:: The 4th Era ::

by Thom Markham

"A small number of schools around the country that began life as charters or academies have developed successful inquiry-based systems. But spurred by the Common Core and the urgency to teach 21st century competencies, a huge wave of settlers is now trying to emulate the pioneers by becoming “inquiry-based” schools. By and large, this group is composed of well-performing K–12 schools—neighborhood schools with solid test scores, a traditional approach, and a winning formula that makes them resistant to change. To ramp up, they usually sponsor a few days of professional development in project-based learning or Common Core instruction, but don’t address the backbone of the school organization or culture. The results for project based learning have been predictable. High-quality, engaging project-based work has thrived in a few classrooms, but failed to establish itself and flourish. The breakthrough behaviors seen in the pioneering schools haven’t occurred. Teachers shrug, and carry on.

"But a historical moment has arrived. Confusion over the Common Core and uncertainty about the role of standards in general, explosive technologies that have finally reached and overwhelmed brick-and-mortar processes in schools, and the panicky recognition that competency in today’s world requires skills and resiliency in addition to a degree—these and other factors have suddenly fractured the industrial model beyond repair."

by Aran Levasseur

TECHNOLOGY ISN’T ENOUGH

"In education, digital technology and 21st century learning have become quite fashionable. Schools that have the resources to integrate digital tools are eager to do so. But digital tools are only the beginning. They are intimations of greater changes to come. It will be the novel and creative ways that people interact using technology that will generate the innovation all sectors of our society are looking for. If flattening hierarchies and decentralizing control are previews of coming attractions, then what does that mean for education?

"Let’s start with the classroom. Flattening hierarchies and decentralizing control would increase autonomy and augment network interaction. A flattened hierarchy would transform the teacher from an omnipotent silo of knowledge to more of a designer, coach and guide. This would enable greater autonomy for students to pursue what intrinsically motivates them within an environment shaped by design thinking and under the guidance of a teacher. Greater network interaction would emphasize collaboration versus individual achievement. With an Internet connection via a smartphone, tablet or laptop, a learning network would be rooted in the local environment but limited only by one’s imagination. Integral to this structural shift is the collapse of departmental walls and cultivation of multidisciplinary thinking. This is not your father’s or mother’s school. But it is the kind of learning your can find at two of the world’s premier universities: MIT and Stanford."