Inevitable Quotes

“Most frequently, groups are formed and assigned the task of setting goals for a specific part of the strategic plan. One group might be working on the mission statement, another on curriculum, another on instruction, another on technology, another on facilities, and so forth. Groups work simultaneously with little communication between them before they present their recommendations to the total group. How can they do this??? Won’t the mission be a strong influence on curriculum, won’t a new vision have a strong influence on facilities, etc.?”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Success is transitory … just because you are successful today doesn’t mean that you will compete well in the future. Quality is also transitory … yesterday’s quality is tomorrow’s commodity.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“leaving teachers time to teach those most important learning outcomes that require a master teacher working with a group of learners.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Grades are not a valid assessment of learning. Learning, to be validated, must be demonstrated.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“We believe that making education more meaningful to learners, making learning more motivational for learners, and preparing young learners for their future rather than our past is the critical educational and moral (not to mention – economic) imperative of the day.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“The forces demanding that education change are many and powerful; and the forces resisting educational transformation are also many and powerful.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“It’s interesting to know that Daniel Goleman, the recognized expert regarding this topic, states that one’s “emotional quotient” or “be like” is twice as important as one’s “intelligence quotient” when predicting lifelong success and happiness.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“With one or two clicks we are now able to identify which of our 75 learners are in need of working on any specific learner outcome … and, equally importantly, identify those who also have mastered the prerequisite learnings required to successfully master this new learner outcome.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Everyone has had the opportunity to have input into the West vision … but now that that vision is in place, we ALL have the responsibility to get on with it!”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Placing learners in single classrooms by dividing the number of learners by the number of teachers and moving them in batches to the next grade each year regardless of their readiness is not about learning … it is about administrative convenience.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“But there is a caveat or two here, maybe even a bit of a paradox for the school leader. The staff needs to know that if the vision of the school is based on teaching teams, then teachers have to be able to work in teams. Teacher preferences are important, but schools do not exist for adults, they exist for learners and learning. The school vision cannot be seen as an option.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Mass customizing technology is everywhere in our lives, just waiting to be applied to education and to learning. Teachers”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“But in today’s world, success is very transitory, and challenging present practices is valued. The service leader must keep from becoming defensive, and instead give off clear signals that challenges and suggestions are not only accepted … they’re rewarded.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“If the world around your organization is changing faster than your organization, your organization is most likely on its way to becoming obsolete.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Modeling is most influential when others are aware of what you are modeling. And if you want the entire staff and community to embrace those critical values and principles, it’s good to let people know when you are doing it.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Bureaucracies have departments that function as “silos” and are managed. Today’s effective customer-centered organizations require “networks” that function as teams and are led. Moving people from managers of silos to members of a vision-driven team is the task of the effective CEO. Today’s complex problems are seldom solved by one person or one department.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Form still follows function … only after we have determined what we want our graduates to demonstrate can we determine the organizational structure that best makes that happen.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“If MCL is to happen, it will happen because secondary principals want it to happen and, probably even more importantly, believe that they can make it happen without losing control of the school. It’s not that they lack courage or are afraid to take a risk, but because secondary principals must be practical and pragmatic about control.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea.” Pearl S. Buck”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Without consistent and strong leadership from top to bottom, even this inspirational vision will find its way to a dusty shelf. Without forceful expectations for immediate and continuous implementation, expect people, even good people, to quickly fall back into their old routines. It is job #1 for each and every leader throughout the system to help their reports understand the important role they personally play in making this vision a reality.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Visions, to be powerful, must run well ahead of the organization’s present capacity to do them.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Anytime we can effectively move learning to the computer, we leave the “professional” teacher more time to teach the more important learner outcomes that require interaction, demonstration, and coaching.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Educators need to avoid the natural tendency to become defensive about “technology as teacher.” Teachers will never be replaced. When necessary but somewhat mundane knowledge, concepts, and skills can be taught as well or better by a computer, THEY SHOULD BE.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“for those who are concerned about learning time, there is much to be said for “less is more,” that in-depth learning of fewer concepts is ultimately more helpful to the learner that “covering” great amounts of content.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” Ignacio Estrada”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Bureaucratic, administratively convenient, control-oriented systems will not and cannot meet the needs of our learners, our society, or our nation.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“When children and young adults are always/mostly told what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and then watched closely to make sure they have done it, why should we expect a natural increase in maturity and acceptance of responsibility?”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Technology is a critical tool, but the learner and learning is our core purpose … actually, our only purpose.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Strategic Design cannot begin with a needs assessment if we want to create an Information Age, learner empowerment vision for our school system. Our present Industrial Age schools are IN-THE-BOX. If we start by studying how we can improve an obsolete structure, we will continue to think of how we can improve the components of an outdated, underperforming system. We can only get OUT-OF-THE-BOX if we ask ourselves the right questions: questions that allow us to think freely, creatively, and logically. Anything we do to try to improve our assembly line schools will be “tinkering” at best, when what is needed is a future-focused transformational vision. We don’t want to catch up with those who are the best at being obsolete; we need to leapfrog them!”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning

“Our present assembly line organizational structure doesn’t encourage, nor allow, teachers to act on individual learning needs, respond to individual learning styles, or to teach a concept or a skill using content of interest to the learner. Until we are able to meet learners at their personal need level in these three basic categories, it will be difficult to think of our work as a profession.”
― Charles Schwahn, Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning