OPEN CLASSROOM: Vision, Challenges,

Perspectives

Dr. Alan Bruce

EDEN Open Classroom Conference

Athens: 28 October 2011

D’où venons nous?Que sommes nous?Où allons nous?

Contours of crisis

Schooling at the crossroads: the obsolete template and the 21st century

Economic meltdown: globalization and neo-liberal ascendancy

Seeking vision: significance, relevance, meaning

Technological Tantalus: ICT, communications and potential

Innovation imperatives

Method and rationale

Need to: re-visit key questions on purpose and

reason for education and schooling question assumptions and

presuppositions underlying knowledge transmission systems

investigate power, access and control challenge strategic policy directions assert transformative potential of ICT

Gauguin’s question: 1 Psychoanalytic: Erikson in Childhood and

Society Philosophy: purpose, value and social

utility History: the development of institutions and

the politics of control Sociology: Rousseau to Illich and the

shaping of systems Pedagogical: learning to learn and

exponential change

Gauguin’s question: 2

Autonomous learner or social being Critical thinker or passive recipient Empowered or victim Production, autonomy and control Citizenship, economy and rights Emancipatory dialectic or return to

barbarism (Kargartlitsky)

Gauguin’s questions: 3

Proclaiming excellence in chaos Setting strategic goals in times of

uncertainty Purpose and meaning in the learning

matrix Creating and sustaining value Shaping potential and defining hope The courage to challenge

The impact of changeThe old world is dying.

The new world struggles to be born.

Now is the time of monsters. Antonio Gramsci

Change dynamics

Sustained and systemic Accelerating Multidimensional and simultaneous Structural incapacity to incorporate

required modifications and adjustments Deep uncertainty in terms of future

options Unprecedented levels of challenge

Globalization as norm

Flexible structures and modalities Ever-increasing emphasis on

competitiveness Ruthless focus on profitability Ruptured communities and helpless

individuals Structural imbalances Limitless opportunities

Globalized work

End of job norms – flexible multitasking to meet market transformation

Shifting production patterns Outsourcing and permanent migration Knowledge economy and lifelong

learning Adaptability and creativity Concentrated wealth, access and power

Globalization: the threats Persistence and increase in inequality Permanent hopelessness of excluded Embedded violence Internal underclass External invisibility

Globalization: the opportunities

Time warp of nation state Integration and participation Learning without borders Global communication and

dissemination of knowledge ‘Collective effort not collective

answers’ (Therborn)

Impact of crisis

End of certainties Explosive social tensions Systemic policy paralysis Spiraling indebtedness Rupture with past assumptions on linear

progress Inadequacy of traditional learning and

schooling systems to meet new needs

Anticipating the future (OECD

1994)

Future learning and employment needs (Jobs Study) Policy change Flexibility Entrepreneurship Internationalization Technology

The future is now…

Potential provision of universal schooling is now realized

Internationalization is the norm Technology is pervasive but unevenly

accessible or applied ‘Flexibility’: weapon or tool? Entrepreneur: leader or false god? Policy: shaping or copying?

School and community

Leadbetter’s insights

Critical issue of motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic)

Centrality of innovation Instilling purpose:

education + technology = hope

Defining directions

Excellence Innovation Leadership System change Reform ‘The chemistry of widespread

improvement’ (Michael Fullan)

Comparative analysis (McKinsey 2010) – 20 countries

Key interventions:

1. Revise curriculum and standards

2. Set appropriate pay for teachers/principals

3. Enhance technical skills for teachers

4. Improve student assessment systems

5. Quality data systems

6. Improve policy and laws

Evidence of improvement Pattern of improvement is independent

of geography, times or culture Interventions are mutually reinforcing Collaborative practice works best There must be an architecture of

leadership

Michael Fullan 2010

The power of collective capacity is that it enables ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things – for two reasons. One is that knowledge about effective practice becomes more widely available and accessible on a daily basis. The second reason is more powerful still – working together generates commitment.

Developing school leadership

OECD 2008: Support, evaluate and develop teacher

quality Goal setting, assessment and

accountability Strategic financial and HR management Collaboration with other schools

Reactions to crisis

Effort to establish status quo ante Denial and paralysis Rage and frustration Cut, cut and cut: the marketization of

thought Copy ‘success’ stories Opportunity to learn: the innovation

imperative Creativity unbound

From crisis to renewal

“School systems that have successfully ignited reforms and sustained their momentum have all relied on at least one of three events to get them started: they have either taken advantage of a

political or economic crisis, or commissioned a high-profile report critical

of the system’s performance, or have appointed a new, energetic and

visionary political or strategic leader.”McKinsey 2010

Innovation

Holy Grail of crisis resolution Imperative for future restructuring Linked centrally to:

policy

knowledge production

information explosion

ownership

Constraining innovation

Commodification of knowledge Institutional resistance Reward, patents and ownership Community resistance Outcomes and results Incremental and disruptive dimensions Planning for innovation?

Creativity and ICEAC Study (IPTS 2011)

Form of knowledge creation Product or process that demonstrates

balance of originality and value A thinking skill Ability to make unforeseen connections Based on learner empowerment Innovative teaching supports creative

learning

Creativity and innovation: finding evidence

Conceptualized in different ways even if universally mentioned

Teachers: 91% agree ICT enhances creativity Theory stronger than practice:

Only 46% of teachers use playOnly 41% use multidisciplinary workOnly 50% believe creativity can be assessedOnly 58% had training in ICT classroom useOnly 25% claim ICT quality in their schools is

excellent

Creativity: stakeholder evidence

Expert perceptions of rigidity and inflexibility on curricula and assessment

Institutional resistance to change: ethos of control, discipline and hierarchy

Innovation only exists in pockets – not generalized

Mindset shift critical ICT quality use suggests partnership

with students, not authoritarian control

Creativity: conclusions Curricula: holistic, supported and

exploratory Pedagogic practices: not rigid and inflexible Assessment: impact of central exams Teacher training: need for CPD, guidance,

vision, exchanges Culture: leadership, tolerance and diversity Technology: vast potential

The Creanova project (2008-11)

Key findings: school and workCollaborative learningExperimental designInnovation as policyDiscovering Vision 2010

Embedding creativity Organic, reflective evaluative follow-up Analysis and modification Lasting partnerships between research

units and schools Labor market transformation impact Organic link to work and community Professional passion - out of the strait-

jacket

Mapping educational innovation

Improve (formal/sustain axis) Supplement (informal/sustain axis) Reinvent (formal/disruptive axis) Transform (informal/disruptive axis)

Mapping vision Re-appropriate a sense of human values and

personal worth Re-envisage purpose and intention of learning Accept the full impact of globalized society Multidimensional futures Stratification has an impact Learning is not simply learning: it is

communication Instilling awareness that change is possible,

alternatives are viable

Crisis impact: system change

Shared challenges Demographic changes: ageing and life

expectancy Women and labor market participation Immigration Cultural and religious difference Conflict and stress Hyper-urbanization

Shared opportunities

Increased application of new knowledge Open and distance learning

technologies facilitating learners and staff competence

Transformation of traditional teaching role to mentoring, guiding and facilitation

Development of network of innovative best practice at European level

Solutions are possible

Regeneration and renewal Restructuring based on quality,

meritocracy, equal opportunities Processes that trigger innovation,

creativity, initiative

Diamatopolou 2011

From science to wisdomThe strangeness of reality consistently exceeds

the expectations of science, and the assumptions of science, however tried and rational, are very inclined to encourage false expectations. It is a tribute to the brilliance of science that we can know such things. And it is also an illustration of the fact that science does not foreclose possibility, including discoveries that overturn very fundamental assumptions, and that it is not a final statement about reality but a highly fruitful mode of inquiry into it.

Marilynne Robinson, Absence of Mind (2010)

Charting vision

Courage and leadership Collaborative engagement Imagining the impossible Asserting rights Access and inclusion Redefined roles – end of the factory

school Community and transformation

Linkage and creativity

Directions

Innovation based on questions, not answers: avoiding mantras and clichés

The poetry of open discovery and delight Constructing schools as critical spaces Connecting science and discovery through

technologies of emancipatory practice Rediscovering community in a fractured

continent

Σας ευχριστώ πολύ

Dr Alan Bruce

ULS Dublin