This is the YearFlexibility and Networks in a Changing World

September 18, 2017

CHRIS KENNEDYSuperintendent of Schools, West Vancouver School District

Presentation to the staff of School District 22 -Vernon

#sd22learns

#brightfutures

With thanks to Bill Selak: http://www.billselak.com/2012/thingsthatsuck

AWESOME OR NOT!?

The current state of students success in Vernon Schools?

The opportunities for students in schools?

The opportunities for staff professional growth?

Optimism Like No Other Time

• New Government

• Revised Curriculum

• Additional Staff

• Steady Finances

• Healthy Enrolment

The BC Difference

And in a Summer that saw THIS

We were busy HERE

Excellence or Equity?

Weakness of the relationshipbetweenachievement and familybackground (ESCS Index)

Studentachievementinreading,mathematicsandscience(PISA)

Weakequityand lowquality

Strong equityandhighquality

Strong equityand lowquality

Weak equityandhighquality

• Singapore

Weakness of the relationshipbetweenachievement and familybackground (ESCS Index)

OECD, 2016

Studentachievementinreading,mathematicsandscience(PISA)

Qualit

• HongKong

• China

2015

• Reduce the prescriptive nature of curriculum

• Allow for flexibility and choice for teachers and student

• Respect inherent logic in disciplines while supporting

interdisciplinary learning.

• Enable teachers to be creative and innovative in their

design of learning experiences

Guiding Principles

• Core competencies provide the foundation for the curriculum

• All core competencies are now posted

• Created on a continuum (not by grade level)

Curriculum – Core Competencies

Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting

How do I acquire and

then make sense of all

of the information

available

to me so I can make

choices that will benefit

me in the future?

Individual Challenge #2How do I find hope?

Once found, how do I

build and sustain the

enthusiasm, energy and

just plain will

to be continuously

adaptive?

Individual Challenge #3Where do I fit in this

world? What is

available to me? How

do I achieve a balance

between my needs and

all of the forces and

influences around me?

Individual Challenge #4How do I make all of

these decisions, and

take all of these

actions, in a way

that allows me to

maintain a sense of

who

I am? How do I take

pride in what I do?

Working in Two Worlds

Transforming involves patience and time.

What has changed?

RELIABLE INTERNET CONNECTIVITY

DEVICES FOR STAFF

BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE PLANS

PHONES

SOCIAL MEDIA

WI-FI

UNBLOCKING

FLEXIBILITY

ACCESS

ACROSS MANY OF OUR SCHOOLS

What could be

DO OLD THINGS

BETTER

“Students today depend too much upon ink. They don’t know how to use a pen knife to

sharpen a pencil. Pen and ink will never replace the pencil.”

National Association of Teachers, 1907

DO NEW THINGS

YOU COULDN’T DO AT ALL

“If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me ‘A faster horse.’” Henry Ford

5 obstaclesNo needNo moneyNo hurryNo desireNo trust

People prefer things that are easy to think about

Know what teachers want

Can I change?

Everyone benefits

The

goal

It’s not technology

What many want for their children is the benefits of digital learning

Relevant, connected, unlimited

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOUR DIGITAL SHIFTS ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR SCHOOL FOR LEARNERS?

?

Create a new norm for how teachers and

students learn

Can’t scale and sustainwithout technology

TOOLS matter, because tools impact the way you interact. You don’t need to use every tool, but every tool you use you must use well – Seth Godin

Access

Direction

Moving to one-to-one opportunities

What does this mean?

What about equity?

Technology can help overcome barriers of access and geography

Twitter BreakSelect a video that highlights the promise of learning. Post it to Twitter and tag it #sd22learns

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY CAN CHANGE LEARNING

GOOD WRITING STILL MATTERS

USING SOCIAL MEDIA NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT

NETWORKS ARE ESSENTIAL

THE REAL WORLD IS ADDICTIVE

Google has become our got-to place and tool.

Wordpress has taken over our websites.

Digital tools like FreshGrade and Techbookare growing in popularity

Coding and Robotics have gone from nowhere to everywhere

All of the digital shifts are part of ONE story

WHAT ARE THE DIGITAL TOOLS YOU ARE USING IN YOUR SCHOOL? WHICH ONES ARE YOU MODELING? WHAT IS THE STORY YOU ARE TELLING ABOUT THE MOVE TO DIGITAL?

?

ALL ABOUT CULTURE

“Culture Eats Strategyfor Breakfast”

Focus on a Few Things

INNOVATION IN ACTION

Letter grade free

assessment

Maker movement

iPads in elementary music class

Reggio Emilia inspired

programs

Bienalle arts projects across

schools

Passion projects

Heart rate monitors in

PE

What Does Support Look Like?CELEBRATE RISK TAKING

SHINE A LIGHT ON INNOVATION

Teachers

Schools

Districts

Governments

• Will make it easier for students...

• Will make it easier for teachers...

• Will make it easier for schools...

• Will make it easier for districts...

To be FLEXIBLE

Yeah, but . . .

? How do you scale the work

YOU DON’T

YOU CONNECT AND BUILD NETWORKSThink diffusion not replication

Learning, not technology, is the driver

Personalization

We need to narrow the framework

Digital literacy

Redesigned Curriculum

Addresses the changing face of education

Big ideas and enduring understandings

Personalized learning

Core competencies• Thinking

• Communicating

• Social/Personal

What we

ARE NOT doing

Same Things for everyone

TRENDS

OverpromiseUnder deliver

PERSONALIZED=INDIVIDUALIZEDX

Luke: I can’t believe it

Yoda: That is why you fail

He says the problem with teachers is

What’s a kid going to learnfrom someone who decided his best option in lifewas to become a teacher?

He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s truewhat they say about teachers:

Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.

. . .

I mean, you’re a teacher, Taylor.Be honest. What do you make?

This is . . .

OUR WORLD

OUR LIVES

OUR CHILDREN

OUR CURRICULUM

OUR CHALLENGE

OUR WORK

OUR ART

OUR JOY

You want to know what I make? I make kids wonder,

I make them question.

I make them criticize.I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them write.I make them read, read, read.

I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautifulover and over and over again until they will never misspelleither one of those words again.

. . .

and if someone ever tries to judge youby what you by what you make, you give them this.

. . .

Here, let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:

Teachers make a goddamn difference! Now what about you?

Excerpts from poem:

What Teachers Makeby Taylor Mali

Leading in Learning

Where you can find me:

ckennedy@wvschools.ca

604-202-4379

@chrkennedy

cultureofyes.ca

westvancouverschools.ca