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Change.School; Because Who Wants to Struggle Alone? (3.0)

Change, as I have learned, can be a struggle. I've written previously about my fifty years of learning and teaching in schools, thinking this bought me some measure of credibility and expertise. However, I've come to discover my deepest, most impactful learning has not taken place in formal settings, but recently through social networks and communities of practice. Formal education needs to change to meet the needs of modern learners in a modern world. 

 Struggle, my revelation that five decades of school-based experience means I have more to unlearn in my quest to help transform schools into centers of relevant, personal learning.Transformation is also a struggle, it's the unraveling and scrutinizing of years of doing what I believed was the right thing. Since my preference is to not struggle alone, I 've joined the third cohort of Change.School.

Not really a course, Change.School is a community of practice, a group of educators and thought-change leaders who are interested in changing the narrative associated with traditional, and essentially outdated, schooling. When we compare our beliefs with the current realities pertaining to schools, it becomes obvious why we much revise and update our school narratives. Incremental change is not likely to keep pace with our rapidly changing world. We're talkin' total reimagination here!

 Led by Will Richardson, Bruce Dixon, and Missy Emler from Modern Learners.com, change.school offers participants resources, conversations, experiences, and connections to develop vision and leadership necessary for changing our school narratives. The cohort lasts eight weeks and includes a lifetime membership in the change.school community.

 My initial interest in change.school started when I read Will's post, "We're Trying To Do The Wrong Things Right". From that point forward, I saw daily examples of school struggles having little, to no, impact on learning. The change.school team hosted a social hour at the ISTE-2017 conference in San Antonio. Meeting participants from cohorts one and two convinced me this is a movement I want to be a part of.

 A few days into our change.school 3 experience, I've engaged in deep thinking and conversation, connected with thought-change leaders from around the world, and have started drafting a road map for creating a new learning story. This is not a struggle of frustration and doubt, rather it's a struggle of challenge, reconceptualization, and optimism. Upcoming posts will serve as transparent submissions to my change.school playbook.

 I am looking forward to learning with my new friends and co-conspirators at change.school.
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Location: Libertyville, IL, USA

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