FutureMakers Newsletter 20 October 2023
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| Kia ora koutou katoa. Greetings from Palm Springs, California, where i have been attending the Aurora Institute Symposium, taking the opportunity to connect with a number of old friends and meet some new ones – all part of the ‘tribe’ of educators focused on making a difference for young people in a ‘transformed’ education system. Pictured with me here is Dr Loretta Goodwin, the interim CEO of the Institute. This newsletter features a number of items gleaned from the conference. |
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Meet my Agency By Design co-authors
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| In my previous newsletter I announced the release of our new book, Agency By Design, which is available now as a free download from the Aurora Website. Pictured above are my co-authors (from left to right) Marsha Jones, George Edwards and Annette Thompson. We’ve worked on this book for the past two years, but it was only at the conference that I met George for the first time in person! Our book was featured in a workshop at the conference and we were extremely pleased with the initial response and the people who had already downloaded and read it. |
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Unlocking the Future of Learning
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| The theme of this year’s symposium was Unlocking the Future of Learning, and throughout the keynotes, workshops and seminars this theme was explored from a range of perspectives. It is clear that the focus for transformation has shifted from merely focusing on structural and organisational aspects of schooling, to a more fundamental re-thinking of the very foundations of our education system itself. |
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From the opening keynote (see below) through to the panel sessions with students and the various workshops on offer, the need to challenge mindsets and completely re-think so much of what we do was a key focus.
The fact is, we cannot claim to be pursuing personalised, competency-based outcomes for our learners if we fail to fully understand and respond to the increadible inequities (both historic and current) that marginalise so many of our students and commit them to being unable to participate fully and succeed on the same basis as many of their peers. For me it is refreshing to see this emphasis being brought to the fore – particuarly as I reflect on the challenges I see lyiing ahead for the education system back in New Zealand where I’ll be returning to soon.
You can find recordings of the keynote presentations from the conference on the Aurora Institute YoutTube channel. |
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Building Liberatory Assessment Systems
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The video above is of the opening keynote of the conference presented by Alcine Mumby of Envision Learning Partners.
For me this keynote really set the scene for where my interest in the future of education lies – and reminded me a lot of the focus that was prominent at the recent Ulearn conference in New Zealand, where the issues of equity, inclusion, anti-racism and social justice featured prominently.
In her keynote Alcine explained how the roots of our assessment systems lie in the ‘white supremacy mindset of eugenics’. She discussed how performance assessment can be a key equity strategy – giving students the opportunity to declare what they know, how they’ve learned it, and how they plan on using that knowledge to change the world.
Alcine is introduced by Loretta Goodwin, who provides a personal perspective on the topic based on her experience of being raised and educated in South Africa during the apartheid years. |
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The Water of System Change
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| In her keynote (featured above) Alcine Miumby referenced the six conditions of system change which is introduced in a document tilted The Water of System Change. She used this model to emphasise the need for us to be focused on changing mindsets as a necessary pre-condition to achieving changes at the ‘upper levels’ in areas such as policy and educational practices. This resonated strongly with me as it was something I also emphasised in my keynote presentation at the ULearn conference, focusing on the need to understand what shapes the beliefs we hold and how this influences our decision making. |
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Leading change in times of change
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| I ran a workshop at the conference titled Leading Change in Times of Change – you can view my slides here. The emphasis I brought was that while many education leaders are open to and calling for change, very few actually have the level of ‘change literacy’ required to effectively lead the change. I introduced the framework for the Friction Free Transformation platform for change that I have been developing with colleague, Harry Mills back in New Zealand. This involves techniques and tools for building buy in, removing roadblocks and establishing a culture of experimentation as key strategies for a transformational change leadership approach. |
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New Mexico Capstone Projects
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| One of the workshops I really enjoyed was run by staff of Future Focused Education, led by Tony Monfiletto (pictured left). I’ve followed their EQ2 Initiative work with schools in New Mexico with great interest for some time, so it was great to hear about it all ‘in-person’ from those involved. They are are committed to transforming teaching, learning, and assessment through student-led, culturally and linguistically-responsive practices including graduate profiles, capstones, assessment literacy, and work-based learning. I’ve shared one of the videos about their Capstone Project work on regular occasions – if you haven’t watched it I recommend you do to understand more of what this group are doing. |
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Make High School Meaningful
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| Another group making transformational change in schools is the team from SpringPoint Schools. Their recent publication titled Making High School Meaningful provides some really great advice. They say students have little say over what they are learning, they rarely know the “why” of what they are working on, and they are seldom asked to tap into their own curiosity or bring their own strengths and interests into the classroom. This publication outlines how you can change that!. While you’re at it, you may also like to check out another of their publications titled Designing New School Models – A practical guide. |
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Innovative Learning Models Exchange
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| A major sponsor of the Aurora event was Transcend Education, whose work featured in a number of the presentations where schools have been working on transformational approaches to improve student learning. Many of these stories are captured in their Innovative Learning Models Exchange, I’m looking forward to catching up with co-founder, Jeff Wetzler, when he visits New Zealand later this year to continue our conversations of ways we might work together. |
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| At FutureMakers we use a range of forums to curate good ideas and resources. Check out the following… |
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I’m always interested to hear your feedback or ideas about what you’d like to see included in future newsletters – please use the link below to email me with your suggestions.
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