I believe in public education...

"I believe that the public education system is the avenue by which the principles of democracy are best exemplified."

Democracy. John Dewey knew that public education was a most effective vessel to promote a democratic society in his time, and it still is in our time. Schools are environments that provide the opportunity for kids to realize their fullest potential, and then to share that potential with others in the interest of the greater good. There is no greater democratic responsibility. Public schools are the institutions that enable all kids to exercise this responsibility.

There's a catch though.

Schools provide opportunities, but kids have to seize them. Just like democratic citizens have to seize the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to be heard, only the kids who choose to exercise their right to be taught will learn.  Universal, free public education is the possibility we have created in the western world allowing kids from all walks of life, all socioeconomic, cultural, religious, and political backgrounds the right to be taught; the privilege to learn.

It's somewhat ironic to me that the very institution that first provided this democratic right to be taught is often as of late the very last choice parents are making for their kids when around the world there are millions of kids who do not have the choice to attend any school, leave alone a universal, free public school open to all. They don't have the right to be taught, which is so sad.

Education needs a united front in support of the idea that every single child should be entitled to attend school without prejudice, and on the expectation that his needs will be served at the highest level. Public schools can offer this. In order for the system to optimize, teachers and the schools they teach within must have public support; both financial and ideological, and in the democratic spirit of the greater good. The result will be wonderfully diverse, democratic schools made up of students from many cultural perspectives, all exercising their equal right to be taught, and their democratic responsibility to engage meaningfully in the process.

"People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote -  a very different thing." - Walter H. Judd

EduKare- Resilient Communities...

flickr photo via akaalias

"Seems to me if folks understand that EdUkare is about health and security and resilient communities, it would help clarify."

Michael Josefowicz (@ToughLoveforX) tweeted the above a while back in the @EdKare stream, and the point deserves some attention. At the Twitter @edkare stream, Michael, Daniel Durant (@ddrrnt), I and others are involved in what I would call at this stage a global thought experiment in co-creating nemetics. Nemetics is a term that has evolved to explain phenomena surrounding the exchanges that occur in our emotional, cognitive and physical spaces.

To clarify, here's some notes via Michael (with a few supplemental links added by me):

1. Nemetics is based on three fundamentals: Nemes, NemiTubes and NemiSpheres. The focus of nemetics in an EduKare context is the study of neme exchanges called "NemeX" 
2.  The term neme indicates a superset of replicators in all Complex Adaptive Systems. Replicators are memes, genes, "Lumenes"
3. Memes are replicators in Cognitive Space. Genes are replicators in Physical Space. The term "lumenes" is coined by Mark Frazier, President of OpenWorld...for a free, resilient, and generous world (@openworld) in Emotional Space. 
4. "Neme" is an acronym for the fractal learning process of Complex Adaptive Systems. Notice (or not) Engage (or not) Mull (or not) Exchange (or not)... NemeX connotes the actual exchange in progress.
5. Notice/or not, Engage or/not, Mull/or not, Exchange/ or not, and tweaking Time and Space is the basis for three dimensional Automaton Modeling Complexity. 
6. Physical Space is said to be Pwaves. Emotional is Ewaves. Cognitive is Cwaves. A Neme is said to Collapse ECPwaves to a Neme. 
7. A NemiSphere is a snapshot of entangled NemiTubes in which NemeX is constrained by Tacit and Explicit Rules. 

I know, I know... clear as mud, right? Don't worry; we're all figuring this out as we go in what I would say is a real-time, distributed, online NemiSphere... hence the descriptor "thought experiment." The boiled-down point illuminates the fact that we exist in society as an infinite series of complex adaptive systems; complex as identified by the absolute diversity of people, perspectives and levels of knowledge that exists within them, and adaptive as identified by the natural and intentional fractal ways that individuals and groups adjust to the social, emotional, cognitive and physical characteristics of their NemiSpheres.

flickr image via Song_sing

To ground all of this in a purpose-driven context, schools are if nothing else, complex adaptive systems. An EduKare approach within schools posits that the complex adaptive system describes the fact that kids are social, emotional, cognitive and physical beings that require individualized services and supports within a system that is complex because it is comprised of the litany of unique individuals (students, staff and others who support its purposes,) and adaptive simply because it recognizes and strives to meet the needs of each one of them.

EduKare schools are about health and security and resilient communities. They understand that before kids can learn in the cognitive spaces (Cwaves,) they have to be stable and high-functioning in their social/emotional/physical spaces (Ewaves and Pwaves.) An EduKare school places the deliberate support of healthy Ewaves and Pwaves as their primary objective. For so many kids, the process will be quite efficient as many arrive at school in kindergarten as adequately well-adjusted in the social-emotional and physical domains... but there are those (and to be honest, we can't seem to find an algorithm that would absolutely define predictive determiners,) that are not OK in the social-emotional and physical domains for any number of reasons. It's virtually impossible to determine this in a clinical sense owing to the factor of resiliency. Resiliency is the X-factor that helps us determine how well-adjusted kids are when entering school, but more importantly, it is the known factor that provides a targeted focus for supportive adults to nurture increased levels of resiliency in the young people they serve. Resiliency can be nurtured and taught as evidenced by contemporary research in the fields of education, psychiatry, social psychology, medicine, social work, mental health etc.Until we know how resilient individual kids are (or are not,) and then begin work to support the requisite growth of resilience in all kids, we can't optimally support learning.

Although we can't know how resilient kids are upon entering school, we can embark on a process of learning their stories that helps us put the pieces of their resiliency profile together. In the context of nemetics, we have to notice these stories, mull (think) deeply about them, and then make responsible, informed decisions about how we are going to exchange with the data they provide to support the growth of resiliency in all students, but particularly the more challenged ones. It's critical to understand also that the primary writers of these stories are the students themselves; we simply support the process by empowering them to weave their own stories; to take ownership of their learning paths in a complex adaptive system we call the EduKare school environment.

Who does this in an EduKare school? Good question... In the first EduKare post at KARE Givers, I explained that an EduKare school is one that accesses the specialized skills of helping professionals in a wrap-a-round service provision model. Ideas for a Comprehensive, Integrated School-wide Approach is a UCLA paper from all the way back in 1977 that proves this is not a new idea, but perhaps one that will need a deeper NemeX process to divine where the rubber will meet the road in providing comprehensive, coordinated services for children in general. More specifically, the EduKare model posits that the locus of service provision should be based in schools; the places where kids spend a large part of their wakeful hours for thirteen years of their lives, and one that is designed to support learning. This point is key...

To optimally support learning, teachers need to be present and accountable for what they are trained to do; teach. The fact remains, however, that learning detractors are present in the social-emotional and physical lives of children... these detractors are part of their learning stories. In order to help learn these stories, and to help write them in a teaching and learning context, teachers need support from those other helping professionals that are trained to do what they do; mitigate social-emotional and physical detractors in the lives of children, (that will ultimately also detract from learning.)

What better place to coordinate these processes than the schools that conveniently dot our local landscapes, that reflect our diverse nature and that are designed as teaching and learning environments? 

EduKare schools are fundamentally those that understand their role in promoting the health and security of resilient communities through the nurturing of healthy, secure and resilient kids and their families. EduKare teachers are those that fundamentally understand that support for the cognitive growth of their students depends largely on how effectively the social-emotional and physical needs they manifest are provided for. Working collaboratively with others who support these needs is the path to a successful EduKare service provision model.

 

Beliefs...

 flickr photo via shanzy 294

When I was in graduate school one of my assignments was to reflect on and create a set of beliefs about education and leadership. I posted a couple of these a while back. My intent was to roll one out every week or so until I had written about each one of them at KARE Givers. I wanted to compare what I thought of as my personal beliefs back then, to how they may have changed since then. My intentions were good, but other things came up and I didn't follow through.

I came across the list the other day and decided to revisit sharing my beliefs about teaching and learning. As I read through it once again, I realized that my beliefs haven't changed much at all since I wrote them down over the two year period I was in graduate school. I took the reflective assignment very seriously, and I maintain my perspective that teachers must be serious about what they believe.

Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny. -Mahatma Gandhi

In order for teachers to be sincere and purposeful about what they do, they must be grounded in a set of philosophical principles that guide their practice... their practice being the words, actions, habits and values that they choose to articulate every day in the classroom. To this end, I'm including my complete list here in this post. I will follow up over the next while to expand on each one of my beliefs about education and leadership with the intent to elicit conversations that challenge them. I think teachers need to challenge their beliefs perpetually if they are to continue seeking better ways to do what they do.

Engaging Diverse School Communities...

I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to collaborate with sixteen other authors, and the executive editor, Eileen Kugler (@embracediversiT) on a new book, Innovative Voices in Education: What it Takes to Engage Diverse Communities."

Eileen is also the author of, Debunking the Middle-class Myth: Why Diverse Schools Are Good for All Kids... awarded Book of the Year by the National Association for Multicultural Education and Delta Kappa Gamma International Women Educators Honor Society. The story of how I became involved in the writing of this book is a testimony to how powerful truly collaborative efforts can be, and in particular, how social media can play a remarkable role in bringing the world closer together. As I say in my chapter,

Exposing how we perceive the world, and in turn becoming open to alternate points of view causes the lens we look through to gain a broader and clearer scope. Exercising opportunities to see the world through the eyes of others allows us to challenge our own perceptions; to reflect on our purpose and the manner in which we influence the world. The interpersonal tools we access to negotiate cultural understanding become sharper and more focused when we open ourselves up in this way.

Social media provides us the opportunity to make connections with previously inaccessible people. In turn, our exposure to alternate points of view becomes a very real and immediate opportunity to grow deeper understanding of each other. If it wasn't for my personal learning network, I may have never met Eileen Kugler, and would have missed the opportunity to gain a broader and clearer scope toward diverse schools through my collaboration with the book project.

I met Eileen last fall via the #ecosys chat on Twitter. Following the Twitter discussion, Eileen sent me a DM saying she was intrigued by the conversation and inviting me to check out her website, http://www.embracediverseschools.com/. I learned that Eileen is dedicated to the mission of strengthening diverse schools and communities, and replied to her with an invitation to check out KARE Givers. She did just that.

What followed was the beginning of such a wonderful connection with Eileen and her new book project. After perusing my blog, Eileen asked if she could call me at some point for a brief conversation. We set up a time to speak on the phone, and at that point I had no idea where the conversation would lead. Eileen called and we spoke about a number of things related to diversity and culture, and the term interculturalism came up. As we spoke about this term, I realized that we shared many perspectives toward how intercultural schools enhance the teaching and learning process. We spoke for about an hour, and I felt a growing philosophical synergy with Eileen. As we wound down our conversation, Eileen mentioned her book idea, and then asked me if I would be interested in contributing. I was surprised to say the least, but also honored and thrilled to be asked to write for her. And so the journey began.

As I reflect on the fortunate and inspiring opportunity Eileen has provided me, I am left amazed at how social media made it all possible. Through my PLN, and my use of Twitter, I have made a new friend and colleague that I am so proud to associate and collaborate with. I am looking forward to learning more about the other authors, and can't wait to read the rest of the book. Eileen informed us all today that Innovative Voices in Education... should be out this fall. Watch for it. As she says, it will be "a very valuable book to anyone who cares about engaging students and families of diverse backgrounds."

I agree.
Thank you once again Eileen.

Getting together- collaborative education reform

 

Children arrive at school expecting to learn. Teachers arrive at school expecting to teach. Parents, for the most part, trust that this exchange works smoothly and that their children's learning needs are addressed effectively at school. Simple right?

Actually, not so simple. There are variables at play in the learning exchange that complicate what should be the fairly simple process of teachers teaching and kids learning. Every child is unique; each one has a story that arrives at school with them. I call these stories learning stories, and I have yet to encounter one that didn't include challenges.

In order for teachers to provide care that addresses these challenges responsively and effectively, we have to get together with significant others in the communities we serve; we have to collaborate with them to provide service that wraps around kids and draws them in. We have to access the skills and knowledge that exists broadly outside the walls of our school buildings to fully support the whole growth of children. The web of helping professionals within our communities is complex and fragmented. Children's services aren't coordinated in efficient and productive ways. We have to change this. We all have to collaborate to help kids write their own stories. Even the online education world is recognizing that applied analytics can help a great deal in learning what is working for students and what is not. Analyzing the learning tendencies, patterns, strengths, and preferences of kids has a tremendous upside if we are to effectively design instruction that suits each child's individual needs. Before we can do this well, however, teachers have to understand that there is a ridiculous amount of insight we can gain from others who work with kids in different supportive contexts. We have to get collaborative.