I’m going to play contrarian. While there may well be a coming exponential disruption, I have been waiting for it for over two decades, and I have more faith in current structures. I’m seeing teachers becoming more collaborative and networked, I’m seeing PD more carefully designed, I’m seeing grading practices changing, timetables and bells being questioned, and the pros and cons of tech being debated. NESA and professional associations are encouraging innovation, especially in Stages 4 and 5. The HSC isn’t perfect and it’s gradually losing relevance, but at least teachers are actively involved in its production and marking and even Finland has a high stakes exit credential. Yes, we need more focus on dispositions and Big Picture schools offer a model that is increasingly appealing to more mainstream schools, but schools like Summerhill and Sudbury Valley have been around for more than 50 years. I applaud the schools that are driving transformation on the edges of the system, we certainly need new models.
I work in a school with a dynamic tradition that is working hard to become more agile and adaptable. We pick up students and teachers fleeing schools that seem to have embraced continuous radical transformation. Students and their parents vote with their feet when they see a model that works for them. Sometimes I worry that the talk about transforming schooling is misguided and aims to throw the baby out with the bathwater. However I cannot speak highly enough of the AIS NSW ELEVATE project which, in partnership with the Innovation Unit, teaches a disciplined approach to innovation as a methodology.
