Episode description

The pandemic has often been named as education’s biggest disruptor. A catalyst for change, the pandemic highlighted failing systems along traditional learning pathways throughout the K-12 educational system. After co-founding a non-profit thinktank focused on education disruption, education thought leader and author Michael Horn penned a new book entitled “From Reopen to Reinvent”. With host JW Marshall, Horn discusses the unveiled dilemmas the education system is now facing.

“My mission is to help everyone be everyone be able to live in a world in which they’re able to build their passions and fulfill their human potential,” said Horn.

Horn recognized the need for a more solid guide for education leaders. Education is, “not working optimally for anyone before the pandemic” and certainly not during or after, said Horn.

To help with this, Horn wrote and published “From Reopen to Reinvent” aimed at providing tools for rewriting the classroom.

“[I] tried to say, ‘There’s a third way through this’ that, you know, allows people to hold onto what’s sacred for them but creates a much better future for all children,” highlighted Horn.

The book is focused on the shift from a debilitating event to “an opportunity framing,” providing advice on navigating school board politics, funding, and fueling success.

The novel also focuses on competency learning processes, “If we don’t make this shift to mastery-based learning we will remain stuck in what is currently a zero-sum education system, where for every winner there is a loser. And that is actually one of the obstacles in my mind, to change,” said Horn.

Shifting to this learning system turns education from a “zero-sum to a positive sum,” explained Horn, “Students don’t fully leave a core concept, core application of skills and knowledge until they have demonstrated mastery.”

This allows the entire education system to be aimed at helping each student individually learn and understand concepts, “The time becomes variable, learning becomes the guarantee,” finished Horn.