System Change

I cannot believe I almost missed this event. Sir Ken Robinson at Christian Academy in Abbotsford. #weareallbced #learnrevabby. Welcome to the Learning Revolution!!! THANK YOU TWITTER, @RosePillay1 and @MegUnger for the notifications and encouragement. I bought my ticket a few months ago and forgot all about it. That morning I cancelled my appointments and caught the ferry to fill my edu-cup.

Sir Ken Robinson is best known for his TED Talk Do Schools Kill Creativity? I’ve watched other TED Talks by How to Escape Education’s Death Valley and Bring on the Learning Revolution. Thank you to @BrianKoning and everyone from his learning community for making this professional learning event happen for BC educators. I was completely inspired and happy to walk away feeling validated and affirmed.

The BIG IDEA behind Sir Ken Robinson’s presentation was that “the system creates the problem.” The system creates constraints therefore the system creates problems. Yet, he also said that we all have the power to change the conditions of teaching and learning. Yeeeeessssss… I totally agree. Looking Back at 2016, I thought about a pebble in the pond and the ripple effect. Now I understand that it’s our circle of influence. We can all create a system change within our circle of influence.

You can change how you assess and evaluate students in your classroom. You can redesign the school timetable to incorporate cross-curricular, competency-based, personalized learning. You can change policies and practices so that student learning is at the heart of schools and school systems. I am convinced that we can all change the system to foster student learning and success… if we really, really want to. I loved that BC’s Curriculum was mentioned a few times during the presentation and held with high regard by Sir Ken Robinson that we’re heading in the RIGHT direction.

Sir Ken Robinson outlines 3 principles: Conformity, linearity, and compliance. 1. We are not the same. Schools need to honour and celebrate diversity. 2. We do not have a linear narrative. It’s messy and unpredictable. Learning is organic. 3. We need to focus on the relationship between the student and teacher. Standardized testing is a $16 billion business with no real improvement. The photo above was taken in 2015 showing parents hanging off the walls passing cheat sheets to their children.

The event concludes with Sir Ken Robinson participating in Q&A. Loved it. The best question posed was about BC’s Curriculum and focus on competencies. The person asked if letter grades were still necessary. His answer was NO. Yeeeesssss!!! I totally agree. I also agree with his comments of still needing ongoing assessment and standards. We need to rethink about what this could look like… and WHY.

Let’s shift our culture… let’s change the system. Oh wait, it’s already happening in BC.