Social discussion of CS in K-12

[Charles Schultz <sacrophyte AT gmail.com>]

Thanks to both Kathleen and Cari who spoke at last night's BOE meeting. Good points!

Vimeo here:

https://vimeo.com/179897648

On Mon, Aug 22, 2016 at 9:17 AM, Charles Schultz <sacrophyte AT gmail.com> wrote:

FYI

The school board is having a special board meeting tonight to kick of the official superintendent search. The only thing published on the agenda is the following:

"As part of the Superintendent selection process, the Board is considering the Executive Search services offered by the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB).  This evening a representative from IASB will highlight the services offered and a tentative timeline for the search."

On Thu, May 5, 2016 at 12:39 PM, Charles Schultz <sacrophyte AT gmail.com> wrote:

Minsoo,

I very much appreciate your response. I see you have set a challenge before this group, and I hope the group responds. :)

Minsoo, how would you answer your own question(s)?

Here are some ways I would answer your questions about acting as a whole, tangible outcomes, and actions. (the number 20, which appears a few times below, is more or less arbitrary *grin*)

Superintendent search (2017)

Dr. Judy Wiegand has announced she will be retiring in 2017. The BOE will conduct an official search and select a new superintendent, per all the mumbo jumbo written in the IL State School Code. The action I propose for this group is two-fold:

1. formalize a list of characteristics and priorities they would like to see in a new superintendent (and make it very public)

2. have a minimum of 20 of us commit to engaging all board members to discuss said list and secure an agreement to hire a certain kind of superintendent (keeping in mind that there will be an election in April for three board member positions)

The tangible outcome being, aside from the obvious (the list), a superintendent selection process that seeks a certain kind of superintendent. I would even go further and say that this would also result in healthy agruments/deliberation from other people/groups that have different priorities. I would personally welcome such opportunities.

Student needs

Have 20 'Shifters commit to engaging a wide cross-section of students to ask what they need. Follow-up with a discussion (including students, if possible) of the results, with a sub-goal of facilitating a resolution of needs.

Teacher needs

Have 20 'Shifters commit to engaging a wide cross-section of teachers to ask what they need. Follow-up with a discussion (including teachers, if possible) of the results, with a sub-goal of facilitating a resolution of needs.

On Thu, May 5, 2016 at 11:33 AM, Minsoo Park <parkmin AT u4sd.org> wrote:

Charles, 

Thanks for sharing as always. 

The initiative at Kenwood is based on that mindset, giving agency to students, providing the opportunities to explore and to produce. 

Don't get me wrong. We still got long ways to go. In that same line, these discussions may be a good reminder at times but I have to ask what are we going to do as Ctrl-Shifters to support our local school district? Some of us individually are doing things, but how do we organize our group so that the group is acting as a whole and not just as individual parts?

What are tangible outcomes and actions that we could take as a group or organization? 

There is a deficit mindset that we often do and say, "we can't do that because.... "

Are we, as shifters who's genuinely passionate about our children's future, following that same mindset? 

Isn't it time for actions about now? 

I am asking this question in hope for shifters' discussions to be more constructive, and I really hope this email doesn't come across wrong to anyone. 

Sent with MailTrack

Sincerely,

Minsoo Park

 

Enrichment teacher

Kenwood Elementary School

Email: parkmin@u4sd.org 

Phone: 217.351-3815

No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.

- Einstein

On Wed, May 4, 2016 at 12:37 PM, Charles Schultz <sacrophyte AT gmail.com> wrote:

Maya, just wanted to say thanks for recommending Todd Rose's "The End of Average". It certainly makes a very strong case how wrong it is to place so much emphasis on aggregate data without taking the individual into context.

After a chat with Katrina, I looked up Reggio Emilia - I really love the core principles:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggio_Emilia_approach

• Children must have some control over the direction of their learning;
• Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, and observing;
• Children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that children must be allowed to explore;
• Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.

These are the kinds of things I want to work on pushing into public school. I want to find out from our school leaders (at the local and state levels) why our current system emphasizes an adult-centric approach, and furthermore, why we keep propogating an adult-centric approach given all that we now know.

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Charles Schultz

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Charles Schultz

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Charles Schultz

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Charles Schultz