http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf
Following up on my recent post on collabetition, here’s a provocative presentation from Clay Shirky on how closed groups and companies will give way to looser networks where small contributors have big roles and fluid cooperation replaces rigid planning. Seems to me that the ways in which schools, urban secondaries in particular, are pitched against one another in competition for students is something that ends up mitigating against a student centred approach to the way in which schools are organised and managed. There are some very good reasons regarding why this is the case – the direct relationship between student numbers and school’s resourcing for one, affecting things such as staffing levels, courses being offered and principal salaries. However, this pre-occupation actually mitigates against taking the sorts of actions that we should be considering if we want to be truly student focused in the way we organise and manage our schools. Shirky’s thoughts on how closed companies must give way to looser networks provides a compelling picture of what our school system must become – for the sake of ours students.
The question I would ask schools that think that way is – What is more important, the institution or the student? Clearly it seems the former for most.
Surely saying that your school is part of a larger network that allows a parent’s son or daughter to take whatever subject they want, when they want, and where they want is major plus for any school.
Imagine the marketing you could do on it.