Graded School: A Case Study in International Educational Transformation

Every market sees educational institutions adapting and innovating despite their pedigree or size— or even endowment levels. In this sea of change, Graded School in S?o Paulo, Brazil stands out as a pioneer. It is taking the road less travelled, which has lead to transformation and a redefining of its own teaching and learning.

Through a strong commitment towards promoting student metacognitive skills with design thinking principles, Graded School provides an interesting story for leaders seeking strategies on how to navigate change complexities while still maintaining their unique identity and purpose.

Low Hanging Fruit?

An essential aspect of Graded School's transformational journey was its investigation into its own organizational health. The year 2015 marked a significant point for the school, as it was plagued with high levels of faculty turnover— at an alarming rate. This mass departure of skill and expertise hinted at a larger problem; it reflected the lack of harmony between the daily actions within the institution and its noble vision-mission standpoints. It felt to the teachers that the curriculum did not do justice in equipping students with skills required by the future demands, as detailed in World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report.

In light of the need to change quickly, the board made Richard Boerner Superintendent. He was an experienced educator with extensive experience in leadership at independent schools. The school began by designing a reflective and strategic plan that would lead them through a transformative process. This involved bringing together faculty, stakeholders, and external experts to help develop a new mission statement, strategic plan, and theory of change that would drive their transformation— as noted by Boerner himself: "Without being completely experimental, we can't be a change agent."

A shift from the conventional visioning and planning process to a more collaborative one that led to the birth of innovation culture at Graded School. Boerner and his team did not ignore any voice; they gathered different perspectives — making use of collective community wisdom — which in turn brought about a sense of shared ownership towards change, with commitment as the major driver. Rather than only seeking approval, this all-encompassing approach sought also to deal with underlying issues that lead to high attrition rates.

Nurturing a Culture of Belonging

At the core of Graded School's metamorphosis was emphasis placed on nurturing a sense of belonging among faculty members: providing support and psychological safety for staff were valued equally as well. The school poured resources into creating an inclusive and supportive environment since innovation is only possible when people feel nurtured by their surroundings. It was all about creating 'belonging'— as Superintendent Boerner questioned, "How do we ensure that all members of a community... have a sense of belonging?"

A number of tactics were initiated by the school's leadership crew to create a sense of belonging. This included involving all members of staff in retreats and discussions beyond just the teaching fraternity— delving into what each individual does as part of the student success jigsaw puzzle. The approach helped in breaking down silos amongst different departments within the organization; instead, it created a sense of shared purpose after everyone could understand what others do towards the same goal. Boerner urged faculty and staff to refrain from certain biases that they may have developed based on their own personal experiences— suspending those preconceived biases would lead to a broader understanding on how they can accept one another since each person has different experiences.

Furthermore, Graded School made a priority of establishing psychological safety — an environment where teachers felt at ease to take risks and try out novel methods. Superintendent Boerner has always been a forward facing admin, and in turn requested faculty to video tape their classrooms for self-improvement purposes: a task that could be intimidating for teachers. The positive outcome, as more than half of the faculty came forward voluntarily, indicated the trust and psychological safety nurtured among the staff. This deep dive into watching, learning from practice proved crucial.

The effects of these initiatives were clearly seen in the drastic decrease of faculty attrition rates dating back to 2015. Graded School fostered a sense of belonging which not only helped in retaining skilled educators but also saw them bring forth their creativity and dedication to innovation.

A Dance with Design Thinking

A significant juncture in Graded School's journey came when they joined hands with Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, famously known as the d.school. The d.school stands as a global beacon for innovation, fostering creativity and design thinking— aiming to instill individuals and organizations with skills and mindsets that empower them to take on wicked challenges.

It was in the early part of 2019 that Graded School came into a partnership with the d.school's K-12 lab. The aim of this collaboration was to impart training to a select group of staff members on design thinking principles and methodologies. Following the completion of this training, every adult within the campus was brought on board, ensuring a shared language and approach towards problem-solving and innovation.

In the words of Deb Welch, CEO of Academy of International School Heads, "Can you imagine the power of bringing 10 distinguished visitors, who are all experts in their field around teaching and learning, to the Graded staff, and together being a think tank to discover the desirable future of teaching and learning in this school? Well, that is what the school did." A powerful initiative taken by the school indeed— one that fostered collaboration among experts towards envisioning an ideal future for teaching and learning at Graded School.

Basically, and not comprehensively, design thinking proposes a people-centric strategy that highlights empathy, trial and error, and prototype iteration. It demands knowing users' needs and experiences well enough to produce creative ideas then test them quickly for feedback; using such methods constitutes embracing the design thinking approach.

The partnership between Graded School and Design Thinking seemed effective: it brought effective tools to faculty on student-centered learning experience design and dealing with complicated challenges.

The organization was transformed.

Teachers started looking at their work with a fresh perspective — one that emphasized empathy and creativity when planning curriculum alongside seeking innovative ways for problem solving through experimentation. They were told to take risks— sometimes failing would teach better than success— and keep iterating based on feedback loops from students or peers without considering stopping the flow.

In addition, design thinking was a natural fit for Graded School's focus on promoting student metacognitive abilities. Instead of teaching directly, teachers engaged students in coming up with problem solutions through empathy-driven, iterative processes which helped them develop critical thinking as well as self-reflection and self-regulation skills. According to Tim Brown who is the CEO of IDEO and a design thinking pioneer, "Design thinking is about identifying human needs creatively — finding new solutions using designs that work."

Metacognitive Skills Development— Collaboration with CogX

Apart from partnering with Stanford's d.school, Graded School also worked with CogX which is an organization specializing in professional development based on learning science. The partnership was driven by the school's strong commitment to nurturing student metacognitive skills because they believed that 'learning how to learn' is an important competency for success given today's rapidly changing world.

The CogX was able to offer the faculty of Graded School with an intense workshop on cognitive science, which include such concept as for instance productive struggle, cognitive load and retrieval practice. They were given a deep dive into understanding how the brain learns— allowing them in turn to develop instruction design with a basis of metacognitive skills. The attention paid to metacognition was firmly supported by an extensive research work that underscores the strength of self-regulated learning.?

According to Barry Zimmerman (an educational psychologist), "self-regulated learners are proactive because they are guided by personally set goals and task-related strategies." By helping students be able to monitor their learning progress and set goals plus reflect on their achievement, Graded School sought not only promote but empower students as lifelong learners.

On the other hand, developing metacognitive skills is not just some (uncanny) walk in the park.

As Dylan Wiliam, an authority in educational assessment, warns, "Metacognition doesn’t work as a quick fix. It demands well thought out planning, direct instruction and continuous assistance." Graded School tackled these hurdles by putting resources into continuous professional growth — offering materials and time for deployment — and establishing a value for contemplation and self-recognition within their culture.

CogX partnership effects could be seen in how classrooms were completely overhauled. Educators began showing explicit examples of metacognitive strategies and how to teach them — encouraging students to keep track of their own learning progress, set goals and deliberate on their headway made. They nurtured an investigative atmosphere coupled with self-assessment where pupils felt empowered to steer their learning path.

The story of Graded School's evolution as an educational institution is a fascinating one. It shows an ability to effectively diagnose, to bring in the correct people, to further diagnose, to identify what would work, to bring in stakeholders to discuss, to excite, to educate, to showcase, to learn, to improve, to repeat.

Nice work!

Works Cited

Brown, B. (2017). Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone. Random House.

Brown, T. (2009). Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation. HarperBusiness.

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House.

Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a Culture of Change. Jossey-Bass.

Kumar, S. (2021). Building Student Metacognitive Skills and Going Deep on Design Thinking: A Case Study of Graded School. EXPLO Elevate.

Price, D. (2013). Open: How We'll Work, Live and Learn in the Future. Crux Publishing.

Robinson, K. (2015). Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education. Penguin Books.

Wiliam, D. (2011). Embedded Formative Assessment. Solution Tree Press.

Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner: An Overview. Theory Into Practice, 41(2), 64-70.