“Are you with me now” A J Ryder
From Building the Future of Learning recognizing our potential to make change at scale - August 2023
"Just over the horizon is the promise of a new paradigm of public schooling that fundamentally rearchitects our current system so that all students have access to what they need to thrive in their future. There are building blocks and examples to grow and learn from, as well as a multitude of entrepreneurial leaders honing pieces of the new model. Progressive models like Montessori have long emphasized skills and relationships, and models like Big Picture, Summit, and One Stone have emerged to offer alternatives and push the boundaries of the current system. Sometimes philanthropically funded in isolation, these innovations and alternate school models have generally been small-scale and/or separate from the traditional system - happening in places like urban charter schools, or in affluent public districts or private schools that often disproportionately serve privileged families. However, as the new paradigm emerges and grows, intentional philanthropy could help these smaller scale innovations to address equity and lead the way to reach all learners."
This recent mention of BPL in Getting Smart referencing Building the Future of Learning is yet another nod to our potential of making change at human scale. Even though this paragraph is a year-old and doesn’t quite capture our long trail of work in communities around equity, it is a good sign. How would we rewrite this with more clarity around who we are?
"The 311 Credential program recognizes students with a keen interest and talent in the trades, providing them with opportunities to hone these skills through practical experience and classroom learning. “Our goal with this apprenticeship program is to give students a strong foundation for their careers by equipping them with the essential skills needed in Newark's job market,” said Elliot Washor, co-founder of Big Picture Learning, Director New Ways, Forms and Measures. “This program is a strong, foundational boost for the students, the city of Newark and it’s communities.”
Last week, Newark Workforce Development told Charlie and Joe Youcha that their presentation at the National League of Cities highlighted The 311 and loads of cities are interested in it. This is one of those HFF/B-Unbound programs that we brought to the table where everyone feels ownership including unions, developers, politicians, the school district, parents, workforce development and builders. It is what cities are looking for and our data from Harbor Freight Fellows speaks for itself. Students are graduating, getting work and going to post-secondary because they are connected to adults in the field and because of that they know they can get to where they want to go. On the flip side, they are now motivated to get the necessary skills delivered in school. I still can’t understand how the system can’t comprehend that in order to engage students, you need to connect them first through what they want to learn through adults whom they share similar interests with and then they get engaged and want to be in school. Even yesterday, at a California Career Master Plan update their data crunching showed that industry can’t articulate well the skills their employees need and on the college front, colleges keep on teaching skills that are irrelevant to what industry wants. If that sounds downright disconnected on all fronts it is. Now imagine putting students in real-world settings. It is here they will learn the skills that adults are using to do their work, skills that can be articulated and ones that are more nuanced. Sounds simple but there was no mention of doing this during the meeting. It was just a mental exercise of how to keep students in school. How to get our BPL data and programs in front of these folks is our challenge.
Trust Me I Do This All the Time!
Heck Yeah!
These past two days, I was with Taylor Harper in Reno visiting Innovations High School and working out future B-Unbound programming. For some reason Taylor says I better mind my stars this week and I can see why. One reason is I’m getting bombarded by the word trust which is not a commonly used word in my lexicon. As a matter of fact on one of my visits to Fannie Lou Hamer School, Jeff Palladino and I went to the Arthur Ave Market in the Bronx to catch lunch and after eating there we saw T-Shirts with a typical Brooklyn/Bronx expression on it – Trust Me I Do This All The Time with an accompanying T-shirt that said, Heck Yeah! We immediately bought them and have been known to model them at Big Bang’s as witnessed by the photo above. Where I come from whenever anyone says, ‘trust me,’ you immediately start thinking, Somethin’ ain’t right!
All that said, at Innovations, Taylor and I were part of Trust Fall activities and I handled that pretty well for a guy from a place where trust is at a premium and your actions are way more trusted than your words. Also, I couldn’t see Taylor’s face and body language until I looked at the photo but I’m glad she was takin’ this seriously. Then, later in the day, I was on a call with Australia and we went over something called a Trust Wheel. That one I’m still working through. It was a good two days spent with Taylor and Innovations students and staff. Regarding B-Unbound, I feel there is tremendous potential for B-U’s starting up in Washoe County, NV over the next year.
All in all, I’m beginning to think that William Shakespeare was from The Bronx or Brooklyn after I came upon this T-shirt:
Welcome all you new people to the wild mouse ride of BPL. Hands Free, no holding on.
Be Well!
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