We spend too much effort trying to get students to fit the programs we've designed. Rather than start from a perspective that says, “We have what you need,” what if we started with asking, “What is it that you need?” Why do we do things the way we do?
Peter DeWitt wonders if leaders are starting with 'why' or if they are just doing things because they are told to or because the "research" suggests it. Leaders often opt for what Fullan calls symplexity: identify core factors and then expect them to function within the complex connections of individuals and groups. Who gets the blame when initiatives don't work?
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| "It's me or the car," she said.Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/6LxbVVm |
And what do you do when there isn't one 'why?' The whys are contextual. We won't replace a one-size-fits-all system with a many-sizes-fit-one system. This is the age of multiplicities. It isn't about this or that, it's about this and that and that and and. Whole system reform should enable the emergence of multiple, interconnected systems.
Are we able to do it?
Efficacy is both "the belief that you are capable of stimulating change" and the belief that "the conditions in which you find yourself..enable or permit you to create the envisioned change” (Smyth). Teachers are mostly left with implementing policies and programs, rather than creating them. And students? While they are supposed to be the reason for the whole endeavour, they are at the bottom of all the directives with little or no voice in all the efforts that are supposed to be for their benefit.
Many personalized learning initiatives today are about finding other ways to meet mandated outcomes and standards. Many of these are good initiatives. With an "and" mindset, we can keep experimenting with initiatives and keep what works. Meeting the needs of different individuals and groups will lead to fragmentation and fracture the social constructs we've become accustomed to as "the way it's done," age-based classes, marks, siloed courses, the "graduations."
What's changing now that may inform our why?
The idea of a graduation diploma holds that students are ready for a career or post-secondary education. What does "ready" mean in a rapidly evolving, complex world?
While school is not the only place where one can gain knowledge and life skills, it is the only place one can get a high school diploma. Let's be honest. Does a high school diploma prove one is ready for a career or post-secondary education? It's a marker. A marker that has more social than practical relevance. We all know people who haven't graduated. Yes, some have lower-paying jobs, others are successful. Is it the diploma or the belief of the (lack of) diploma? I know many who became entrepreneurs and developed successful businesses without graduating. And yet, some of these financially successful people feel a sense of "not measuring up" because they did not graduate. A high school diploma has been afforded social status and power. It's the key threat used to make students "learn" things for which they repeatedly ask, "WHY are we doing this?"
There is a shift though that I hope will help education leaders formulate their why.
"There is a growing body of evidence that what students learn — or more likely don’t learn — in college makes them ill-prepared for the global job market."1
Taking a course is quite different than figuring out how to solve a real problem, plan and execute a project. After years of schooling where one works to "get it done," little time and effort has been dedicated to creativity and the creation of unique and meaningful ideas and projects.
"Basically, listing degrees on a resume is out; successfully completing projects that demonstrate competencies is in."2
The value of credentials and traditional hiring metrics is weakening, Google being one example. Ernst & Young showed that "after an internal 18-month study of 400 employees found little evidence that academic success was correlated with how well new hires performed on the job."
So, I agree with Simon Sinek and Peter DeWitt. Let's do a re-start with why. And let's be sure to bring why along as the compass for the journey.