People are an essential element in any change process. Initiating and implementing a paradigm shift in education is reliant upon having the right talent that is capable of steering and delivering change.
A global challenge exists because educators have almost universally been trained and conditioned to operate as solo practitioners, capable of individually managing groups of students. Added to this complexity is the actions of young people, who under traditional learning systems, become reliant on their teacher as a fountain of knowledge. A paradigm shift that positions the delivery of learning from a ‘group control’ mindset to one of ‘learner empowerment’, requires talented people who are highly agile, adaptive and above all understand the elements of a paradigm shift. Any strategy to develop the necessary talent to support change needs to facilitate a process well-described by Alvin Toffler – the need to ‘learn, unlearn and relearn.’
There is a range of associated mindset and practical shifts required to support change. Schools are traditionally noted for using repeated meetings as a means to inform and communicate. An effective talent development strategy would seek to minimise meetings and maximise active professional development. This would be even better if the professional development delivered provided a wide range of methodologies and learning experiences – in itself widening the potential repertoire of the learning guides.