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Episode 10 | Crisis, drift, and new paradigms for public education

by | May 18, 2020 | Episodes | 2 comments

Our guest this week is Dr. Shawn Loescher, Ed.D. Dr. Loescher is an active practitioner with over 25 years of experience, both domestically and abroad, in educational innovation and school system redesign. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Urban Discovery Schools, charged with developing an inner-city K/12 public school system. He has focused his attention on the development and implementation of programs and services to address school site culture, the program of study, college and career readiness, social-emotional learning, human resource development, and all aspects of operations using both Design Thinking and action research.

In 2019, Dr. Loescher was named one of 16 worldwide recipients of the TED-Ed Innovative Educators Award (Note: video embedded below). He earned his doctorate from Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at ASU with a focus on leadership, innovation, theory, and policy and his dissertation (“Hope as strategy: The effectiveness of an innovation of the mind“) was named the AERA Action Research SIG Dissertation for 2020. He’s a sought-after keynote and TED talk speaker, guest lecturer, consultant, and think tank participant.

In connection to the current COVID19 crisis. Dr. Loescher has been leading his school during this event. As it happened, all schools in California were declared closed starting Friday, March 13. His school system, was one of the only school systems in California, that was open and ready to go, the very next Monday, March 16! He has shared some of how this was done with us through his blog post: From Risk Averse to Risk Immersed: Leading Schools Through A Paradigm-Shattering Event.

Shawn is a deep-thinking, thoughtful reflective practitioner and humanistic to the core. We are excited to have him join us on Saturday May 23. Here are some videos and links to get to know him better. If nothing else, I strongly recommend reading his blog post on desks.

A lot more about Shawn after the video from the episode:

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TED Talk: Embrace ambiguity! Why predictive metrics aren’t helping

Statistical probability is designed to help us make more informed decisions, but it measures the past, not the future. — “Don’t let anyone tell you that we know what’s going to happen next, because we don’t.” These words, spoken by a NICU doctor overseeing the care of Shawn Loescher’s prematurely born child, had a profound impact on Shawn and his work as an educator. When it comes to educating children, how much should we be influenced by statistical analysis and predictive metrics? At what point does data help us rationalize complex problems, and justify our assumptions about students, their performance and their potential?

 

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Keynote at Doctoral Research Conference, Arizona State University
Action research as praxis: From being to becoming

In the English language, there are two common understandings of the word Ontology, that of being and becoming. Action research is guided by understandings of the past, is grounded in the present, and is solutions orientated towards a more ideal future state. Guided by the literature and contextual knowledge, an action researcher may simultaneously be a disrupter of the status quo, an instrument of data collection, and the navigator of a political environment. This keynote address focuses on action research as a means of systemic improvement for the Friearian notion of praxis towards our first vocation, that of becoming more human. Dr. Loescher will discuss how action research is being used as a means of emancipatory practice in the service of our students and communities.

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UC San Diego Talk at Design@Large:
Theory to Practice | Design thinking for organizational and community development

Design thinking (DT) can be considered a method, approach, or disposition towards problem-solving, organizational development, and community building. The traditions of DT date to the 1950’s and originate from a variety of design sciences. In this UC San Diego, Design@Large presentation, Dr. Loescher explores DT and how it can be utilized to transform organizations and communities. This includes an exploration of theory, situating DT within organizational philosophy, and how it is practically being used in the private and social sectors as a way of mobilizing transformational generative thinking.

 

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You can learn more about Dr. Loescher at:

Note: Banner image designed by Punya Mishra, with UDS Abstraction image © Shawn Loescher.

2 Comments

  1. Janet Lake
    Janet Lake on May 26, 2020 at 11:07 am

    You make it sound like all Shawn Loescher does is big, exciting, important things. And while, yes, that’s true, Loescher is really cool to teachers too. When we see him at workshops and events, he always has a smile for us and pays attention to our stories and concerns because he truly is interested in people. He is one of us at heart. Loescher is a good guy, not just a pillar of the community.

    • Punya Mishra
      Punya Mishra on May 26, 2020 at 11:12 am

      Thanks Janet for the comment. I think that one of the biggest and most important things that Shawn does is, as you say, “pay attention” to people. That he manages to balance that with a broader, deeper vision is, I think, his greatest strength.