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Disrupt the Classroom, Not the Whole School System with Michael Horn
Description
Michael Horn, co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute and author of Blended and Disrupting Class, explains why changing schools is so hard and what principals can do about it. If you want personalized learning to survive inside a system built for the opposite, he says it takes great leadership, clear permission for innovators and patience.
Horn's most concrete advice: tell innovators they can break any policy that does not put students in harm's way, then document every policy that conflicts with the new model so you can take it to a real conversation later. Teachers who are nervous can wait while a coalition of the willing works out the details.
What you'll learn
- Tell innovating teachers they may break any policy that does not put students in harm's way, as long as they stay focused on the outcomes you want.
- Document every policy or practice that conflicts with the new model, so you can have a direct conversation about what to change.
- Spend your own time on the new model while helping teachers in the old one see why their work still matters.
- Start with a coalition of the willing and let nervous teachers wait while the first group works out the details.
- Take hesitant teachers to see classrooms where the practice already works, because seeing it beats hearing about it.
Chapters
- 2:21 What the Clayton Christensen Institute does
- 5:12 Why a century-old school system resists change
- 8:02 Changing education from the inside as a leader
- 11:09 Giving innovators permission to break policy
- 16:08 Running the old model and the new together
- 19:14 Getting teachers started without all the details
- 21:34 Why a coalition of the willing goes first
- 23:37 Celebrating milestones while change takes years
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Questions this episode answers
Why is it so hard to change a school system?
Horn says any long-established organization follows processes and priorities that become ingrained in its culture, like groove marks on a factory floor. Policy, textbooks, grading, testing and contracts all optimize around the way things have always been done, so he calls real change at least a generational effort.
How do you get around board policies that block personalized learning?
Horn tells leaders to give innovators clear permission to violate any policy that does not put students in harm's way. Then aggressively document each policy that conflicts with the new model, so you can later hold a political conversation about changing it.
How do you get nervous teachers to try something new when you don't have all the details?
Horn suggests two things. Let teachers see colleagues who have done it elsewhere, since nothing proves it like seeing it in action. And start with a coalition of the willing, letting hesitant teachers wait while the first group becomes the exemplars in your building.
About Michael Horn
Co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute and author of Blended and Disrupting Class.
Links and resources