In the old Instructional Leadership Development (ILD) course there was in introductory video that Larry Lezotte did for Texas on how learning had changed and we were shifting to a time where learning was “compulsory.”  That video was done in 1997 and here we are almost 20 years later and I wonder if the educational culture has fully shifted where the main focus of everyone in the organization is about learning.  If we reflected on our culture would we say that the ecosystem in which we live is consumed by learning?  How can we get there?

• We must ensure the adults are learners too! That sounds like a no-brainer I suppose, however do the adults in the culture take personal initiative to learn on their own? Do the students see adults who crave learning as they wish their students would?  Trevor Reagan, of Train Ugly fame, speaks of the difference between jungle tigers and zoo tigers and how jungle tigers learn to be good because they live in the jungle where the zoo tigers are fed and develop less skills because they do not have to take the initiative to do things on their own. Place extreme value on those teachers who come to you with ideas, who take risks, and actually ask to attend PD that the leader did not have to direct or was part of some comp day.  Is learning compulsory for everyone including the adults in the culture?

• Response time is crucial.  In compulsory learning environments when students do not learn the adults move heaven and earth to make sure they do.  How fast does your culture respond when students engage in misbehavior? Which response time is faster; behavior or lack of learning? Use of formative assessment and monitoring students speaks volume about your beliefs around compulsory learning for all.

• Failure becomes less punitive in compulsory learning environments.  It is not the intention of this blog to debate grading or assessment.  We do however know from Trevor in the video blog above that research clearly indicates it is best for people be challenged with things that are just above their current level of competence. If we do that there will be some failure and we need to understand that it will take some longer to learn that others.  Teachers should never relish or take pride in their failure rate as that is not terribly indicative of a job well done!

HB 2804 is looming and districts will be getting a letter grade based on current results in January.  In every accountability system change learning becomes more compulsory. Will you be ready?