We’ve been lucky with the weather in NYC this September. Many bright, warm days The aftermath of the powerful hurricane that has devastated areas of the South East is now giving us a little rain. Not so lucky there where hurricane Helene was deadly across five states after making landfall on Thursday. Some of the worst flooding the South has…
It has been nearly four months since the publication of the Independent Review of gender identity services for children and young people, known as the Cass Report. There has been no mention of it by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) or its member associations. There has also been no discussion on the NAIS membership Diversity listserv, which frequently…
I did not attend the NAIS Annual Conference this year – first time for many years – so I don’t have any takeaways to report like Grant Lichtman. But I was in Baltimore for an ICG (Independent Curriculum Group) board meeting and I was at the conference center to pick up a set of attractive little enamel badges (see below)…
The NAIS Annual People Of Color Conference opens this week in Atlanta. It will draw independent educators from across the country. They will gather in groups small and large; renew friendships and make new connections; listen to speakers and attend, participate in, and lead workshops and meetings. I am sure it will all be a necessary time of re-dedication, renewal and affinity.…
The official title was Ten Heads, Ten Years, Ten Lessons: INH Class Members of ’06 Tell Their Tales INH – meaning Institute for New Heads run by NAIS that year in Washington, DC. Fast forward to 2016 and John Huber had the idea for sharing some collective wisdom and insight at the NAIS Annual conference in San Francisco. The conference theme…
Human apathy is the greatest calamity of all. I have heard many extraordinary presentations and speeches at NAIS Annual Conferences over the years. None has had the impact of Bryan Stevenson. I was one of perhaps 6.000 plus educators who heard this remarkable performance by a gifted storyteller last Friday. It moved many to tears and all to their feet…
Panel on the Future of Education from the NAIS Annual Conference, Boston 2015. With college presidents Rebecca Chopp, Nan Keohane, Paul LeBlanc and Pamela Gunter-Smith Moderated by NAIS President, John E. Chubb Featured photocredit: Dana Critchlow
I’m not sure when PDS became a member of NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) but it was a long time ago. A few years back they published their short and quite excellent wonderful online A Guide to Becoming a School of the Future. The first section makes the case for schools of the future and if there’s anyone out…
John Maeda is the keynote speaker at #naisac this week and I’m looking forward to hearing him. He just shared this leadership chart and Linked-In article via Twitter and he “hopes it’s useful.” I think it is. And interesting. Interesting because thinking how this applies to business-as-usual (or not) in independent schools will take some intriguing untangling and working through.…
I’m looking forward to the NAIS Annual Conference- #naisac15 – this year – assuming of course that Boston can dig its way out of all the snow. The theme is appealing: “Design the Revolution”. It’s a slogan that manages to evoke the design thinking and maker movements while also embracing the ineluctable truth that the world is speeding along rather…
So easy to toot your own horn these days. The harder thing is to cut through the cacophony and have others hear the tuneful joyful noise! I’m enjoying the new Inspiration Lab from NAIS designed to allow member schools to highlight their work. We sent in our first contribution yesterday. It was a screenshot of Global Read Aloud book discussion that…
“The Great Disruption: Technology and the Future of Schools” The latest issue of Independent School magazine is out and it’s a good one. Among many good articles there is this from retiring NAIS president Pat Bassett: The Third Great American Revolution. It’s a stirring call for action, almost a manifesto – for educators to rise to the challenge of our…
What 60 schools can tell us about teaching 21st century skills. Here’s the TEDx Denver version of the talk Grant Lichtman gave at #naisac13 in Philadelphia. I take my title from an extraordinary compliment that Grant paid Poughkeepsie Day School on his blog where he wrote: “…Poughkeepsie Day School, a school that has preserved the fires of the Progressive Era, un-extinguished, for decades,…
The world is moving at a tremendous rate; no one knows where. We must prepare our children not for the world of the past, not for our world, but for their world. The world of the future. – John Dewey I met Grant Lichtman when he was on his education journey – a road trip with an itinerary that took him…
As always, lots of good stuff in the latest edition of Independent School, the quarterly magazine from NAIS. And those who hold rather outdated notions of independent schools as universal staunch defenders of tradition and the home of the status quo might be surprised by the theme: Evolution or Revolution: the Pace of Change in Schools. Evolution or revolution? –…