If you have been listening for a while, you might remember Michael Horn from episode 15 of the podcast. Last time we talked about his book, Choosing College, and how students and parents go about selecting a college. If you haven’t listened to that episode or read that book, I highly recommend it! Today, we’re talking about Michael’s newest book, Reopen to Reinvent: (Re)Creating School for Every Child. If you are like me, frustrated with the broken system of public education, this is a conversation you will want to hear. Michael has issued a call to action for educators to reinvent and reimagine education as we know it. We all need to be asking one very important question: “What do we want kids to be able to do when they leave high school?” and then deliver that in our schools. There’s a lot to unpack here, including how parents can play an active role and be part of the solution.
About Michael B. Horn
Michael B. Horn strives to create a world in which all individuals can build their passions and fulfill their potential through his writing, speaking, and work with a portfolio of education organizations. He is the author of several books, including the recently released From Reopen to Reinvent: (Re)creating School for Every Child; the award-winning Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns; Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools; Choosing College; and Goodnight Box, a children’s story. Michael is the co-founder of and a distinguished fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, a non-profit think tank, and an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He co-hosts the top education podcasts Future U and Class Disrupted. He is a regular contributor to Forbes.com, and the New York Sun, and writes the Substack newsletter The Future of Education. Michael also serves as an executive editor at Education Next, and his work has been featured in outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, and NBC.
Episode Highlights
- School is not working well for anyone
- School is not a “game to be won”
- A positive outcome of the pandemic
- The evolution of the purpose of schooling
- How to better optimize the learning experience for individuals
- The success of Montessori and blended-learning schools
- We need to stop sorting students and start empowering them
- Changing assessments from autopsies to opportunities for feedback
- Applying higher ed learning models to K-12 education
- Sal Khan’s home-building analogy
- Our system, by design, embeds failure in it
- What do we want kids to be able to do when they leave high school?
- Chapter 7: The Parent Experience
- The one size fits all mentality for schools doesn’t serve families and parents
- Parents who want to help should start with empathy
- Lindsey Unified School District success story – everyone in the district is clear about the purpose
- It’s all about leadership and the vision
- Using technology more effectively in education
- Michael’s offer to administrators and educators
Links and Resources
Substack newsletter – Future of Education
Michael on Twitter
FutureU Podcast
Class Disrupted Podcast
The Future of Education on YouTube