Even though the Future Schools Conference was only two days long, day 3 consisted of a few visits to exciting schools that are walking the talk from the conference and reimagining some of the basics of what we accept as the norm for schools in 2018.
Catherine spoke about bold leadership and the fact that stopping doing things you have always done is sometimes the hardest thing to do! Her focus was not on academic work (which she called a distraction), despite the reputation of the school, her focus was on student well-being and agency, which then leads to student success. Trust is a key message in all they do - girls have much more scope to organise their time and learning and the fundamental idea that they want to do well is honoured by this approach.
All course are blended with face-to-face time mixed with online content developed over many years on SchoolBox. Assessments are done at a time by negotiation. Wellbeing is overseen by wellness coaches, people who are not staff that are there to look after the girls social, emotional, and physical health. Girls have individual fitness program designed by specialists and activity is tracked through the visual coaching pro app.
Here is an overview of that vision:
It was significant to me that one of the founders of the school was not a teacher but an instructional designer.
All of the programs are delivered through a design thinking model
1st Principles inquiry seeks to strip away students conscious or unconscious bias and get to the heart of what is undeniable true - a great exercise we engaged in with two questions ("What does it mean to be human?" and "What is home?") Defining things like "home" makes subsequent work on this more grounded.
Melbourne Girls Grammar
MGGS had a large group of teachers there to discover why educators around the country have been talking about the program they have. The Principal, Catherine Misson was there to welcome the group and talked through the student-centred philosophy they have adopted. Her approach involved always "looking through student's eyes" and looking at each decision from the frame of reference of "does this increase student agency?" which is a key driver. The outcomes are students that have much more ownership, freedom and choice about how they both spend their time at school and how they engage with their teachers and courses.Catherine spoke about bold leadership and the fact that stopping doing things you have always done is sometimes the hardest thing to do! Her focus was not on academic work (which she called a distraction), despite the reputation of the school, her focus was on student well-being and agency, which then leads to student success. Trust is a key message in all they do - girls have much more scope to organise their time and learning and the fundamental idea that they want to do well is honoured by this approach.
All course are blended with face-to-face time mixed with online content developed over many years on SchoolBox. Assessments are done at a time by negotiation. Wellbeing is overseen by wellness coaches, people who are not staff that are there to look after the girls social, emotional, and physical health. Girls have individual fitness program designed by specialists and activity is tracked through the visual coaching pro app.
Limineer Academy
Going even further down the path of student-at-the-heart of an educational context, a visit to Lumineer Academy was insightful and challenging. With 140 students, the founders enthusiastically shared their vision for education - and they were living the dream!Here is an overview of that vision:
It was significant to me that one of the founders of the school was not a teacher but an instructional designer.
All of the programs are delivered through a design thinking model
1st Principles inquiry seeks to strip away students conscious or unconscious bias and get to the heart of what is undeniable true - a great exercise we engaged in with two questions ("What does it mean to be human?" and "What is home?") Defining things like "home" makes subsequent work on this more grounded.
We also went through a group activity where we considered a moral dilemma and had to reach a decision as a group and explain our thinking. It was great to see the power of consensus and to be able to hear and understand other points of view which challenge my own.
Shane also explained how the school runs on the same model and staff do things the same way when making decisions to model to students the process they are trying to teach.
A fantastic day! I was so impressed by the willingness to share, connect and inspire from both school communities.