I’ve been critical of Will Richardson in the past while writing this column, but I really like some of the issues he addresses in his on-line articles. Richardson, for those of you not familiar with him, is an author, teacher, and blogger. He focuses on what learning could and should look like for kids, so I’m usually interested with what he writes. Sometimes I think he cuddles up to the traditional system too much, but, hey, all of us make choices. In my opinion, Freedom to Learn, written in 2015, is his best work. It’s worth a read.
Recently, Richardson posted an on-line article entitled “Education’s ‘Imagination Battle.’” In the article, Will shares adrienne maree brown’s ideas while being interviewed on a recent On Being podcast.
Richardson writes “As we continue to be buffeted by almost daily distressing events which lead us to question even more profoundly who and what we are as people and as societies, brown’s recent On Being interview with Krista Tippet provides some powerful starting points for reflection – particularly when it comes to thinking about the work required to mitigate and solve the crises in our midst.”
Richardson continues, “It will take, [brown] says, the power of ‘radical imagination,’ to ask ‘What does it look like to imagine a future where we all get to be there, not causing harm to each other, and experiencing abundance?’ But, [brown] adds, we find ourselves in an ‘imagination battle,’ one in which the answer to ‘what might be?’ is tempered by what we’ve been told is currently true.”
Richardson then quotes brown directly:
“And what I realized is it is the work of radical imagination to do so, but also that we’re living inside of imaginations that other people told us were true and told us were like, this is how the world is.”
Richard makes his point by writing “That last part holds so true for thinking about schools. We’re locked into narratives and stories that others have written and that we’ve experienced that make it almost unimaginable to create something different. We struggle to be ‘radical’ in designing what we must become if we are to survive as institutions and if we are to help our children deal effectively with right now and what’s ahead.”
I worked 25 years as a traditional public school educator. I taught, I served as a middle school and high school principal, and finished my school career serving as a region superintendent responsible for 60 schools and 54,000 students. Then I worked 10 years as the executive director of an educational non-profit committed to help traditional school districts improve their leadership and classroom practices.
And I’m here today to tell you there is no “radical imagination” currently inside most traditional school systems.
Will Richardson and adrienne marie brown are right when they point out the powerful narrative that exists in public schools that does not allow “radical imagination” to threaten the existing “status quo.”
Regrettably, while serving as a region superintendent, I noticed the lack of “radical imagination” the most inside our most struggling schools. There, “doing different” for kids was desperately needed, but the principals and teachers assigned to those campuses cowered whenever we encouraged them to became creative and innovative with their teaching and learning practices.
Their fear about employing “radical imagination” came about in two ways. First, they were afraid test scores wouldn’t go up and then they would continue to be labeled a “sucky school.” Second, those campus leaders and teachers convinced themselves that “doubling down” on worksheets, practice tests, required tutorials, and mandatory summer school was going to “fix” the situation. It usually didn’t, and, if it did, the “fix” was short term at best. Even when I and other supervisors encouraged them to “try different,” they refused.
It was sort of like telling them they had a terminal cancer and so they needed to radically change their lifestyle, but instead they continued their smoke four packs a day.
I’m afraid this lack of “radical imagination” and the accompanying “imagination battle,” where school leaders (and our current President of the United States) are convinced they have the solution to deep learning, i.e. traditional practices, so they don’t have to “try different,” may be the end of “schools” as we know them.
And maybe that’s not all bad. Maybe it will take a revolution like poor black and brown parents leading their children out of existing schools that are continually under-serving those populations. Maybe it will take a revolution whereby taxpaying citizens stop supporting under-performing school districts. Maybe it will take a revolution when elected leadership and other stakeholders embrace “trying different” instead of being duped into “staying the course.” Revolutions are usually led by people filled with “radical imagination.”
What I feel in my bones is a serious and impactful correction to the system is ready to happen. And with that correction, schools, as we know them, may survive, but they might not. What is important is that there are people ready and willing to work on a new system of learning, one that provides equity and opportunity to all young learners.
That can happen. It should happen. And, dare I say, it will happen.
Til tomorrow. SVB
A Better Path to Learning 
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