Building School 2.0:
Creating the Schools We Need
Chris Lehmann
Science Leadership Academy

Who Is This
Guy?

Why This Matters

My Bias:
School 2.0 is
Progressive Education
with 21st Century
Tools

More Bias:
Citizenry, Not Workforce

One Last Bias:
Public Education = Democracy

What They Say About Us
Obsolete
Broken
Wasteland
Money Pits
Failing

The Problem Is...
If we keep down our current path, they’re right.

Our Biggest Problem:
A Lack of Vision
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lnx/6257130/

Project-Based Learning Blogs
Web 2.0
Student-Centered Learning
Numeracy
Differentiated Instruction 21st Century Literacy
Edu-Speak
Direct Instruction
Authentic Assessment
Standards-Driven Instruction
Twitter
Accountability
Life-Long Learning
Wikis

We Deny Words Power
When They Are Not Embedded In Practice

Another Big Problem:
A Lack of Humility

A Related Problem:
Educators Are Too A-Historical

What the school system needs to understand is that its
strength lies, not in the strength of the central organization,
but in the strength of the individual school, not in making
one school like another, but in making each school a distinct
unit. The need of the system is the preservation of its units,
so that each school can keep itself alive, wide awake,
responsive to its people, easily adaptable, the best of its kind.
Angelo Patri -- A Schoolmaster of the Great City

You Can’t Standardize
Differentiated Instruction,
Differentiated Schools

A Crazy Thought...
About Math Teaching,Virtual Schools and
Why Class Still Matters

Things Are Different
How Do We Deal With That?

If we teach today's students
as we taught yesterday's, we
rob them of tomorrow.
John Dewey

If you want creative workers, give them
enough time to play.
- John Cleese
http://www.flickr.com/photos/edublogger/
838786841/
Photo by Ewan McIntosh

We Learn Best
When It Matters To Us

The illiterate of the 21st century will
not be those who cannot read and
write, but those who cannot learn,
unlearn and relearn.
-- Alvin Toffler
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mwichary/2225299236/

Scary Thought:
What are we willing to unlearn and relearn?

What Is Your Vision?
Who Do We Want Our Kids To Be?
How Do We Help Them Best?

My Two Cents:
Thoughtful
Wise
Passionate
Kind

Science Leadership Academy
•Inquiry
•Research
•Collaboration
•Presentation
•Reflection

Gates Foundation
• Rigor
• Relevance
• Relationships
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/UnitedStates/Education/TransformingHighSchools/

Coalition of Essential
Schools
• Learning to use one’s mind well.
• Less is More, depth over coverage
• Goals apply to all students
• Personalization
• Student-as-worker, teacher-as-coach
• Demonstration of mastery
• A tone of decency and trust
• Commitment to the entire school
• Resources dedicated to teaching and learning
• Democracy and equity
http://www.essentialschools.org/pub/ces_docs/about/phil/10cps/10cps.html

High Tech High
• Personalization
• Adult World Connection
• Common Intellectual
Mission
http://www.hightechhigh.org/about/design-principles.php

Disrupting Schools
• Maximize human potential.
• Facilitate a vibrant, participatory democracy in
which we have an informed electorate that is
capable of not being “spun” by self-interested
leaders.
• Hone the skills, capabilities, and attitudes that will
help our economy remain prosperous and
economically competitive.
• Nurture the understanding that people can see
things differently -- and that those differences
merit respect rather than persecution.
Disrupting Schools, pg. 1

Christian Long’s Learning Manifesto
• “Playing Small Does Not Serve The World:” Your Brain Is Your Brand.
• What Would Socrates Do?
• Nobody Cares That You Walked Uphill Both Ways in the Snow.
• Got Passion? If Not, I’ll Tell You What To Care About.
• My Memory Is Only As Big As My Heart, Otherwise I’ll Stick With Google.
• Look It Up Or Die.
• Collaboration Ain’t About Holding Hands. It’s About Going Places Fast.
• This Will Go Down On Your Permanent Record.
• It Ain’t About the Technology, It’s About Being Inside the Story
• Nobody Knows the Answer. Get Comfy With the Questions.
http://thinklab.typepad.com/think_lab/2007/01/the_future_of_l.html

Discussion:
What Is Your Vision For Your School?
What Is Your Manifesto For Education?

Caring Institutions
We Teach Kids, Not Subjects

Inquiry-Driven
What are the questions we
can ask together?

Student-Centered
It’s Not About Us.

Teacher-Mentored
Kids Need Adults

Community-Based
We can learn from many

Collaborative
Synthesis Works

Passionate
And it has to matter.

Integrated
The day has to make sense

Meta-Cognitive
We need to think
about thinking.

Authentic
Assessment as Real and Transparent

Transparent
We Can Invite the World To Our Schools

What Does Tech Do?

Relevance?

Paraphrasing Neil
Postman:
Certain Technologies Are Not
Additive, They Are
Transformative

Technology Must Be
Like Oxygen
Ubiquitous, Necessary and Invisible

Research
Collaborate
Create
Present
Network

A Convenient And Reasonably False Taxonomy
Research Collaborate Create Network Present
RSS Wikis Blogging Twitter uStream
Google
Del.icio.us Docs Drupal Skype Flickr
Google Moodle Podcasting Facebook iTunes U
Wikipedia Digital Films IM Voicethread
Email

The Killer App:
•Student Information
System
•Student Reporting System
•Parent Interface
•“Walled Garden”
•School / Student
Publishing Tool
•And more... (Library, etc...)

Hiring
Scheduling
Curriculum
Administration
Systems and Structures
Parent Relations
Professional
Food Service
Development
Assessment

Say What You Do
And Do What You Say

We Teach Kids,
Not Subjects

Discussion Prompt:
• How do we create curriculum in this
model?
• What do we teach when THIS is
available 24/7?
• How do you establish a link between
your manifesto and your curriculum?
• What does assessment look like in
your model?

Before You Leave For Lunch....

Common Language of
Teaching and Learning

Traditional
Classrooms:
Recall-Based Tests
Homework
Projects
Class Participation

The Schools
We Need:
Understanding-
Driven Projects
Homework
Class Participation
Tests & Quizzes

Common Inputs

Common Process

Common Assessment
Tools

What is Teacher 2.0?
• How is a teacher’s life
different in this model?
• What are the skills necessary
to teach in this world?
• How do we find new
teachers?
• How do we help resistant
teachers to adapt?

Break-Out:
Examine Five Other Systems and Structures
of Your School:
How Should They Change To Better Reflect
Your Values.

Hard Questions:
• What is the worst consequence of your
best idea?
• How can you mitigate them?
• What are the obstacles to this change?
• How can you overcome them?

Creating Change
What is the action plan to move the systems and
structures of your school / classroom closer to the
values you espouse?
• One month plan
• One year plan
• Three year plan

What is the role of teacher
in the age of Google?

Wisdom.

Keep In Touch:
Chris Lehmann
Science Leadership Academy
chris@practicaltheory.org
http://www.practicaltheory.org
Twitter: chrislehmann
Skype: chrislehmann
EduCon 2.2 -- Jan. 29-31, 2010
http://educon22.wikispaces.com