An open letter and invitation to the Needham Community:
Dear Needham Public Schools’ Students
and Families:
I think it’s time to talk about your
future.
Just the other day I realized that the
first class to experience the planned full day Kindergarten program in Needham will graduate from Needham High School in 2032.
That’s right, 2032! I can’t even imagine what the world will be
like in 2033, and it’s both daunting and exhilarating to consider how best to
prepare all our students—including those who come before 2032—for today and
tomorrow. I’d like to share an idea
about preparing all students for the challenges and opportunities in the years
ahead.
I am reminded of a quote attributed to John
Dewey, an educational innovator from the last century: “If we teach today’s
students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” More recently my friend and mentor, Anthony
Bent, shared with me: “We should not be preparing
children for our past but for their future.”
These observations have really made me think about our current world and your
future:
•
Career options and economic opportunities for your generation will involve
increasing levels of entrepreneurship; technology-driven solutions, including
digital automation and AI (Artificial Intelligence) and data management; and
innovative and disruptive technology tools, marketplaces, and economic
development.
•
Environmental and security challenges, including the impact of climate
change, the availability of increasingly limited resources, cyber-warfare, and
unstable and shifting international alliances, will proliferate. Renewable energy development, food sourcing, weapons
development, and questions around sustainability will drive policy-making,
growth, and innovation.
•
Issues of race, social justice, poverty, equity, economic development, immigration,
and educational opportunity for a nation that is
increasingly ethnically and racially diverse will dominate decision-making and
planning in the United States.
•
Medical advancements and biotechnology will result in longer and
healthier lives; science and space exploration will continue to flourish; personal
innovation, ingenuity, and creativity will be prized and rewarded; social media
and the creation of new technologies to communicate, solve problems, and build
community will help guide and strengthen a new generation.
•
Increased civic engagement, including the need for diplomacy, language
acquisition, and religious and cultural understanding within and across communities
and governmental bodies, will be required to avoid polarization,
authoritarianism, injustice, and violence and to build a sense of an ethical community
of care and service.[1]
So
here’s the idea: We should have a broad
conversation about what kind of educational experiences we want for our
students at all grade levels as we propel them towards graduation, the
challenges ahead, and their future lives.
I think we should research, discuss, debate, and articulate the key
attributes, skills, and qualities we want for Needham’s young people, now and as
far into the future as we can see. We
will develop a framework—a Portrait of a Needham Graduate—that will inform our
work and help us to establish our priorities and plans around which the
community can coalesce and contribute.
The timing is right to engage educators,
students, and parents in a forward-thinking conversation like this. First, the world is becoming more
complicated, and the knowledge, skills and tools we provide students in 2018
may be insufficient for 2025, 2030, or 2033.
Second, the need to ensure an equitable and inclusive education is
essential now if we want all children to have access and opportunity as
citizens, parents, entrepreneurs, and leaders in this amazing and dynamic
world. Finally, we need to provide
clarity and coherence for the adults in our community, especially our
educators, who are tasked with providing for, educating, and leading our young
people during a time of increased accountability and competing demands,
priorities, and interests.
The good news is that Needham’s parents
and educators are already engaged in thinking forward and providing excellent academic support and programs. It’s
time to assess both our current practices and to consider and
promote ideas that will boost student learning.
Developing a Portrait of a Needham
Graduate will allow us to:
•
Reflect on the direction of the Needham Public Schools;
•
Explore which key attributes, skills, and knowledge our
children—You!—need for the future;
•
Operate within a framework of equity in education, preparing all
students for the world they are facing; and
•
Build a community consensus around the district’s vision, goals, and
strategic priorities.
To accomplish this work we will invite
a broad-based group of 30 to 40 members of the community, including high school
students, educators, parents, business and civic leaders, and higher education
representatives, to meet over the next several months to develop a Portrait of
a Needham Graduate and strategic priorities that can be shared, debated, and
ultimately adopted by the School Committee.
The conversation will reflect the many
voices, wisdom, and values of this amazing community. The work will be invigorating and may
challenge some of our assumptions about what the educational experience should
be in the Needham Public Schools. The end
product, like a portrait hanging in a museum, will reflect the nuances,
perspectives, and experiences of its creators, and it may be imprecise and
contain imperfections. But we will
strive to use information, research, and data to create a Portrait of a Needham
Graduate, one which is aspirational and will provide a framework for the
critically important work ahead—the development of the education, success, and
livelihood of the young people in the Needham Public Schools.
It’s an idea whose time has come—for
you and for those who come before and after you. If you are interested in
participating in the process for developing a Portrait of a Needham Graduate,
please complete the form which can be found at the following link: Portrait of a Needham Graduate
Respectfully and with great hope and
faith in your future,
Dan Gutekanst
Superintendent of Schools
[1]
Franklin, Daniel. “The World in 2018.” The
Economist 01 November, 2017.
Marx, Gary. 21 Trends for the 21st Century.
Bethesda, MD: Educational Week Press, 2013.
