Archives for NEXTschool
Stepping Back
As school leaders and teachers continue to work through the various challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020-21 school year, the NEXTschool team has decided to step back the…
Adaptive and Agile
We've been pushed into designing schools for crisis, as opposed to designing schools for what we want them to be. There is an opportunity to use this experience to rethink…
It’s Time for Voice and Choice
Sometimes and especially when in crisis, we have to let go, and give Voice & Choice to those we serve. As the pandemic response continues, with families at home and…
Getting to “Let Me Try”
As the model for implementing NEXTschool evolves, one of the key questions being asked is “What do teachers need in order to realize the NEXTschool vision?” One of the…
Pockets with No Pants
There are many pockets of excellence in many schools – pockets of wonderful student-teacher relationships; pockets of collaborative, deep learning; pockets of engaged students making meaningful changes in their community…
The NEXTschool Leader: Thinker, Striver & Nudger
School leaders (board leaders, principals, and teachers) involved in NEXTschool are leading and living a complex change process – one that is exciting, fulfilling and sometimes bumpy and messy! Much…
Assessing Assessment
NEXTschool participants often find themselves ‘assessing assessment’. Excited about the trans-disciplinary model of teaching and learning, the focus on enhancing student engagement and preparing students for the world ahead, they…
A Question of Time
This fall, Exploreschool cohorts are ‘rolling up their sleeves’, getting real and working hard to address the temporal design challenge, identified as the key to unlocking all other components…
The Dialogue Shift: From Us to Them
The 2019 NEXTschool Summer Institute was a fitting culmination of a very successful EXPLOREyear giving over 100 participants, mainly returning and new school cohorts, the opportunity to share experiences, hear…
NEXTschool – is it a noun? a verb? a mindset? a movement?
This was the question being discussed at a recent meeting of the NEXTschool facilitators – the thoughtful and experienced ‘guides on the side’ who are supporting and cheerleading our NEXTschool…