More of This. Less of That.

An important challenge and opportunity for a school leader evolving educational change is parent education. How do we engage parents to provide the background information and “why change” rationale? For the most part, our personal educational experiences mimic parent educational experiences. I work at a private international school and almost all of these highly educated and successful parents followed the traditional, factory model education from kindergarten through university. The results of this education worked for them.  Why not their children? Here is an alternative view on the factory model theory.

As parents engage in their children’s learning, they are not hearing and seeing all the familiar trappings of their own education. In varying degrees, schools are advancing changes in assessment, pedagogy, and the physical structure of schools. Couple this with the ever rapidly increasing inculcation of technology and it is no wonder parents are confused, defensive, and uneasy about today’s 21st century learning changes.

Like other school leaders, I engage parents in a variety of formats: workshops, presentations, newsletters, emails, and guest speakers in developing their understanding of learning changes. By far, the most effective tactic in changing perception is including teacher and student presentations and videos in parent coffees and inviting parents into the school to see the changes in action.

Throughout the various educational sessions, parents benefit from the opportunity to see the bigger picture. I have found success with using the “More of This, Less of That” approach. In other words, parents will see and their children experience MORE of the 21st century learning and LESS of the 20th century factory model. Some parents will jump to the conclusion that all learning their children experience is different and this incorrect understanding frightens some of them. For a vast majority of schools, this is not true. For example, teachers still give the familiar test and use a direct teaching method, when appropriate.

Here is the adaptation from Anne Shaw of 21st Century Schools chart that I use with parents and teachers to help them better understand the transition to a more effective learning environment.