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How, When and Where Does Change Happen In Schools?
At Middle States, we worried that attitudes of compliance or credentialism would result in schools “integrating” AI into what they are already doing.
That’s why RAIL is not just an accreditation-style endorsement, but also an implementation framework. It relies on the wisdom of Stewart Brand’s “pace layering” model, which reflects how complex, adaptive systems change (or resist change) over time…
Lessons in Change Leadership from Ren Parikh
Some leaders impress you with their intelligence. They seem to have mastered every angle of their work.
Other leaders impress you with their emotional intelligence. They make sure people feel seen and known and cared for.
And then there is a leader like Ren Parikh, the founder of Ideal Institute of Technology (“Ideal”). He’s more like a force of nature…
The 3 Currencies of Leadership
Over a decade ago, I was speaking at a faculty meeting at Malvern Prep, where I was a new Head of School. Not long before I had shared a short paper describing a vision for student-centered learning.
“We need to develop entrepreneurial students,” I said during this faculty meeting. “In a world like ours, they will need to solve problems critically and creatively.”
One teacher—whom I tremendously respected—erupted…
AI Advice for The 84%
According to innovation diffusion theory, 16% of any population will consist of “innovators” and “early adopters,” two psychographics that leap in feet first when they have access to an innovation.
But what about resources for the other 84%? …
Summer reading: ai in education
Given how quickly the AI landscape changes, it might seem counterintuitive to invest time in reading books on the subject. Yet a handful of books will reward your attention.
And at least one book on AI in education is not worth bothering with.
As you head into the summer with more time to read, I hope you’ll find these recommendations useful…
NOTES FROM THE FIELD
No other form of professional learning can enable you—in 3 short days!—to “see the system” of a school, and certainly not while embedding you in real time. It’s like high intensity cross-training. You may come to the team with experience in teaching and learning, but you’ll also learn about governance, finance, facilities, and other foundational elements of running a school. I wish I had participated on more visiting teams before I had become a Head of School the first time—nothing would have been better preparation.
What Can Generative AI Teach Us About The Science Of Teaching And Learning?
In the evolving landscape of education, there can be no definitive approach to adopting generative AI. But plenty of misguided methods can serve as cautionary tales, guiding our exploration towards more informed and impactful uses.
At The Episcopal Academy’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), we adopt a philosophy of curious enthusiasm and pragmatic optimism, continually learning and refining our approaches to technology in education.
Abundant AI and the Shirky Principle
Here are some examples of how schools run the risk of using AI to preserve the problem to which outdated, antiquated, or even broken models of school are the solution.
The Three Currencies of Leadership
My recent conversation with Adam Bryant has me thinking about leading change in schools. Three particular things stand out from that chat:
Focus on “impact” rather than “intent.” Adam pointed out that if we over-index on purpose and mission (“intent”), we may lose sight of the reason to lead: to create positive impact.
Why AI and What Is Middle States Doing About It?
Thirty years ago, many of my classmates reacted to the idea of co-existing with AI with a, “Yeah right.” Some of us reacted with, “What if…?” Today, we all have to ask, “What now?”
From Principals to Principles
We know that teachers can expect feedback on their craft substantially less than 1% of the time. Yet to foster genuine growth and development, merely increasing touch points is necessary, but insufficient.
Seton Hall Prep Helps Students Cope with Anxiety
At Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange, N.J., school leaders are working to address student mental health and using data to measure the impact of their programs.
Education’s “before and after” moment
In our recent conversation about AI in education, Jennifer and I agreed that education is at the threshold of a “before and after” moment. We talked about four key takeaways for school leaders:
What do reactions to ChatGPT tell us?
Two weeks ago, OpenAI released a technology that some consider magical: a public beta version of ChatGPT, an “AI chatbot.”
Strengthening Teacher Growth and Development Programs at Fordham Preparatory School
Reading detailed feedback is rewarding, but things get more interesting when we debrief peer visits. Having read all 24 pieces of feedback, the visited teacher leads the debrief, rather than being put under the microscope by their visitors. This allows them to ask clarifying and probing questions aligned with their growth priorities. We visitors act as teammates, helping the visited teacher to level up.
The Imperative to Facilitate Change in Schools
Tectonic forces often lead organizations to adopt a posture of “threat rigidity.” When this happens, as Horn writes, “an organization doubles down on its existing processes or routines. That results in more top down control; reduced experimentation […] and a focus on an organization’s existing resources, rather than questioning what else it might use to respond to the threat.”
From Uneven Levels of Agreement to Tools of Cooperation
This is precisely the moment that school leaders need to lean on what Michael Horn calls “tools of cooperation” in From Reopen to Reinvent. It’s not enough to have a powerful vision. It’s not enough even to know how you can get to that vision. As Horn says—and as I can confirm from experience earned the hard way—“Once a school leader has clarity around what they want to change, they still need to convince other individuals who will play a role in the change.”
From Waterfall Planning to Discovery-Driven Planning
Even more fundamentally, discovery-driven planning produces good strategy. Horn says that “In a discovery-driven planning process, start with the desired outcomes in mind. From there, the crucial next step is to list all the assumptions that must prove true to realize the desired outcomes.” This echoes the brilliant strategist Roger Martin, who advocates asking, “What would have to be true?” rather than “What is true?” before committing to a strategy.
From Cognitive Biases to New Narratives
Another cognitive bias at play was a failure to calculate opportunity costs. By investing finite resources in choices that would not differentiate them, the school was foreclosing opportunities to serve their community better while “playing to win,” as the strategist Roger Martin puts it.
From Hygienic Factors to Motivational Factors
Hygienic factors include things like compensation, status, and work conditions. These are “table stakes” for schools. Just as poker requires each player to pay an ante (the “table stakes”) to join the game, so too must schools invest in “good enough” hygienic factors to attract and retain faculty and staff.