THE 21 ST CENTURY SCHOOL Professor Brian Caldwell

THE 21 ST CENTURY SCHOOL Professor Brian Caldwell Managing Director, Educational Transformations Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne Presented in two seminars with Bob Mitchell (Beauchamp College (November 27) and Sir Alasdair Macdonald (Morpheth School Tower Hamlets) (November 28) National Conference of Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) and International Networking for Educational Transformation (i. Net) Birmingham 27 -28 November 2008

The International Project to Frame the Transformation of Schools • Conducted in Australia, China, England, Finland, United States, Wales • Funded by Australian Government and Welsh Assembly Government • Case studies of five secondary schools in each country, with many schools in highly disadvantaged settings • Why Not the Best Schools (with Jessica Harris) and six separate country reports were published in October 2008

Schools and Countries in The International Project to Frame the Transformation of Schools Country Location of five schools Australia Victoria China Chongqing England Beauchamp College Birchwood Community High School Pershore High School Plumstead Manor School Ringmer Community College Finland Tampere United States California, Hawaii, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Wales Cardiff, Ebww Vale, Glamorgan, Newport, Rhondda Valley

The Country Reports

Intellectual, Social, Spiritual and Financial Capital Transformation is significant, systematic and sustained change that secures success for all students in all settings

Intellectual and Social • Intellectual Capital. . . The knowledge and skill of those who work in or for the school • Social Capital. . The strength of formal and informal partnerships and networks that have the potential to support or be supported by the school

Spiritual and Financial • Spiritual Capital. . . The strength of moral purpose and the degree of coherence among values, beliefs and attitudes about life and learning • Financial Capital. . . The money available to support the school

Governance • Governance. . . The process through which a school builds its intellectual, social, spiritual and financial capital and aligns them to achieve its goals

Social Capital in the ‘Outward Facing School’: Sample Indicators 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. There is a high level of alignment between the expectations of parents and other key stakeholders and the mission, vision, goals, policies, plans and programs of the school There is extensive and active engagement of parents and others in the community in the educational program of the school Parents and others in the community serve on the governing body of the school or contribute in other ways to the decisionmaking process Parents and others in the community are advocates of the school and are prepared to take up its cause in challenging circumstances The school draws cash or in-kind support from individuals, organisations, agencies and institutions in the public and private sectors, in education and other fields, including business and industry, philanthropists and social entrepreneurs

Social Capital in the ‘Outward Facing’ School: Sample Indicators 6. The school accepts that support from the community has a reciprocal obligation for the school to contribute to the building of community 7. The school draws from and contributes to networks to share knowledge, address problems and pool resources 8. Partnerships have been developed and sustained to the extent that each partner gains from the arrangement 9. Resources, both financial and human, have been allocated by the school to building partnerships that provide mutual support 10. The school is co-located with or located near other services in the community and these services are utilised in support of the school

Building a capacity to create new ‘default settings’ for 21 st C schools

Partners and Consultants • Educational Transformations in partnership with Teaching Australia (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership) • Co-directors Brian Caldwell and David Loader; manager Jessica Harris • Consultants Rufus Black (Mc. Kinsey), Brent Davies (University of Hull), Tony Mackay (Centre for Strategic Education), Erica Mc. William (Queensland University of Technology, soon at NIE Singapore)

Indicators of a futures-focus 1. The school has clearly defined values and beliefs about life and learning that are used to balance past, present and future in the formulation of its plans 2. There is a capacity and willingness for staff and other stakeholders to keep abreast of trends and issues, threats and opportunities in the wider environment, nationally and internationally 3. There is a capacity and willingness for staff to respond to threats and opportunities anticipating their impact on education generally and on the school in particular

Indicators of a futures-focus 4. There are structures and processes which enable the school to gather evidence and other intelligence, set priorities and formulate strategies which take account of likely and / or preferred futures 5. School leaders ensure that the attention of the school’s community is focused on matters of strategic importance, sharing their knowledge about these matters with the school’s community, and encouraging other leaders to do the same in their areas of interest 6. The school has an ongoing structured review process that facilitates the monitoring of the implementation of strategies as well as emerging strategic issues in the wider environment

Indicators of a futures-focus 7. The school strategically positions itself for enduring success by skilfully balancing strategies that have succeeded over time with new strategies that take account of changing circumstances 8. Ongoing informal conversations about future possibilities are encouraged as much as the more formal processes of strategic planning 9. The school invests in innovation so that it becomes an ‘incubator’ of new ideas and new practices 10. There is recognition that convergence of ideas is not always possible or even desirable, but every effort is made to develop a shared understanding of what is important to create and sustain success

Education, Economy & Society SOCIETY ECONOMY Compelling vision with high moral purpose EDUCATION

Passion, Trust & Strategy STRATEGY TRUST Compelling vision with high moral purpose PASSION

The Audacity of Hope ‘We know that global competition – not to mention any genuine commitment to the values of equal opportunity and upward mobility – requires us to revamp our educational system from top to bottom’.