Welcome to My Blog: Launching the Conversation
Today marks the launch of a new journey, both for me and for the broader conversation on education innovation. I’m excited to share that the latest episode of the Educating All Learners Alliance (EALA) podcast is out now, and I had the privilege of joining Aurora, the host, to talk about the New Champions Fund. As one of about 35 judges for this year’s fund, I had a front-row seat to inspiring proposals aimed at reimagining support for students with learning disabilities and other marginalized groups. If you’re interested in the Fund or EALA’s impressive work overall, I encourage you to visit their website for more information.
Although we recorded the episode a few weeks ago, listening to it again this week made me reflect anew on the innovative initiatives schools and individuals within education are developing to support learner variability. The applications from this year outlined so many alternative pathways to help all students thrive—a reminder of the powerful impact of creative problem-solving in education.
I was particularly reminded of the late Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk, “How to Escape Education’s Death Valley.” He shared the following insight:
“I was at a meeting recently in Los Angeles of... alternative education programs. These are programs designed to get kids back into education. They have certain common features. They’re very personalized. They have strong support for the teachers, close links with the community, a broad and diverse curriculum, and often programs which involve students outside school as well as inside school. And they work. What’s interesting to me is, these are called ‘alternative education.’ And all the evidence from around the world is, if we all did that, there’d be no need for the alternative.”
As someone continually thinking about the conditions that enable great ideas to take root, I’m left with several questions: What allows these approaches to succeed in our public, charter, and independent schools? Can the solutions championed by New Champions Fund applicants be adapted and adopted within our current systems—or is there a need for more fundamental change that happens outside traditional frameworks?
To leave you with a final thought, here’s another piece of wisdom, also shared by Sir Ken Robinson, originally from Benjamin Franklin:
“There are three sorts of people in the world: Those who are immovable, people who don’t get it, or don’t want to do anything about it; there are people who are movable, people who see the need for change and are prepared to listen to it; and there are people who move, people who make things happen. And if we can encourage more people, that will be a movement. And if the movement is strong enough, that’s, in the best sense of the word, a revolution. And that’s what we need.”
I hope you’ll join me for future posts as I explore what change can—and does—look like in education. I invite you to share your thoughts, comments, and questions below. Let’s start a conversation and help move the needle—together.
