A305: Week 7 Deeper Learning and Schools II

Goals for Today (+ Section) Understand/analyze: How to do “DL” in real schools (Ron Berger) Analyze your project using problem/context/solution Imagine: Rethink schools in light of deeper learning

Plan: Three Parts Part I: Alisa Berger Part II: Rethinking Schools Part III: Projects & Problem/Context/Solution

Alisa Berger

Break! (10 minutes)

Goals for School Unit Action Goal: How might we infuse schools with the kind of qualities we have been discussing? Noticing goal: What are the things in schools, large and small, that would need to change to support deeper learning?

Arc Last week: Deconstructing schools What are the core components that hold schools together, which, if changed, might yield more deeper learning? 5 whys – what are the core structures to be unraveled? Relic or constraint? This week (and potentially some of next week): How might we recreate schools to meet our deeper learning goals? Design -- Choice of three contexts: Traditional publics Charters Out of school learning environments

Find a Partner

It all starts with conviction… Start with what you believe: Drawing on your deeper learning essay, list the most important qualities you see in a deeper learning environment Turn it into narrative from the student’s perspective: Write two paragraphs that describe, in narrative form, what it would be like to be a student in your school. Paint a picture that would help someone who hadn’t been to your school see vividly what it would be like to be a student at your school. Tip: Include in your description something about the tasks students would actually be engaged in.

Share With Partner 2:30 minutes to share, 2:30 minutes to give feedback (then switch): Have them read the qualities Have them read the two paragraphs Gentle feedback – Do you think that this student experience would embody the qualities they are seeking? 10 minutes total

Leverage Points What are the most important 3 levers for creating those experiences? What are three things you are not going to do to make room for those areas of focus?

Realizing Aspirations in Practice: Key Elements & Coherence  Granularity … of instructional vision.  Thickness … of mechanisms to support the enactment of this vision.  Symmetry … between adult and student experiences.  Transparency … of teacher practice and student output.  Collective identity … that unites stakeholders around the vision.  Organizational design … that interlinks these elements.

Granularity Symmetry Transparency Crafting Coherence 1.What are the most important external factors that will impede efforts to create coherence among these elements? 2. What are three things you can you do to create more coherence in the face of these pressures? Thickness Identity

Partner Share Share key levers, and coherence plan, building on qualities and narrative from before. (2:30 mins) Feedback: Do you see the links in the chain? (2:30 mins) Do you think the levers will yield the student experience they are seeking? Are the levers internally coherent and connected? And then switch 10 minute total

Strategic Framework SolutionProblem Context

Start with the Problem SolutionProblem Context

Start with the Solution ProblemSolution Context

Start with the Context SolutionProblem Context

Value Proposition SolutionProblem Context

Value Proposition SolutionProblem Context You! (In what role?)

Strategic framework 201 Evidence Roots Problem Vision/Goal Leader Environment Stakeholders Capacity Connections Context Possible Solutions Combinations / Synergy Causality Leverage Placing Bets Solution Value Proposition Context

Design Process

Iteration is Key SC P P Initial propositionDesign process SC P P Revised proposition

Individual/Group Try to make a problem/context/solution triangle that embodies your idea. Include: The problem you are trying to solve The context in which you might work The initial solution you are proposing The role in which you might be working An idea about your fit or value proposition

To Remember In Giving Feedback Working as a team to help the presenter develop the best version of their work Listen – try to think about their goals and whether the proposed project would achieve them Resonance – Tell them what particularly resonates, what you heard that you wanted to learn more about Constructive criticism – If there big holes/gaps in what is being proposed, gently name them Barn raise – Help them create a better project; don’t just tear down existing ideas

To Remember In Receiving Feedback Frame where you are and what kind of feedback would be helpful The more honest you are in where you are struggling the more help people can be The more you talk, the less feedback you are getting Take notes as you go – you won’t remember it all later

More specific queries Problem What is the evidence of the problem? Do the stakeholders involved think they have a problem? Can you help the presenter sharpen the definition of the problem? Solution Does the solution fit the problem? Do the person or group have the needed resources to address the problem? Is the proposed solution doable? Overall Is there a fit between problem, context and solution? Do you see a value proposition? Is the project as a whole at the right size? Can it be done by this person? If not, can it be revised to make it the right size?

Protocol for Feedback Step 1: Designate a timekeeper Step 2: Presenter summarizes problem, context, solution, role, and defines what kind of feedback would be useful (4 minutes) Steps 3: Feedback (3 minutes Step 4: Open discussion (3 minutes) Step 5: Repeat, with other partner sharing (10 minutes per round, 20 minutes total for pairs, 30 minutes for trios)