As I reflect on an outstanding #LearningFIRST conference this past week, I can't help but think about a question that has been challenging me for many years. Why is change in education so hard? Our world is constantly changing. Smartphones have revolutionized how we communicate, how we access information, how we organize our lives, etc... Stores, where you walk in and see and touch the items you want to buy, are an endangered species. We no longer have to travel and share a space with someone to have a "face to face" meeting. The me from the 1990's would hardly recognize this world that we live in. However, many of the practices that we engage in look the same or similar to those of the 1990's. Where is the disconnect?
I watched almost 400 educators smile, laugh, nod their heads, and cry as Lavonna Roth, Ken Williams, George Couros, and Tom Hierck talked about the things that we need to change in education. I 100% believe that every educator in that room WANTS to make those changes so that they can do what is best for the children they are entrusted to educate. As educators, we are driven to do this really hard work by a dedication to children that is strong and unwavering. We would NEVER do anything to intentionally hurt a child. However, we continually engage in practices that do hurt children and do hold some or all children back.
Why is this change so hard, and why is it taking so long? I have many theories, but one that stands out is the fact that for many of us, our career in education began when we were 4 or 5 and it has continued without interruption since that time. What we do as educators closely resembles what was done to us, and it is all that we know. In order to make big and impactful change in our classrooms and schools, we need a HUGE disruption that causes us to completely change the thinking of the masses and allows us to abandon, in full force, ancient teaching, grading, and assessing practices.
Unfortunately I do not yet know what this disruption will be or what it will look like. What I do know, however, is that the hard work that will be done to make the change MUST be done collaboratively. Educators have way too much on their plates to tackle ANYTHING alone. We can only do this work by tapping in to the talents and strengths of each of the individuals who are part of our team. According to John Hattie's extensive research, Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE) has the largest influence on student achievement. This is definitely our starting point.
