This
is my second year hosting a 20 Time project --yes, I'm a host, I'm not a
teacher. Last year I ran the project in the last marking period.
This year I'm hoping with another 4 weeks added on we'll have a deeper
understanding of the impact of the project, of what it means for learners to
have Autonomy,
Mastery, and Purpose as the drivers for their work in school. (Thank
you, Daniel Pink!)
A.J. Juliani, who works at a
neighboring district to mine was instrumental, through his blog, in getting me
started down this path. Kevin Brookhouser out in California
took my thinking to another level and has inspired me to allow my 10th graders
(90 % of whom had me as a teacher last year) to move forward with a 10th grade
version of 20 Time in which they'll be working beyond their own passions and
looking to have an effect on a larger
community: their grade level, the school, their
neighborhood...the world. Maria, below, from Kevin Brookhouser's class,
is a great example. (And if you're a book lover, you should subscribe to
her channel!)
20
Time represents a shift in the power in school (and here I'm paraphrasing the
work of George Couros in The Innovator's Mindset:
Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity).
We talk a lot about "engaging" students in our classes, but
even there, the teacher holds the power: He or she has a passion or
desire or mandate to get students to learn something which they may not be
interested in. Even when the vast and often difficult trick of ascribing real relevance to that lesson is overcome, it's still a crap-shoot--relevance being a slippery fish. But when
we empower students, we shift the locus of power. It's not easy.
The work required to establish the ground for such open exploration that
remains rigorous and meaningful is akin to a tightrope walk...and just as
thrilling.
