> Given your background I'm curious if you would share your thoughts on =
what,
> following Clayton Christensen, I'll call the innovator's dilemma.=20
I am a real Clayton fan since I first heard his early forming thoughts =
on this subject some years.
> Many of us working in independent schools would like to push our =
schools to be more
> student centered and project based.
The reason that faculty (or at least many of them) want to push toward a =
new paradigm of student centeredness, projects, collaboration, =
connectivity and all the right-brain skill sets that Dan Pink points out =
knowledge workers will need in the coming century, is that the faculty =
are thinking LONG term, namely, what is the best education they can =
provide students to optimally prepare them for their future adulthood in =
a new world of accelerating change 30-50 years from now (the average age =
span of healthy kids born today will probably hit 90 with coming medical =
advances).
> However, our administrators, trustees and student families aren't =
interested in significant change.=20
> ... practically impossible to implement a disruptive innovation =
BECAUSE their existing
> customers essentially said, we aren't interested in that.
True -- the paying customers of the schools are parents, who are =
thinking SHORT term only to graduation and getting their kids into the =
next best school/college/university. Until and unless =
colleges/universities change their admission criteria (also resistant to =
change for comparable short term reasons), we will keep doing what we =
have been doing, namely, satisfying the short term expectations of =
paying customers. =20
Interestingly, if one looks back a century ago, one sees the same =
resistance to change. With a few exceptions, the curriculum of today's =
secondary school is largely unchanged and unchanging. Here is a =
star-studded long range "strategic plan" for schools looking into the =
next century (20th) written in 1894:
http://www.google.com/books?id=3DfJRBAAAAIAAJ
> So how do you convince an institution controlled by its customers, =
customers who don't want disruptive change, to make the changes needed =
to thrive in the new world you so effectively describe?
Some parents realize that the conventional curriculum is not a good fit =
for their child for any number of reasons. A very few parents recognize =
that college choice is virtually irrelevant to life success, quite =
apparent by working the problem in reverse. Look at the undergraduate =
colleges (few Ivy) of the Fortune 500 CEOs, or the last 100 Olympic gold =
medal winners, or the 100 first violins of leading orchestras, or the =
100 top stars in the NFL or NBA, or the 100 happiest healthiest American =
citizens age 100 or older, or the 50 top movie stars or virtually any =
other socially-recognized metric of life success and accomplishment -- =
there is virtually zero correlation with their college choice. In fact, =
if you look from the opposite side, that is, college grads now serving =
time in Federal prison, those who have failed on Wall Street, indicted =
for fraud or insider trading, those well above average in divorce rate =
or alcoholism or cocaine habit or kids spoiled by affluenza, or simply =
hypertensive, overweight, diabetic, with heart disease, anxiety and =
depression, you see name colleges over represented.
The bottom line is that admission to an Ivy-level college is the wrong =
driver for school curriculum in secondary education. Finding the best =
fit for the kid and his/her particular interests and talents is a much =
better correlate of life success going forward. A few parents see this, =
but most don't -- so as customers of schools, they resist change, at =
least in the short run. "You can change the school after my kid has =
graduated" -- but then another change-resistant parent/family takes =
their place.
This is at least a two-bottle of wine discussion, but in general after =
looking hard at this problem for 35 years, my preference is for small =
progressive schools where kids can learn/live/work together in a 24X7 =
supportive collaborative environment interacting with positive attentive =
experienced adults (rural boarding or small town day schools have the =
edge here), where grades are downplayed and other activities (sports, =
projects, gardening, community involvement, technology, arts, etc) are =
equally important and honored. The half dozen schools for which I have =
been a trustee over 30-some years all fit this description to large =
extent.=20
The confounding variable is money and the high sticker price for =
independent school. Parents who can afford expensive private school =
tuitions are often those who have made money and financial success the =
driver of their own careers, and typically pass this ethos on to their =
own children. The equation is made that Ivy-level education will make =
you richer and thereby happier (despite contradictory evidence), so that =
getting my kids into a top college is the holy grail of secondary =
independent education (a thought not discouraged by Ivies or for that =
matter elite schools).
The list of college dropouts or those denied admission to top schools or =
those never attending college at all who have made noteworthy =
contributions is very long indeed -- starting with a string of =
billionaires: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Larry Ellison, =
Michael Dell, Ralph Lauren, Richard Branson, plus the richest Russian, =
the richest Asian, and the richest Scandinavian.
Bottom line, we need a different organizing principle for school other =
than simply college admission, taking a longer broader view of what =
constitutes life success and social contribution for the 21st Century. =
This will be a hard sell to parents with financial aspirations uber =
alles. Boarding schools can attract students from all over the world, =
and small schools who can reach financial breakeven need relatively few =
admissions. Thus it is conceivable one can create a forward-looking =
student-centric eco-sensitive globally-aware socially-responsible small =
school whose families all embrace the mission and method. The example =
with which I am most familiar is Putney School in Vermont (where I am a =
board member), but I am sure there are others. =20
I recently wrapped up several enjoyable years of service as an NAIS =
trustee, which offered a wonderful birds-eye view of independent schools =
in the US and international, and all their problems, perils, triumphs =
and pitfalls. The experience left me even more encouraged about the =
important role for independent schools, in stark contrast to the =
collapsing public schools in the California economic meltdown around me.
But the private vs public school discussion is another bottle of wine. =
Suffice it to say that independent school should keep their eye on =
charter schools. Families opting for charters are change preferent -- =
the sort of parent whom independent schools would probably embrace if =
the finances could work.
=3D=3D=3D Bill
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