This week's #WeirdEd isn't my idea. I stole it from Brian Aspinall and Tracy VanDenBosshe. At their school, where Brian is a teacher and Tracy is a VP, they have instituted something that I think shows a lot of risk for a lot of potential rewards.
Their school is Student Led.
Rather than go deeply into this, like I normally do, I'm going to let Brian do the talking. Please click over to this link and read what he's got to say.
Seriously, read the link. It's important for the chat.
From the link:
After spending two years on the journey, I am completely convinced
that student lead schools are the way to go. We don’t make classroom
rules on the first week of school in September.
Here is what I have noticed:
- Students take ownership for mistakes when you remove the fear of punishment – ultimately leading to some good reflection and conversation.
- Students lead each other towards making good choices, especially when it affects their school.
- Students tell the truth more often and are much less ‘sneaky’. Lies stem from fear – fear of punishment.
This feels like a massive risk, how does that makes you feel? Could you release control to your students? Are your students ready for this kind of responsibility? Is your staff? How long would it take to get there, and would you even want to? What would our job turn into? Why aren't you following @mraspinall and @TracyVDB yet?
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