Reinventing Education

Here at Reinventing Education, we have a theory that the three main aims of school are citizenship, workplace preparation and self development. But how does a mainstream school, with its core value of opportunity, carry out these three aims?

And when push comes to shove, where does it devote its limited resources?

Join us! And be sure to let us know your thoughts and experiences in this area at reinventingeducationpodcast@gmail.com and on Twitter.

In today's show we refer to this paper written by Shuayb & O'Donnell (UK National Foundation for Educational Research) which compares aims in schools across Europe since the 1960s.  

The website purposeofschool.org was also very helpful in clarifying school aims.

Today we launch Season 5 in earnest with our first deep dive into the world of the "mainstream" school. This is the school just down the road. It's the one that populates our collective memory. It's a world of differentiation, standardised tests, sports teams, report cards, graduations and qualifications.

The mainstream school is the water that we swim in, and it's very easy to see it as the only form of education. However in this season we will ask, "To what extent does mainstream education fit the global context of the 21st century, and what can it learn from the traditional and progressive systems?

Season 5! Welcome back. We fire up the new season by interviewing Dr. Brad Kershner on issues relating to creating a school that has development at its core. The discussion includes; the fundamental importance of relationships, finding truths that cut across all values and how the codes we speak are not always in alignment with the cognition going on inside us.

Brad Kershner is a school leader and educational theorist. He is currently Head of the Early School at Carolina Friends School in Durham, NC. He earned a MA in Philosophy of Religions at the University of Chicago and a PhD in Education at Boston College. His recent writings and presentations have addressed topics such as: complex systems, mindfulness and meditation, human development, integral theory, racism, and the (mis)use of technology.

Check out one of his talks here - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjktqQ0SSSNwUCcjh-Av1vg

I'm sure you are familiar with the old saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater." meaning that we don't want to lose the best aspects of an idea when we change things up.

 

Every kind of school, be it traditional, mainstream or progressive has some vital, healthy elements that we want to keep and expand on. We call these "babies". While at the same time there are things that are holding us back from really making educational cultures & systems that serve the entire community. These are our "bathwaters".

 

In today's episode, we take a look at the "babies" that the traditional paradigm brought to the table as it swept away the problems that the previous mindset was causing. And then we talk about how some of these same innovations became bathwater in the eyes of the emerging mainstream opportunity minded system over the course of the 20th century. 

 

Hope you enjoy. Thanks for all your support and feedback. We will see you back here after our Summer break for Season 5, as we deep dive into the "mainstream" opportunity minded school!

This episode we are joined by Integral coach Lennie MacLeod, to discuss how schools can use the theories underpinning the Reinventing Education model to become the healthiest possible version of their core values.

We talk on topics such as, how traditional schools allow for redemption, how an administrator can use values to best place staff and how we can consciously move in the direction that is best for the whole community.

For further details on Lennie's work as an integral Coach, or to contact him, please check out his website at https://www.lenniemacleod.com/

Hi. Before you check out episode 52, it might be good to go back and listen to episode 50 for an explanation of all the bits and pieces that make up our attempt to lovingly reinvent education!

Today, we take a casual tour thought the back roads of the Reinventing Education model. We dig deep into some of the pros and cons of the traditional, mainstream and progressive school systems to answer the question, "How we can best serve the huge range of needs within our educational communities?"

Hot off the tightly scripted overview of our model in episode 50, we take a looser journey through the highways and byways of Reinventing Education. We dig into the the Integral theory that underpins many of these ideas before discussing how the three kinds of school; traditional, mainstream and progressive, are battling it out for the soul of education in the 21st century.

Go check out episode 50 first and then join us back here for further glimpses into the nuts and bolts of Reinventing Education!

How do we change education?  This episode is our best answer.

 

In short, we believe that educational change comes when we seek to identify and act on the core values as they manifest across 8 key aspects of school: the activities, resources, systems, environments, communities, cultures, beliefs & reactions.

 

In this special episode, we attempt to summarise our ideas from our first 49 episodes with a focus on how the three types of school that we see today, the traditional, the mainstream & the progressive address the main aims of school: citizenship, self growth & work preparation.

 

We hope you find this interesting and valuable. Let us know what you think!

 

Today we wrap up our season long look at the traditional school!

How does a traditional school communicate with parents? Are the kinds of parent teacher conferences that you find in these schools still meaningful and effective in 2020? Today we dig into the thorny topic of interaction with parents and discuss the strengths & weaknesses in the ways that Traditional schools go about it.

We also talk about how students in a traditional educational system work with those in the local and global community. As with everything, there are babies and bathwaters!

In our reverse sponsorships, we shout out the Circle Schools documentary & the book "The Conditions of Learning" by Robert Gagne.

During the main part of the show, we talk about this study on parent involvement from the University Islam Indonesia, this article from "The Resilient Educator" on great parent teacher conferences and Robert Hart's "Ladder of Participation".

Find us on Twitter or Email us at reinventingeducationpodcast@gmail.com

The traditional school prides itself on having a beautiful range of facilities. From a well maintained grounds, spacious sports pitches and a dining hall that is clean as a whistle to a fully stocked library. 
The benefits of having such a physical environment may be obvious. But in 2020 is it still possible and desirable to have this old school approach?
Today we dig into the babies and bathwater of the security minded traditional school’s physical spaces.

We also look at something that is close to our hearts - the staff meeting. Over the last 15 years Rob & I have attended hundreds of these meetings in traditional, mainstream and progressive schools. So what do they look like in the traditional school and does this form still serve the school?

In today’s episode, we refer to this Quartz article on great meetings & this BBC piece on how meetings may even function as a form of therapy.

Our “reverse sponsorships” today mention Rob's upcoming presentation at the Integral European Conference and the Joseph Campbell classic “The Hero with 1000 Faces”

Find us and feedback to us on Twitter or at reinventingeducationpodcast@gmail.com