I had the very fortunate opportunity to work with Braination for 4 days last week. This schools group is challenging traditional frameworks and seeking deep learning for all. We met part of the leadership team in Princeton NJ this summer at the CGC summit and it was very refreshing to see public and private schools coming together to imagine what is possible in education. I wrote a short entry in June about the summit, found here,  but now to experience working with 50 educators from 2 different schools under the same schools group was inspiring and very hopeful for the future of public and private education.

Together with the Anne Frank Inspire Academy and the International Academy San Antonio we asked 4 questions as we shaped our transformative work together.

What is learning…and how do we do it?

What’s worth learning…and why?

How do we facilitate for learning…and build our learning culture?

How do we show what we have learned?

As the CGC aims to bring simplicity to the complexity of learning ecosystems it was not long before this dedicated group of educational leaders and learning facilitators had a deep understanding of what they were aiming for and the pathway to get there. Their ability to embrace the unknown, ask difficult questions, support each other, and always keep focus on what is best for kids was amazing. They tackled the difficult balance of deep, personalized learning and success on Texas State standardized tests. They did not let any of the current systems conditions get them off target for what Concepts, Competencies and Character traits students really and truly need to be learning in this day and age. They are not called teachers at these schools, they are called facilitators, and for good reason. Many of these facilitators were new to the schools and yet after only 4 days we were all speaking the same learning language, had common organizational frameworks and pedagogies and they even started to plan the first community and inquiry experiences for all ages.  All and all it was an exhausting, inspiring, learning filled and humbling experience. I am very proud to be a part of the Common Ground Collaborative. I am very proud to see these schools in Texas placing student learning and wellbeing above all else and working extremely hard to do what’s right. I can’t wait to see what happens next for these students ages 4 to 18. Thank you for the opportunity to work with your team and keep asking the right questions.

Whether you are a parent or an educator, would everyone in your community have common language and frameworks in answering these questions?

What is learning? What’s worth Learning? What are missing and what do we need to give up?