Schools as Organic Systems

I am just thinking about the importance of having an education system that is organic, adapting and changing to the needs to the students. Stimulated by this video - cheesy though it may be.

Reflecting back over the rapid technological change of the last 20 years it is worthwhile to explore the nature of schooling as a system, that is organic and changes (or not) according to the changes in the environment. There is no doubt that the technological changes that have happened in the last 20 years are massive. Yet, most futurists agree that the technological changes that will happen over the next 20 years, will make the previous 20 years seem tame in comparison. Digital fabrication and robotics alone will change the environment we live in. Artificial intelligence will help to merge the virtual and the real and data will become so big that the power will be in asking the right questions, rather than getting the answers. For children that are starting school now, at 5 years old, in 20 years time they will only be 25 - not far off having finished their formal education - if that still exists.

          

How can schools take an organic approach and adapt to the needs of the environment, rather than tend building walls and keeping out the outside changes (or at least the technology developments that have come with it). Remember, in the 'real world' those that don't adapt die ... or at least go out of business. 

Change is not easy at the best of times, and often there is the desire to cling onto what is familiar because of our fear of the unknown. Even when we know the familiar is not the best it is 'safe' and we may not want to venture out of that safety zone.

Yet schools are systems, and they should be complex and dynamic systems that live and change and respond to the environment. To survive they need to receive and act on input from the environment and change their output as required. We have reached the stage in education where there is a collision between traditional methods (supplemented with technology) and new demands. How do we enable learning for our students to meet the demands of the future while maintaining traditional structures - is this possible? Rather than continually trying to reform education, it might be time to transform education. To quote Einstein, "You cannot solve the problem with the same kind of thinking that has caused the problem."

So what does this look like in practice?

• Believe that schools are organic organisations that are capable of continual learning, change and improvement.
• Develop a culture of learning and adapting - all teachers and students must be learners and schools need to promote the conditions for learning.
• Ensure schooling is lead by a moral purpose - the values and purpose of education (preparing students for the future) doesn't change, it is the 'how' and 'what' of that that does change.
• Celebrate flexibility and new ways of thinking - because something has always been done that way is not a good reason to do anything (neither is it a reason in itself to change it!);
• Connect inside and outside the school - all systems contain sub-systems that function together to achieve a purpose and these need strong connections to work together effectively. Avoid the piecemeal approach.
• Systems also need to be connected with their environment (social, cultural, technological and physical) so they can adapt and change as necessary, to ensure their quality survival.
• Address the root core of the problem not the symptoms. Managing symptoms does not facilitate sustainable change for improvement.
• Explore the rigid schedules and structures and challenge them - are they still necessary and do they lead to improvement achievement and engagement for students?
• Avoid the discipline-by-discipline approach - explore transdisciplinary approaches rather than siloed curriculum areas.
• Think outside the box (explore moving beyond the boundaries of the existing system)

Future Focused Learning in Connected Communities

Future Focused Learning in Connected Communities

A report by the 21st Century Learning Group

This report recognises that digital competencies are a universal requirement and suggests 10 strategic priorities. Technologies totally change the way people learn, they enable people to take change of their own learning and manage themselves as life-long learners. Digital technologies are one of the enablers that have helped to shift the power from the 'teacher' to the 'learner'.

The ten strategic priorities suggested are:

1. Commit to meeting the needs of 21st century learners; 
2. Achieve equitable access to digital devices for every learner; 
3. Invest in people and innovation; 
4. Create future-focused learning environments; 
5. Invest in high-quality digital content and systems to make content easily accessible;
6. Build regional capability through collaboration; 
7. Build a robust evidence base; 
8. Implement a coordinated, system-wide effort to align curriculum, digital technologies, property, infrastructure, funding and legislation; 
9. Design a coherent, flexible and robust funding structure to support 21st century learning; and 
10. Implement a comprehensive five-year plan from 2014.

This leads to a well-managed approach for the integration of digital technologies to transform how learning happens. Yet, these priorities are still a long way away in many cases, and the challenge is how we can get there, before the goal-posts move even further away from where we are. And the survival of New Zealand in a global and flattened economy is dependant on our education system equipping our young people will the skills and attitudes necessary to thrive in a digital world where they are innovative and inventive creators of content, and collaborative skilled problem-solvers. 

Looking in more detail at the strategic priorities what exactly are the needs of 21st Century learners? Basically they need to be able to be independent and self-managing in a digital world that is constantly changing. They need to be able to communicate, collaborate and be critical and creative thinkers. They cannot rely on knowledge staying static or having other people giving them answers to problems. As educators, we need to ensure our curriculum and pedagogy supports this.

It goes without saying that all learners need ubiquitous access to digital tools and content. This is far from the case in New Zealand with many learners lacking access in their homes. So there needs to be investment in this to ensure we don't have an ever-expanding digital divide. But investment also needs to be in people - devices and infrastructure by itself won't make any difference. It is still the teachers who make a difference and a fostering of connected teachers is extremely powerful as a professional learning tool. No longer does PLD need to be delivered by experts, the power is definitely in the teachers and collaborative learners sharing their practice and learning from each other. This report also mentions the need to support leaders and boards to develop the future focused capabilities of their schools. This needs to be more than providing infrastructure and devices but needs to go to supporting teachers and encouraging innovative practice across the whole of the school. Suggested also, is the need to include digital competencies into the Registered Teacher Criteria and I would say that, 15 years into the 21st Century, this is essential.

I would also like to include here supporting the wider school communities to understand digital competencies and digital tools in education. Such initiatives as BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) can still cause debate among school communities and in the media yet I would regard it as essential (at least for the upper half of primary school and beyond) that students have their own personalised device that they can use at home and school. Why this is important is not always easy to communicate to school communities and families where they may still be on the thought that devices are primarily for playing games and 'screen-time' is not seen as an effective learning tool.

Also mentioned in the report is the nature of Student Management Systems. As someone who has been responsible in schools for the management of a number of different SMS products I don't quite understand why, in 2015, the whole process is a lot more seamless and easy to manage, especially when students move from one school to another. Shouldn't communication between different systems be seamless by now?

Despite the wealth of material on the Internet, quality material can be hard to find and there is a lack of Te Reo Māori and Pasifika content. While I agree that there needs to be quality content I am concerned that if there is too much of a focus on content that there will be a tendency for a content delivery approach to teaching to take place. Rather, I would like to see teachers as skilled creators of content that is able to meet the learning needs of their students. 

Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. Teachers are natural collaborators and this is hugely important for the development of 21st Century understandings. Networking is one of the best professional development that teachers can be involved in and the more this can be supported, the more effective it will be. Alongside this, it is important to value teachers as researchers. Practitioner research in education is extremely powerful as it provides both evidence upon which decisions can be made, and it enhances the reflective practice of teachers. Given power to the teachers, who are experts in their field, is extremely important.

Lastly, successful digital innovations need to be planned for and funded. The cost of supporting digital learning and infrastructure is extremely difficult for many schools and connecting this to wider curriculum needs can be a challenge. Let's look at what is working and explore ways to make these practices scaleable and sustainable so they are available to all. Many boundaries and structures that currently exist around education may need to change so artificial barriers don't hold back the potential that digital technologies have to transform education.

Finally, let's hope that the goals set out in this report are achieved and within the 5-year time frame from 2014 that is stated.