Deep Learning: Engage the World Change the World

by Michael Fullan

how

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how

Daan Roosegaarde, a Dutch designer, architect, and innovator, shared some provocative suggestions for reimagining the learning process in a keynote address (NPDL Global Deep Learning Lab, May 1,

interactive sustainable environments that are at once functional and beautiful looking, to make the world better for humankind.

curiosity where “learners are infiltrators and shapers of the future.” This means working on real issues of relevance to themselves and the world.

problem designers. This shifts the starting point from thinking in terms of opinions of “what is” to thinking of proposals of “what could be.”

problems in which children can be involved, not jus...

Foster living as a perpetual amateur where learning is all about taking risks and is a lifelong venture. Believe children will exceed all our expectations—where we teach them not to be scared (of the unknown) but rather to be curious.

New Pedagogies for Deep Learning (NPDL),

students becoming agents of change in influencing their own learning while acting as catalysts of societal change.

transforming the roles of all learning partners—students, educators, and families alike.

often work at home and on weekends because their imagination and interest have been captured.

They take pride in describing their work

classroom and you will see teachers moving about,

Meetings usually focus on how well the students are learning and how to use the tools and processes to accelerate or amplify learning rather than to discuss problem students.

meetings with parents focus more on sharing evidence of student progress and learning.

Teachers and leaders are transparent in their practice and share expertise, tools, and resources.

The NPDL partner countries took into account the changing global dynamic, connectivity, and societal changes. They recognized that at the same time that students are facing a more challenging world, the days of set knowledge and accomplishment based on content are over. Put another way, Andreas Schleicher, director of education and skills of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2016), suggests that this creates a new dynamic for graduates who will not be paid for what they know but rather for what they can do. This movement away from set knowledge to the skills of entrepreneurship,

what was essential and distinctive for students to know, be able to do, and most important, be like as human citizens.

deep learning is the process of acquiring these six global competencies: character, citizenship, collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking.

These competencies encompass compassion, empathy, socio-emotional learning, entrepreneurialism, and related skills required for

This led us to develop a new way of defining the pathway for developing each competency and measuring progress. We called these learning progressions.

Global Competence includes the acquisition of in-depth knowledge and understanding of global and intercultural issues; the ability to learn from and live with people from diverse backgrounds; and the attitudes and values necessary to interact respectfully with others. (p.

interculturalism

comprehensiveness, precision, and measurability.

focusing their work on helping humanity locally and globally,

glocal curriculum work

deep learning progression

co-design and co-assessment of results.

Deep learning occurs when we use the competencies to engage in issues and tasks of value to students and the world.

organizations such as the OECD, who are recognizing that students need far more

Students need more than acadedmic development --schools need to help students well being

than academic development to thrive.

four developmental domains: cognitive, physical, social, and emotional,

4 developmental domins-cognitive, physical, social, emotional

self and spirit at the center (see Figure 2.3).

Clinton suggests that schools represent a massive, invisible classroom where teachers, students, and others are passing constant messages that impact well-being—many

many of them nonverbal about belonging and connectedness.

brain development can be shaped by the social-emotional conditions as well as the cognitive stimulation from choice and authentic learning.

A focus on communication requires students and teachers to truly listen to the other and ask questions like “tell me what you meant” rather than “use your words.” . . . This implies a belief in the competency and capabilities of every child and a belief that every child can learn.

an environment that acknowledges the interconnectivity of both cognitive and emotional development.

often addresses only issues of access and uses remedial programs “to catch up,” a dumbing down of expectations, and pull-out programs that further alienate and disengage students from peers.

Do they connect or correct?

do teachers connect or correct?

We believe teachers who build relationships around belonging, purpose, and hope can then leverage those relationships through the lens of the 6Cs to bring the cognitive to life (see Chapters 5 and 6).

programs that bolster foundational literacy and numeracy skills but simultaneously engross students in authentic tasks that engage them deeply while providing meaningful ways to learn critical literacy skills. We call this the equity hypothesis,

tackle inequity with excellence—defined

Noguera, Darling-Hammond, and Friedlaender (2015) reported that schools that engaged low-income and minority students in deep learning “have stronger academic outcomes, better attendance and student behavior, lower dropout rates, . . . and higher rates of college attendance and perseverance than comparison schools serving similar students” (p.

American Institute for Research (AIR, 2014) of teacher practices, support structures, and student outcomes in 19 high schools suggest that students in schools pursuing a deep learning agenda fare better.

Anti-prejudice policies are essential but not sufficient to address our equity and excellence hypothesis. There must be strategies that enable all students to thrive as learners in addition to directly eradicating prejudice and proactively teaching the value of diversity in society. Reducing the injustice does not in itself increase well-being or outcomes.

insufficiency of anti-bias & anti-racism policies

how do we do this for all classrooms in a school, all schools in a district or municipality, and a whole state, province, or country? Individuals can buck the system; groups are needed to upend it.

There is an underlying theory of change in this scenario that if only we had no buildings, no districts, no content disciplines, and no measurements, then students would be free to learn deeply. An increasingly diverse and available digital world does make such learning possible, but there is no reason to believe that all students would avail themselves of the opportunity, or that the outcome would address systemic inequality.

The theory of change in these endeavors suggests that new descriptions of learning outcomes and measurements will somehow create new skills in teachers and unleash student potential and engagement. While these two policies are a step toward potential change, they fall short of providing a mechanism for growth. The problem is that describing and measuring outcomes—the “what”—does little to change the skill and knowledge of teachers and leaders to foster new forms of learning, which could lead to the new outcomes. What is missing in current approaches is a robust strategy to get at the “how” of improvement.

Fullan's critique of NCLB

We propose that putting the process of learning at the heart of change is a much more productive approach.

like a thesis