Maybe This Is Something Big

In the last Friday News Roundup, I shared news from Education Reimagined that they intend to launch a $20 million research and development project intended to create and enact a new design for a modern public education system that aligns more directly with the needs of learners, their communities and our economy.

I said Friday $20 million was a drop in the bucket if Education Reimagined is serious about launching community-based ecosystems to compete for market share against the traditional public school system. But, like I said Friday, it’s a start!

According to Education Reimagined,

“…This effort will result in five full demonstrations of newly designed community-based ecosystems in five communities over the next five years.”

“…The organization is coalescing the partners, marshaling infrastructure resources, and identifying the policies and conditions to enable the development of community-based ecosystems of learning throughout the country. The vision is grounded in the equitable development of each child’s agency, identity and purpose. It shifts from the traditional notion of education being confined to a single building, and instead, leverages the community, its assets, and its people as the classroom. This R&D acceleration initiative will demonstrate this new way of organizing, supporting and credentialing public K-12 education, to equip young people and communities more powerfully for a future we cannot predict.”

…

“In these systems, young people proactively lead their learning journeys, are supported by caring adults and mentors, and learn everywhere, way beyond the walls of a school. Learning occurs and is credentialed across a community, within curated and supported networks of parks, museums, libraries, natural settings, sports fields, businesses, homes, virtual settings, school and college buildings, civic centers, and community squares.”

Education Reimagined defines community-based, learner-centered ecosystems this way:

“This is not about building new school models or attempting to enact innovation within the existing school systems. By contrast, this effort is about inventing systems anew and creating a public education option designed intentionally to leverage full communities to serve learners and their needs.”

“Paradigms are shifting all around us. The paradigm of education needs to shift, too.

• New opportunities are emerging with the world of work, and the emergence of AI, that require new sets of higher-order competencies and ways for young people to shape ideas, find belonging, build careers and plan their futures.
• Our society is facing existential challenges – climate change, disruption of democracy, eroding public trust – that our younger generations are inheriting as problems to solve. We must support these young people to think big, unleash their creativity and work collaboratively to address these monumental issues.
• Countless factors and influences will emerge that we can’t predict. The pace of society’s evolution has exponentially increased, which will require our youth to adapt and embrace change nimbly.”

Our current 100+ year-old system was not designed to develop learners for these opportunities and demands of the future. It was designed very intentionally to meet a specific, now outdated, need – preparing a workforce for the industrial era.”

“Community-based, learner-centered ecosystems are reconceived public education system designs that are emerging across the nation. In this design, K-12 learning is shaped, distributed and networked throughout communities, versus set in singular school buildings. Young people craft and navigate their learning journeys through meaningful collaboration with adults who support them, as well as their peers. The experience of that learning leverages the assets, insights, and expertise of a wide variety of organizations and people. It prioritizes learning that is tangible, rooted in context and intrinsically tied to each young person’s interests, aspirations and personal relevance.”

“These learning ecosystems consist of interconnected experiences tailored to the interests, needs, gifts and aspirations of each learner. This public funded and publicly accountable design aims to heighten equity in learning for each and every young person – no matter their race or circumstance – and mitigate the impact of historic inequities.”

“Their educational experience is intentionally designed as an ongoing learning journey to enable the full spectrum of 1) identity, belonging, relationship and social capital development, 2) vigorous academic learning and skill-building in meaningful and interesting contexts, and 3) real-world learning to explore, discover and apply concepts against projects and experiences of meaning, and interest to each learner.”

“The ecosystem integrates three types of learning environments that are purposefully interconnected into each child’s learning journey:

• Home Bases, safe spaces which serve as anchors for learners, peers and advisors to build deep, stable relationships over time, set goals and navigate learning journeys;
• Learning Hubs, dedicated spaces that live across the community – such as libraries, schools, colleges, museums, arts centers and labs – for young people to unpack academic foundation and concepts, research ideas, and learn specific skills: and
• Field Sites, commercial, public or non-profit organizations – such as businesses, farms maker spaces, cultural centers – for learners to pursue dedicated projects, apply their learning in the real contexts and the world of work, engage with mentors, and hone their skills and aspirations, all as they contribute to specific needs of that organization.”

Kelly Young is a smart leader, so she doesn’t need my advice – but here’s some anyway.

The good news is that Education Reimagined is moving away from partnering with traditional K-12 school systems that promise they are also interested in transforming into a learner-based system. After wasting years working with these systems, it seems Education Reimagined has realized these types of promises are probably made by K-12 systems “disguised as wolves in sheep’s clothing.” Now ER has started to invest in communities of learners, and it makes much more sense.

But beware, the traditional system, like their reaction to charters twenty plus years ago, will not sit idly by and watch ER and others create a rival learning system. My prediction is that K-12 systems will fight tooth and nail to maintain their present market share, even though much of their market share is dependent on struggling and failing schools.

We will see.

Til tomorrow. SVB