EduCon 2.5

It is widely accepted that schools must adapt to meet the needs of our changing society and the 21st century learner, yet reform efforts continue to focus on tinkering with aspects of the current system. And in what has become the tradition of school reform, there remains hope that one singular tool or technique will be the panacea for the challenge of effective teaching and learning. For many, technology offers this same hope. While technology will be an inevitable tool in the process, it will not be what makes schools suddenly work. Without rethinking how, what, when, where, and why we are teaching, technology will merely make the existing system faster and flashier. To effect real change and improvement in our schools – locally, nationally, and globally, we must question and rethink “school” – to develop a whole new vision for teaching, learning, and the student experience.

Based on a forthcoming book under contract with Teachers College Press (Fall 2013), this session will guide participants through a process of rethinking practices in order to re-imagine school, and to “disrupt” how things have always been done. Drawing from mini case studies that illustrate how changes in curriculum, human capital, time, and culture transformed the teaching and learning processes at the NYC iSchool, the facilitators will guide participants through a series of discussions and planning activities designed to help participants craft their own plans for fostering and implementing whole school innovation that will meet the needs of their students and communities.