Fullan’s paper – Choosing the wrong drivers for whole system reform (April, 2011) – highlights that policy makers who select the wrong drivers (like testing, accountability, fragmentation – and technology) may get a few runs on the board, but they won’t achieve system lift.
He picks out the following as the right drivers that, when working in tandem, show evidence of making a systemic difference. Efforts to lift schooling must:
- foster intrinsic motivation for teachers and leaders
- engage students and teachers in continuous improvement of instruction and learning
- inspire collective or team work
- affect all teachers and leaders
A key point he makes, for me, is around technology: That the mistake is thinking that a new and shiny technology will somehow make the difference – but “not without smart pedagogy it won’t”.
He argues firmly for pedagogy, not technology, to be in the driving seat, no matter how seductive those shiny things might be. Once teachers are grounded in effective instruction, that integrates technology, then we might see acceleration in engagement.
“Without pedagogy in the driving seat, there is a growing evidence that technology is better at driving us to distraction , and that the digital world of the child is detached from the world of the school” (p. 15)
He cites OECD surveys that suggest that deep learning with technology rarely happens at home, so schools need to be the place where that depth of engagement and higher order thinking occurs.
Possibly this is nothing new – but it’s good to hear it from Fullan, and in a way that positions the thinking at a policy level.