innovation3

On October 27, 2007, I wrote a blog post, “K12Online Educators Community Thank You or Claiming What We Imagine,” that called for what a coalition of twenty-five superintendent in Texas has just declared:

Creating a New Vision for Public Education in Texas

Here is some of what I wrote in that post.

In some way what I am going to ask you will initially be perceived as a Declaration of Independence from our past, but like all learning of significance, it actually is an affirmation of the positive intent of our past motivations; educators always mean to do well by students; however, the profession now knows that, to be faithful to our trust with humanity, we must commit to the transformational behavior necessary for shaping a new generative, integral, balanced, inspirational learning landscape for educating whole children. If we do not commit, the downward spiral for too many children and schools will accelerate. If we do commit, some day each child will go to bed each night with recollections of a healthy, safe, challenging, engaging and supportive day. Like the Declaration of Independence that gave birth to America, there is no other way. This is the courageous choice that has been our songline for years; now it is ready to be born.

Here is the opening of an Associated Press article that appeared on www.Chron.com, the Houston Chronicle online edition, “Administrators Share Vision to Change Schools,” Linda Stewart Ball, Associated Press, Jan. 26, 2009, 3:16PM

DALLAS — Skip the piecemeal education reform. A group of Texas school superintendents are calling for a complete transformation of public schools to better prepare students for the future in ways that aren’t boring.

They’ve laid out the framework in a 48-page report called Creating a New Vision for Public Education in Texas.

Nearly two years in the making, the document spells out school leaders’ thoughts on six key issues, including the use of digital technology, abuse of standardized testing and designing accountability systems that inspire excellence instead of punish perceived shortcomings.

The 35 superintendents from Dallas, Cypress-Fairbanks, Fort Worth, San Antonio and numerous rural and suburban school districts are responsible for educating about a quarter of the state’s 4.7 million schoolchildren.

I want to complement everyone who worked on “Creating a New Vision for Public Education in Texas” for their vision and courage. What a great story and document.

The conversation they have started is what our children, our adults, our communities, our nation and our planet needs. I hope their colleagues and communities will see the light they have shined on the critical themes in their report and join the expanding community of educators, parents, students, politicians and other community leaders who are advocating and working for a better learning and leading environment for adults and students.

Here are a few touchstones for my thinking on learning and leading for the 21st Century that may be useful as they continue their conversation:

• Stephanie Pace Marshall’s The Power to Transform

• ASCD’s www.wholechildeducation.org

• http://k12onlineconference.org

• Philadelphia’s Educon 2.1 (see http://educon21.wikispaces.com) and

• Personal Learning Networks of educators throughout the world they can cultivate through Twitter.com (I know Twitter.com scares some people, but for me it has been an incredibly rich source of creative, innovative and practical ideas and information.)

Hope is never having to say it can’t be done. Yes we can. This report is on the right path. I hope you will do what you can to share their story and document with everyone in your network. It is time to stand up, speak up and advocate loudly for children.

What are the Top Ten Must-See Videos that Superintendents and Other School and District Leaders Must See?

I have a presentation to do for superintendents and other school leaders. I want to show a video or two to them to educate them about web 2.0 pedagoies and to convince them to begin experiencing the world of web 2.0 themselves. So… I want to see what you think. If you can help with compiling the list, please comment below and nominate a video. Thank you.