Forgot to post this one. I really enjoyed Rob Evans’ keynote and here were some of my takeaways.
Rob Evans Keynote
Website: http://www.robevans.org/
Website: http://www.robevans.org/
- Challenges facing adults in schools as they grapple with change (of any kind)
- So little about what schools should be doing is done in any middle place
- Ton of school basing; ton of looking way up in the sky, but big gap
- Tremendous focus on needs of kids, but little focus on the individuals who are supposed to be leading these kids
- “If you’re not careful, you can OD on good ideas.”
- We don’t have any leisure left. We’re all about business.
- Change of any kind is almost without exception a focus of ambivalence. Not only between those who seem to want it and those who seem to not want it.
- We cling to pattern!
- People who say they love change often love THEIR OWN type of change.
- Pattern-seeking – not about happiness; people CLING to patterns
- patterns make life meaningful, not necessarily happy.
- people routinely shoot themselves in the foot!
- We don’t react to the event, we react to the meaning of the event
- 3 kinds of meanings that are problematic:
- 1. loss – grief
- I am at grief when my idea is devalued
- Change often devalues long-held assumptions, causing resistance. Resistance is normal and necessary
- people who are committed are also resisters
- 2. change and continuity
- change – increases confusion
- Change creates ambivalence: humans cling to patterns (make life meaningful) AND seek novelty.
- change begets conflict; when you create change, you create winners and losers automatically
- “What we need in schools is a dynamic not of change, but between change and continuity. Continuity is a core value for good reason.”
- 3. disagree constructively
- outstanding at avoiding conflict
- the bigger and more meaningful the change, the more likely we are to resist
- “Whatever else they are excellent at, they are outstanding at avoiding open conflict.”
- “people learn from the people they love”
- we should be able to disagree constructively
- many teachers are great with kids, but not with adults
- Schools need to learn how to disagree constructively to have a better chance of sparking the kind of change we want to have.
- schools are harder to change than corporate places; continuity; a lot of what happens in schools (what they need to learn) is not fast changing – software companies move rapidly, but lots about school life is rather enduring or at least slow changing; schools NEED creativity but not constant innovation
- if you want people to change, they have a right to know 3 things: why, what, how
- why do we need the change?
- when somebody asks this questions and you give an answer…
- 2 problems with an honest answer:
- it causes bereavement (grief sets in) – problem: it interferes with concentration and memory
- need more than an abstract argument – it won’t be sufficient
- people need pressure and then support
- what am i supposed to change to?
- what is the most important change that you want to see now?
- and how am i supposed to get there?
- where is the help? what supports do you have set up?
- “There is no known innovation that survives the indifference of the principal.”
- “We need to balance reach and realism”
- “The human brain learns best in situations of mild anxiety.” Not too little, not too much… Lesson: lighten up!
- Journey vs destination – destination is a weigh station and journey is life itself
- lifelong learning – make kids develop in a way that promotes that schooling
- Alan November
- education that is limited to what teachers already know does not go far enough. it should be an opportunity for students to stand on our shoulders and take it to a higher place.
- standonourshoulders.com
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