Sustaining Outdated Practices Will Not Transform Schools

When one looks at education in general there is very little change from over 150 years ago.  Back then the education system was designed to serve an industrialized world that was in desperate need of skilled factory workers.  What resulted was the quick development of a system to educate as many students as possible in a fashion that was cheap and easy.  Conforming to this system created masses of compliant students who ultimately acquired the necessary skills to assist society become more industrialized. Fast forward 150 years and you will notice that the world has radically changed, but education has not. What are we really preparing our students for then? Seth Godin puts this question into context in the video below.

Watching the video above is a painful reminder of my lack of leadership at one point. During the early years as a high school principal I worked terribly hard to sustain practices that had been ingrained into the school learning culture. These practices looked good when viewed on the outside as they sustained the status quo, maintained control, and ensured the enforcement of rules/policies with the end result being an efficient educational system.  The resulting culture focused squarely on the metrics that my stakeholders held dear. So in the end my leadership was defined by maintaining a building driven by standardized test scores and how well students were able to conform to the system that I was brainwashed into sustaining. Luckily for me I was diverted along a different path thanks to an epiphany provided by social media.

Image credit: http://pursuant-blog.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/shutterstock_294142517-e1445957840283.jpg

Upon reflection many years later, I have realized that my efforts created a stagnant school culture that was not appreciated in the least bit by the most important stakeholder group I was responsible for – my students.  If that was not bad enough, I also kept other stakeholders in the dark in regards to the innovative work that was taking place each and every day in my school as I relied on traditional methods of communication.  The evolution of technology has and continues to invoke fear in the eyes and minds of many types of school leaders tasked with transforming school cultures.  The fears, perceptions, and misconceptions that drive many leaders to maintain the status quo only work to perpetuate a growing disconnect that students experience with learning today. Conversely so other stakeholders remain in the dark in a time when leaders must be proactive with public relations to combat the negative rhetoric prevalent across the globe when it comes to education.

We can no longer afford to not only sustain an outdated system, but also rely on archaic practices that no longer have measurable impact.  The good news here is that the principles of effective leadership form a solid foundation to move schools in the direction that they need to go.  Digital leadership takes into account these effective principles that define great leadership along with the core work leaders do each and every day while leveraging available technology to do what is being done better. For greater context here are two recent posts I wrote for Scholastic:

• Why today’s school leaders must become digital leaders: Leadership is no different today than it was years ago. The only difference is that style and focus need to change with the times if we are to accomplish the lofty task of preparing students for a dynamic world that is more social and connected as a result of technology. 
• The seven pillars of effective digital leadership: Specific areas embedded in the culture of all schools that can be improved or enhanced through the use of available technology, especially social media. They present a framework from which any educator or leader can begin to harness the power of technology to change professional practice and initiate sustainable change. 

It is up to leaders in all positions to work smarter, not harder, if we are to create schools that provide an education that means something to our learners. For this to happen though, leaders need to get their heads out of the sand, acknowledge that the system and outdated practices no longer suffice, and take action to improve school culture.  If not, yet another generation of students will be lost upon graduation.

Standardization Will Destroy Our Education System, If It Hasn't Already

Cross-posted at the Huffington Post.


This summer I have made a commitment to reading more and have chosen books that I think will help me become a better leader.  A few weeks ago I finished Drive by Daniel Pink and am now halfway through with Linchpin bySeth Godin.  I highly recommend both of these book at any educators who is interested about the science behind motivation or overcoming resistance to become and indispensable component of an educational organization. 

Through my reading of both books it has become painfully clear that many of our current politicians and so-called educational reformers have it completely wrong when it comes to standardization.  Now I have always thought this was the case, but these two books have not only reaffirmed my views, but also given me a great deal of concern as we inch closer to an educational system that focuses on test scores as the number one determinant of achievement. 

Image credit: http://www.noodle.org/noodlings/k-12/decoding-standardized-test-scores

Dan Pink reveals that the keys unlocking and sustaining intrinsic motivation are autonomy, mastery, and purpose.  As a leader this is the type of teaching and learning culture that I want to foster and cultivate, one where creativity flourishes, students find relevancy and meaning in their learning, and teachers are given the support to be innovative.  A teaching and learning culture powered by intrinsic motivation will achieve this.

Unfortunately we are being forced in the opposite directions.  The current education movement is laden with "if-then" rewards and a carrots & sticks approach to motivation. If students score well on standardized tests they move on to the next grade level or graduate while their teachers receive favorable marks on evaluations.  These are forms of extrinsic motivation and will work in short term, but performance will not be sustainable as those motivated intrinsically.  The same can be said for merit pay.  Pink has provided a compelling case as to why this will never work and this is supported by the research. 

Students are not motivated by standardized tests, as they find no true meaning and value in them.  Teachers are motivated for all the wrong reasons, of which includes job security or a financial incentive.  A focus on standardization narrows the curriculum and creates a teaching culture where creativity, exploration, critical thinking are scarce or non-existent.  It creates a culture that students do not want to be a part of and one that can only be sustained with the use of "if-then" rewards or carrots and sticks.  Is this the direction we want to go in?  Do we want schools to squash creativity and reinforce a model that worked will in the 20^th Century that will not prepare our students for their future?

Seth Godin describes linchpins as indispensable components of an organization that are artists in there own right.  These individuals don’t follow a manual, but instead are guided by an urge to do what is right.  In my opinion we want to create schools that allow teachers to become linchpins because in the end students benefit from their creativity, passion, and innovative mindset. However, standardization follows in the footsteps of a century-old education model focused on industrialization, which influences teachers and administrators in a way where the artist in each of them never evolves.  This entrenched system produces students that lack creativity, are fearful of failure, work extremely hard to follow directions (homework, study for tests, not question authority), and are leaving schools with undesirable skills in a post-industrial society. Schools focus more on filling the minds of students with useless facts and knowledge as opposed to learning essential skills that can't be measured with a #2 pencil.

Godin continues to provide example after example of how education has it all wrong.  Take the resume for example.  Virtually every school has students craft one to go along with their college application materials.  Students don't need resumes, they need to create artifacts of learning that provides detail as to what they can really do or know.  Godin provides a compelling alternative to a traditional resume and hiring process.  I have tweaked the business example he provided into an educational one. Instead of standardization, have students make a presentation of their resume and skills learned while in school.  Have them defend, answer questions, and lead a discussion with a variety of stakeholders.  Does this seem more meaningful and relevant? When analyzing the science of motivation presented to Drive I would certainly say so. 

My only hope, and this is wishful thinking, is that research and common sense will ultimately prevail to save our education system from future demise if those with influence and power keep steering us in a failed direction.  Let us learn from the past and create an educational system that instills a sense of intrinsic motivation and creates learners that are indispensable.