dintersmith

What could schools be? Best-selling author and film producer Ted Dintersmith contends that the 20th-century school design does a disservice to children today. Schools should be retooled, starting by de-emphasizing testing.

“Low-level tests prepare children to be good at exactly what artificial intelligence excels at,” according to Dintersmith. “What if our measures of success actually impair children for their future?”

In this podcast, Heather Clayton Staker and Ted Dintersmith discuss whether the “will-this-be-on-the-test? mentality” embeds a values system in today’s learners that systematically erodes their larger sense of purpose.

Dintersmith believes that schools can move beyond flashcards, test prep, and learning irrelevant skills. During this interview, he questions what the purpose of school is and then points to schools around the U.S. that are replacing test prep with four “PEAK” principles:

Purpose—Students believe in the importance of their work.

Essential Skills and Mindsets—Learning experiences foster competencies that are essential to adults (e.g., creative problem solving, critical analysis, communication, collaboration, citizenship, character).

Agency—Students create their learning experiences, set their goals, manage their progress, and evaluate their work.

Knowledge: Students develop real mastery of the topics they study. They can apply it, ask thoughtful questions about it, and teach others.

To learn more from Ted Dintersmith, visit https://teddintersmith.com/. His Innovation Playlist is available for free at https://teddintersmith.com/innovation-playlist/.

Ready to Blend is sharing the link to his “Most Likely to Succeed” video at this week’s blog, What School Could Be.

En este episodio exploramos las implicaciones que tienen las nuevas tecnologías en la forma como educamos a nuestros hijos. ¿Estamos realmente educando para el futuro?

Today, the Rock Star Principals are proud to welcome one of our Edu-Heroes to the podcast. Ted Dintersmith is one of America's leaders in innovation, entrepreneurship, and education.

Ted's professional experience includes two decades in venture capital, including being ranked by Business 2.0 as the top-performing U.S. venture capitalist for 1995-1999. From 1981 to 1987, he ran a business at Analog Devices that helped enable the digital revolution. In the public sector, he was a staff analyst in 1976-78 for the U.S. House of Representatives, and was appointed in 2012 by President Obama to represent the U.S. at the United Nations General Assembly. Ted earned a Ph.D. in Engineering from Stanford University and a B.A. from the College of William and Mary, with High Honors in Physics and English.

Ted has become one of America's leading advocates for education policies that foster creativity, innovation, motivation, and purpose. He knows what skills are valuable in a world of innovation, and how we can transform our schools to prepare kids for their futures. His contributions span film, books, philanthropy, and the hard work of going all across America. He's funded and executive produced acclaimed education documentaries, including Most Likely To Succeed, (Sundance, AFI, and Tribeca). With co-author Tony Wagner, he wrote Most Likely To Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era. During the 2015/16 school year, he went to all fifty U.S. states, meeting with governors, legislators, educators, parents, and students, and encouraging communities to work collectively to re-imagine school and its purpose. Learn more about his work from his website, http://www.edu21c.com, or by following him on Twitter @dintersmith. Buy his new book here: What Schools Could Be and Most Likely to Succeed

Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy this thought provoking and rebellious episode of RSP!

"The Boss" Jon Ross and "The Doctor of Proctors" Nick Indeglio with a gargantuan-sized 100th episode of The Rock Star Principals' Podcast. The boys have "Reloaded" with renewed passion, energy, humor, and weekly episodes that will drop every Monday evening at 11:00pm EST. The 100th episode features the following awesomeness:

• Article Review: From Forbes.com by Rich Karlgaard-"How a Former VC Wants to Disrupt American Education" (interview with Ted Dintersmith)
  • Full Article Link
  • Ted Dintersmith on Twitter: @dintersmith
• A Word from Our Fake Sponsor: Mattel He-Man Fright Zone Battle Set
• Activity Review: Jon's "Dot Activity" (Social-Emotional Learning)
  • Edutopia Article Supplement: The Power of Being Seen by Holly Korbey
    • Full Article Link
    • Holly Korbey on Twitter: @HKorbey
    • Special Thanks to Dr. Robert Ruch @robertruch1
• A Word from Our Fake Sponsors: (from the early episodes) Nick and Jon Love "Sweetzels"
• Authentic Learning Round Table with Downingtown Principals during Digital Leadership training with Eric Sheninger @E_Sheninger
• A Word from Our Fake Sponsors: Anti-Drug PSA: "I Learned It By Watching You"
• Movie Review: Justice League

Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

In This Episode

• Why would an entrepreneur and noted venture capitalist zoom in on education?

• How serious are the educational challenges we face in the US?

• Is there a simple path forward to creating a better education for every student?

My guest today is Ted Dintersmith, noted venture capitalist, author, and executive producer of the Sundance-acclaimed education documentary, “Most Likely to Succeed.”  Ted believes that with the best of intentions, we’re ruining the futures of our kids, and our country. He says we stubbornly cling to an obsolete education model that prepares kids for assembly line jobs that no longer exist and that failed policies have turned school into a dreary regime of testing and accountability. Worse,  he believes that even our best students learn little, as so many lose curiosity, creativity, intrinsic motivation, and sense of purpose.  Ted is fresh off a 50-state tour of schools and communities with his film, throughout which he has also seen the very best of learning experiences which have provided for Ted an inspiring vision of how schools can launch kids into lives of competence and purpose. 

There are lots of opinions about how and why we should change the education in the US. If you only take one point away from today's show, consider this. What would happen if suddenly tomorrow we told every teacher in the country, "We trust you to turn our kids into curious, thoughtful, productive humans"?

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Original Show Date: April 7, 2016

Category: Business Professionals