We’re all fatigued. Even with schools and businesses opening back up, we’re still so stuck in our pandemic and pre-pandemic ways. Hopefully everyone has learned a thing or two about what it looks like to educate our youth, because it’s clear that things need to change.

That’s why a group of dedicated education activists joined me last year in forming the EdActive Collective. We’re determined to create a different landscape for our learners and knew that in order to maintain momentum, we needed to commit to action.

Part of that action is getting the word out about the change that needs to happen. And The EdActive Summit is our vehicle.

In this week’s episode of the podcast, I’m sharing where the summit began and who will join us in this year’s event, which is happening April 28 and 29. Of course, we hope you’ll register for your free ticket so you can be part of the change.

Jump in the Conversation:

[1:08] – Who Not How – achieving bigger goals with teamwork
[1:40] – Our impact is smaller in silos
[3:08] – EdActive Collective Summit 2.0
[3:36] – “How” restricts us; ask “who”
[4:35] – Who’s in this year’s summit
[9:04] – Be transformed by relationships
[9:27] – Register now

Links & Resources

• Register for the summit
• Email Maureen
• Maureen’s TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools
• The Education Evolution
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• EdActive Collective
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep

Transcript:

Maureen O’Shaughnessy 0:03
Hello fellow parents and educators. Thank you for joining me at Education Evolution, where we are disrupting the status quo in today’s learning models. We talk about present day education, what’s broken, who’s fixing it, and how. I’m Dr. Maureen O’Shaughnessy, your host and founder of education evolution, micro school coalition, and co founder of Edactive, I consult and train with schools and leaders who are fiercely committed to changing the narrative, reimagining the education landscape, and creating learning that serves all children and prepares them to thrive. If you are new, welcome to the podcast. Please subscribe on our website to get it delivered to your inbox weekly. If you’ve been around a while, have you left a review?

Maureen O’Shaughnessy 1:08
In my mastermind group right now, we’re studying the book, who not how by Dan Sullivan. And Dr. Benjamin Hardy. The theme of the book is that we achieve bigger goals when we accelerate our process through teamwork. This is a perfect segue into the EDD active collective and our upcoming summit. Through this podcast, I’ve met many amazing change agents determined to create a different landscape for our learners. As I’ve gotten to know these inspirational folks, the conversation has begun to hone in on how much smaller our impact is in isolation or within our specific professional silos. So a year ago, a group of us Pam Gordon from Big Picture learning Meg or mussten, from tech educators, trace Pickering, of Iowa big and I decided we wanted to play bigger and more collaboratively.

Maureen O’Shaughnessy 2:13
And the educational activism collective or Ed active as we call it was born. We didn’t want to do a one and done conference, because it’s really hard to get any momentum to stick and be sustained with just one event. So we began quarterly meetings with a wide variety of Ed active constituents. We put on a four day summit last June, including an intergenerational day, led by youth, particularly those from youth by youth and heirs to our oceans. This pandemic has created fatigue in all of us. But our ED active collective members have continued with our quarterly meetings, just completing our third one a few weeks ago. And we are set for an April 28 and 29th. Summit. You won’t want to miss this. There’s no cost to participate in this remote Summit. Some people say if you give things away, people won’t value them. But those of us presenting are all volunteering, and giving our time. If you need a price tag attached, please feel free to attend and then donate to your favorite educational nonprofit. Our efforts are parallel. The who not how process. Instead of asking, how should I do this? Or how should I achieve this goal, we are moving beyond the howl of desperately needing educational change. This focus on how restricts us to our finite time, resources, skills and experience. Instead, we are focusing on who by asking who can help me achieve this goal. Or who can do this for me, this line of questioning immediately opens up new possibilities that we wouldn’t otherwise consider allowing us to dramatically improve our results. This who not how approach is not about exploiting others. It’s about building a collaborative network where each person can offer their unique strengths while leveraging other strengths. Let me share some of the great players who are presenting in our summit. You can find the details in the show notes.

Maureen O’Shaughnessy 4:38
Our Summit is broken into three sections. We have speakers the first morning and then a panel where they all joined together and field your questions. We then have a call to action for our participants to think about how they might take steps to further the needed education evolution and perhaps draw upon the resources share that morning. We We repeat this format Thursday afternoon, and again Friday morning. And we have continuing education hours available for participants who want these. So who is in each group? Thursday morning, we get to hear from Stanley Tao of Duke and Columbia University, who has transformed high schools around the world with his P TECH model of ninth through 14th grades, creating business partnerships with high schools and providing students with paid internships. We also have Dr. Kristen Miller, who’s worked with the with Heart Project has demonstrated the use of neuroscience in creating trauma informed instruction that creates an optimal learning environment with better results than straight teaching. The Thursday morning session is rounded out by Emily berkland of heirs to our oceans, which is a dynamic student led environmental group that regularly informs legislators on needed change, and Gen Xers ash and Monique Sayer of a new paradigm, who are avid proponents of breaking down silos to create needed educational change. Can you imagine joining these five organizations in a panel of questions and answers? It’s going to be fantastic. Our Thursday afternoon session begins with Lindsay rec now, experts in hope her emphasis on mental health is very important, especially in this time of extra anxiety and depression. In our youth. Danny Bowers is next from better leaders better schools.

Maureen O’Shaughnessy 6:39
His fantastic work improving education one leader at a time with created leadership mastermind groups is powerful. Julia bomba founding principal at Gibson EQ High School, which is a flagship big picture learning school share strategies for high levels of student agency and engagement. John Bergman flipped learning pioneer follows his work has been instrumental in how I run my lead prep micro school. By creating mini lessons on video that students watch in advance. The day is flipped with much school time freed up for teachers to guide student work and create strong relationships. This pivot is vital to the future of education. And Emily Ann Gullickson have a for Arizona concludes the Thursday presentations. Her organization has teamed with school leaders from across Arizona including disadvantaged school districts, and they have created impressive state legislative changes. Joining these five for the afternoon panel is going to be a fantastic experience. Friday morning. We begin with Aylan Bennett of Education Reimagined. Education Reimagined has a collective vision for where education needs to go way beyond the classroom. And in a 24/7 perspective. It is the gold standard for learner empowered and equitable education. Catherine Sal duty of edgy change follows her research driven model has created more time and effective learning in schools throughout the United States. Paul Hempel of inspiration for teens then shares his personal journey to connect us history and present day stories and strengths of our youth. And Aereo Lulu are a Yanka of youth by youth concludes the Friday presentations. This young advocate from Africa is determined to have a positive impact on global change in education. Our third panel will be filled with wonderful synergy, and then we will close with a call to action. As my mastermind book study reminds us, using who not how thinking is about utilizing relationships and being transformed by them. You won’t want to miss this wonderful opportunity to be inspired by multiple educational resources and ways that you can become a part of the education evolution. Please go to active collective.org today and register for this powerful Summit. And check out some of the education evolution podcasts from our past you will find interesting conversations with each of these organizations. We are looking forward to seeing you on April 28 and 29. Thank you for being a part of the education evolution.

Maureen O’Shaughnessy 10:00
I know how challenging it is to make changes inside your own school or community. I’ve spent years working with schools around the world on creating learner centered programs. And it always struck me how much schools were able to get done with the right tools and guidance. If you’re ready to make changes like this in your own school, let’s talk and put together an action plan. Visit educationevolution.org/consult for a free 15 minute call. And let’s see if we’re a good fit for more work together. Thanks again for listening. To support the education evolution. Subscribe so it lands in your podcast app and gets out to more decision makers. Then rate and review it. For more information and shownotes go to educationevolution.org. education evolution listeners, you are the ones to ensure we create classrooms where each student is seen, heard, valued and thriving. We are in this together and we need you. Let’s go out and reach every student today. Thank you for listening, signing off. I am Maureen O’Shaughnessy, your partner in boldly reimagining education

Transcribed by https://otter.ai