Learner-centered leaders believe school transformation is multi-generational work [#ShiftYourParadigm]

This post is part of a series connected to the podcast Shift Your Paradigm: from school-centered to learner-centered. Lynn and I will be sharing our learning and thinking along the way and cross-posting to the Shift Your Paradigm site.

In Episode 30, we were joined by Helen Beattie and Clara Lew Smith from UP for Learning, an organization focused on the role of youth-adult partnership in the teacher/learner relationship and in school change. UP for Learning stands for “Unleashing the Power of Partnership for Learning.”

 Key Competency

Learner-centered leaders consider multiple perspectives, especially those of young learners, in the design of a transformational vision for education. Learner-centered leaders draw in different voices to understand the perspective of a cross section of community members around the issue of educational transformation. When young learners are invited to the conversation about school transformation, the vision gains a whole new richness.

Takeaways

Vermont legislation mandates personalize learning, competency-based learning, and open-walled learning. Up for Learning recognized a gap between the vision and the current mental model for school. While Vermont was working diligently to provide tools and resources, there was a need for helping others understand the possibilities of learner-centered education.

Clara’s perspective is informed by her work with a team of youth and adults to explore why change needs to happen in schools. Clara has built up trust from adults – she has the community’s best interests at heart. She is invested in the work.  In one example, Clara shares that she was concerned about one of the final candidates in an interview process. Because she has built trust, she was open and able to communicate her concerns.

Change happens because the leaders (both youth and adult) bring people to the table to engage in dialogue. Up uses strategies for inclusive dialogue.

Clara spoke about how she has embraced the invitation for agency. For other young learners to overcome perceived barriers and also accept the invitation, she suggests it is important for learners to feel that adults want to hear what they have to say. Adults can seek out perspective and answers from learners: Let’s talk about what is wrong with this situration. What is going well? Where are the areas for potential growth and change?  

The invitation to enroll in the conversation is based on strong relationships. How do adults view and treat each other? Do adults trust students as people? Do adults treat students like people who have something interesting to say?

Conversation that includes young learners is on-going and serves multiple purposes. UP for Learning utilizes mid-semester feedback protocols. Students self-assess their work and provide honest feedback about the course for the teachers. Then, an important conversation follows. The opinion of every student matters to teachers.

The voice of every learner matters. Adults should reach out to disenfranchised groups. Adults need to recognize that they may not want to hear what students have to say. It is important not to dismiss the conversation when you hear something you don’t like. Adults working to include learner voice should be cautious their actions are not perceived as tokenism. Conversations should go beyond a student council planning event, or a conversation with the typical students – those who speak out in class, participate in different activities, etc.  How are adults providing supports so that more diverse learners can share their opinions?

This is not easy work. School change is a slow, messy process. Both youth and adults are taking on roles which can be messy and uncomfortable. Because of this, it is important to learn along the way. Using rubrics and space for reflection allows the team team leading transformation to have integrity over the process and outcomes. There is a tipping point, and we need to help people experience first-hand and then believe deeply about the youth/adult relationships. Help teens embrace the challenge, be patient with setbacks, and be persistent in pursuit. Every opportunity can be additive to embrace practices which are consistent with learner-centered learning.

If you are an innovator in a system, it can be lonely. We need peers to sustain and support our efforts. When we do this work multi-generationally, we bring back to teachers/leaders the reasons they came into education.

Learner-centered leaders need diverse competencies. They need to understand systems change and learn from a strength-based or asset perspective. What works well in our system? How can these strengths be integrated into solutions?

Faculty can feel battered and disrespected by the current school-centered culture. Those doing the work of school transformation can be more solution-focused – which is fed by the wisdom and creativity of young people.

A leader has to be willing to listen, regardless of what is being said and by whom it is being said. The best leaders are the ones who think about the community around the issues.

The earner-centered paradigm, by its very nature, requires a sharing of power. This is important to the recalibration of the system, and it can be uncomfortable for both adults and youth. We are often good people doing good work. However, we need to think about doing the work with learners instead of to and for them.

We were left with one final thought: be persistent in this change because the work addresses the most basic of human needs – feeling valued, having a sense of purpose, having agency to pursue that purpose. Learners need to know that they have a right to be in these spaces and that the conversation will be better as a result of their participation.

Connections to Practice

• We have several structures in place (Superintendent Student Advisory Council, Social Media Advisory Council), but is it truly meaningful engagement?  How could we reimagine some of these structures to promote honest communication and deeper relationships?

Questions Based on Our Practice

• How might we engage learners in professional development around the vision and learning beliefs?
• How might we engage learners at the board/policy level?
• How do we define the term “relationships”?
• Do our students feel as though we truly listen to them?
• Do our teachers attend to learners as people?
• How do our learners provide teachers mid-semester feedback? Do they ever provide feedback for teachers?
• Are we looking at this change potential through an asset-based model or a deficit-based model?  Where are our building blocks for what’s next.
• Are we doing this work with learners or to and for learners?

Next  Steps for Us

• Talk to small focus groups of learners about “voice” Solicit ideas for how we can better engage learner voice.
• Talk to small focus groups about the importance of change,  Help them understand why we are doing this and why it is important. We will then cultivate student messengers of change.
• Consider a survey of learners. What would our learners say about the relationships they have with their teachers and leaders?
• Consider involving learner voice in professional learning and at the board/policy level. 

Connect with Randy on Twitter, the TLTalkRadio podcast, and the Shift Your Paradigm podcast!

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