Creating the schools we need – Chris Lehmann

In the following video Chris Lehmann speaks about a range of topics in a passionate and inspiring way. Chris is the founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy, a progressive science and technology high school in Philadelphia, PA.

A quote from the video – “How dare anyone think you can transform a child if you are unwilling to be transformed yourself.”

Chris’ talk covers the following topics:

  • Learning v training for a test
  • Training for the work force v training the citizen
  • Schools need vision
  • Unlearning and relearning ……..
  • Schools should be caring institutions – we teach kids not subjects
  • Inquiry and questioning
  • Student centred, it is not about us
  • Kids need adults and mentors
  • Technology – ubiquitous, necessary and invisible
  • Community based – bring the world into the classroom
  • Collaboration
  • Schedules, day structures, integration, deeper learning
  • Meta-cognition – teach students how to think

3 thoughts on “Creating the schools we need – Chris Lehmann

  1. A thought provoking video. Lots of common sense ideas and thoughts. Ange would love this guy’s opinions – standardized tests are not the way to go and don’t enhance learning or education.
    Some of our quotes (eg. Alvin Toffler) from our “Staff Learning” PLT from a few years back about learning, unlearning and relearning as well!!
    Worth watching if you have time.

  2. There is so much in here to unpack as a staff we shuold have started already. Left me with lots of questions as well as connections as to where we are headed in the future. It is the journey of exploration together as a staff, not having all the answers before we take the next step. We need to be braver – take a leap and see where it takes us and our students. At least then we would have made a start. Like the ipads. i say go for it. At least we would have started. We can always change direction and modify until it works for us. Thanks Nick for sharing these clips and getting us all to think again about what we do and why we do it that way.

  3. Investment of Standardised Tests into improving teaching! Now there’s a novel idea. I love this guys passion. I also agree with his concept – you know the truct that parents put in us every day seems so MUCH more significant since the day I had my own children! It is mammoth and we should be striving and SUPPORTED to get there. Standardised Tests………………yawn!
    Yeah Paul there are lots of revisits here. Sadly, people are getting paid enormous amounts of money delivering the same/similar talks to what we discovered some time ago. SCARILY I think is ‘what’s changed’? With all the millions (and us) that these people have addressed, what has changed? What has really changed? Do we have lasting REAL change? If and when we can HONESTLY say this, then we are beginning to bring this ‘education craft’ into a more modern existence, and not just repeat those behaviours we saw in our ‘good’ teachers. Let’s not have that wild ‘I’m a really cool teacher approach to self-evaluation – where we give ourselves pats on the back about being good based on NOTHING, no data, no survey, no INQUIRY. Get REAL data from REAL people that EXIST in front of us – students, and peers.
    GREAT CHALLENGES!
    I like the ‘collaborative’ sense of his talk – I look forward to working with you in 2013 on teaching Paul and continuing to engage with this excellent Blog put out by you Nick.
    I agree Denise with the I-PADS and one premise we might start with is his quote: ‘Create, Research, Collaborate, Present, Network’. Wouldn’t be too bad a start if we all committed to these 5 things in our subject area upon their arrival?
    Remember the movie ‘Honey I shrunk the kids’……….. uncanny likeness!

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