As the pandemic wreaks havoc on communities, everyone is on edge. There’s never been a more difficult time for educators, and we’re deeply grateful for your heroic efforts. Amidst this disruption, it’s tempting to take a “let’s just get through this” mindset. After all, many already call this a ‘lost year.’ But in this upside-down education world, there’s never been a better time to innovate — in small ways, and big. For those ready to pounce, What School Could Be offers a mosaic of learning innovations, organized with a powerful change model that: Rallies your community to an aspirational vision of what school could be Supports teacher-led innovation that elevates learning and life outcomes. You entered the profession dreaming of schools that engage and inspire students, that prepare them for life. With the door to change wide open, don’t settle. Barge through. Why not now?! Visit us NOW at whatschoolcouldbe.org!

The best small town in America experiments with self-directed learning at its public high school. A group of students gets to create their own school-within-a-school and they learn only what they want to learn. Does it work? Charles Tsai finds out by spending a week with the Independent Project. Help us caption and translate this video on Amara.org: http://www.amara.org/en/v/B72I/ Final final version: https://vimeo.com/60919251 Learn More: https://www.facebook.com/groups/independentproject/ Social Creatives: http://www.socialcreatives.org Charles Tsai: http://www.charlestsai.com Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/B72I/

Students at Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry tell us, in their own words, what they've been up to at school lately.

Què són els entorns innovadors d'aprenentatge? David Istance is a senior member of OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI). For further information on Innovative Learning Environments Project: http://learningleadershipconference.cat/ Des de l'any 2007, l'OCDE dedica part de les seves energies en educació a tractar el tema de la innovació educativa. Vol identificar quins són els elements que mouen a la innovació, al canvi per a la millora de l'aprenentatge en els espais on té lloc l'educació. Aquest objectiu ha combinat els nivells d'anàlisi en què ja treballava habitualment l'OCDE (les polítiques educatives i els seus resultats) i el fet de posar el focus en els anomenats nivells micro i meso en què tenen lloc els processos d'ensenyament i d'aprenentatge. Però també ha suposat posar en qüestió què vol dir aprendre i quins són els elements bàsics d'aquest procés, clau per a l'educació.

Many governments are under political and economic pressure to turn their school systems around for higher rankings in the international league tables. Canada, South Korea, Singapore and Finland are commonly used models for the nations that hope to improve teaching and learning in their schools. In search of a silver bullet, reformers now turn their attention to teachers, believing that if only they could attract "the best and the brightest" into the teaching profession the quality of education would improve. This presentation argued that just having better teachers in schools will not automatically improve students' learning outcomes. Lessons from Finland and other high-performing school systems suggest that we should also protect schools from prescribed teaching, toxic accountability, and unhealthy competition, so that all teachers can use their professional knowledge and skills in the best interests of their pupils. SUBSCRIBE to get more videos from WISE: http://www.youtube.com/WISEQatar?sub_confirmation=1 World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) is an international, multi-sectoral and action-oriented platform for innovation in education that connects innovators, nurtures new ideas, and recognizes and supports successful initiatives that are helping revitalize education. For more information about WISE: http://www.wise-qatar.org Follow WISE on Twitter: http://twitter.com/WISE_Tweets Like WISE on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wiseqatar

As a leading venture capitalist, Ted Dintersmith lived and breathed the world of innovation. He has seen first-hand how quickly automation is eliminating the structured jobs in our economy, as well as the opportunities for young adults who are bold, creative, and entrepreneurial. As Ted shifted his focus to the future of our schools, he realized that the core purpose of our schools has been lost in a wave of testing, data, and accountability. In this talk, Ted underscores the potential for our kids and our country if we educate to our innovative and creative strengths, and trust our schools and teachers to prepare our kids for life, instead of for standardized tests. After a twenty-five year career in venture capital, Ted Dintersmith is now focused on issues at the intersection of innovation and education. In the fall of 2012, Ted served as part of the delegation representing the United States at the United Nations General Assembly, where he focused on global education and entrepreneurship. The first two films he executive produced – Most Likely To Succeed and The Hunting Ground – premiered at Sundance, 2015. His website http://www.edu21c.com describes his initiatives and he can be followed @dintersmith. Ted is a Partner Emeritus with Charles River Ventures, a leading early-stage venture capital firm. Independent industry analysts ranked Ted as the top-performing venture capitalist in the United States for the 1995-99 period. Ted earned a Ph.D. in Engineering from Stanford University, and his undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary, where he earned High Honors in Physics and English. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

AFT President Randi Weingarten visits schools in Finland to learn how they have ascended to the top in student achievement.

Collection of all the interviews with the speakers at the "Barcelona International Conference on Learning Leadership" (December 2013) about what is an Innovative Learning Environment in different countries and situations. http://learningleadershipconference.cat/en/projecte-ile/ The OECD Innovative Learning Environments (ILE) project analyses how young people learn. It studies which conditions and dynamics allow them to be able to learn better. By identifying concrete cases of innovative learning environments from all over the world, ILE aims to inform practice, leadership and reform through generating analysis of innovative and inspiring configurations of learning for children and young people. The distinctive contribution of the ILE project is to analyse, with numerous international examples, innovative ways of organising learning at the micro level (learning environment) and how this connects to the meso level (networks and communities of practice) and strategies to implement learning change at the macro, system level. For further information: OECD report on Leadership for 21st Century Learning This book clarifies the concepts and the dimensions of "learning leadership", relating it to extensive international research and identifying promising strategies to promote it: http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/education/leadership-for-21st-century-learning_9789264205406-en#page1 Barcelona International Conference on Learning Leadership (December 2013) http://learningleadershipconference.cat/

Students with voice and choice unleash creative power as a different approach to education.

British Columbia's curriculum has been redesigned to respond to the demanding world our students are entering. To develop new curriculum models, the Ministry consulted with experts in the field (e.g., provincial and international educational authorities, researchers, other jurisdictions, BC teachers and stakeholders in education). British Columbia's redesigned curriculum honours the ways in which students think, learn, and grow, and prepares them for a successful lifetime of learning.