Finding Help

Part of the plan is to look at what established school are doing to educate leaders in education. While there may be other schools with better programs, I looked specifically at Stanford’s Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies (POLS) program and Harvard’s School Development Strand in the School Leadership program.  I chose to study these programs because they both seemed to take a progressive stance in methodology and curriculum. Stanford’s and Harvard’s programs offer chances to work with issues in a real educational settings.  This fits perfectly with my situation as I deal with real issues in education on a daily basis through my job.  So, I plan on referring back to them over the next several years to help guide my curriculum.

Both POLS and the School Development Strand offer latitude and choice within the programs, which supports my desire to follow my own interests.  Off the bat, I noticed a course at Stanford, the History of School Reform, that deals with the history of why the reform movements in education have not worked.  While I already have some background in reform movements of the last century, I have not looked at them from this particular angle.  So, I emailed Dr. David Labaree who teaches this course and asked him to send me the reading list and any course materials.  I was pleasantly surprised when I received a prompt reply with the course syllabus attached.  

This is exactly how envision this process working.  I find a topic that interests me, I look for an expert in the field and get advice and direction, then I pursue the work of learning.  The “work of learning” will hopefully include others who can help me to pursue alternate lines of thought.

A Credentialing Blog

“. . . there is a fundamental disconnect happening right now between the providers of education and the consumers of education.”  -- Salman Khan

In the recent All Things Digital Conference, Stanford President John Hennessy and Salman Khan discussed on line learning and credentials. In the video, Khan talks about decoupling learning from credentialing so that people can gain a credential regardless of “seat time” at a university by proving competency through some legitimate format.  The legitimate credentialing format that I am proposing is a credentialing blog.

This blog will serve as the credential that I have learned everything that I need to know to be an educational leader in greater depth and with greater salience than a Masters Degree from XYZ University. Through my blog, future employers will understand what I have learned and how I think.  The blog will be a reflection of me as a learner and person.  It will hold my opinions about the topics that are critical to my profession, and it will outline what I have learned.  

I believe that this type of blog, a credentialing blog, will be standard practice in the next ten years.  It will be different from a standard professional blog where the blogger comments about new trends and ideas in a particular field as the intention of a credentialing blog will be to document work towards learning with the end result being a recognizable credential.  It will be a portfolio of learning.

A former principal of mine, Alan Credle, once told me that the most important thing that a principal does is hire the right people. My hope is that the credentialing blog will help those who are hiring find the right people. I also hope that the credentialing blog will open opportunities for those who want control over their education and learning.

Parallel Thinking

Two months ago conditions changed in my personal life that made me realize that I needed to shore up my credentials in order to be ready for the future.  I applied to and was accepted into an online Masters in School Administration program at Western Carolina University.  This masters program is designed primarily for public school educators who wish to work as administrators within the North Carolina State school systems -- a different path than I'm traveling.  As the start of the summer session came closer and closer, I kept feeling more and more apprehensive, not the type of nervous excitement that I got when I was driving to Sewanee from San Antonio in 1976, but more of a nervous anxiety driven by dread.  Something clearly was not right.  So, I had an informal meeting with two trusted friends, and they both told me to punt.  I punted, long and deep.  I think that I may have punted out of the stadium altogether.

My friend and colleague, Sam, made a podcast that focused on my situation and what he saw as the solution.  It will take you about twenty minutes to listen to, but it will be worthwhile.

How Should You Go to School?

At about the same time that Sam was making this podcast, I was typing this email to him:

Hi Sam,

I started extending the idea that I talked about in Missy's office to be an "experiment in higher education."

I am going to design my own masters program (maybe I will not use this term), using a template of courses derived from the best schools in the country.  I will create a blog to document my course work and reflections.  My coursework will be self-study, intensive workshops, on-line classes, collaboration with others who find their way to me from my blog, and ongoing dialogue with selected mentors.  I will ask my mentor/advisers to accredit and validate my coursework.  In the process, I hope to explore from the inside the new type of education that we know is going to influence the future world of education. 

I think we were both a little shocked when we read/listened to each others' ideas.  Parallel thinking with Sam Harrelson is pretty scary for me, and I'm sure it must have been scary for him to be thinking like me (but in an altogether different way).

This summer I will start my experiment in higher education, and I hope that you will be a part of it by reading my blog, offering suggestions, asking questions, and being a fellow traveler in pursuit of learning.