Book Launch and Free Book Club! Flip the System US: How Teachers Can Transform Education and Save Democracy

After almost two years of planning, deep conversations, Zoom calls with my publisher, convincing some of the most brilliant educators in the United States and beyond to participate, writing, and editing, Flip the System US: How Teachers Can Transform Education and Save Democracy finally launches this week. Even before it's official launch it has climbed Amazon's best seller charts to be the #1 New Release and #2 Best Seller in Education Theory and History! 

This book makes the case that the health of our democracy depends on the wellbeing of our teachers. Our education system must be equitable and driven by the collective expertise of teachers if our democratic society is to survive.

In the book, a diverse group of award-winning classroom teachers from across the country, as well as some of the world's leading education researchers share their perspectives on some of the most pressing educational issues we face today - inequities exposed by the pandemic, breaking systems of oppression, addressing the teacher pipeline crisis, classroom practices that develop democratic values, and so much more. 

I am inviting all of you to join me and some of the book's authors at both a book launch event this Saturday and a free book club where we will examine each of the book's 5 sections. 

You can register for the book launch event on Saturday from 10AM-Noon EDT by clicking here. In addition to talking about the book with chapter authors, we'll be giving away Flip the System T-shirts, signed books, and other swag. Make sure to click the link above to let us know you'll be joining. 

The book club is open to the first 30 people who register at bit.ly/ftsus-bookclub. Meetings will take place over Zoom and will be from 7-8PM EST on Nov. 12 and 19, and Dec. 3, 10, and 17. 

You can purchase the book and watch bonus content - recorded interviews with most of the chapter authors - at FlipTheSystem.US.

I hope you will join me on Saturday for the book launch and enjoy reading the incredible narratives and expertise of the authors as much as I did as I edited their chapters. 

A.I. and Big Data Are Not the Answer in Education

Today I came across an article in the NY Times entitled A.I. and Big Data Could Power a New War on Poverty. Since the implications of Artificial Intelligence and other technological advances in the 4th Industrial Revolution on education is a topic I've been delving into quite a bit lately, I was curious to see the perspective of the author.

Let me start by saying that I think the author, Elisabeth A. Mason, has a solid premise; we should look beyond the disruptions and chaos that new technologies like artificial intelligence will have on our lives and instead look to the benefits that they can provide society. On this I agree. There are many exciting applications for new technologies that can help alleviate human suffering and can potentially even combat poverty. 

However, I have to take issue with her second main point in the piece that connect directly to education. For reference, here are the three paragraphs that relating to education: 

Second, we can bring what is known as differentiated education — based on the idea that students master skills in different ways and at different speeds — to every student in the country. A 2013 study by the National Institutes of Health found that nearly 40 percent of medical students held a strong preference for one mode of learning: Some were listeners; others were visual learners; still others learned best by doing.

Our school system effectively assumes precisely the opposite. We bundle students into a room, use the same method of instruction and hope for the best. A.I. can improve this state of affairs. Even within the context of a standardized curriculum, A.I. “tutors” can home in on and correct for each student’s weaknesses, adapt coursework to his or her learning style and keep the student engaged. 

Today’s dominant type of A.I., also known as machine learning, permits computer programs to become more accurate — to learn, if you will — as they absorb data and correlate it with known examples from other data sets. In this way, the A.I. “tutor” becomes increasingly effective at matching a student’s needs as it spends more time seeing what works to improve performance.

Those of us who are teaching actual children can see some problems here. Let's take them one at a time.

First, the idea that people learn better through different learning styles is a myth (Pashler, et. al.). It has been debunked (Association for Psychological Science). There is no credible evidence to support it (letter to The Guardian from 30 prominent researchers). Even if A.I. was going to lead to an incredible revolution in education, basing that revolution in learning styles is akin to having A.I. teach children differently based on their zodiac signs.

Second, the criticism in the second paragraph that our schools are overly standardized is both harsh and somewhat accurate. For almost two decades now, our education systems have increasingly become driven by big data - generated by mass-produced standardized tests and compiled with the processing power available due to technological advances. This has led to misuse of educational technology, the narrowing of curricula, and a lack of compassion in schools. Children are seen as numbers on a spreadsheet rather than unique individuals with wonderful potential.

Artificial intelligence may be able to adapt to a child's curricular needs, but this is but a small part of what it means to be an effective teacher. Every day, teachers make 1,500 educational decisions. I would bet that the majority of those educational decisions are not curricular in nature and are based in relationships, empathy, and emotional intelligence. This is what makes teachers effective.

Machines may be able to crunch a child's data, but they will never be able to love a student the way a teacher can love a student.

Understanding a student's needs will always be more complex than simply analyzing answers on an assessment. Anyone who has taught understands this. If students in one of my science classes fail a test, I have a responsibility to figure out why. It may be because they didn't study. It may be because they didn't have breakfast that morning. It may be because they misunderstood the lesson. It may be because their baby brother cried all night and they didn't sleep. It may be because they are stressed over a parent's substance abuse. It may be because I did a lousy job of teaching. Each reason demands a different and nuanced response that fits both the child's academic and emotional needs. This is what teaching is.

Graphic from
Teaching in the 4th Industrial Revolution:
 Standing at the Precipice

Assuming that education is only about the transfer of content from teacher to student is a recipe for disaster, especially in our increasingly complex world.

Third, this article is focused upon the ability for artificial intelligence to help alleviate poverty. Our children in poverty are the ones who are most in need of the compassion that robots will never be able to provide. According to the American Psychological Association the psychosocial outcomes associated with children living in poverty include:

• Children living in poverty are at greater risk of behavioral and emotional problems. 
• Some behavioral problems may include impulsiveness, difficulty getting along with peers, aggression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder. 
• Some emotional problems may include feelings of anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. 
• Poverty and economic hardship is particularly difficult for parents who may experience chronic stress, depression, marital distress and exhibit harsher parenting behaviors. These are all linked to poor social and emotional outcomes for children. 
• Unsafe neighborhoods may expose low-income children to violence which can cause a number of psychosocial difficulties. Violence exposure can also predict future violent behavior in youth which places them at greater risk of injury and mortality and entry into the juvenile justice system.

There are important ways that the technological explosion can have a positive impact on education. We must make sure, however, not to repeat the mistakes of the past by believing that technology is the answer to our problems. It is not. Teachers are, and will remain, the most important in-school factor in helping children learn. 

If we really want to overcome poverty, we need to stop looking for easy fixes and cheap solutions. Along with addressing the societal problems that lead to so many of our children living in poverty, we must focus on recruiting, retaining, and supporting excellent teachers so that every child, in every location, receives a quality education.

Michael Soskil is co-author of "Teaching in the 4th Industrial Revolution: Standing at the Precipice." All profits from the book are being donated to promote teacher education, development, and collaboration around the globe.

Help Wanted - US Secretary of Education

The United States is currently looking for a Secretary of Education. Since I am trying very hard not to get sucked into the negativity surrounding American politics right now, I'm going to stay positive. Here are the things we need to see in our next Secretary of Education if we wish to succeed in meeting the goal of providing a great education and equal opportunity for success for every one of America's school children.

Image Credit: Glassdoor.com

Our next Secretary of Education needs to understand how children learn. One of the ways we have failed our students in the past is by enacting policies that fly in the face of the neuroscience research that shows how kids learn. If we want to build a system focused on student learning, the leader of that system must understand student learning.

Since approximately 90% of American schoolchildren attend public schools, our next Secretary of Education must be intimately familiar with the workings of American public schools. This is no small requirement. Each state has a different way of funding, running, and evaluating public schools.

The leader of the Department of Education must understand the purpose of our public school system. Our public schools do not exist to serve parents. Our public schools exist because our society is better when we have an educated populace. While it is true that parents and families benefit from strong public schools, we have developed a publically funded system of education because it is good for everyone in our communities. If we lose sight of this fact and divert tax dollars to privately run schools for the benefit of parents, we destroy a system that was created to strengthen our communities. There is a reason that you cannot take your tax dollars back that the government uses on the police force to buy private security. There is a reason that you cannot take the tax dollars back that the government uses for road maintenance if you don't have a car. There is a reason that you cannot take back the tax dollars the government uses for the fire company in order to install a sprinkler system in your house. In each of those cases, those tax dollars are being used for the good of the community and removing them for the benefit of individuals would hurt everybody. Our next Education Secretary must understand that the public school system benefits the collective, and that removing tax dollars for individuals hurts everybody in the same way.

Education is Constitutionally a state right. The federal government has a role to play, but our next Secretary of Education must end the practice of coercive unfunded mandate control over state education systems. This has become toxic in part due to lobbying from companies who are looking at their own financial interests instead of what's best for our students. While companies have gotten rich off standardized testing and selling Common Core aligned textbooks, our students have been subjected to increasingly more test prep and have had fewer opportunities to find the joy in learning.

The role of the Department of Education absolutely should be ensuring that the US Constitution is not being breached in schools that receive federal funding. This means that students should be protected from discrimination based on gender, disability, race, religion, or anything else. Students can't learn if they don't feel safe. Our Secretary of Education should be a champion for all students.

Our Education Secretary should have at least a Master's Degree in an education field. If a principal, someone who is in charge of running a school, is required to possess a Master's Degree in Educational Administration, it is fairly obvious that someone wishing to run the entire American educational system should have that level of education.

Within the Department of Education's influence, nobody has greater sway over student learning than teachers. Like any other professional, teachers are better at their job when they are supported, inspired, given autonomy to use their professional judgement, and empowered. Our next Secretary must be someone who understands this. Empowered teachers create empowered learners.

We must encourage our most talented youngsters to choose teaching as a profession. In 1971 close to 21% of American college freshmen were education majors. Now, that number is below 5%. The teaching profession has been decimated by a lack of respect and a lack of autonomy. Those who choose to teach do so because they want to make a difference and help our children thrive. When education policy makes it difficult for those who choose teaching to fulfill those goals, when salaries do not allow those who choose teaching to live in the districts where they teach or pay back their student loans, when those in power emphasize the few stories of bad teachers over the plethora of amazing stories of good teachers so that they can better meet political goals, our most talented youngsters are discouraged from teaching. The next Secretary of Education must be committed to reversing this trend.

Communication will be an important skill for our next Secretary to possess. Policy at the highest levels is nuanced and complicated. The leader of a federal department will have to be able to understand and articulate clearly those policies.

The best interests of America's students should be the primary driving force behind our next Secretary of Education's decisions. The person occupying this position should have no financial interests in education companies, for-profit entities, universities, private schools, or any other organizations that may influence his/her decision making. Our students deserve an unbiased Secretary looking out for their best interests.

Sometimes we need to look beyond our borders for solutions. The American public education system helped create one of the most innovative and knowledgeable civilizations in the history of the world. We are the only nation to put men on the Moon. College students from around the globe have flocked to American universities for decades because of our excellence. American teachers are among the most educated and respected on the planet. However, we must not be blind to the excellence happening in other countries, or unwilling to learn from those who have discovered solutions to problems we face. The Secretary of Education should be willing to look at countries like Finland, Canada, Singapore, and others to see what they are doing well and how we can incorporate their solutions into our system.

Being Secretary of Education is an overwhelming job that requires a lot of expertise and experience. There are plenty of more requirements that I could come up with that I did not list due to space limitations. I haven't even touched upon issues outside K-12 education such as the benefit of pre-K programs, the impact affordable college tuition would have on our country's prosperity, or several other issues. A strong public education system has been the backbone of our thriving, free society. We must choose a Secretary of Education who is committed to strengthening the cornerstone of our American democracy.

5 Takeaways from the 2016 Global Education and Skills Forum

It's been a week now since I was sitting on stage waiting for Pope Francis to announce the winner of the Global Teacher Prize. Looking back, my whole experience in Dubai at the Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF) and the Varkey Teacher Ambassador Summit that preceded it have a surreal, dreamlike quality. It's hard to believe that they really happened. There is no doubt that I will remember the last week as one of the most powerful and amazing weeks of my life.

There were so many incredible moments, influential conversations, and meaningful personal experiences that occurred during those few days. Here are my five biggest takeaways.

The Global Teacher Prize is elevating the status of teachers around the world.

At the 2014 GESF Sunny Varkey announced the Global Teacher Prize as a way to elevate the status of the teaching profession around the world. It is working. The narrative around teachers is changing and around the globe inspirational stories of teaching excellence from the top 50 finalists are being shared on television, the front cover of newspapers, and in magazines.  Each of these stories serves as a source of motivation for others in the profession who desperately need it in the current anti-teacher climate that exists in many countries around the world.

The way that teachers were celebrated at the Forum was outstanding. I can't think of another event in which teachers were seated in a place of prominence next to heads of state, ministers of education, and other guests of honor. As my fellow finalist Joe Fatheree expressed, teachers were given respect. Our voices mattered. Teachers were given the opportunity to speak, debate, and participate as equals in policy discussions on the highest level. 

For the Top 10 Finalists, this event was nothing short of surreal. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that teaching would lead me to walk the red carpet like I was a celebrity, be praised by the greatest scientist of our time, or be kicked off a stage while dancing in Dubai as a French Neuroscientist DJ blasts Pakistani dance jams (Yes, that really happened). Nobody ever chose the teaching profession for the recognition, but I hope the attention surrounding this award lets teachers around the globe know that there are many people around the world who understand just how important teachers are. 

Teachers need autonomy over teaching, and learners need autonomy over learning.

Right from the opening plenary keynote in which Adreas Schleicher talked about "making education everybody's business," and Sunny Varkey explained that he created the Global Teacher Prize to elevate the status of the teaching profession, the theme of teacher empowerment was present. In order for us to have the excellent educational systems that we desire, teachers must be treated as the professionals that they are. Teachers must have autonomy in their practice to do what they know is best for students instead of having their methodologies, curricula, and professional learning dictated to them by non-educators. 

Jelmer Evers talks about empowering teachers

It would be absurd to think that surgeons were being forced to use techniques that were dictated to them by those outside the medical profession. It should be viewed as equally absurd for those with no educational background to be dictating to teachers how to teach. We should be encouraging teachers to innovate and share their best practices with others so that those techniques can be replicated. Yet, 75% of teachers around the world believe that innovation in their classrooms is not encouraged. How can we prepare our students for an unknown future in which critical thinking and creativity are crucial when we are being told not to model innovation for them?

Another theme that was present in the Masterclass sessions taught by the Top 10 Finalists for the Global Teacher Prize was the need for students to be in control of their own learning. You can't make someone learn, but you can create conditions that inspire someone to want to learn. That's what made the finalists so amazing. Each of them had their own way of creating intrinsic motivation in their students in order to shift control back to the students.

The world would be better off if teachers were in charge. 

Varkey Teacher Ambassador Summit

During the Varkey Teacher Ambassador Summit and GESF, I spent a lot of time learning and working with 50 teachers who were named finalists for the Global Teacher Prize the past two years. We came from all over the world. Every religion and region of the country was represented. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists were all in the same room working to solve the world's problems through education. We spoke different languages and had very different backgrounds. There was no tension, animosity, or friction. There was just a group of amazing people who were thrilled to get the chance to know each other and make the world a little better. Our governments and politicians could learn a lot from teachers.

We do not agree on the purpose of schools.

Debate over the use of standardized testing in schools

Are we educating children to get them ready for the workforce?  Are we developing global citizens? Are schools tools to ensure the economic success of their nations, or are they tools to preserve culture and heritage? Should we focus on knowledge and compliance in schools, or should we focus on creativity and develop students who will question authority? Should we focus on equal access to education in our societies, or should we focus on developing excellence in our educational systems? 

These are difficult questions, and I don't believe there would be consensus among attendees on any of them. The debates at GESF were an excellent addition and gave opportunities for many of us in attendance to examine our beliefs. In a world that is being rapidly transformed by the ubiquity of information due to the internet, it is vital that we figure out the purpose of schools before we move forward.

Hanan Al Hroub is the perfect representative of the teaching profession.

The most exciting part of this whole experience for me was getting to know and learn from the other finalists and Varkey Teacher Ambassadors. The ten finalists got to know each other very well. When you go through such an emotional experience together, you bond because people on the outside will never understand the experience as well as those who went through it. Every one of the other nine finalists inspired me and made me proud to be a teacher.

Hanan Al Hroub and I after she was announced as the winner

I feel blessed to have gotten to spend a few days getting to know Hanan before she was announced as the winner. I participated in her Masterclass, volunteering to play games as a student. I got to speak with her in private and tell her how much I admired her as a person and a teacher. I got to feel the love that she has for her students and her profession.

When the announcement came from Pope Francis that she had won, I broke out into a huge smile. I am so happy for her and for our profession that she will be our representative for the next year. Her message of non-violence and teaching through play will resonate around the globe, and the story of what she has overcome in order to spread her message will inspire millions.

Teachers - Shaping Tomorrow(land)

This weekend we went to see Tomorrowland. As a family of Disney fans, we've been looking forward to seeing it for a while.

Image credit - disney.wikia.com

I walked away from the theater with tears in my eyes.  As far as plot, character development, special effects, etc. - the movie was good, but nothing special.  But it still took me a few minutes after the movie ended to be able to talk without getting choked up because of the message at the end of the movie. I'll do my best to not write anything here that will spoil the plot for you. If you haven't seen the movie yet, and you count yourself among the dreamers of the world who see the possibilities ahead instead of the doom and gloom, it'll be well worth your two hours.

I got choked up because I have made this my life's work - to develop the dreamers who will create a better tomorrow for the world. 

To pass on to the next generation the belief that each of us holds within ourselves the power to make the world a little better. 

To show students the power of wondering "what if...", and then helping them do what they have to do to find out.

To inspire other teachers to choose learning over content.

To connect those outside the sphere of formal education who are passionate about making the world better with students and teachers, and to allow those do-gooders to pass that passion to the world changers of the future.

Because passion is contagious. And, we need more of it.  Like "The black thing" in L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, negative emotions like hopelessness, despair, and inevitability are constantly trying to make us feel as though our passions are unworthy of our time. There is a lot to be afraid of in the future, and the world has a lot of problems.  

As teachers, we face this battle as well. We've been marginalized, suppressed, and disrespected. Many within our ranks have forgotten why they chose to teach and have started to believe that their job is to prepare children for a test at the end of the year. Yet, there is plenty of light pushing back against the darkness.

I get constant inspiration from other Skype Master Teachers who are using videoconferencing to inspire their students to make real, positive change in the world. 

Every day I see new messages on my phone from the Varkey Teacher Ambassadors sharing the amazing ways that they are developing the unique talents and passions of their students.

On Twitter and Facebook I see the way the other Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts from around the world are leveraging technology to bring amazing learning experiences to their students.

Posts from countless other educators on social media sharing the stories of their classrooms, teachers and students who are experiencing the joy of learning so that they can make a difference, give me hope that we are starting to move in the right direction.

And, I see the teachers in my school doing incredible things that are inspiring my own children and the others in the community to grow to love learning.

There is a bright future ahead of us.  Yes, there are big problems.  But there are also big solutions waiting to be found.

At the end of the movie, there is an implication that these solutions will come from dreamers who are scientists, artists, mathematicians, gardeners, dancers, social change agents, and a host of other passionate people.  And, they will. 

But, it will continue to be the teachers of the world who are leading the fight to develop those dreamers and to allow each student to find the spark within themselves that makes him/her want to leave a positive impact. That's what we do. That's what real teaching is.

Teachers are the window that allows dreamers to see the possibilities in their futures. The world's teachers are living Tomorrowland pins.

I feel lucky to count myself among them.