Welcoming students back to The Webb Schools after summer break has always been one of my favorite roles as Head of Schools. Watching our student leaders open the academic year is a very tangible realization of our schools’ mission; not merely words and fine-sounding ideas, but real doing. It’s easy to say we’re about developing leaders who are people of character, but it’s not an easy task, and elsewhere it isn’t always backed up by action. But this summer, my many glimpses of our students in action reassured me that Webb really does provide students real-life opportunities to step up, be self-directed and to lead.

For example, the Junior Fellows who helped staff the Summer Programs at Webb were an integral part of the success of those programs. Mrs. Wishek, the director of summer programs, couldn’t say enough about the work ethic, the intelligence, the independence, the caring that every single one gave every day. “I tell them, these jobs are yours,” she explained to me. “If you don’t perform them, they won’t get done. You are needed here, and everything you do here matters – people are relying on you.”

The same is also true of our Vivian Webb student teachers in the G.I.R.L.S. Camp. With Mrs. Kingsbury’s support, the student leaders themselves designed and implemented an exciting, week-long curriculum in the sciences for middle school girls, which included organizing outings, teaching, and encouraging the girls to create their own experiments. They may very well have changed those girls’ lives by encouraging their budding interest in the sciences and supporting their emerging sense of themselves as real-life scientists.  

Our two faculty paleontologists, Dr. Don Lofgren and Dr. Andy Farke, worked with student leaders this summer in Montana and South Dakota in support of their research project, which will be presented at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Conference in Pittsburgh later this fall. More than 20 of our students accompanied Dr. Farke to the Grand Staircase Escalante Monument to prospect for new localities and to continue the collection of a nearly complete plant-eating dinosaur skeleton that was found by one of our students at the end of last year’s expedition. Amazingly, on the last day of this year’s expedition, what may be a very important find was made by one of our juniors – building up even more excitement for what the next trip will uncover.

These are only a few examples of the many leadership opportunities our students undertook off-campus this summer. Altogether, it is a testament to how they as young adults are defining who they are, what they really want and care about – what they value – and how they lead. It’s not hard to be proud of them and of our school. 

The story of Edison's invention of the electric light bulb is legendary. We all find it hard to believe when we first hear that it took him over 2,000 tries before his idea came to light. Talk about composing a failure résumé!  But like all entrepreneurial spirits with Herculean levels of initiative, Edison knew that all big problems are big opportunities. What makes some people run toward problems? Can that be taught? What are the results of having that mindset and disposition?

Americans are universally described as innovative and entrepreneurial and those two qualities and skill sets are frequently ascribed to our national character and to our success as a global leader. Leadership is also frequently described as the ability to take initiative and trust your creativity. None of this can be developed or practiced without an almost infinitely high tolerance for failure. And, along with Tony Wagner - whose fourth survival skill for the 21st century is "initiative and entrepreneurialism” - I believe that as a nation and certainly as educators we must do all we can to nurture these vital skills that connect so clearly to other vital 21st skills such as creative problem solving and adaptability.

I asked a couple of Webb students to tell me what "initiative and entrepreneurialism” mean to them. Here's what they said: “Entrepreneurialism is designing, planning, and executing business schemes. It means taking big risks, planning ahead to minimize resources wasted and maximize profit and outcome, but also planning for failure and how you get past failure.” Another student reflected on initiative. “I used to think initiative meant being the first to step up, to help out, but now I think it's a lot more than that. It's evaluating the past and thinking of something new and different to be done; it means that practices of the past do not dictate what happens in your future.” 

When I asked if these are skills or habits of mind that can be learned, I heard a resounding "absolutely” from every student. And when I asked why entrepreneurialism and initiative are important skills, I got the following responses. "Entrepreneurialism is the ability to create value, to learn from failure, to turn failure into success; it's really what the world revolves around, and it's not just about money. It's a way to solve problems for people.” On the importance of initiative, one of my students said, “Initiative breaks the mold. It sees opportunity and leverages everything to make new things happen. It's scary because it means a lot of failure, but it's also creative and cool.”

Teaching kids how to fail sounds counter-intuitive and maybe even downright un-American; but, in fact, failure is the fundamental requirement of success. Teaching kids to think big also sounds unrealistic to some - a set-up, so to speak, for their failure. Well, exactly. I recently listened to a speech by a Stanford professor entitled "Innovation as an Extreme Sport” and when she talked about what is being taught at Stanford's "New Design Institute,” I couldn't help but be reminded of Wagner and of my Webb students. "Fail fast and frequently” Stanford students are encouraged. "More failure equals more success.” "Come up with the best idea for something and the worst idea and then make the worst the best.”

So, I embarked on composing my own failure resume. Try it yourself. I promise it's a liberating experience, and one that will make you think of great ideas and big opportunities in a whole new way.

You've probably viewed the YouTube video "Did You Know; Shift Happens" and its latest incarnation "Did You Know? 4.0" more than once by now. Stunning isn't it?  

The exponential rate of change is a cliché these days, but it's the world we live in and the world for which we need to prepare today's students. Coupled with the rate of change is the dynamism of such things as social networks, social production, and media grids that are a regular part of today's world. These two factors alone - and there are many others - support the argument that a major survival skill for the 21st century must be "agility and adaptability" as Tony Wagner and others name it.

Massive changes in technology have caused massive shifts in social adaptations. It's easy to see why agility rules. Most of us would acknowledge that our jobs are not the ones they were last year or five years ago much less 20 years ago, and we'd probably also acknowledge that we learn differently than we did even a few years ago. We use different tools and we use tools differently. We're all adapting every day, and the flexible mind will be increasingly important. 

So where's education adjusting and moving to teach the habits of adaptability and agility? What are American schools doing? Is current teaching in the US at the leading edge or not? Are schools actually reforming or only re-arranging themselves? Where's the evidence of advancement or stalemate on embedded curricular and delivery change? Education has historically been a conservative process and industry. Educators have believed in order and certainty in both pedagogy and their profession. But tomorrow's world begs a much more organic, web-like, non-linear and rather messy way of learning and carrying out work. 

Fostering agility and adaptability changes the old educational paradigms, most of all, perhaps, the one that considers the teacher as the classroom leader with all the  right answers, if not all the right questions. If we're to teach our students to be adaptable and agile, then they need practice managing disruption and uncertainty, which are often perceived to be negatives, as well as practice creating innovation and embracing new ideas.  Asking questions, challenging what is, understanding that ambiguity is often a fact of life and being able to actually thrive in ambiguity are skills that should be learned in classrooms and schools that are actually "run" by students. Learning that there are sometimes no completely right answers and certainly not just one right answer is fundamental to living and leading in a world that changes profoundly at an exponential rate. 

In The Global Achievement Gap, Wagner posits his second survival skill - collaboration across networks and leading by influence - and touches lightly upon the issues of trust that must be at the base of this new way of conducting our lives and our businesses. Virtual offices and global virtual teams, net meetings, even conference calls all beg the question of how we communicate and collaborate electronically in a highly fluid environment that requires trust. Virtual teams without command and control leadership require trust and function instead through the power of persuasion and even moral suasion. Building trust - especially in settings without traditional boundaries or traditional communities - requires a skill set that is difficult for many to master in large measure because people are more experienced at functioning in places or groups that run by top-down structures and highly individual work, not collaboration and leading by influence.

Webb's honor code and leadership education program, in fact, Webb's very definition of itself as a trust-based community dedicated to the development of men and women of character, go a long way in helping our students master this important survival skill. Webb remains devoted to virtues of enduring worth that are the basis not only of success in the global knowledge economy but also that are most needed to sustain our democratic ideals and society in general.  Webb students learn that living by these virtues is not only a way of life worth pursuing but also a way of life best suited to meaningful leadership. They learn that leadership is not only about doing that which is right but also about living a purposeful and useful life that influences others to do the same. Through carefully designed projects and activities carried out both inside and outside the classroom, they learn that collaboration and teamwork foster trust and lead to better solutions.  

And, they have the special advantage of learning and mastering these skills and lessons in a richly diverse community that reflects the world they will lead. Collaboration and trust in a global environment require much greater sensitivity to the values and perspectives of cross-cultural team members – skills that do not often appear in a high school curriculum. It is certainly possible for all our schools to do a better job teaching this second of Wagner's survival skills, but the truly diverse boarding schools in our nation have a big leg up on other types of schools in making strides in this area. Where else will a 16 year old have the transformative experience of understanding cultures and world views dramatically different from her own on a daily basis?  The Partnership for 21st Century Skills included "global awareness" in its 21st Century Skills Framework, indicating clearly just how important it is for today's high school students to understand and appreciate different cultures. When your roommate comes from Pakistan and becomes like your sister, it can only increase your empathy for people half a world away; and in that fact lies the hope for the 21st century.

As I am traveling throughout Asia visiting current and past Webb parents and alumni, I've been engaging everyone in conversation about Tony Wagner's book, The Global Achievement Gap, and particularly about the first of his seven “21st century survival skills” - critical thinking and problem solving. It's exciting to hear people's views, especially those of parents who have read the book and alumni who have had the "Webb experience" as their foundational, formative educational experience.

When I ask "what do you think is the most important survival skill?" there are some differences in the words but the essence of the answer is nearly universal: independence of thought spurred by questions. It's about the questions, not the answers everyone says. That's how critical and independent thinking develop and that's how problems are solved. And, people continue, it's the basis of creativity and innovation.

Parents - those who know the Webb of today best - offer several examples of independent, critical thinking and problem solving in action. One example that is named over and over again is Integrated Math. One parent offered that when his son first described the classroom - few answers, lots of questions, students in charge, teacher as guide not resident expert, no traditional textbook, etc. - they were both confused. "You see," he said, "this would never happen in one of our schools now. Here students aren't expected to think for themselves or solve real problems." Others refer to how we "do science" naming Peccary trips, museum research, project-based environmental science, use of the Hefner observatory, etc. as exemplifying the development of critical thinking and problem solving.

Interestingly, alumni often refer to our Honor Code and character development mission as an example of how Webb students are urged constantly to ask questions - especially challenging and serious questions - about how to think and act. As one alumna put it, "one cannot be a person of character and honor without thinking independently and critically and without knowing how to break things down, how to connect the dots, how to test assumptions." I'd argue, too, that one cannot participate in our democracy without these skills and cannot live a thoughtful life that contributes to the entire human endeavor without these skills. If you're waiting for answers instead of asking questions, you might as well be a specimen in The Alf Museum.

Of course, we can't be self-congratulatory or complacent about the ways in which we develop the world's future leaders and the ways in which we give teenagers an opportunity to figure things out. The top-down world of specialization that placed a premium on content and the narrow skills of quantitative computation and reading comprehension is moving the way of the dinosaur. Ironically enough, it’s possible that the learning and teaching that is characterized by our Alf Museum’s study of paleontology has helped to shape Webb's forward-looking emphasis on independent, critical thinking and problem solving.

Thoughts?  I'd love to hear from you 

In last week's Washington Post a teacher wrote a letter to the editor that began, "We've been in session for the new school year for five weeks now, but we've only taught for a little over two of those weeks. The rest of the time has been spent testing."  Like a lot of people, I've read about the proliferation of high stakes testing in the US. I've even heard the first-hand horror stories from my own sister who is a New York public school teacher, but somehow that simple opening sentence in that teacher's letter floored me.

The teacher went on to say, "Of course, there is content we want to be sure our students learn, but I want my students to learn how to think, how to be creative, and how to be good citizens. And, that's not what we're doing because that's not what we're testing." The adage, "what's measured is what gets done" could not be more painfully true than it is in classrooms all across our country. Similarly, in The Washingtonian, the cover feature was "The School You Love to Hate," a Fairfax county school that many students will commute for over two hours each morning in order to attend. The problem, of course, isn't that this particular school is good, but that the nearby schools are so weak that families feel compelled to have their sons and daughters travel great distances every day just to get a halfway decent education.

Our recent commitment to "high stakes" testing is deeply troubling, especially because standardized tests measure such a narrow segment of intelligence. It has been firmly established that intelligence is far more complex than what we choose to measure on a standardized test - largely reading comprehension and quantitative skills. These tests of ours reward children who have a knack for language and math and who can regurgitate information. They reveal little about a student's desire to learn, intellectual depth and scope, and they are poor predictors of future success or happiness. What about creative problem solving and innovation? critical thinking? mental agility? observation and self reflection? perseverance? Those skills and habits of mind are far more difficult to quantify, but they are eminently teachable and far more influential in a person's success and happiness. When it comes to what educators are being asked required to test and measure, I'm reminded of one of Einstein's more famous pieces of wisdom: "Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted." The irony can't be lost on anyone.

It is perplexing to me that recent educational reform in the US is mired in standardized testing and high content levels in instruction. This is precisely the kind of education that other leading nations are abandoning. These matters should be of grave concern to parents and employers as well as to educators for they have enormous national and global societal implications. In his book, The Global Achievement Gap, Tony Wagner posits several brutal facts about American education, among them that we have on a 70% high school graduation rate while Denmark has 96%, Japan 93%, and Poland 79%. Furthermore, only one-third of our high school graduates are prepared for college, and 40% of our students who enter college must take remedial courses. It is clear that not enough young American citizens are being taught how to think, how to solve problems, and how to be creative and, as a result, they will not be hired for the best jobs and will be at a great competitive disadvantage as, ultimately, will be our nation as well.

When a teacher guides her students through a problem by using a set of questions designed, researched and analyzed by the students and made tangible in a real life project designed by students working in small groups and presented publicly to peers and adults, that teacher is earning her pay - meager as it may be - and her students are being taught the real skills they need to be educated adults. But when we require that same teacher to devote more than half her time to monitor students who are sitting at their desks filling in bubbles on an answer sheet, not only do she and her students lose, we all lose.

Students, parents, teachers, and many staff members read Tony Wagner's Global Achievement Gap this summer, a common experience of fertile ground we can cultivate.  Although his emphasis is on public education in the United States, his premise, "7 Survival Skills," and his call to action apply to any school that aspires to design and deliver an outstanding education.  Although he references heavily interviews with corporate leaders and college professors, Wagner's book isn't only about how to  prepare students for college and the global corporate world.  I find his challenge to schools and parents to prepare today's students to be active, informed, highly effective citizens at least as compelling.   Among his chief concerns: too much testing, too much testing of the wrong skills and knowledge (or very limited skills and knowledge), parents' and schools' avoidance of controversial subjects, and a general lack of urgency regarding school reform. 

Wagner begins with what Jim Collins calls "the brutal facts."  Among them: the current US high school graduation rate is 70%. The comparable numbers  are 92% in Poland, 93% in Japan, 79% in Italy;  only about 1/3 of high school graduates are ready for college;fewer than 50% of US students who enter college complete a degree, placing the US 10th among industrialized nations;  90% of the highest paying jobs now require post-secondary education.  Bottom line posits Wagner, " students are simply not learning the skills that matter in the 21st century . . . our system of public education is hopelessly outdated."  

Around the world, school reform  is making big news whether it's the UK's goal to rebuild its system within the next 15 years, Abu Dhabi's new schools themed around girls' leadership training, Ireland's commitment to integrating technology  through all primary schools, Singapore's "Thinking Schools; Learning Nation" campaign, or our own "No Child Left Behind" legislation.   To this mix, Wagner adds his "7 Survival Skills" for learning, work, and citizenship and focuses on how American schools must fundamentally rethink and reform the education of our children.

I'm interested in sharing some of my thoughts and hearing yours about Wagner's 21st century skills, about his position on content, assessment, schools that work,  what constitutes an outstanding student educational experience, and, of course, what Webb does and how and why we do it.  Each month I'll blog on one of the seven skills, and I hope you'll comment - beginning today.   Click below to view a couple of interviews  and keynote speeches Tony Wagner has given.  If you haven't read the book, they might persuade you to take a look at it.  If you have read the book, they'll refresh your memory quickly.  

http://www.schoolchange.org/videos/