Deep Learning: Engage the World Change the World

by Michael Fullan

the 6Cs of global competencies: character, citizenship, collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking;

”Nothing worth learning can be taught.” —Oscar Wilde

One of our favorite change concepts is freedom from versus freedom to (Fullan, 2015).

What gives humans meaning in life is a strong sense of identity around a purpose or passion, creativity and mastery in relation to a valued pursuit, and connectedness with the world and others (for a similar list, see Mehta & Fine, 2015).

Deep Learning: Increases self and others’ expectations for more learning and achievement by providing a process Increases student engagement in the learning through personalization and ownership Connects students to the “real world,” which is often more reflective of their own reality and cultural identity, which can be particularly important for students from other cultures Resonates with spiritual values that link to vast numbers of the population whether secular or religious Builds skills, knowledge, self-confidence, and self-efficacy through inquiry Builds new relationships with and between the learner, their family, their communities, and their teachers Deepens human desire to connect with others to do good

all children can learn, can all teachers learn? Are the incredible and rapid developments in the neuroscience of learning a game changer for us all, including those most damaged? Was Paulo Freire (1974) right in concluding that humankind’s ultimate vocation in times of transition is to engage the world to change the world (this as noted is a fundamental deep learning proposition)? Can partnering with young people from babies onward unleash the masses we need to upend the status quo, since young people not only have no allegiance to the status quo, but also positively can be impassioned to “help humanity”?

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

Each of the six has several dimensions.

We use the term competency to denote a set of multilayered capacities that combine knowledge, skills, and attitudes about self and others.

we added character and citizenship. These two competencies are proving to be game changers that allow students to focus on complex problems, take responsibility for their learning, and have concern for and contribute to the world.

Character and citizenship are foundational qualities that bring to life the skills and behaviors of creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication. Finally,

Precision:

For each competency a deep learning progression was created. Each

“For the simplicity that lies this side of complexity, I would not give a fig, but for the simplicity that lies on the other side of complexity, I would give my life.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes JR.

As one school leader noted: It’s like having a big circle framed by the 6Cs. Inside the circle are the pedagogical approaches that will help kids flourish but we get to choose. So if my school is into design thinking that fits but if another school is using inquiry or problem based models then that works also. The good news is that we get to select the approaches that are right for our students and community. We have lots of choice but with that comes the responsibility for making wise choices based on good data and knowledge. (personal communication, July 2017) What is distinctive is that regardless of the models of teaching used, this type of learning accelerates the acquisition of the six global competencies or 6Cs—character, citizenship, collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking.

As students contribute to their local and global communities, they begin to rethink their place not only in learning but also in changing their world. They push against the traditional structures of schooling by asking “why” and “why not.” When they are engaged in meaningful, relevant tasks, they see few limits. Speed Dating With the Pollies Year 12 Students; Victoria, Australia Students at Bendigo Senior Secondary College arranged a preelection forum, with local political candidates and community members, titled Speed Dating with the Pollies. Year 12 applied learning students at Bendigo Senior Secondary College were first-time voters in the 2016 federal election, and they were nervous and confused about local, national, and global issues. They organized an event where students from their school could meet local political candidates, question them about a range of issues, and then make well-informed choices when they voted in the federal election. Students invited the mayor to be part of their organizing committee; they met with a variety of community groups, sourced policy information from each of the candidates, and created a show-bag for first-time voters in the lead up to their “Speed Dating with the Pollies” event. Students felt at the center of something important, and they were listening to the talk, the issues, and the arguments they had channeled to their school. Students found that the media wanted to know what they thought! Students’ citizenship and skills devel...

Transformational changes—social movements—are about ideas that move people to action, not rhetoric. No amount of proclaiming, moralizing, or advocating is likely to make people shift their practice. What we have found is that seeing examples of students who are changing the way they think, feel, and interact with the world is a more powerful influencer. The next best thing to seeing your own students change is to see videos or movies of authentic deep learning in action. We have included numerous stories of change throughout the book and also links to video because the digital world brings the experience to life. If you think you and others in your school or district may ready to explore deep learning, we offer three suggestions for getting started.

“We think in generalities, but we live in detail.” —Alfred North Whitehead

“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” —John Dewey

“We’re not just worrying about problems. We’re doing things.”

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much more.” —Helen Keller

Liberate downward, exploit upward,

“The goal of measurement is not only to do things right but to do the right things and continuously improve doing that.” —Pearl Zhu

Finally, and fundamentally, engage the world change the world is deeply spiritual. All religions and all human secular values find a foundational place in deep learning. Acting upon the world to learn about it while transforming it and yourself toward continuous fulfillment is both evolutionary and heavenly.

We doubt if there has ever been a time when humankind as a whole was so aware of the dangers and opportunities that abound, and so ambivalent about what to do about it, and about the possible outcomes. If there was ever the need to heed Paulo Freire’s (2000) advice about the role of education, it is now: “Act upon and transform the world [in order to] move towards ever new possibilities of a fuller and richer life individually and collectively” (p. 32). This is as good a definition of the purpose of deep learning as any.

Jal basically said that the status quo is blocking deep learning even among those who claim to be doing it. What he found was the allure of sirens: sounds great until you get there. Our experience was different because we explicitly framed what deep learning would look like and built an infrastructure of people and tools to enable it in practice and to learn from each other’s experience.

Putting deep learning into practice is much more challenging than people thought because it involves innovation, new relationships, and discovering things you didn’t know before. It requires engaging scores of students who are often alienated from school. It must stare down the conservatism of the status quo.

We note that several jurisdictions (for example, Finland, British Columbia) recently announced new curriculum policies favorable to deep learning. While there are limited ideas about how to go about implementation in these new domains, this may be changing.

Ontario

These developments are not establishing a systematic policy infrastructure, but they are indicative of what we predict will be a strong move in this direction across the world. Deep learning is contagious upward to policy makers as well as laterally at the grass roots level.

Relying more on machines, platforms, and crowds reduces human bias. Put another way, the 6Cs are essential for the human connections in a digitized world that will be required to get things done. Our deep learning model, to use McAfee and Brynjolfsson’s (2017) words, enables our learners to access and interact with the “crowd”:

Discoveries That Emerged When Implementing Deep Learning Helping humanity. Children and youth have a natural affinity to improving humanity. Life and learning merge. Learning is most powerful when it is closest to what is important in daily life. Personal purpose and making something worthwhile rules. Working with others is an intrinsic motivator. Doing something of value with others is a deeply human experience. Character, citizenship, and creativity are catalytic Cs. These are the drivers of comprehensive action to discover and make valuable things happen. Young people are the best change agents. Babies onward, but not in isolation. Young and older people need each other: discover the synergy. Attack inequity with excellence. As the world gets more unequal, the reverse power of deep learning to achieve greater excellence across the board becomes crucial for the survival of the planet.