU employees have put into building partnerships with school districts that shifts the focus away from content and onto the learner.  In our conversations with educational leaders around the Mid Atlantic region about our learning ecosystem, we always point out that the learner and the learning experience are the prism through which we view our actions.  Taking this view (some might say “radical personalization”) shifts our thinking in significant ways.

If one believes that the learner and the learning experience are truly at the center of ALL that we do, then we must believe that serious systemic change must occur within our education system.  As noted in an earlier blog, these changes do not necessarily mean we must look at changing the entire “system” all at once.  That is too overwhelming.  However, all of us can change our part of the world in which we have control.  These “little changes” multiply until they lead to exponential change.  In my view, the necessary changes that lead to this exponential transformation are at the heart of Mass Customized Learning.  MCL is a mindset that the system in which we operate must (and more importantly CAN and WILL) change. 

Think of MCL as a three legged stool supported by Mindset change, performance based learning and personalization.  These three traits support the vision of Mass Customized Learning.  The work of Carol Dweck and the value of a growth mindset is essential for changing the learning paradigm.  Students, as well as teachers, must have the belief that effort builds intelligence.  This belief serves as a bedrock foundation for MCL.  You must understand and believe it to really have change.  The next leg in the stool is performance based learning.  Performance based learning is simple: learners should not move on to another lesson until they have shown that they have mastered the current lesson/topic.  The days that we just move learners on from one topic to the next regardless of whether they have actually learned anything (just for the sake of “getting through the curriculum”) are over.  Let’s take the word “learning” seriously and use it with integrity: we need to act with the moral clarity to assure our learners (and their families) that schools will not allow learners to be “pushed” through in the name of finishing a curriculum.  Finally, personalization of the learning experience is essential for systemic change to occur.  We have the knowledge and the technology to create a radical personalized learning experience for all of our students.  For years we have had pockets of personalization that occurred in certain schools or subject areas.  We have now progressed to the point where we can do this for all learners.  All aspects of learning support the vision of systemic change that is inherent in the MCL vision.

Blogging From The Leadership Academy Day 1

For the next three days I will blog from the “Leadership Academy”.  The Leadership Academy is a joint effort between IU’s 8, 10, and 11.  Once a year all schools in the three IU’s (56 school districts) have an opportunity to come together to learn and share.  Every year there is a theme in which we center our learning around.  This year the theme is “launching ideas”.  Educators and the education system has always been inundated with ideas and reforms.  Some of these ideas have been better than others.  Regardless of their potential effectiveness, incorporating a new idea into a system is a challenge.  Oftentimes school districts will implement a new idea only to panic after the “implementation dip” that inevitably occurs and will abandon the idea.  It is very difficult to judge the true effectiveness of an idea or a reform if we do not allow enough time for the idea to get embedded in the system.  This year, we felt that spending time learning about project management and implementation would benefit all of our schools. 

Our society is changing from a command and control system where people are told what to do to a system where collaboration, collegiality and teaming are paramount. In the industrial model, there is a control structure in place to assure that what the “higher ups” deem necessary will occur in the way they want it to happen.  For example, think about how reading series in elementary school are often so scripted that teachers just read from a script.  This type of system is no longer viable IF you care about learning.  Organizations now must concentrate on collaboration and teaming to effectively change our practice. The result of this change for education is that the best ideas for learning will come from the people within the system.  We are coming to realize that a great idea does not have to be a “big idea”.  Ideas that lead to significant system change often seem small.  In other words, organic ideas coming from the people within the system is the future of system change.  Educators must be thoughtful about how they implement a new idea regardless of the origination of the idea.  The goal for this leadership conference is to share strategies and best practices centered on project management and idea implementation.  Changing learning to a system that is radically learner centered takes creative idea generation and thoughtful implementation practices.  The leadership academy is an important start for that change.