Transformation in Education

I am so excited to be part of a collective discussion at Davos about the need for Transformation and New Models, as all my experience over the last two decades has reinforced that this is what we need in education.

If we are going to stand a chance at achieving the sustainable, inclusive, growing societies we seek, we will have to address the fact that in countries all over the world, at every stage of development, millions and millions of marginalized children are not attaining anywhere near the kind of educational outcomes necessary to participate productively in today's economy. This is true in the United States and in Europe, it is true in India and China, it is true across Latin American and across Africa, it is true in the Middle East.

And yet I have seen through my work at Teach For America and now across the growing Teach For All network that it is possible to provide our highest need children with the kind of education that changes their life trajectories. It has always been possible for a small fraction of children to "beat the odds", but now we know it is possible to change educational outcomes dramatically for the children of whole classrooms, schools, and communities.

Achieving these outcomes takes transformational leadership. This is true at the classroom level, where transformational teachers set a vision for educational accomplishment, get their students on a mission to reach it, and work purposefully and relentlessly to get there. It is true in transformational schools, where principals are always individuals who themselves have been transformational teachers and therefore know what is possible and what it takes; they successfully rally teachers and students around visions of educational and life attainment.

Achieving meaningfully better outcomes at the level of whole school systems and communities is also a function of leadership. Ultimately, it requires school system leadership, political leadership and civic leadership that, acting on the lessons learned in transformational classrooms and schools, rejects incremental change and pursues the bold system and policy changes to cultivate the talent and leadership we need and empower them to achieve success.

Fostering the leadership necessary for transformational outcomes in education is hard work, and in countries around the world there is a constant search for easier solutions. The problem is that there isn't one - every other intervention, whether it be better curriculum or enhanced technology or more money - fails without the leadership capacity necessary to make the most of it.

What gives me optimism today is that all over the world, countries' most promising future leaders are beginning to channel their energy towards improving educational outcomes in their nations' highest-need communities. Growing numbers of outstanding recent college graduates of all academic disciplines and career interests are joining the growing number of programs in the Teach For All network to commit two years to teach in their highest-need communities and become lifelong leaders for educational change.

I am hoping to help everyone at Davos embrace an all-out commitment to providing marginalized children with transformational educations. We can do this, and every day we delay in building the leadership force necessary for this change is a day we postpone a genuine effort to achieve inclusive growth and improve our global welfare.

Wendy Kopp, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Teach For All, USA; Social Entrepreneur, Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum

 

Comments

[philipkovacs]

09:07 PM on 01/25/2012

It is stunning that you can make these claims when the research on your "success" is mixed at best and damning at worst. When we treat teachers as professionals like they do in Finland, and when we address macroeconomic policies that propel some American children to the top while leaving others far, far behind, we will see genuine change in this country. By the way, I've been looking at your tax returns. Your non-profit is making a lot of people really rich. I really like how 86% of that profit comes from taxpayers...

Regarding your ogranization's "research page" see http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2011/12/philip_kovacs_teach_for_americ.html

Regarding research showing your organization harms poor children see http://nepc.colorado.edu/newsletter/2010/06/teach-america-false-promise

Eye-popping chart of TFA profits, payments, and revenue forthcoming...

[jp90]

07:18 PM on 01/25/2012

Oh Wendy, you may have good intentions, but after 20 years you still know nothing about education. You have not spent significant time yourself teaching-if any. You say incremental change must be resisted, but incremental change is how many of these successful countries achieved the results they now have. Finland started 40 years ago-Japan has nurtured their national curriculum over the last 50, without huge, sweeping changes, or "fad" educational changes. In America, all we want is the quick fix. It doesn't work like that in the real classroom. You throw around empty words and jargon, and unfortunately, many many people take you seriously. But I don't believe your TFA has achieved "transformational" results. Again, you have young people with good intentions, but they still are ignorant of the realities teachers face in the classroom daily. Please stop writing using empty words and meaningless phrases, and give us some concrete, reportable data when you post.

[J R M]

07:31 PM on 01/24/2012

I am sorry, but I don't buy it. Another top-down inspirational leader. My experience over the last decade is that after the dust settles from plans meeting the road (which is rocky, potholed, and dusty) we are left with disappointment and frustration. My wife is a very good teacher. She won't be going back to the classroom. She is too burned out between the reality of the students and their issues, the unreality of the educational administration, and all the resultant political games on campus.

If you are going to succeed, and I believe that you can, you are going to do it step by step, working with the pregnant mothers-to-be, working with the mothers to enrich the environment of their children, working with church and social service groups focusing upon raising young children to be disciplined learners, and only then - after the most important work has been done - working with the children as they come into school at kindergarten. After that the schools will have a direct influence, but it will always be secondary to the home - so you must address the home environment if you want success.