Disruptive Thinking in Our Classrooms: Preparing Learners for Their Future

by Eric Sheninger

Future-proof learning for ALL kids!

Empower learners to think disruptively in your classroom or school.

The world has and continues to change in ways that are difficult to predict. Regardless of the forces at hand educators play a pivotal role in preparing students for success now and in the future. Eric Sheninger makes the compelling case that the best way to do this is to create a disruptive thinking culture in the classroom and beyond.

Broken into four parts, this book combines stories, insight from thousands of school visits, practical strategies, research, and examples from classrooms to assist educators transform their practice. Each chapter ends with a “Disruptive Challenge” that encourages readers to actively apply concepts in their practice. Readers will develop and understanding

Packed with ready to use ideas and embedded resources including the latest digital tools, templates, and artifacts from real classrooms, readers will

Why a mindset shift is essential in order to prepare learners for an unpredictable world.
How to implement strategies that focus on developing critical competencies.
How to ensure equity through personalization.
What to reflect on to improve and build powerful relationships. #DisruptiveThink

Genres: Education, Professional Development

222 pages, Paperback

Published April 19, 2021

Reviews

[Kevin J. Wangler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. For something called "disruptive thinking," it sure rehashed a lot of very old ideas. And that isn't to say those old ideas are bad... it's just they're not new, and they're not disruptive. I expected a lot more.

[Spike Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review – Disruptive Thinking in our Classrooms: Preparing Learners for their future. Author Eric Sheninger

Eric has done it again! As the author of several best selling books designed specifically to make education better (click here for his list of books) and more importantly, poised for the future, Disruptive Thinking In Our Classrooms is an instant paradigm changer.

The book is separated into 4 parts that allow the reader to sequentially explore the process of disruptive thinking. Educators from the classroom to the Board offices need to read this book and get the conversations started in their districts about how they can unleash the 21st century learning environment and truly prepare our learners for the future.

Part One – Rethinking Normal

Educators often tell the students, parents and community that we are preparing them for work. Do we really know what the future of work is or isn’t? In this section, Eric discusses the advances in the world of work that have catapulted us into the world of the 1960s cartoon, The Jetsons. Eric provides the reader a futuristic perspective on automation, job availability, division of labor, workplace responsibilities, and lifelong learning. The only constant in the future is disruption, the unusual, and change.

Part Two – Rethinking Learning

If the first part of the book didn’t make you rethink the future and the various trends on the horizon, the second part will. Today, tomorrow and next week we have kids sitting in our classrooms (virtual or in person) and time is ticking. We need to act now, and according to Sheninger, this can happen (and must happen). Eric has visited hundreds of schools, talked with thousands of educators around the world, and studied with the most progressive authors during the past few years. In this section, he clarifies the important, albeit essential, aspects of the effective learning environment.

One the big takeaways from this part is that, for the most part, we know the type of learning environment we should be creating for kids and teachers. It should be relevant, with high levels of questioning, activities, collaboration, interdisciplinary, and applicable. Sheninger provides easy to understand explanations, charts and graphs about what the learning environment should look like to get the most of the experience for the learner. My favorite terms to describe the environment in this section is Sticky Learning.

Part Three – Rethinking the Learner

Now that you have gone through the why and the how, in this part Sheninger provides you with a thorough explanation of the who… The Learner. In the Disruptive Thinking paradigm the most important part of the equation, according to Sheninger, is personalization. To help guide this discussion, Eric asks some guiding questions that can help educators gain perspective into personalization.

Are the learners telling us what they know, or showing what they understand?
Who is doing the work and the thinking?
Who is asking or developing the questions?
In order for this new, personalized focus on the learner, schools are going to need to examine their perspective on curriculum, instruction, pedagogy, and assessment data. The gatekeepers at the top of the organizational structure will need to understand personalization and give up the management, top down style of leadership for this to work. Rigor is key with this process and so is a GROWTH MINDSET!

Part Four – Rethinking our Mindset

Moving forward into the 21st Century, Disruptive world, Sheninger will make you re-think everything you thought was working such as:

Zeros
Grades
Feedback
Homework
In addition, Eric provides sound advice on the climate and culture that needs to be developed for all this to work. He encourages teamwork, positivity, diversity, empathy, understanding and caring.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you are looking for a book that is going to disrupt your thinking and change the learning opportunities for your learners than this is the book to purchase immediately. If you think that disruptive thinking and growth mindset are a passing fad, then you desperately need to read this book. Please don’t let the future slip away for our learners by clutching onto the past.

[Dave Moyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sheninger gives us another book we’ll worth the time with philosophical thoughts and practical strategies for how to support future driven learning. He reiterates some important points from his previous work and effectively builds on them, especially in the context of lessons learned from the pandemic. I thought he could have done a little better setting the stage, but the heart of his book is an essential read for all educators. Part II of the book is exceptional, and his approach to personalized learning and his commentary on outliers is superb. His non-judgmental approach to facilitating improvement through feedback, relevance, and student agency is, for lack of a better word, “spot-on.”

[Alex Fink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sheninger does a phenomenal job of addressing the ever-changing world educators are living in, and provides a powerful and thought-provoking case as to why it's so important to disrupt the way we think within our classrooms. While this book does not solely concentrate on the role technology plays in today's classrooms, it does highlight several ways technology can help us disrupt our thinking.

#teachingwithtech #technologyin3rdgrade

[Phillip Nash · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a book that brings together ideas that have been floating around for a while but does so in a way that helps chart a way forward, this book will help. Sheninger does not necessarily provide anything new but challenges readers to action ideas about new approaches to learning and teaching that are known but not often acted on. This is a good guide for those of us looking to re-shape what we are doing and be assured it is ok to do so.

[Josh Rayburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Such a great book! Couldn’t stop reading it! The resources and ideas shared are going to impact many classrooms! From play to blended learning and sharing the need to change what we are doing now.

[Jay Stern · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is how we should teach

This book matches my teaching philosophy and practice perfectly. Memorization is too old. Understanding each students’ needs is much more critical and precise.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timely and inspirational though I’d love more real-life examples in specific subjects or units connected with the standards. The graphics are also useful; I’ll be sharing multiple with my students next year!

[Gretchen Davies]

Revolutionize

It was more of a "preaching to the choir" book for me - I wanted more concrete examples, but I still give it 5 stars. I wish those in "power" in education would read this book, Educational politicians, textbook and testing companies included.

[Melissa J White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel the same way as many of the others who have commented that there is no new content. We had him come and speak at a retreat and I learned nothing new. It did reinforce what I have been teaching in the teacher recertification courses I teach. I would have liked this book 40 years ago!

[Amanda Jones Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m sure others would find this more useful than I did. I’ve read a lot of other books with similar material so I didn’t feel like it said anything I hadn’t already read.