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Who You Know: Unlocking Innovations That Expand Students' Networks
Improve student outcomes with a new approach to relationships and networks Relationships matter. Who You Know explores this simple idea to give teachers and school administrators a fresh perspective on how to break the pattern of inequality in American classrooms. It reveals how schools can invest in the power of relationships to increase social mobility for their students. Discussions about inequality often focus on achievement gaps. But opportunity is about more than just test scores. Opportunity gaps are a function of not just what students know, but who they know. This book explores the central role that relationships play in young people’s lives, and provides guidance for a path forward. Schools can: Exploring the latest tools, data, and real-world examples, this book provides evidence-based guidance for educators looking to level the playing field and expert analysis on how policymakers and entrepreneurs can help. Networks need no longer be limited by geography or circumstance. By making room for relationships, K-12 schools can transform themselves into hubs of next-generation learning and connecting. Who You Know explains how.
- GenresEducation
192 pages, Hardcover
Published August 14, 2018
21 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 25, 2020
“Opening the Doors to the Future” was the title of the 8th-grade promotion speech I delivered to my middle school located in a small, high desert town. It’s funny because even though I wrote the speech and spoke the words in front of roughly 200 people, I had very few people in my immediate circle of family and friends to support me in opening doors to my own future. Aside from my teachers, I knew one college graduate and several family members who worked in various construction trades. My family loved me, but it was evident that we didn’t exactly discuss future hopes and dreams. When I look back on my formative years, my personal connections were limited and the possibility of choosing a career from a history of fostered connections with caregivers and mentors was not my reality. I luckily had one adult that showed me how to go to college, my mom, who dealt with her own struggles before finally attending college at the age of 37 when I was 14 years old.
I told you the above story because I often thought of my own lack of available support as a student while reading Julia Freeland Fisher, Daniel Fisher, and Clayton Christensen’s book Who You Know; Unlocking Innovations that Expand Students’ Networks. The authors write a compelling book examining the critical roles adults play in shaping the lives of young learners and how we can use innovations to support our youth. The primary author, Julia Freeland Fisher, is the director of education research at the Clayton Christensen Institute and has devoted her career to discovering how to use disruptive innovation to support the creation of networks and pathways for students, especially students who are not fortunate to be born into a community with support networks already in place. Fisher believes that schools can work to build a system that includes mentors, counselors, and experts all through disruptive innovation. Moving beyond the traditional school system is critical and she lays the groundwork for educators to process and take action so we can break the continuous cycle of inequality in our schools.
Chapters one through three focus on the importance of relationships and different types of relationships that are critical in providing much-needed support for students to increase social mobility and increase the amount of time our youth spends with a caring adult that is looking out for the futures of the young people they work with. Chapter four introduces the concept, disruptive innovation, and its potential to increase connectedness with meaningful relationships for young people. Chapter five though seven show what relationship-centered schools could look like and why schools would be interested to invest in building a school system that includes mentors, counselors, experts, etc., to build a network for students to have as a support system.
Fisher writes that schools are the only hope for upward mobility for our youth. Schools focus so much on test scores, but what should also be of concern is the relationships we build with students and the amount of time and support they receive being mentored by trusted adults.
“Social capital describes the benefits that people can accrue by virtue of their relationships or membership in social networks or other social structures” (Fisher, Fisher, & Christensen, 2018, P. 3). Fisher has concluded that a chain of relationships is a powerful asset and all students must develop strong and weak ties with others. By developing this network, students will have support to traverse through the trials and tribulations of being a young person in the 21st century.
“According to the US Department of Education, by age 25 half of Americans from high-income families held a bachelor’s degree compared to just one in ten from low-income families” (Fisher, Fisher, & Christensen, 2018, p. 28). This is shocking, but I can see the disparity in the school where I teach. I imagine that if students at my school had a support network of community members, mentors, counselors, and other caring individuals to be a support system, they would develop the communication skills and confidence that is so important to realize future endeavors.
Disruptive innovation is one such way to develop a network for students. Disruptive innovations aim to make a once hard to reach product or service, “widely accessible, affordable, and foolproof” (Fisher, Fisher, and Christensen, 2018, p. 72). Fisher discusses various schools using programs and creating models that are disrupting the lives of their students and creating opportunities for them to learn from trusted mentors. In chapter 5, Fisher discusses a “walled garden” network that expands the typical boundaries of a school that usually only has teachers and a counselor to also include industry experts, community members, online teachers and mentors, tutors, parents, guidance counselors. In order to track the networks of all the students, she has observed schools using analytics software to track students and find gaps in the support they are receiving.
This book brought up many great ideas to create and expand students’ networks. It left me with lingering thoughts and hopes of possibilities for future discussions with administrators, searching for solutions, and talking with parents and community members. In the future, I hope this becomes a reality for our youth who need support. It comes down to being invested in the future of our young learners and no longer thinking that simply going to school every day is going to be enough.
I told you the above story because I often thought of my own lack of available support as a student while reading Julia Freeland Fisher, Daniel Fisher, and Clayton Christensen’s book Who You Know; Unlocking Innovations that Expand Students’ Networks. The authors write a compelling book examining the critical roles adults play in shaping the lives of young learners and how we can use innovations to support our youth. The primary author, Julia Freeland Fisher, is the director of education research at the Clayton Christensen Institute and has devoted her career to discovering how to use disruptive innovation to support the creation of networks and pathways for students, especially students who are not fortunate to be born into a community with support networks already in place. Fisher believes that schools can work to build a system that includes mentors, counselors, and experts all through disruptive innovation. Moving beyond the traditional school system is critical and she lays the groundwork for educators to process and take action so we can break the continuous cycle of inequality in our schools.
Chapters one through three focus on the importance of relationships and different types of relationships that are critical in providing much-needed support for students to increase social mobility and increase the amount of time our youth spends with a caring adult that is looking out for the futures of the young people they work with. Chapter four introduces the concept, disruptive innovation, and its potential to increase connectedness with meaningful relationships for young people. Chapter five though seven show what relationship-centered schools could look like and why schools would be interested to invest in building a school system that includes mentors, counselors, experts, etc., to build a network for students to have as a support system.
Fisher writes that schools are the only hope for upward mobility for our youth. Schools focus so much on test scores, but what should also be of concern is the relationships we build with students and the amount of time and support they receive being mentored by trusted adults.
“Social capital describes the benefits that people can accrue by virtue of their relationships or membership in social networks or other social structures” (Fisher, Fisher, & Christensen, 2018, P. 3). Fisher has concluded that a chain of relationships is a powerful asset and all students must develop strong and weak ties with others. By developing this network, students will have support to traverse through the trials and tribulations of being a young person in the 21st century.
“According to the US Department of Education, by age 25 half of Americans from high-income families held a bachelor’s degree compared to just one in ten from low-income families” (Fisher, Fisher, & Christensen, 2018, p. 28). This is shocking, but I can see the disparity in the school where I teach. I imagine that if students at my school had a support network of community members, mentors, counselors, and other caring individuals to be a support system, they would develop the communication skills and confidence that is so important to realize future endeavors.
Disruptive innovation is one such way to develop a network for students. Disruptive innovations aim to make a once hard to reach product or service, “widely accessible, affordable, and foolproof” (Fisher, Fisher, and Christensen, 2018, p. 72). Fisher discusses various schools using programs and creating models that are disrupting the lives of their students and creating opportunities for them to learn from trusted mentors. In chapter 5, Fisher discusses a “walled garden” network that expands the typical boundaries of a school that usually only has teachers and a counselor to also include industry experts, community members, online teachers and mentors, tutors, parents, guidance counselors. In order to track the networks of all the students, she has observed schools using analytics software to track students and find gaps in the support they are receiving.
This book brought up many great ideas to create and expand students’ networks. It left me with lingering thoughts and hopes of possibilities for future discussions with administrators, searching for solutions, and talking with parents and community members. In the future, I hope this becomes a reality for our youth who need support. It comes down to being invested in the future of our young learners and no longer thinking that simply going to school every day is going to be enough.
April 27, 2020
This book was recommended by a couple education leaders who I respect. The author, who works at Clayton Christensen Institute that focuses on the power of disruptive innovation to improve education, challenged me to think about how to help design schools and systems that develop students connections and relationships in and beyond school.
The evidence is clear (and presented throughout the book) that nothing has more impact on the life of a child than positive relationships. "Students desperately need a web of relationships," the author writes. She goes on to share important insights into motivation research to encourage designers of relationship-building strategies to focus on, "at least two jobs to be done in students' lives: they want to feel successful, and they want to have fun with their friends."
Two core principles from this book are incredibly compelling--"First, opportunity is social. Achievement may be seen as a proxy for individual merit, but our ability to survive and thrive hinges on social connectedness... Second, schools are institutions... (that) with the right innovations, they stand to help equality of opportunity—and specifically access to diverse and powerful networks—become a reality for more young people."
I only wish there were more specific examples--beyond general model descriptions--for how schools are currently building and measuring relationships.
The evidence is clear (and presented throughout the book) that nothing has more impact on the life of a child than positive relationships. "Students desperately need a web of relationships," the author writes. She goes on to share important insights into motivation research to encourage designers of relationship-building strategies to focus on, "at least two jobs to be done in students' lives: they want to feel successful, and they want to have fun with their friends."
Two core principles from this book are incredibly compelling--"First, opportunity is social. Achievement may be seen as a proxy for individual merit, but our ability to survive and thrive hinges on social connectedness... Second, schools are institutions... (that) with the right innovations, they stand to help equality of opportunity—and specifically access to diverse and powerful networks—become a reality for more young people."
I only wish there were more specific examples--beyond general model descriptions--for how schools are currently building and measuring relationships.
July 4, 2022
Great documentation of the value that relationships play in students' lives, throughout their lives. I would have greatly valued more practical ideas on how to support and build student networks. The "innovations" seemed to be a handful of startups or activities that in some cases had ceased operations (e.g. The Granny Cloud)
February 1, 2019
Really loved this book and think author is spot on. Looking forward to helping enact some of these changes.
July 8, 2019
Great reference book for educators on the importance of relationships in a students life. Julia's research base shows how a connected/networked student has improved academic outcomes.
December 8, 2019
A good overview of how social capital impacts education, followed by a review of innovative approaches to boosting social capital and skills of underserved students.
June 26, 2023
More for K-12 rather than college but still got some good ideas out of it. Just seemed repetitive.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews