Innovation has been in the air from the very start of the 2017 NBOA Annual Meeting. The conference theme, “Building Monumental Change,” was tailor-made for the opening keynote speaker, Sir Ken Robinson. In a ballroom packed with nearly 1,300 business officers and business operations staff from around the world, Sir Ken (author of Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education) shared his wit and wisdom acquired throughout a life committed to a singular purpose: making education better. And no, that commitment didn’t start with his first TED Talk, which is still viewed some 20,000 times a day.
Key takeaways for me:
- Learning is first and foremost a cultural process. Schools should be designed to be learning communities, and not necessarily (as has been the case since the 19th century) to efficiently manage many kids of the same age so that they progress in the same way. As Sir Ken reminded us, kids are hard-wired to want to learn. “They come into our schools flying,” open to learning anything and everything, he said. Consider how they learn to speak — an incredibly complex process that no parent or other human can teach them — within their first 18 months. They absorb knowledge, practically through their skin.
The Georgetown Day School lower school chorus sang at the keynote session. - A learning community can take many different forms. As an example, Sir Ken described a program in Oklahoma where 4- and 5-year-olds were assigned a “reading buddy” at a retirement community. Developed over time, this cross-generational engagement produced two wonderful results: The young readers quickly progressed to advanced reading levels, and the members of the retirement community enjoyed a higher quality of life — and lived longer. Many were able to reduce or even eliminate certain medications because of these relationships.
Sir Ken Robinson addressing 2017 NBOA Annual Meeting attendees. - It’s all about the connection. This is the most important aspect of learning for anyone of any age. It’s also a mantra I use quite frequently because it applies so clearly in independent schools, in associations and in business. To illustrate, Sir Ken described the relationship between actor and audience. The actor’s job is to give a performance that makes an emotional connection with the audience. All that’s necessary is one performer and one audience member. The same can be said about a learning environment: It comes down to the relationship between the teacher and learner. Therefore, if there is anything in the environment that interferes with that relationship within the system, change it or get rid of it. And remember, any member of a learning community can be either teacher or student. “You are the system,” Sir Ken reminded everyone in the room. And your number-one job, as an administrator at your school, is to support the learning and help it flourish in your school.
Sir Ken Robinson signs books and chats with business officers after the keynote address.
Sir Ken’s presentation was a great way to start our Monday at the 2017 NBOA Annual Meeting. I’m gratified so many members of our community are here with us this week, and I’m honored to be part of such a vibrant and dynamic learning community.
Follow NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields@shieldsNBOA.
Follow the 2017 NBOA Annual Meeting on Twitter using the #NBOA2017 hashtag.
