In Episode 34, we spoke with leaders from Norris Academy in Wisconsin. Norris is a a small public school near Mukwonago, WI serving the needs of learners from a variety of diverse backgrounds and changing the lives of its learners through the power of learning. Learners at Norris gain life, career and community experiences through an innovative approach that builds learner agency (ownership) and self-efficacy (worth) while addressing four dimensions: academic, employability and career planning, citizenship and personal wellness. Together these four dimensions lead to life, career and community success. In addition, the Academy leverages educational, behavioral health and community resources to provide an integrated service for disadvantaged learners and their families.
Key Competency
Learner-centered leaders approach challenges through a design-thinking process. At Norris, the work of transformation has gained momentum as the result of communication of the vision and involvement of stakeholders in a comprehensive five level process. Transparency guided by a compelling vision is one of the main components leading to Norris Academy’s success as a learner-centered environment.
Takeaways
Norris Academy is the outcome of a call for urgency to transform – moving from a compliance, ritualistic environment to one that is student-centered.
In the first year a design thinking process was used to look at the structures and policies, instructional framework and roles and responsibilities of those in the school. This resulted in the Norris Macrocosm, a framework with six core elements:
- Empowered learning – developing urgency stories, learner profiles, knowledge/skills/dispositions for success, competency continuums
- Four dimensions of competency-based learning – Learning occurs within four dimensions – academics, employability, citizenship, wellness
- Open-walled plans and pathways – learning specialists conference with learners to identify goals, problem-finding processes, pathways to graduation
- Learning network – redefined roles and responsibilities of people within the system – interdependent relationships; What are the communities that learners can engage with (I.e. STEM, business and human services, etc.)?; community transition plans
- Operating practices – What is the design process we use to develop? What is our communication framework so that all key stakeholders understand the vision? How do we develop each other as practitioners and leaders?
- Learner-centered infrastructure – What is in place behind the scenes – policy, procedures, LMS, technology?
Learners find something they want to participate in or learn about and present a project/pursuit pitch to the adult staff. The learner defines the learning they will experience and how they can engage their peers. The adults then take the learner’s idea and make certain their are opportunities for academics, employability, citizenship and wellness. The adults then bring the project/pursuit pitch back to the learners with some additional ideas. Once ready, the opportunity is open up to all learners in the academy for participation. An example shared includes a cardboard boat regatta design challenge and race. Projects such as this one are highly personalized and contextualized. The process and outcome are tied back to graduation competencies and include many opportunities for open-walled learning. Johnna and Paula shared other examples as well.
Learners participate in open-walled conversations and experiences with experts around careers. Speakers are also brought into the school.
Competencies are tracked using Epiphany Learning. Learners design their learning pathways in this software environment. Learners also keep track of their learning in a portfolio. Many times competencies are clustered together. The way they allow student choice and voice along the way, along with documentation of competencies, allows for building a transcript that translates to colleges.
The greatest barrier that Norris needed to overcome was mindset. Examples include the transcript and adult roles in the organization. Learning looks different. It doesn’t have to be a teacher in charge of a class for a period of time during the day. How can we as a connected team work to service learners in different, unique ways? Mindset shift is critical. Norris has overcome this barrier through a design process. They have developed a process of five levels of stakeholder input unique to Norris. When there are perceived barriers, the design process is engaged to develop a means to overcome that barrier. This approach demonstrates how Norris puts people first before the system. Learners take precedence over efficient systems. Johnna and Paula shared examples of challenges solved through the five level design process: transcripts and open-walled learning.
What they do with their young learners they do with their adult staff. This includes learning profiles, personal goals and pathways to growth. Learners have a profile. Staff have the same. As an organization, Norris does this as well.
Johnna suggests to those working on school transformation to stay the course and don’t compromise the vision. It’s challenging, but rewarding work. Keep all the stakeholders involved and over communicate. The design process needs to be distributive. Keep reflecting on promising, emerging practices. What do you need for those practices to become enduring? Communication. Reflection. Involving stakeholders.
Paula reminds us that there will always be challenges. Approach them through a design process.
Connections to Practice
- The Norris Macrocosm demonstrates the complexity of this work. Many of the elements are consistent with our Profile of a Graduate work and our learning beliefs. The model is just different.
- While we have articulated the knowledge, skills and dispositions our learners need to be successful upon graduation, we have yet to articulate clear competencies at various places along the continuum of time with us.
- We have often come back to this idea of shifting mindsets. This conversation with Norris has reinforced the idea that this work is primarily about shifting mindsets.
- We are working to build the same knowledge, skills and dispositions in our adults that we expect in our younger learners. We also aim to create the same kinds of professional learning environments for adults that we want for our younger learners.
Questions Based on Our Practice
- While it’s not clear what the urgency was that was fueling transformation, how do we create more urgency in our organization as we move from invitation to expectation?
- How might our learning models iterate across time depending on learners, beliefs about learning and reflecting on our practice?
- What are defined competencies for our Profile of a Graduate?
- How do these defined competencies become integrated into our teaching and learning?
- What impact does this work have on curriculum documents?
- What can we learn from their competency model and creating a transcript that is useful to colleges?
- How are we doing with shifting mindsets? How do we know? What can we do differently? What are our barriers?
Next Steps for Us
- During the upcoming leadership team retreat, reconnect with our WHY? and use it to build urgency to fuel the transformation.
- Reflect upon how our work has changed over the past several years. How does that help inform future work?
- Design competencies in the areas of our Profile of a Graduate for the various grade spans.
- Consider redesigning curriculum documents to more accurately reflect knowledge, skills and dispositions.