Our road to 21st century learning:

A brief reflection on where we’ve

been and where we’re going

West Virginia Leadership Institute

March, 2009
Jerry Valentine
Our Professional Challenge
 "Our challenge is to provide
instruction that is not only relevant,
engaging and meaningful, but that
also includes the world-class rigor
necessary to prepare our students
to be competitive in the 21st century
workplace. Students must be able to
comprehend, problem solve and
communicate solutions if they are
expected to compete on a global
level."
 Dr. Steven Paine
Superintendent of Schools
Let’s reflect about our Institute and
school leadership: Past and Future.
 As time permits, here are four topics for
our discussion:

 LEADERSHIP for LEARNING

 LEADERSHIP for COLLABORATIVE CULTURES

 LEADERSHIP for CONTINUOUS CHANGE

 VISION-DRIVEN LEADERSHIP
PAST: Learning was often passive
listening and seatwork
FUTURE: Learning is mentally engaging
…analytical, creative, reflective, engaging
 Leadership for Learning
20th Century Leadership 21st Century Leadership
 Studied best teaching  Study learning…look at
practices…looked at student engagement in
teacher behavior problem solving, critical
 Assumed learner needs thinking, and creativity
were known…work skills  Understand future skills are
for business and industry not known…must build
and skills for college and basic knowledge and the
careers capacity and desire to learn
 Leadership for Collaborative Cultures
20th Century Leadership 21st Century Leadership
 Focused on school  Focus on a learner-
climate and centered culture…create
collegiality…create professional collaboration
congenial work and professional learning
environment and social
relationships
 Leadership for Continuous Change
20th Century Leadership
 Change was sporadic and
first-order…usually
mandated from district or
state and seldom lasted or
valued
 Change was made and
expected it to be long term
or even permanent
21st Century Leadership
 Change is constant and
second-order…urgency to
change is ever-present and
always will be
 Change is a continuous
progression of reflection
and collaboration…
collective problem solving
that builds commitment and
efficacy among staff
 Vision-Driven Leadership
20th Century Leadership 21st Century Leadership
 Schools seldom  Comprehensive, systemic
developed change plans are the basis for
plans…when they did they continuous change…broad
were strategic in scope and engaging all
 The strategic plan staff in the development,
required a vision…which implementation,
the principal wrote, assessment, and
printed, and posted in all refinement
classrooms  Change is vision driven
…describing where we
want to be in five years and
grounded in best practices
A lighter look at leadership and vision
Yogi-isms for school leaders.
 The future ain’t what it used to be.
 If you don’t set goals, you can’t regret not
reaching them.
 You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t
know where you’re going, because you might
not get there.
 We’re lost, but we’re making great time!
 If you don’t know where you’re going,
chances are you will end up somewhere else.
 If you come to a fork in the road, take it.
A Poorly Written Non-Rhyming Poem: aka…
A Bit of Educational Poetic Prose
 Inspiration: Robert Frost
 The Road Not Taken (1915)
 Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
 And sorry I could not travel both
 And be one traveler, long I stood
 And looked down one as far as I could
 To where it bent in the undergrowth
 Differences/Similarities
 Rhyme, meter, overall quality…his is well
written, mine is not
 Common message about decisions and
results
 Part I:
What Path to Take
 The principal and faculty paused…to consider
their path to the future
 The first (order) path was worn, familiar
 The second (order) path was untraveled, unsure
 Both would require hard work and challenge.
 With thought of what would work for them
 The first path they principal and faculty did take
 Content, believing they were doing their best
 For themselves and their students, it must be the
right way.
 Part II:
They Tried So Hard
 Two years, three years, four went by
 They felt it was good, they were doing their best
 But they looked at the students in disbelief
 Where did we go wrong…we worked so hard.
 They reflected back to that decisive day
 When the path they chose seemed the best way
 They could make it work, better than before
 But results were the same…no better, no worse
 Part III:
The Realization
 They talked, shouted, cried a bit, then talked
some more
 And started afresh down a new path that day
 Of second-order assumptions and open mind
 A new plan, a new way for their school to go.
 They studied the world…how it had changed
 What did their kids need to know and do
 What will life be in the years ahead
 And how do we grow and change as well?
 Part IV:
The Collaborative Vision
 They answered the challenge by working
together
 They met as a whole to define their vision
 They set goals/objectives to guide the way
 Talking, collaborating, they had a plan.
 Over time things changed, it was a new
school
 Hard work together began to pay off
 Trust, commitment, confidence and belief
 They knew their work was now good and right!
 Part V:
The Celebration
 The community, in time, saw it as well
 The students came to school believing they would
learn
 The parents and community were not sure at first
 But in time they realized how the students had
grown.
 Now it was evident, the paths they chose
 The first was hard, but without results
 The second was harder, big challenges to meet
 With unending tasks they would never complete.
 Part VI:
The Difference
 They chose the second path five years ago
 When they talked, shouted, and cried a bit
 It seems a memory now, but it was a key
 A point in time when it all came clear.
 A new path they took and remain steadfast
 Together, they met the challenges of the path
 And that, as Frost wrote…
 “has made all the difference.”
 About Robert Frost’s
The Road Not Taken
 Robert Frost wrote “The Road Not Taken” in 1915
 It was published in 1916 in a book of poems entitled Mountain
Interval. A second, revised edition of the book was published in
1920.
 Many literature scholars have studied and written about the poem
and speculated about Frost’s intent.
 It seems the most commonly accepted interpretation is that Frost
simply wanted to write about the weekly walks he took with his friend
Edward Thomas. As Frost tells it, they took turns each week
selecting the roads they would walk in the New England woods.
When Thomas took his turn to select, he was often indecisive, taking
minutes to make his choice of the paths in the road. Thus, the
classic poem written about an individual taking a walk on a fall day.
 Though inspired when I recalled Frost’s poem, I took so many
liberties in creating my poorly written piece that it was not an effort to
mimic Frost’s poem. Frost described similar roads and the traveler
would never return to take the other path. I described two different
roads and the traveler (school) did return to take the “better” path.
It’s all about selecting the right path
and staying the course…
 Additional Files
I do not plan to use the following slides in my
presentation.
I included them in this PowerPoint so you would
have them at your fingertips if you wanted to
reflect about the four concepts in my
presentation.
Jerry
Leadership for Learning
 How is our leadership for learning different
now than it was 5 or 10 years ago?
 What do we know about learner needs now
and in the future that makes our job different?
 What have we studied about learners’ needs
that compels us to think and act differently as
leaders?
LEADERSHIP for LEARNING
 THEN: GENERAL AWARENESS OF BEST PRACTICES.
Principals studied best practices in graduate school and
informed teachers about the practices they expected to see
during classroom observations. Students were being prepared
for a future work life that was known and valued.
 NOW: INTELLECTUALLY STIMULATE AND CHALLENGE.
Principals know and understand existing research about best
teaching and learning. They engage teachers in collaborative
study sessions and support application of the practices in the
classroom. They understand the linkage between curriculum,
instruction, and assessment and support faculty as they design
learning from assessment, not for assessment. They constantly
remind staff that we are preparing students to think analytically
and creatively for a life of unknown jobs and challenges.
 WHAT’S SHOULD BE DIFFERENT ABOUT
LEARNING TODAY AND IN THE FUTURE?
 Today’s Learners Are Different
The first generation to grow up with
computers, videogames, digital music
players, video cams, cell phones.

They think and process

information fundamentally
differently from their
predecessors.
Marc Prensky, Digital Natives,
Digital Immigrants 2001
 Think ing
&
Reas oning
Sk ills Pers onal &
Work place
Product ivit y
Sk ills

Core Subject s
Wit h 21s t Cent ury
21s t Cent ury Technology
Cont ent Sk ills

ht t p:/wvde.s t at e.wv.us
Preparing Students for…
Leadership for Collaborative Culture
 How long have we as principals been placing
more emphasis on culture than on climate?
 What’s the difference between climate and
culture?
 Why is a caring, collaborative culture
essential in a 21st Century School?
LEADERSHIP and CULTURE
 THEN: CLIMATE WAS KING. Principals knew that if
they maintained a positive climate, faculty would
enjoy coming to work and they would feel good about
their job and school. A happy faculty was a good
faculty.
 NOW: CULTURE MAKES THE DIFFERENCE.
Principals understand the factors that make up a
school’s culture, they assess their school’s culture
and they implement strategies to create a caring,
collaborative culture where everyone’s primary focus
is on the intellectual, social, and emotional success of
every student.
 WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT AN
EFFECTIVE CULTURE?
The outward look of a school has not
changed much in recent years, but…
But the culture of the school is very different.
Learning is analytical, creative, engaging;
faculty are collaborative and facilitative…
Leadership for Continuous Change
 What do we do differently to lead change now
compared to how we would have led change
5 or 10 years ago?
 Why does second-order change make a
difference but first-order may not?
 Why must we think of vision-driven change,
not merely data-driven change?
LEADERSHIP for CONTINUOUS
CHANGE
 THEN: CHANGE WAS TOP-DOWN. Principals were
paternalistic, deciding what needed to change in a school,
explaining their decisions to teachers and others, and making
sure the change was implemented. Their supervisors evaluated
their ability to “make” the changes necessary to have a good
school.
 NOW: COLLABORATIVELY DETERMINED, DEVELOPED,
and IMPLEMENTED. Principals understand first and second
order change as well as the ups and downs and struggles of the
change process. The change is driven by a vision and
knowledge of best practices. In time, a culture that not only
accepts change, but that embraces change evolves.
Collaboration is a key process to implement and sustain the
important changes.
 WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT HOW TO
LEAD CHANGE?
 If it’s not second order, it’s not going
to make a difference for students…
 First Order
 Incremental
 “Next most obvious step”
 Relatively quick-fix solutions
 Address simple problems where traditional solutions suffice
 Single-loop learning where previous strategies will work
 Second Order
 Significant departure from the norm
 Deep change affecting values, beliefs and assumptions
 Slow, evolving process over time
 Addresses complex problems requiring new, thoughtful, and
often creative comprehensive solutions
 Double-loop learning where new strategies are needed to
solve the problem
 Becomes institutionalized in the culture of the organization
 Faculty Emotions during Change

Comfort w/ on-
Comfort with going change
Low

current conditions Temporary

Staff Anxiety

Optimism
Persistence
Realization of
needed change
Engagement
Frustrations of
& Problem
High

implementing
Solving
Realization of the change
urgency for
change

TIME
The importance of collaborative
conversations…
 Build the Sense of Need and Urgency
 Establish knowledge, understanding, and realization of need
for change (collaborative conversations)
 Empower Personnel
 Establish participative, problem-solving conversations across
teams, task groups, and whole faculty (collaborative
conversations)
 Build Direction and Unity of Purpose via Comprehensive Visions
 Establish goals and strategies involving all faculty throughout
the process (collaborative conversations)
 Monitor, Measure, and Assess Progress toward Visions
 Engage all staff in the collection and analysis of various
forms of data to monitor and change as needed
(collaborative conversations)
Vision-driven Leadership
 Five or ten years ago, who typically
developed a school’s vision and goals?
 In the future, how must we develop our
school’s goals?
 How do we keep ill-informed and misguided
faculty values and beliefs from affecting our
school vision?
 VISION-DRIVEN LEADERSHIP
 THEN: PRINCIPAL ESTABLISHED VISION: Principals
defined the school’s goals and were accountable to the
superintendent’s expectations.
 NOW: VISION-DRIVEN LEADERSHIP: Principals engage
teachers in collaborative conversations about what
students need to know and be able to do as well as what
faculty truly value, believe, and are committed to.
Principals and teachers then collaboratively develop a
vision and the goals and strategies to achieve that vision.
They are accountable to their ethical/moral commitment to
effectively prepare students for the 21st century.
 WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT ESTABLISHING A
MEANINGFUL VISION?
How some people envision a good
learning setting…
The vision we must realize in our
schools for our students…
A new vision of curriculum and
learning…
He has a vision…will our school’s
vision prepare him for his vision?