A Spring for School: A Time for Planting Seeds through the Academy Model

Winter is here. The cold outside reflects our post-pandemic feelings about our current systems, schools especially. There has been no “return to normal” as we all face the reality of a changing society with changed expectations. As we hit this holiday break in America, there is a lot of uncertainty and restlessness mixed in with our exhaustion. We are all looking ahead to the Spring now. Wondering.

Here in Kentucky, there is a specific wonder. Kentucky is having a moment as we focus the attention and resources of the state on deeper learning. There is an effort to provide a new vision called United We Learn, an effort and federal resources to rethink assessment and accountability, a distributed, statewide plan for Deeper Learning Coaches, a large PBLWorks state contract, and more. This all builds on a decade of school district efforts across Kentucky that are too numerous to recount. Serious efforts. Real change. Students’ lives impacted. And, the rest of the country is starting to notice. To say I am happy and proud of this moment in Kentucky is a vast understatement. We are now contemplating in earnest a new Spring for education in our Commonwealth. Whether or not it can fully arrive to thaw our institutionalized existing models and grow and sustain our new alternatives is still to be determined, but there is a real chance. A hopefulness as we head into Spring.

But, Kentucky did not get here by chance. We have been planting these seeds for a long time.

Thirteen years ago, in Kentucky, a small group of us created a little space for districts and teams interested in listening, looking ahead, and leading. Courageous leaders jumped in, willing to try. Together we created, and over the years crafted, the Next Generation Leadership Academy at the University of Kentucky. This provided a small forum for school teams to meet, learn, and engage early-stage efforts at change. As part of the Academy we have the mantra of #DoSomething. They did something to start. And they did more. And it grew. From small seeds to tens of thousands of students defending their learning in Louisville and thousands more learners across the state getting access to deeper learning and more meaningful assessment.

Now, with the partnership of What School Could Be, we are launching a new model in Year 2 of the What School Could Be Academy. We want to help create the same spaces for seeding innovation in schools across the globe as we did in Kentucky, with a refreshed, more accessible model. Details and registration are available here, but over 12 days in 3 sprints we are going to provide space and help you #DoSomething and thus plant the seeds of your own change efforts.

As educators right now much of our work is focused on the day-to-day maintenance and support of our stressed systems and students. It is important and meaningful work and well worth our time. But, in the course of managing, we rarely find time for leading … and even less time for looking ahead … and even less time still for honestly listening to our learners and changing our behavior.

As Spring nears, it is a time for renewal and growth and change. Perhaps the What School Could Be Academy might be the space you need to help plant some new seeds. Together, we can begin to thaw this post-pandemic winter.