Shift your paradigm

In Episode 45, we had a conversation with Joe Erpelding, Principal at Design39Campus in San Diego, CA, and two learners, Sydney Huber and Riya Anand.

Key Competency

Learner-center leaders lead with empathy, listening to stakeholders. As Principal of Design39Campus, Joe is constantly listening to stakeholders. This is a big part of the design process to empathize with stakeholders in supporting change. It is also critical in supporting correction when change does not go as planned.

Takeaways

What does teaching and learning look like at Design39Campus? Design39Campus is located within a public school district. The goal of Design39Campus is to create learners who are life-ready thought leaders elevating humanity and, thus, creating an impact for others.

We started by asking the learners what it was like to learn in this learning environment. They shared students get creative freedom, and can work wherever they choose – outside, office, collaborative spaces. Students work on impact projects and collaborate with many other organizations. After a certain period of time students choose Explorations and Deep Dives thus applying the core knowledge from content classes to areas of passion, specifically in science and engineering. This allows students the freedom to be curious about many topics.

Why did you choose Design39 Campus instead of your home school? Learners reflect they had the opportunity to see the evolution of the campus as it was being developed. They noticed the differences right away. Instead of the standard library and classrooms, there are collaborative spaces and outside workspaces. They utilize principles of design thinking, and the projects are different. Learners feel very free academically.

Joe has been principal for four years The initial principal was released for 2 years and 5 teachers were released for one year to investigate and research the possibilities of designing a school from the ground up. They visited other sites and employers. There were 17 different design process opportunities for parents to connect.

Joe shared he had to “re-route his whole firmware” about education. Joe doesn’t have an office and teaches a class two times a year to continue to understand what the design learning process looks like.

What is an Impact project? The teacher assigned a simple writing assignment that turned into an event. Students reached out to companies that they admired. Sydney shared about her work on a beach clean up in San Diego. She talked about the process of creating an event and how it moved quickly and easily. The organization sent $2000 worth of bracelets. Instead of selling the bracelets, Sydney gave the bracelet as a token of appreciation to the volunteers who helped with the clean up process. The team cleaned up about 40 pounds of trash at the beach.

Reeya shared her process for developing a NPFH application. She pitched the idea to every teacher so they could understand their perspective. The learners also had the opportunity to visit Disney for a leadership experience. In that experience, they learned about the 4Cs and how to apply them into their mission.

What is an impact project? Anything that can impact the community in a positive way. Examples include a clothing drive, canned food drive, etc. Basically it is your perspective on a problem and how you want to fix it. The projects are passion-driven. Sydney shared she is passionate about the environment and how it connects to her Oceans Impact project. Students need to think globally and act locally. It starts small.

What is the role of the LED – Learning Experience Designer – in the impact projects? A teacher is someone who is guiding students. He/she has to have the courage to let the students take the reins sometimes. “The LED is there to show me where to look, but not what to see. They don’t tell me what, when and how to do it. Instead they offer support and guide me.”

At the heart of their guiding principles at Design39Campus is design thinking. Design39Campus has 8 guiding principles. Creative confidence, growth mindset, collaboration, opportunity to connect globally and act locally, etc. Teachers may not integrate all 8 principles, but they are intentional about technology integration, planning for creation, etc. The principles are a structure to remember that learning is complex, and it allows teachers to be designers throughout the process.

The learners reflected on seeing the principles in action. Reeya reflected she really needed growth mindset when working on her robotics project. Having a growth mindset means you are willing to grow from mistakes. Sydney used a lot of guiding principles during her projects. She couldn’t get enough of working with her peers and teachers – collaboration. She also developed creative confidence to get up and talk about her project as a guest on another podcast. Guiding principles permeate the culture. Learners reflect on the principles as they complete projects and learning experiences.

The school created a schematic about the knowledge, skills, and dispositions, a dramatic piece of the evolution of Design39Campus. Without this, they may not be as successful in the learner-centered environment. Learners need the skills to avoid frustration when communicating their message. Without the dispositions, they could end up with apathy.

How is leadership different in a the learner-centered environment? Joe filled up 3-4 notebooks at the start of his principalship. He did a lot of listening The first year was not easy. One hundred and fifty kids left the school. Twelve teachers left, and Joe needed to hire more. The school wasn’t meeting the expectations, and he needed to learn more by listening. The context was what mattered. He had to give people grace to be good with what they were currently doing. He asked them, what is your 10% to move forward?

Leaders need to be vulnerable and bring teams together to have input. There is now a distributive leadership model, and making decisions was super complex. The team had to come to an agreement on decision-making and collaboration. This environment needs everyone to be invested. It’s a little messy but it is the best work you can do because you are doing it with others.

How do you enroll people in this movement? Joe reflects the best way to  enroll others is with tours and tours – both outside and inside the school. They called it Project Beep Beep! The team hopped on buses and toured other schools, resulting in ideation coming out of that space. Touring internally is also important, and the school hosts over 150 tours each year. They are now re-investing in parents. He asks them to notice. Before, we would have tour guides, but now we just ask parents to “tour in”. Ask any learner what they are working on and understand where they are in the journey.

Finally, think about your priorities. What is driving the system? Design39Campus is a learner-centered lab school. They want their learners to be life-ready thought leaders who are curious and inquisitive. It is not about GPA or how many AP courses. Instead, what is your impact?

There are 150 tours per year at Design39Campus to learn about what is going on at Design39Campus. With so many micro-successes and major successes, they need to develop a culture of sharing. They are touring each others building, taking Instructional walkthroughs, and connecting to learn from each other in the various campuses.

\What advice would you give to others who are making the shift to a learner-centered environment. First, you need adaptability. In Disney, the students learned Walt Disney was shut down so many times. Not everything will be perfect. You have to be willing to work through it as a leader and a learner. When working on impact projects, students experience productive struggle. Perseverance is always important to answer his/her question. Information has to be clear and not false. Sydney persevered through getting over her presentation challenges. She shared how she has grown out of her shell. Joe shares the learning environment is amplifying opportunities and providing grace to make mistakes is critical. As the principal, Joe realizes ultimately, you have to launch. If you wait, you are delaying the time you are going to make mistakes. Instead, shorten the time period, launch, iterate, and make it the next best version.

Connections to our Practice

• Our high school is also a NPFH, and some of our learners have had the chance to participate.
• Staff know their superpowers and how they can best support work. Our teachers and leaders have had a chance to uncover their superpowers.  Should we revisit and celebrate?
• Do all of our learners have opportunities to impact locally and think globally?

Questions Based on Our Practice

• Do our teachers show students where to go or what to see?
• How does the role of teacher need to evolve?
• Do our teachers, leaders, and learners have time to collaborate?
• Do we link everything back to our Profile of a Graduate and Learning Beliefs?
• Are we “rerouting our firmware”?

Next Steps for Us

• We need to make some site visits and figure out how to take staff on a Project Beep Beep!
• How can we tour each other’s buildings?

In Episode 44 we spoke with Dr. Cory Steiner, superintendent in the Northern Cass School District in North Dakota. We learned about the audacious goals and vision, driven by their Profile of a Graduate, that are focused on creating a learner-centered school district. Northern Cass School District is a public school district located in Hunter, ND. It has 635 learners in grades PK-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 15 to 1.

Takeaways

Northern Cass has adopted audacious goals – including moving to a competency-based model by 2020. They offer big school opportunties in their small school system of 635 learners. They took  6-8 months to work with educators and learners on a 3-year transition which will eliminate grade levels, offer credit for learning beyond the day,  rethinking grading, and making sure kids move at a pace which works best for them.

Significant planning is in process to make this happen. They started several years ago with the Teacher Leadership Academy. Professional learning is a key compenent in this work. The District partnered with a local university to provide a masters degree aligned to the District’s vision. Administrators partnered with professors to teach courses related to District content. The school considered a school within a school model, but decided they wanted to do more for all learners.

Community engagement has been critical – using a personalized learning team (including learners) and a parent group. Engaging parents and community members in conversations around potential concerns (transcripts, credits, etc.) has helped build the vision and understanding while addressing various pieces.

Northern Cass recently developed a Portrait of a Graduate to guide this work- identifying eight areas (collaboration, communication, critical thinking, leadership, growth mindset, organization, accountability, and self-reflection.)  Every conversation focuses on how the work will support students being choice-ready to leave their school with the discreet skills and dispositions. Next year, the school will use the first 10 days at elementary and 6 days at the secondary level to directly teach the skills through activities designed to help students better understand the skills and ideas in the Portrait of a Graduate.  The POG is the guided pathway to getting to personalized learning.

Along the way, there have been high points and challenges. Cory shared about his Jaguar Academy – a school within a school – and how it really focused on pace.  Students quickly completed required courses and then moved to passion courses and internships. He reflected his kids are ready to own their own learning, and sometimes the adults need to get out of the way.  

The majority of the staff has embraced the idea of learner-centered, and believes they are doing the right things for their learners. Learner-centered is what is right, even though it is a heavy, heavy lift. Some educators have struggled with this change because the school district has to build its own system.  At times, there is stress because you have to build the system as you go and you don’t know what it will look like until you start doing it.  Also, there is always more work to do… revamp the curriculum, build in a learning management system, etc.  

Cory reflected on site visits to gain new ideas. While visiting and viewing these other learning environments, the educators could see what is possible. He knows Northern Cass’ learners are as capable as all other learners. He realized that the district has not given ownership to the learners. He realizes they have to do a better job of teaching the skills to the learners. While they have learned significantly from other districts such as Lindsay Unified and Harrisburg, Northern Cass has had to design its own original system.  Everyone’s context is different.  

Agency is at the core of this work. What does it look like in Northern Cass? How have the adults embraced the agency? Cory shared the teachers need to give up their control and know that it is going “to be ok.”  Controls such as tests, retests, etc. can be given up, and it will still be ok. Teachers are starting to let go some of those controls.

How have you as a superintendent reshaped the control? Cory has full trust that the people in the district will do what is right for their learners. He knows his staff truly care about the learners. The educators want their learners to have their best day every day. He trusts that teachers will work at a pace that works best for them. When teachers are not doing what it is needed, they may need more resources or time. Additionally, he has had to rethink his role in professional learning, reflecting on the best way to involve his own voice. Using teacher leaders for direct instruction on programs/initiatives and allowing time for professional conversation is often more important than leading the professional development.

Leaders need to be empathetic. We need to honor the work that our teachers do, and celebrate our successes. Leaders also need to focus on their why. What is your why and how does it drive your work every day and in every conversation? The why needs to become more than the a mission or vision.

Leaders need to find a medium area to let their runners run, and ensure every one makes an effort.

Leaders also need to be willing to fail. If you are going to try to do this work, you have to be willing to take the risks to do what is right for kids.  Don’t make excuses for doing what is right for kids.  People who are struggling in this system are people who don’t live in this system.

What advice would you give?  Stop waiting for things to be perfect before you start. Be willing to take small steps instead of waiting. Leaders also need to find a way to give up the excuse of not being able to afford it. Provide opportunities for teachers to see other people doing the work. When teachers believe it, they will do it. Let your runners go, and figure out what you need to do to support everybody else. The change permeates the whole system – teachers, leaders, clerical support, and parents.

To flip the system, we need to create agency throughout the entire system. Sometimes we may feel personal frustration, and we have to slow down and be empathetic. Trust and empathy are critical throughout the change process.  When we feel stress, it is important to have the conversation, be vulnerable and empathetic, and seek solutions.

Connections to our Practice

• We have worked to build our Profile of a Graduate and learning beliefs.
• We have provided two years to build a shared understanding – with runners and teachers who need more time.
• We have developed a school-within-a-school model in our middle school.

Questions Based on Our Practice

• Does everyone understand our why statement?
• How do we surface parent concerns?
• How do we create action groups which include diverse stakeholders including learners?
• Do our adults have agency?
• Are our adults able and willing to give up control?
• How can we better understand how others feel?

Next Steps for Us

• Talk with leadership team about venues for feedback. How can we truly partner with parents?
• How can we organize some more site visits?