Public Schools and the Adjacent Possible

Today I want to discuss some misconceptions that some educational “reformers” have about public education.  I read in the papers and on the news that educational “reformers” (I like to call them “deformers”) believe that innovation in education cannot occur in public schools.  They believe that Charter schools and other private schools are the only spaces available for educational innovation to occur.  The unstated belief that underlies this viewpoint is that all public school districts are a morass of incompetent bureaucrats and teachers that do not care.  In my experience in public education this is simply not the truth.  There is a space for innovation to occur in public education and it occurring every day. There are pockets of innovation all over the public school landscape that need to be explored and reported on.

In my last blog I discussed “the adjacent possible”.   The adjacent possible is where innovation is occurring in public education.  Many school districts are facing unprecedented challenges.  Two of the biggest challenges are monstrous budget cuts and well intentioned (or not) educational reformers peddling tonics that will “fix” the system. Although I wish these two challenges did not exist, they have moved school districts into an adjacent possible.  School districts are currently considering solutions to problems that would never have been taken into consideration a few years ago.  I know of school districts that are starting their own charter schools, opening after school programs, operating virtual academies, designing challenging curriculum and offering ground-breaking, meaningful learning opportunities to their children all because they have entered the adjacent possible.  I wish that public schools did not have to face some of these challenges, but the important thing to remember is that the vast majority of school districts have risen to the challenge.  Overall, public education is doing well.  If we do not believe this simple fact then our society is in trouble.

I am incredibly optimistic that Penn-Trafford is already working in the adjacent possible.  I spent some time yesterday with the Trafford Middle School faculty.  The discussions they had about helping kids and how to improve their own practice showed me growth into the adjacent possible. There is a teacher-driven movement afoot at Harrison Park that, if realized, will significantly impact the learning opportunities of their students.  Of course we have the reinvention of school group which is not only operating in the adjacent possible, they are continually moving the adjacent possible to explore more possibilities.  Innovation occurs when individuals start to believe that they can make a difference for their organization and when they are shown the doors to the adjacent possible.  I know this is occurring at Penn-Trafford and in many other public school districts.