School Re-Design & New School Innovation

The core educational task of our time is to evolve the institutions and practices that assist the learning process.

The assembly line model school that was imposed on the industrialized nations at the turn of the 20th century has created the most intractable problems faced by schools, children and families. When the overarching values are school are uniformity of process and product, no amount of master planning, technical fixes, measurement or testing can ever address or improve the outcomes.

ERC approaches the issue from a design perspective. Working with educators, parents, students, and community leaders to delve into the values and systems of the industrial model, to develop a strong sense of cognitive dissonance, and to pose highly-effective new ways of schooling that spur high engagement and high achievement for far greater numbers of students. Our efforts have renewed and re-energized the adults who create and sustain the rich and rewarding learning environment they share with students and the community.

• ERC successes employ principles of design innovation that help us work with you to re-imagine and then build the kind of organization and culture you need to move forward. Key school re-design principles we espouse and use with you to custom-build your new school community include:
• maximizing community connections and partnerships that build on permeability to ideas and opportunities
• creating a culture of learning, rather than a culture of teaching, built upon research-based notions of authentic, intellectually-challenging work
• building strong social-emotional supports and resilience for all learners and educators
• re-imagining job descriptions and functions to support new prototypes 
• using the right data at the right time, including qualitative approaches that inform and drive improvement rather than measurement and compliance
• employing the new wealth of research from learning neuroscience, motivation and child and adolescent development and organizational analysis

Stop relying on the same approaches that have failed repeatedly. Get the ball rolling by talking to ERC soon about an educational TREK for your school that will help you to reimagine and build on the assets your children, families and community,