I presently work in the CHOICES DL program in School District 70 in Port Alberni. SD70 not only provides service to learners in the Alberni Valley, but the district is also responsible for students in the outlining areas of Ucluelet, Tofino, and Bamfield. Port Alberni closed another 2 schools this summer, and now has a total of 6 elementary, 1 alternate and DL, and 1 secondary school. This is down considerably from the all-time-high of 14 elementary, 3 junior high, and 1 secondary school, in the prosperous age of the 1970s decade. While Port Alberni still has a large enough population base to adequately provide its students with a fairly comprehensive list of required and elective secondary courses, the same cannot be said about the schools in the district's outer ranges. The combination of declining enrolment and funding cuts has caused, what could arguable be called a crisis situation in these areas. Therefore, "How to more successfully support the educational needs of the secondary student in Ucluelet and Tofino?" is the problem that I have identified as the most urgent to solve.
According to the text, Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, the above type of problem will require a disruptive innovation because it is a change that may one day replace the majority of the current system. (Horn and Straker, 2014, chap. 1). And, to quote Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning director, Greg Siering, (2012), Disruptive innovations "don't support the current way of doing things, but rather create a new niche by challenging the status quo and the assumptions supporting it." (para. 1) In this situation, Ucluelet Secondary School (USS), which serves students in both Ucluelet and Tofino, needs to change their current modus operandi, if they are to survive. According to Horn and Straker (2014), any identified problem must be approached in a 'SMART' way and therefore, the proposed plan for USS must be specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, and time related (chap.3).
At the present time, when USS cannot supply a student with a desired course, there is no easy option other than to go to an outside the school alternative, which is usually CHOICES.
In this situation, School District #70 and CHOICES benefit for the student is staying within district. But, for USS, 'nonconsumption' exists because the local student has to venture outside the school or, 'go without'. (Horn and Straker, 2014, chap.3). According to Horn and Straker (2014), it is important to "frame nonconsumption problems as threats and then help the implementation team reframe them as bright opportunities" (chap.3). And, this is exactly the approach that should work well with the teachers, parents, and students in Ucluelet and Tofino. Similarly to the Quakertown example outlined in the text, Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, the USS team needs to take the perceived threat of school closure and teacher job loss and turn it into an opportunity to find a different way to support their students. The following video shows the motivational humourist, Avist Parashar, explaining just how to change challenges into opportunities.
According to the text, Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, the above type of problem will require a disruptive innovation because it is a change that may one day replace the majority of the current system. (Horn and Straker, 2014, chap. 1). And, to quote Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning director, Greg Siering, (2012), Disruptive innovations "don't support the current way of doing things, but rather create a new niche by challenging the status quo and the assumptions supporting it." (para. 1) In this situation, Ucluelet Secondary School (USS), which serves students in both Ucluelet and Tofino, needs to change their current modus operandi, if they are to survive. According to Horn and Straker (2014), any identified problem must be approached in a 'SMART' way and therefore, the proposed plan for USS must be specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, and time related (chap.3).
At the present time, when USS cannot supply a student with a desired course, there is no easy option other than to go to an outside the school alternative, which is usually CHOICES.
In this situation, School District #70 and CHOICES benefit for the student is staying within district. But, for USS, 'nonconsumption' exists because the local student has to venture outside the school or, 'go without'. (Horn and Straker, 2014, chap.3). According to Horn and Straker (2014), it is important to "frame nonconsumption problems as threats and then help the implementation team reframe them as bright opportunities" (chap.3). And, this is exactly the approach that should work well with the teachers, parents, and students in Ucluelet and Tofino. Similarly to the Quakertown example outlined in the text, Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, the USS team needs to take the perceived threat of school closure and teacher job loss and turn it into an opportunity to find a different way to support their students. The following video shows the motivational humourist, Avist Parashar, explaining just how to change challenges into opportunities.
At Alberni District Secondary School (ADSS), in Port Alberni, there are many students who take advantage of the opportunity to enrol in courses through CHOICES. And, ADSS has created a system that supports this environment. A 'learning commons' has been set up for students taking an online course and these students are supported by a combination of ADSS teachers on site, and CHOICES teachers online. ADSS saw the chance to keep staffing and students. A similar situation could be set up at USS.
In chapter 4 of Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, Horn and Straker (2014), talk about how it is important to organize the right teams to lead a project. These teams can be functional, lightweight, heavy weight, or autonomous. Because this plan goes beyond teachers within the same department (functional), and implicates more than one set of teachers (lightweight), the project is more about implementing sustaining innovations (heavyweight), or possibly even implementing a disruptive model that departs entirely from what was there before (autonomous). In either case, the team leader would most logically be a member of administration, but all USS teachers and staff would need to be part of the team and part of the process. In addition, School Board members would also have to be involved as the plan has implications for teacher staffing and possibly additional funding for some technology to support online learning.
I would like to close off this blog with a quote from physicist and Episcopal priest, William Pollard.
"Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for
improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better
opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable."
All I can add is, "I couldn't have said it better myself, William."
References
Horn, M. B., & Staker, H. (2014). Blended: Using disruptive innovation to improve schools.
John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.ca/
Pollard, William quotes. (n.d). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from Brainy Quote website.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_pollard.html
Siering, G. (2010). Disruptive innovation in teaching and learning. Center for Innovative Teaching and
Learning, para.1. Retrieved from http://citl.indiana.edu/news/dir-sept2012.php
In chapter 4 of Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, Horn and Straker (2014), talk about how it is important to organize the right teams to lead a project. These teams can be functional, lightweight, heavy weight, or autonomous. Because this plan goes beyond teachers within the same department (functional), and implicates more than one set of teachers (lightweight), the project is more about implementing sustaining innovations (heavyweight), or possibly even implementing a disruptive model that departs entirely from what was there before (autonomous). In either case, the team leader would most logically be a member of administration, but all USS teachers and staff would need to be part of the team and part of the process. In addition, School Board members would also have to be involved as the plan has implications for teacher staffing and possibly additional funding for some technology to support online learning.
I would like to close off this blog with a quote from physicist and Episcopal priest, William Pollard.
"Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for
improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better
opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable."
All I can add is, "I couldn't have said it better myself, William."
References
Horn, M. B., & Staker, H. (2014). Blended: Using disruptive innovation to improve schools.
John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.ca/
Pollard, William quotes. (n.d). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from Brainy Quote website.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_pollard.html
Siering, G. (2010). Disruptive innovation in teaching and learning. Center for Innovative Teaching and
Learning, para.1. Retrieved from http://citl.indiana.edu/news/dir-sept2012.php