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Reimagining Schools

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Since November I’ve been connecting, every few weeks, with Will Richardson and a group of educational leaders from around BC, Canada in a professional development session run by the BCPVPA (BC Principals and Vice Principals Association) called ‘Reimagining Schools: Confronting Education‘. Right off the bat, Will shared some framings:

• Everything is nature
• We’re not facing “problems” to be solved. We are in a predicament.
• Our predicament stems from the fact that we are out of relationship with each other and all living things on the planet. All of our challenges flow from this disconnect.
• Education is complicit in creating these challenges.
• Collapse is not new. What’s new is that systemic privilege is no longer a buffer.
• Our personal challenge is to face reality or “sit with the shit” and not run from complex, difficult questions.

There are a few deep thoughts that have brewed from these sessions, and yet oddly enough the two most impactful things came from outside the sessions.

First a conflict within me. Will shared a post on LinkedIn where he said,

“I think it’s telling that for all of the conferences and presentations and talks and essays and “achievements” that people post and discuss here, only about 2% of them seem to make any note of the fact that they are happening while:

~ecological limits are being breached
~social trust is eroding
~ AI is reshaping cognition
~ politics are destabilizing
~ inequality is deepening
~ biodiversity is declining at alarming rates

I mean, without using those contexts as a lens for our gatherings or our teaching or writing, what is the actual relevance that we can claim, not just around education, but around living life on the planet in general?

It’s either denial or ignorance. Or maybe it’s concern that if we ground our work in those lenses, no one will show up or read or listen…”

I commented:

“I’d push back a bit and ask what is the conference about?

There’s a cognitive dissonance that is invited when the mind has to weigh these things AND also take in information that people are going to a conference to learn about.

I’m seeing your question play out on social media where people are being called out for not being political and sharing their political stance… on a channel where politics is never discussed.

There needs to be a balance, we can’t stick our head in the sand, but we also can’t pretend (and I do intentionally mean pretend) that acknowledging major issues of global concern are equivalent to somehow authentically addressing them… and topically addressing them when our topic isn’t directly affected by them is to me worse than not mentioning them. It can be a distraction without gain to the intended message.”

Will responded:

“Dave Truss So, I’ll push back a bit on the push back. 🤣

I don’t think it’s a “calling out” as much as it is a reminder. And I don’t disagree that just naming them authentically “addresses” them, but it does provide a different lens for whatever question is in front of us at that moment. Every topic is affected by them. Every one.

Modernity wants to separate everything out into pieces and ignore the interconnectedness of the whole. This is the world we live in right now. It’s all entangled.”

The comment conversation continued, and is worth reading, but doesn’t add to my conflicted feelings about this. On the one hand I completely agree with Will, if we aren’t bringing a contextual lens to what we are sharing, we are somehow missing the interconnectedness of some of the things we should most value and care about. But on the other hand, I’m sitting in a place right now where just two days ago I wrote about being ‘Intentionally disconnected‘ because paying attention to the rather disturbing world events right now feels like too much. I ended the post saying, “for now I lack the capacity to engage. It seems like a futile activity that will anger and upset me, with no gain. It is rare for me to actively choose to be uninformed, but right now is one of those times.”

Therein lies the conflict. I agree with Will, yet I don’t think I’m the only one who isn’t ready to face the harsh realities of the predicaments we are in… especially when I’m trying to learn something new. I think for our students it’s the same. The last of the framings above is, ‘Our personal challenge is to face reality or “sit with the shit” and not run from complex, difficult questions.”

I get it, I really do. But when I’m at a conference or when a student sits in a class, do we really need to ‘sit in it’? Do we need to connect everything we do to the predicaments we live in? Do we need this lens to permeate what we are learning? If I channel my inner Will Richardson I think I’d ask myself, ‘But what value is the learning if it isn’t addressing the predicaments we are in?’ … Again, I’m left conflicted.

For example, can I teach students about using AI in an ethical way and not mention the cost of the energy drain? Is mentioning this once enough or should that be the bigger lesson? Do I need to bring the dire state of the world into every lesson, predicament after predicament? Is this even healthy? Maybe I’m just too stuck in the current educational context to see the bigger picture? I really don’t think that these sessions answered this for me, and yet I feel I have a deeper understanding of the need to confront hard truths… and ensure that what we choose to teach be taught with a lens of a world in environmental, political, and social challenges. Will shared the following quote in one of our sessions:

“If we fully accept the world as it is—in all its harsh realities— then we can develop the very qualities we need to be in that world and not succumb to that harshness. We find our courage, morality, and gentle, nonaggressive actions by clear seeing and acceptance. As we accept what is, we become people who stand in contrast to what is, freed from the aggression, grasping and confusion of this time. With that clarity, we can contribute things of eternal importance no matter what’s going on around us—how to live exercising our best human qualities, and how to support others to discover these qualities in themselves.”
~ Margaret Wheatley “So Far From Home”

The second insight I’d like to share came after our first session. Will invited any of us who could stay on to do so. During that after-session conversation I mentioned that I was retiring. The topic of my school, Inquiry Hub, came up and I mentioned that I was proud of what our team has been able to do, transforming the learning outside of the traditional high school box. And yet, I was disappointed that our little school has not had a greater impact on the rest of the district. Will responded saying something like, ‘Dave, if you were able to do that, you would be a unicorn because I haven’t seen that happen yet.’

That simple statement had an unburdening effect on me. It is sad, yet it comforted me. For the past 13 years my small team of teachers and I have created a very special place for self-directed learners to have some true agency over what they are learning, while still providing an opportunity for them to meet all the requirements they need for their post high school ambitions. It has been an amazing ride, and the fact that it didn’t really spread beyond our walls isn’t something that should weigh on me as I head into retirement. The test of my leadership will show if the school thrives after I’m gone.

Overall, I really enjoyed the sessions with Will, and with the other educational leaders from across BC. I appreciated the experience of sitting in the discomfort of knowing things must change in education and sitting in the predicament rather than cherrypicking shallow solutions and discussing them like we were solving all the world’s problems. I encourage educators to follow Will on his journey to confront education and reimagine schools and join one of his cohorts of educators on similar journeys of discovery.

A community of learners

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Here are 4 quotes from student self reflections. I saved the most creative on for last. I absolutely love how the kid created a metaphor, but understood that it wasn’t a perfect analogy, so he updated the comparison to make it work. Very clever.

I need reminders like this sometimes to remember what a unique learning environment the teachers have created for our students. It lifts me up to see these kinds of comments in self reflections. It reminds me that we are not just teaching kids, we are fostering a special learning community.

These all come from the ‘Student Self-Assessment of Core Competencies’ section of our recent report card. The first and last ones are from Grade 9’s and the middle two are from a Grade 11 and then a Grade 10. As a bit of background to the first one, we use scrum project management for a lot of group work at our school.

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“The most important thing I have learned this term is with the French Revolution, we learned about the different social estates and how each estate was treated differently and unfairly by their king, which led to the third estate starting a revolution for better rights. With that knowledge, it gives an example of how a good scrum leader should act and how they shouldn’t act, they should be inclusive, fair and treat their group with respect and consider everyone’s opinions, while a bad scrum leader might choose to ignore their group’s input and be controlling over the project.

Some of my favourite things to do at school are the different group projects we have, with the group projects they’re mostly assigned groups so it gives me a chance to get to know my classmates and see who works best with what. When I work really hard at something, I have a better understanding and I will be able to get my work done.”

~~

“This term I am proud of my ability to take in information during lectures and lessons. I find it useful in 20th Century History, and especially Pre-calc 11. The most important thing I have learned this term is the significance in attempting to be passionate in the things you’re learning. To find interest in the things you might find boring. Some of my favourite things to do at school are talking with people and their interests and views.

When I work really hard at something, I feel accomplished and proud that I have the capacity to learn.”

~~~

“This term I am proud of how much I’ve improved in managing my time and finishing my work on schedule. I’ve become more organized and responsible with deadlines, and I’ve learned how to plan my tasks better so I don’t feel rushed at the last minute. I’ve also noticed that I can focus longer and stay “consistent” even when the workload gets heavier. The most important thing I have learned this term is that effort and patience make a big difference. Even when something feels difficult at first, I’ve realized that I can get better if I keep trying and don’t give up too soon. I’ve learned to see mistakes as part of the process instead of something negative, and that mindset has helped me improve both academically and personally. Some of my favourite things to do at school are working on hands-on projects, doing group activities, and learning through discussions instead of just notes or lectures. I enjoy collaborating with classmates, sharing ideas, and finding creative ways to solve problems together. I like lessons that are interactive and allow me to apply what I’ve learned in real ways.

When I work really hard at something, I feel proud and motivated to keep improving. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and shows me that consistent effort pays off. It reminds me that I can do more than I thought if I stay determined and keep pushing myself, even when things get challenging. Next term I would like to try challenging myself more, especially in areas I usually find hard, such as writing and analyzing. I also want to take more initiative in group work, contribute more ideas, and help others when I can. My goal is to keep growing not only in academics but also in teamwork and confidence!”

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“During my first few months of Inquiry Hub, I’ve found that I’m quite proud of how many connections I’ve made already. At my old schools, it was difficult to find any friends, at all. In middle school, I thought I’d found them, but I was actually in a really toxic friendship. I think that was because I just wasn’t around my people. Here at iHub, I’ve found some really good friends, just in the first weeks!

During those weeks, however, I watched the higher grades, and tried to figure out what was going on. They didn’t act like the people I’d known at all. After a little bit, I figured it out:

(iHub) = (Normal School) – (Discrimination)

It’s not just another school, it’s another ecosystem entirely! A place where all predators were locked out, and instead of the ”’prey”’ destroying the environment with overpopulation, they create an actually self-functioning society.”

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Reading comments like these reminds me why I like going to work. They remind me of the awesome students we have and the incredible team of educators who bring the best out of our students. I really love our learning community.