Don’t ask kids what they want to be when they grow up; rather ask what problem they want to solve. Their careers may not exist yet. Call me bonkers but I’ve been reading The Future of Employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation? It’s a recent working paper from Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford and it focuses on the…
“The Great Disruption: Technology and the Future of Schools” The latest issue of Independent School magazine is out and it’s a good one. Among many good articles there is this from retiring NAIS president Pat Bassett: The Third Great American Revolution. It’s a stirring call for action, almost a manifesto – for educators to rise to the challenge of our…
The strategic planning process to date has primarily been one of listening and paying attention. When we look at the comments from the parent and faculty surveys and the listening sessions we are struck by the thematic congruity. One thread – woven throughout – can best be summed up as Learning by Doing – a desire for school to be…
Connecting the Dots: Becoming a Knowledge Age Innovator Interesting 2009 short article by Deborah Westphal of Toffler Associates Key points include: Innovation is essential to the long-term success of every organization. But innovation isn’t what it used to be. Discovery doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Innovators have always relied on ideas that have come before or are emerging in parallel. The Knowledge Age provides…
We are at the beginning of a period of focused strategic thinking at school and the Board of Trustees has convened a planning group to lead the process. One of the ways I have been preparing for this has been to compile resources that I think might be helpful in framing the discussion and a shortlist of thought leaders who…
Poughkeepsie Day School – it’s just not the real world. Of course it’s not. And – thank goodness for that. And here’s why. 1. The Future: Schools work with children and young people whose lives are ahead of them. We need to be ahead of the curve and working to make things better not reflecting the status quo. Real world?…
The classroom is obsolete: it’s time for something new – said Prakash Nair in Education Week. last July. And that’s not just his opinion he says. “It’s established science.” The classroom is a relic, left over from the Industrial Revolution, which required a large workforce with very basic skills. …As the primary place for student learning, the classroom does not…
The future is based on impromptu innovation, inspiration and connections – that’s a paraphrase from Seth Godin’s blog today and I urge you to read it: The forever recession (and the coming revolution). And when you have ask this question: If Seth Godin is even close to right: What kind of schools, classrooms, programs – what kind of education- do…
T.S.Eliot worked for Faber and now they have published an app for The Wasteland. Is this the future of English studies? Imagine what a great project it would be for a class to create the app for a work of literature they loved. I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
Mindless and disturbing commercial hype or … finally … the opportunity to realize the long-held, unfulfilled dreams of boundless learning? Stephen Heppell via Matt Sculley Photo: Ryan Wilson
Last night’s forum was a discussion of digital technology and social media and their impact on learning and education. Thank you parents, students and faculty for joining the discussion. There’s lots more learning and thinking to do and I look forward to the on-going exploration and conversation. We will be actively planning ways to open the discussion to the whole…
This video from the MacArthur Foundation shows a variety of key and influential people discussing some of the new possibilities in learning, school design and the new opportunities for informal learning. It opens with John Seeley Brown “The most important thing for kids today is the love of embracing change.” “We find when we talk about 21st century skills, people…
This video was produced by the New Brunswick, Canada, Department of Education. It reflects their thinking about our rapidly changing world, the future of education and the needs of their students. At PDS we are always thinking about our students and how to serve them best. As you watch the film – what are your thoughts about education, our children,…
Part two of: The Age of Bricolage: School in the Change Blender: Technology is always disruptive: Think of the introduction of the printing press, or the combine harvester, or the typewriter. Think of the mechanical looms and the factory system of the industrial revolution that destroyed a way of life for cottage industry weavers. Some of them took to frame…
When everything around is changing so rapidly that it feels like living inside a blender on high speed, habits and traditions can be comforting. As the year rolls along in any school there are the dates on the calendar – love them or dread them, those ceremonies, and celebrations – that are familiar, anticipated and taken for granted. And then…