Blog Juice for Educational Technology

Good morning.  We’re getting close to starting this morning.  Today’s keynote is by Sir Dexter Hutt from Ninestiles School and is titled Building Learning Communities: Transformational Leadership in Schools:  the journey from good to great.  Alan is telling us about tonight’s cruise and an extra session by Barclay Burns of learning.com today at 11:15 (Session 5). 

Alan just told a story about a school in Kalamazoo where in a third
year calculus class used a cell phone to take a picture of the black
board.  The school had a no cell phone policy so the teacher
confiscated the cell phone. The teacher asked the student why he had
used the phone when he knew better.  The answer was that he
couldn’t keep up with accurate notes and wanted to take the picture to
allow him to study and learn later.  The upshot was that the
student wasn’t punished and the teacher added a video camera to the
class to record the work on the board and post it to the web.

Dexter is talking now about how he got here.  He started with Mark Standley here who directed him to Bob Pearlman.  He sent six teachers to Napa New Technology High School.  He says they typically do this - sending teachers out to places they hear are doing innovate things.

Dexter has just put up a personality type slide and asked everyone to
tell their neighbour which they feel closest to (triangle, square,
circle, z).  A triangle means you are convergent thinkers and good
problem solvers.  Squares can stand outside and see things from
many angles.  Circles mean good at personal skils.  Z’s like
an excess of sex and alcohol.

Now we’re seeing a slide showing influence of social class on early
development.  It shows the greater rank of students from high
socio-economic status than those of more disadvantaged homes. 
Dexter has the view that students come into school and we make no
assumptions about them.  The benefit of one-to-one teaching on all
students.  Always start by believing people are inherently capable.

A real litmus test is how students leave the school.  Dexter says
they tricked students over when they leave because they don’t trust
them and are afraid of what the students may do.  Now they have a
student concert on the last day and then they have a prom.  Their
culture shifted from students mooning the school on the way out to
having the prom and showing their self-esteem. 

In 1998, Ninestiles had 32% of students with no passes, they streamed
students according to matemathical ability, teachers had no sense of
failure (believed that they couldn’t do anything given the students
they had), very poor social relationships amongst pupils, and the
students were locked out at lunchtime and abused special needs children.

In 2004, 85% of students are good or better and 100% are
satisfactory.  They train their own teachers, have the largest
school wireless network in Europe and have more advanced skills
teachers than any other school in the country.  They have a
contract to ‘help’ another school and are accountable for their results.

They post current grades publicly.  Dexter has made the point that
this isn’t a naming and shaming exercise and the importance of
developing the right culture to let you do that before you do it.

The single most important factor in the improvement of a school is the
quality of managemeent and leadership provided by the headteacher.

Dexter is discussin a sigmoid curve and telling us that what works now
won’t always work and we should fix things before they break. 
What you did in the past was right for then but may not be right for
the future. 

Now we’re getting the factors affecting a school’s capacity for transformation:

1. A vision for the school - giving direction
1. 3 year planning cycle.
2. Important to share
2. Concept of “phased” development
1. Doing the right thing at the right time.
3. The capacity for change
1. Receptive staff (teaching and non-teaching)
2. Flexibility of organization
3. School Board support
4. Union receptiveness
4. Quality of Leadership and Management (at all levels)
5. Motivation and expections
1. students
2. parents
3. teachers
6. Funding
7. The service approach to students
8. Risk taking
9. Creating the culture

People are receptive to change if change makes change. 
Innovations are not independent of each other:  they interlock
with each other, supporting and reinforcing each other.

Dexter just said that he believes Ninestiles is a great 20th century
school but their challenge is to become a great 21st century
school.  They are changing the emphasis from teacher led learning
to developing 21st century student skills.  He uses an analogy of
moving from ‘fast food’ (60 minute) to ‘dining’ (2.5 hours). 

tags: blc05