National Network for Educational Renewal

National Network for Educational Renewal

• John Dewey said the following: “Education is not preparation for life; it is life itself.”

 • John Goodlad made education and the study

of schools his life and his legacy, and in part, this has been manifested in the National Network for Educational Renewal.

A Brief History

• 1985 Goodlad and colleagues created the NNER to advance the simultaneous renewal of schools and the education of educators

• From Univ. of Chicago, to Emory Univ., to UCLA and then the Univ. of Washington

• Over 35 books and more than 200 articles• “A Place Called School” (1984, 2004) &

received the book of the year award from AERA

• School, Community, Arts and Science, and Education colleagues who work across the boundaries within our institutions and across settings

• We co-labor to provide access to quality education for current P-12 students and future educators.

National Network for Educational Renewal

Why Focus on Schools?

Schools, as no other public institution can, open doors to life’s possibilities and advance students’ understanding of their responsibility to the public good. Ann Foster

The NNER facilitates the simultaneous renewal of schools and the education of educators to promote the public purposes of education in a democracy. To accomplish this, the NNER is committed to facilitating close collaboration among colleagues in education, arts and sciences, and schools.

National Network for Educational Renewal

The NNER is not a program or a prescribed way of doing our work, rather it is a network of collegial support to advance our common purpose of providing excellent and relevant education to all using the Agenda for Education in a Democracy (AED) as our compass.

NNER Mission– foster in the nation’s young the skills,

dispositions, and knowledge necessary for effective participation in a social and political democracy;–ensure that the young have access to

knowledge and skills required for satisfying and responsible lives;–develop educators who nurture the

learning and well-being of every student; and–ensure educators’ competence in and

commitment to serving as stewards of schools.

Unpacking Access to EducationSounds Simple

• …But what are the critical resources that must be included for Equitable Access?

• A possible list might include–• Well prepared and supported teachers,• High quality curriculum,• Best possible instruction for every child

Access to Knowledge cont.

• Sufficient resources,• Schools organized for learning,• Ongoing professional development for

educators, and• Standards, curriculum, and assessments

supportive of educational goals.• Your list…?

Unpacking the Rest of the AED 4 part mission in your partnership

• Stewardship – we all have a stake in what happens in our public schools. Stewardship means holding a commitment to the entire learning community.

• Engaged Learning through Nurturing Pedagogy – results when educators use developmentally appropriate, motivational, and intellectually meaningful approaches to teach substantive and essential content.

Participation in a Social and Political Democracy

• Civic Preparation and Engagement• Citizens are not born with the necessary

knowledge, skills, or dispositions to make a democratic society possible. Democracy essentially means government by the people. A thoughtful and prepared public is critical to maintaining and sustaining this form of government.

Overarching Strategy

• So how is the AED enacted in a setting?

• Simultaneous renewal of schools and the education of educators.

The NNER: Simultaneous Renewal in Practice

In short, good schools require good teachers and good teachers learn their profession in good schools.

We put into practice our belief that the improvement of schooling and the renewal of teacher education must proceed simultaneously.

How We Frame our Work “Public schools must be understood as

public not simply because they serve the public, but because they establish us as a public.” Benjamin Barber

“To sustain and thrive, democratic societies require a well educated population.” John Goodlad

Three Assumptions

• What teachers know and can do is the most important influence on what students learn at school.

• Recruiting, preparing, and retaining good teachers combine as a central strategy for improving and sustaining good schools.

• School improvement cannot succeed without including conditions in which teachers can teach all students well.

The Partnership Puzzle Pieces

The Big Picture Can Help As You Get Started

Quotes for thought

• We must BE the change we wish to see- M . Gandhi• We have to do the best we can. That is our sacred

responsibility-Albert Einstein• You can never cross the ocean unless you have the

courage to lose sight of the shore- Christopher Columbus

• Example isn’t another way to teach, it is the only way- Albert Einstein

• Imagine-John Lennon

What Questions Remain

• Contact us…

• Annfoster@nnerpartnerships.org• Gregory.bernhardt@wright.edu• www.nnerpartnerships.org