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Schools as Ecosystems

A New Vision for Education Reform

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Schools as Ecosystems

Mark Anderson

@mandercorn

Will Johnson

@williejjohnson

#edcampnyc

#schoolecosystem

Blog

schoolecosystem.blogspot.com

Group notes for this session

goo.gl/CgSSt

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Agenda

  1. Current state of education reform
  2. A new vision for reform
  3. Schools as Ecosystems model as a set of values
  4. A methodology for school design and evaluation
  5. Envisioning the school as an ecosystem

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Current State of Education Reform

  • High stakes testing
  • Students viewed as products/factory model
  • Focus on singular points of disassociated data
  • Focus on achievement and outcomes
  • Schools and students labeled as failures
  • Local communities and schools devalued
  • Input/expertise of teachers ignored

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A New Vision: Schools as Ecosystems

  • Focus on relationships, trust, and empathy
  • Focus on holistic, multiple measures of progress
  • Recognize and leverage intrinsic value and expertise of local communities and cultures
  • Recognize importance of physical and social contexts on children:
  • community culture and design of public spaces
  • political, judiciary, and fiduciary policy impacts
  • physical school placement and design
  • school culture, leadership, role modeling, language use

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A New Vision: Schools as Ecosystems

  • Recognize importance of content in education:
  • rich, coherent, collaboratively developed and refined curriculum
  • content that embraces the arts, music, character education, and physical exercise
  • content aligned to community and school values and local business needs, not simply abstract skills aligned to global markets that devalue labor and working class
  • Recognize importance of non-academic skills and emotional and social needs of children

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Schools as Ecosystems as a Set of Values and Ethics

  • Intrinsic value of public education
  • Intrinsic value of local ecosystems and communities
  • Humaneness
  • Sustainability
  • Equity
  • Inclusion
  • Diversity

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SAE as a Methodology for School Design and Evaluation

  • How would we evaluate schools under this approach?
  • First, we would evaluate them with a different purpose. Rather than looking to demolish struggling schools, the purpose of evaluation would be to rehabilitate them (think parks restoration).
  • Second, our data would focus on the observational, rather than the quantitative. What type of sunlight does the school get? How much time do students spend outside? Does the school offer music/art/robotics programming during the school day? Are the school’s teachers experienced? Are they given opportunities to develop expertise in their subject areas?
  • Finally, the purpose of evaluation would also be to gather data about what works in a particular community.

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SAE as a Methodology for School Design and Evaluation

  • How could we apply ecological principles to the school setting?
  • Biodiversity
    • Integration
    • Inclusion
    • Value and cultivate difference
    • Focus on strengths, rather than weaknesses
  • Succession
    • Specialization - invest in teachers as leaders and allow them to pursue their interests and passions
    • Design for “climax” -- target stable state of dense interdependence and rich content and invest in foundations to achieve that state
  • Niches
    • Self-organisation
    • Physical spaces designed for collaboration or quiet study
    • Non-instructional staff are valued (guidance/paras/etc)

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Envisioning the School as an Ecosystem

  • As much as anything, this new model changes the goals of school reform:
    • From improving stats related to test scores and suspensions to increasing student time spent outdoors and access to sunlight/fresh air
    • From developing curricula that will improve school test data to providing students access to diverse/varied curricula
    • From short-term “success” to long-term student growth
    • From increasing pressure on teachers to produce test score gains to supporting and retaining teachers
    • From treating teachers like interchangeable/expendable cogs to fostering the growth of teachers, who are long-term stewards of the school ecosystem

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Envisioning the School as an Ecosystem

  • In fact, by focusing on creating healthy school environments, the schools as ecosystems model places the pressure on policy makers, who have the resources and authority to create healthy school environments.
  • Additionally, this model would value community control and expertise, acknowledging that members of the ecosystem have more understanding and expertise