Laney Teamship Reflection
by iSophist · 14 things on NewTwos
- "Are students smarter today than when I was a kid?" That was a parent's response at a latest District C design thinking pitch event with Laney High School in New Hanover County.
- Are they? I don't know.
- 👉 But I do know that all students have valuable perspectives when given the space to develop and articulate them.
- This is in stark contrast to what some have been asking with the rise of AI, "How can we keep our students learning with so much AI all around?"
- My experience with District C shows me that we need a major shift:
- ‣ From curriculum TO real experiences
- ‣ From solo achievement TO team process
- ‣ From facts & figures TO flexible mindsets
- For example, one of our business partners, Meaghan Dennison from the Forward Fund at Cape Fear Collective noted that both her groups landed on an insight around building trust... an aspect that didn't originally fall within her problem scope.
- 🤔 The NextGen talent is growing up in an environment where trust and credibility are more valuable than money. From AI to online grifting, these students want solutions and collaborators they can trust.
- That's something we wouldn't have learned if we hadn't given them space to dig in and articulate their ideas.
- The students at Laney High School showed us that when we coach rather than teach, and when we provide equitable access to real-world problem-solving experiences, we unlock incredible potential.
- ... and kudos to public school teachers like Laverne Gore, Gayle Woodcock, and Lia Long for making this happen even in difficult, under-resourced environments that we often find ourselves in these days in public education.