I want to start today with two
assumptions first assumption everyone
here has read a book second assumption
everyone here has had a book changed
their life now show of hands how many
people here have had a book changed
their life many of us for me it’s hard
to choose one book because reading
continues to change my life but there is
one book I want to talk to you about PHA
Brownlee’s student diversity it was that
book and a courageous principle that
changed the trajectory of my career as a
teacher and drastically aprove improved
learning in my classroom teachers cross
a threshold in their career it happened
sometime between that chaos of getting a
job getting out of university and then
standing in front of 20 or 30 students
and some point in your career where you
get comfortable with teaching and it’s
at that threshold that they have to
decide is their occupation going to be a
job that provides them with quite good
holidays an adequate pension or they
gonna cross that threshold and see their
occupation as a calling that has the
potential to influence the lives of
students both now and for future
generations my fifth year of teaching
was that year for me but I want to tell
you first a little bit of the backstory
it was the summer of my fifth year of
teaching we did as we always did in the
summer we did what was modeled for us by
my parents and what we model for our
children now summer is for reading and
as summer turned to fall I picked up
student diversity and could not put it
down dinnertime honey I just got to read
my book
it was changing everything and when I
was done that book and I let out a sigh
my wife said that good and I said this
changes everything
I couldn’t sleep at the end of that book
I asked myself a question what would
happen
if I started the year as a teacher doing
no planning and you know one good
question prompts others what would
happen if the students planned their
learning I literally could not sleep
it’s August I’m forming my principal I
have to meet with you right now I have
an idea so exciting that is going to
change my classroom and change learning
in my classroom in the school maybe even
the province the world who knows and
he’s like it’s August can’t it wait till
September I’m like no this changes
everything now put yourself in my
principal shoes he did to his credit
agree to meet with me in August we get
together in his office and he’s like
Darren what’s the idea
I’m like Kurt I don’t want to start the
year with any planning I am still
shocked that he didn’t just laugh
straight in my face and say no or maybe
he did laugh and covered it up with a
cough and I was so idea blind I missed
it but if he laughed he didn’t laugh
long and he asked me a question that
continues to profoundly impact me as I
support others in innovation what would
that look like and I rattled off a
million miles an hour I’m gonna ask
questions I’m gonna get to know the
students I’m gonna see what their
passions their interest of course I’m
gonna meet the government expectations
and that was long before voice choice
personalization were buzzwords and
education and many years before the
province embarked on a transformed
curriculum here in BC so he looked at me
he was quiet for a moment and he said so
if I’m hearing you right you’re gonna
take this group of students you have
you’re gonna get to know them and then
you’re gonna fit this prescribed
curriculum to your students exactly
simple right to his credit with a few
stipulations he gave me the green light
the week before school I still pretended
to be busy
I hung borders put up bulletin boards
arranged desks put him in groups of two
groups of three groups of four back to
groups of two again but really if I
believed in this new idea
I couldn’t plan much past day one day
one was a disaster a complete and total
failure I did all the community building
get to know you that’s all feel good
about school after summer break
activities but I was just waiting for
the moment that moment where I could
stand in front of my students and write
on the board what do you want to learn
this year silence and then it’s middle
school so a few sarcastic comments from
some of the boys in the back in that
moment I realized that they didn’t
believe that I actually cared about what
they wanted to learn by eighth grade the
system had taught them that what they
wanted to learn wasn’t important or part
of education and it was in that crisis
that I created two guidelines that keep
me going when things don’t go well the
first is if you thought it was a good
idea don’t quit what does that teach
students and more importantly if you’ve
done your research you’ve come up with a
great idea and it’s start both starts
going sour your job becomes figuring out
what details you missed that turned a
good idea sour they’re not perfect but
giving up is easy it’s following through
this difficult it took three weeks three
weeks of me feeling lost like a
rudderless ship on the high seas three
weeks of students going home and saying
mr. speak sment know what to teach us so
he’s letting us decide and even better
we get to decide whatever we want to
learn I was just lucky that we were in a
community where parents were highly
supportive and moms came in asking
gentle questions rather than demanding
change now and dad said come fishing
with me on the riverbank
I wanted to have a conversation about
what was going on in the classroom
rational conversations between caring
people
led to meaningful understanding and it
was a conversation with colleagues in
week two that changed my trajectory and
brought learning to a whole new level by
the end of September I had realized that
I had started the year with the wrong
question I should have started the year
with two questions one what do you care
deeply about and two what concerns you
most in the world experience has taught
me that those two questions lead to
deeper learning in a way that what do
you want to learn this year never will
it was near the beginning of October
that we had a plan
two hundred ideas distilled into five
questions and it became my job to figure
out to synthesize the information the
interest with the ministry expectations
so that was a long Thanksgiving weekend
both for me and my family because the
first times all was the hardest and it
took me an entire weekend to put all the
pieces together in a way that could
prove but I was actually a professional
and could pull this off the questions
that the students came up with in that
first year why is there war what should
I be when I grow up how can we save the
planet is aquaculture going to destroy
the Skeena River salmon fishery and why
are there homeless my job as a teacher
became to first help the students
understand what they were asking but
more importantly give them an
opportunity to meaningfully respond in
their learning when you plan curriculum
with your students everything changes
inviting students into the minutiae of
school and classroom why not criteria
lists rubric instructions seating
arrangements even scheduling what do you
want to work on when why of course when
you’ve invited students into the
foundation of their learning it makes
sense to have them involved in every
other aspect though it felt
revolutionary
school actually looked fairly similar
that first year student still went to
math but statistics looks different when
you’re preparing for a presentation for
the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
student still went to music and to
French and it still appeared the same
but it was different students no longer
asked why are we learning this they knew
I gained a few key takeaways about
students over that first year students
care deeply about their future and their
world and they’re willing to work hard
to improve both if you invest in
students students will invest back in
you respect is earned and students will
even eighth graders will work long hard
and focused hours if they see its
purpose school is about learning it’s
not about grades it’s not even about
outcomes school is about students
learning knowledge skills abilities and
attitudes it’s about learning these
things so that they can improve their
life and the lives of others both now
and for future generations if we want
school to do that students need to be
able to make meaningful value-laden
choices in their education they need to
be able to turn that into action and
experience for this group of students
this first year they took conflict
resolution to a younger class that no
matter what the teachers did they just
could not get along on the playground
they made presentations to the
Department of Fisheries and Oceans and
an aquaculture company about their
concerns and they prepared and served
hot meals and hot drinks to homeless for
me as the teacher I got to revel in my
students and their learning teaching can
be so many things for me it’s equipping
students and then getting out of the way
so they can be involved in as many
aspects of education and learning as
possible
even planning their own curriculum from
teacher to administrator from classroom
to school collaborative year planning
continues to shape schools here in BC
what a teachers find when they get
involved in a project like this they
find they don’t want to go back they
don’t want to go back to being silos of
specialty with a closed door
leave me alone and let me do my job they
want to stay collaborative co-creators
of innovation growth and change for
learning for students what students find
isn’t quite as good as students
transition to a more traditional
classroom they find themselves feeling
disrespected but many find their voice
they realize that they can advocate for
themselves and for their needs and
interests in their learning the strong
realize that if they orient their
learning around the concerns that they
have for the world that they can become
lifelong learners both in school and
outside of school and the Willing
realize that if they orient their
learning towards other people and the
concerns they have about the world
there’s desire and passion can bring
meaning to their life thank you very
much
[Applause]
you
assumptions first assumption everyone
here has read a book second assumption
everyone here has had a book changed
their life now show of hands how many
people here have had a book changed
their life many of us for me it’s hard
to choose one book because reading
continues to change my life but there is
one book I want to talk to you about PHA
Brownlee’s student diversity it was that
book and a courageous principle that
changed the trajectory of my career as a
teacher and drastically aprove improved
learning in my classroom teachers cross
a threshold in their career it happened
sometime between that chaos of getting a
job getting out of university and then
standing in front of 20 or 30 students
and some point in your career where you
get comfortable with teaching and it’s
at that threshold that they have to
decide is their occupation going to be a
job that provides them with quite good
holidays an adequate pension or they
gonna cross that threshold and see their
occupation as a calling that has the
potential to influence the lives of
students both now and for future
generations my fifth year of teaching
was that year for me but I want to tell
you first a little bit of the backstory
it was the summer of my fifth year of
teaching we did as we always did in the
summer we did what was modeled for us by
my parents and what we model for our
children now summer is for reading and
as summer turned to fall I picked up
student diversity and could not put it
down dinnertime honey I just got to read
my book
it was changing everything and when I
was done that book and I let out a sigh
my wife said that good and I said this
changes everything
I couldn’t sleep at the end of that book
I asked myself a question what would
happen
if I started the year as a teacher doing
no planning and you know one good
question prompts others what would
happen if the students planned their
learning I literally could not sleep
it’s August I’m forming my principal I
have to meet with you right now I have
an idea so exciting that is going to
change my classroom and change learning
in my classroom in the school maybe even
the province the world who knows and
he’s like it’s August can’t it wait till
September I’m like no this changes
everything now put yourself in my
principal shoes he did to his credit
agree to meet with me in August we get
together in his office and he’s like
Darren what’s the idea
I’m like Kurt I don’t want to start the
year with any planning I am still
shocked that he didn’t just laugh
straight in my face and say no or maybe
he did laugh and covered it up with a
cough and I was so idea blind I missed
it but if he laughed he didn’t laugh
long and he asked me a question that
continues to profoundly impact me as I
support others in innovation what would
that look like and I rattled off a
million miles an hour I’m gonna ask
questions I’m gonna get to know the
students I’m gonna see what their
passions their interest of course I’m
gonna meet the government expectations
and that was long before voice choice
personalization were buzzwords and
education and many years before the
province embarked on a transformed
curriculum here in BC so he looked at me
he was quiet for a moment and he said so
if I’m hearing you right you’re gonna
take this group of students you have
you’re gonna get to know them and then
you’re gonna fit this prescribed
curriculum to your students exactly
simple right to his credit with a few
stipulations he gave me the green light
the week before school I still pretended
to be busy
I hung borders put up bulletin boards
arranged desks put him in groups of two
groups of three groups of four back to
groups of two again but really if I
believed in this new idea
I couldn’t plan much past day one day
one was a disaster a complete and total
failure I did all the community building
get to know you that’s all feel good
about school after summer break
activities but I was just waiting for
the moment that moment where I could
stand in front of my students and write
on the board what do you want to learn
this year silence and then it’s middle
school so a few sarcastic comments from
some of the boys in the back in that
moment I realized that they didn’t
believe that I actually cared about what
they wanted to learn by eighth grade the
system had taught them that what they
wanted to learn wasn’t important or part
of education and it was in that crisis
that I created two guidelines that keep
me going when things don’t go well the
first is if you thought it was a good
idea don’t quit what does that teach
students and more importantly if you’ve
done your research you’ve come up with a
great idea and it’s start both starts
going sour your job becomes figuring out
what details you missed that turned a
good idea sour they’re not perfect but
giving up is easy it’s following through
this difficult it took three weeks three
weeks of me feeling lost like a
rudderless ship on the high seas three
weeks of students going home and saying
mr. speak sment know what to teach us so
he’s letting us decide and even better
we get to decide whatever we want to
learn I was just lucky that we were in a
community where parents were highly
supportive and moms came in asking
gentle questions rather than demanding
change now and dad said come fishing
with me on the riverbank
I wanted to have a conversation about
what was going on in the classroom
rational conversations between caring
people
led to meaningful understanding and it
was a conversation with colleagues in
week two that changed my trajectory and
brought learning to a whole new level by
the end of September I had realized that
I had started the year with the wrong
question I should have started the year
with two questions one what do you care
deeply about and two what concerns you
most in the world experience has taught
me that those two questions lead to
deeper learning in a way that what do
you want to learn this year never will
it was near the beginning of October
that we had a plan
two hundred ideas distilled into five
questions and it became my job to figure
out to synthesize the information the
interest with the ministry expectations
so that was a long Thanksgiving weekend
both for me and my family because the
first times all was the hardest and it
took me an entire weekend to put all the
pieces together in a way that could
prove but I was actually a professional
and could pull this off the questions
that the students came up with in that
first year why is there war what should
I be when I grow up how can we save the
planet is aquaculture going to destroy
the Skeena River salmon fishery and why
are there homeless my job as a teacher
became to first help the students
understand what they were asking but
more importantly give them an
opportunity to meaningfully respond in
their learning when you plan curriculum
with your students everything changes
inviting students into the minutiae of
school and classroom why not criteria
lists rubric instructions seating
arrangements even scheduling what do you
want to work on when why of course when
you’ve invited students into the
foundation of their learning it makes
sense to have them involved in every
other aspect though it felt
revolutionary
school actually looked fairly similar
that first year student still went to
math but statistics looks different when
you’re preparing for a presentation for
the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
student still went to music and to
French and it still appeared the same
but it was different students no longer
asked why are we learning this they knew
I gained a few key takeaways about
students over that first year students
care deeply about their future and their
world and they’re willing to work hard
to improve both if you invest in
students students will invest back in
you respect is earned and students will
even eighth graders will work long hard
and focused hours if they see its
purpose school is about learning it’s
not about grades it’s not even about
outcomes school is about students
learning knowledge skills abilities and
attitudes it’s about learning these
things so that they can improve their
life and the lives of others both now
and for future generations if we want
school to do that students need to be
able to make meaningful value-laden
choices in their education they need to
be able to turn that into action and
experience for this group of students
this first year they took conflict
resolution to a younger class that no
matter what the teachers did they just
could not get along on the playground
they made presentations to the
Department of Fisheries and Oceans and
an aquaculture company about their
concerns and they prepared and served
hot meals and hot drinks to homeless for
me as the teacher I got to revel in my
students and their learning teaching can
be so many things for me it’s equipping
students and then getting out of the way
so they can be involved in as many
aspects of education and learning as
possible
even planning their own curriculum from
teacher to administrator from classroom
to school collaborative year planning
continues to shape schools here in BC
what a teachers find when they get
involved in a project like this they
find they don’t want to go back they
don’t want to go back to being silos of
specialty with a closed door
leave me alone and let me do my job they
want to stay collaborative co-creators
of innovation growth and change for
learning for students what students find
isn’t quite as good as students
transition to a more traditional
classroom they find themselves feeling
disrespected but many find their voice
they realize that they can advocate for
themselves and for their needs and
interests in their learning the strong
realize that if they orient their
learning around the concerns that they
have for the world that they can become
lifelong learners both in school and
outside of school and the Willing
realize that if they orient their
learning towards other people and the
concerns they have about the world
there’s desire and passion can bring
meaning to their life thank you very
much
[Applause]
you
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