My neighbours are beginning to adopt new parking strategies, and this “Thinking Outside of the Driveway” parallels how classrooms need to be sites of experimentation: http://thecleversheep.blogspot.com/2008/05/think-outside-of-driveway.html

Yep, sure was. Really interesting ideas that I’m sure we’ll all be watching. I’m hoping to get some more information on what the district is doing and blog more about it.

I’m only guessing here, but I’m assuming that the school you mentioned above re: “DaVinci and Einstein spaces” was designed by my school design colleagues/friends Randy Fielding and Prakash Nair of FieldingNair (also the co-owners of DesignShare.com, the organization I led — when I met you — the last couple of years before heading back to the classroom).

I’ve mentioned you to them several times (not too long ago via a Skype link when I sent one of their Edutopia articles), so hopefully you having seen one of their Aussie school projects will spark a professional/personal connection for you/they in the near future. If you get a chance to do a deep dive into their portfolio, I think you’ll really enjoy the kind of work they are doing throughout the US and the world.

Have I sent you a copy of this book yet? The Language of School Design: Design Patterns for the 21st Century (Nair/Fielding) It is filled with educational/design patterns that helped bring their studios (Einstein, DaVinci, Jamie Oliver, etc) to life over the last few years. Here’s the link so you can take a closer look: http://www.designshare.com/index.php/language-school-design/order-process You can either order it directly from Amazon or read a good chunk of it via a free e-book summary version right at that link.

BTW, Randy and Prakash are very closely affiliated with your buddies at Edutopia, so I’m sure your paths will cross without much effort as the months unfold. Needless to say, it’ll be a great meeting of the minds.

Hope your return to the US treats you well. Cheers!

I also wonder if the word “school” itself limits efforts geared toward change. “School” still seems to be a place, rather than a concept. One thing the “multiple models” scenario asks is whether education in schools — in geographically united groups, sharing a physical space dedicated specifically to “education/learning” — is a goal, a necessity, or an option. Using the words “models” and “places” as you do, along with “education” and “learning,” helps to open up this discussion, but more vocabulary sure would be helpful!

1. Fly home West, rather than East, so you always are gaining time.

2. Treat it like an Mt. Everest ascent and make several one- or two-day stops along the way, e.g., the Maldives, Bahrain, Barcelona, NJ.

Brian

I was wondering if you could let me know which school was the Prep-6 school? My son starts school next year and I am filled with angst and nearly researched out. I know you were speaking in Brisbane, which is where we are. Some external thoughts on school options are always helpful.

Regards
Justine

1) Progressive schools utilizing technology for learning.

2) Progressive schools as examples of different models for learning environments.

An educator friend of mine just returned from Australia. I arranged a visit for her to a school through a Twitter friend who teaches there (met her through another Australian Twitter friend).

Here’s what my educator friend who visited Australia wrote me:

“Schools are run by the state, not the towns and are rated according to how difficult an assignment is based on types of students, available resources, degree of isolation, etc. The school is … [new and they are] … anticipating many more students when the new development surrounding the school is completed. The homes go for about $400,000. So the students are mostly middle to upper class. All students wear uniforms including hats as they are “sun safe”. The school is beautiful and has all the bells and whistles. All classrooms have SmartBoards, computers, etc. Staff here get 1 point out of a possible 7 (being the most difficult assignments).

Despite being a half a world apart, we all face similar struggles. The Principal is a proponent of multiage classrooms and made some good arguments for this concept. The classes are also team taught.

She took me around to all the classrooms for visits. Upon hearing I was visiting from America, students asked important questions like if I knew Beyonce and where Chris Rock lives. Discipline is not a big problem. In fact, the principal shared that a student could be expelled for doing something really bad like defacing school property. The staff was very welcoming.

A few days later, I visited [a school in another community ]which is a “doggit” (similar to a reservation) for aboriginals. The school had graffiti on it, barbed wire around it and was in need of repair. School is mandated for all children in Australia except for aboriginals. The environment is poverty stricken with little to no employment and alcohol and drug problems … Staff at this school would accumulate 7 points - low income, limited resources, isolated area and high crime rate. It was a very dramatic contrast.”

I also have an interest in the impact of buildings (Do Buildings Matter?) on our beliefs about learning and how we visualize learning.

So your post about many models piqued my interest.

Hargreaves suggests that we should not be throwing out the legacies of the First (optimisma and innovation), Second (standardization and market competition), and Third (post-standardization - autocracy, technocracy and effervescence) Ways. Hargreaves argues for an educational vision that “connects the future to the past”, is supported by distributed leadership in a public democracy, where students are partners in the development of change, where parents and community are acknowledged as participants and where teachers are collectively responsible for pedagogical decisions. This he describes as the Fourth Way.

It occurred to me that Hargreaves Fourth Way fits well with your notion of many models. If we take the best of the past, it can’t be just one answer. But what it will have in common is what’s best for all students.