Join the Open-Source Learning Community

Last week’s experiences at the EdPlus Innovate conference in St. Louis brought me back to my roots.?

I started thinking differently about American education in the aftermath of the attacks on 9/11. Back then I was still teaching at UCLA and leading a management consulting practice that worked mostly with high-performing companies, professional firms, and nonprofit organizations. My graduate students and clients were some of the best and the brightest people around.?

But all of them – every single one –?told me a version of the same story, about how they had to recover from their formal schooling just to live well, much less excel in their chosen endeavors. I couldn’t get over it; these were some of the most successful people in our society! If they had to actively heal from school and seek out better information to get it together, what did that mean for everyone else?

When you look at the world as a product of our thinking, and you see what the majority of schooling does to the majority of students, you begin to understand events that otherwise seem bizarre.

For example, I once believed that crises bring about positive change. Wrong. Gun sales go up after mass shootings. The crisis that brought me into teaching increased intolerance, surveillance, and a mentality of “do as you’re told or the terrorists win.” When the coronavirus pandemic closed campuses, many people thought school would finally evolve with the times. Instead, surveillance increased and we all went back to worse-than-normal. And now we are gutting our own institutional capacity to deal with the usual flu, much less the bird flu.

If you’re reading this article you already have some great ideas and questions about learning. We need a place to exchange those ideas and questions, to help each other through a difficult time that promises to get worse before it gets better.?

We are the ones who have to do this work, because no one is coming to save us.

Why reflect on all this now? Because we are living in a time of great change, and the powers that be are ensuring that our institutions cannot respond effectively. 9/11 and the pandemic are just two events in an intensifying series of extreme weather events, mass shootings, elections, and destructive policy decisions. Social media, financial scarcity, and “culture wars” have made it more difficult for teachers to openly innovate and advocate – or for parents to let their kids walk a mile home from school (much less ignore the state curriculum), or for employers to prioritize humanity over the bottom line.

We have to find a way forward. We need each other, and we need to find the inspiration, strength, and motivation to lead.

I created Open-Source Learning as a term, a philosophy, and a theoretical framework for every lead learner to claim their practice, in the same way that 20th century educators invoked Waldorf, Montessori, or Reggio Emilia when parents, administrators, or school board members asked questions or needed a new perspective.

A couple years ago, I started a community HERE to engage with educators and people from all walks of life who are interested in adding value and strengthening their communities through learning.?

Given what's happening in the world, I'm reopening the community and it's all yours. In the coming weeks I’ll post decks from my conference presentations, along with OSL badges, strategies for improving our learning capacities, and courses/events focused on Open-Source Learning. As I get a sense of what community members want and need, I’ll add spaces and resources accordingly. Most importantly, we’ll get to learn from each other and experts/ others we bring to the party.?

Maybe we'll start an education movement. Maybe you’ll get a great idea, or do some research, share some insight, or find support in your own daily exploration. Or maybe this will all go over like a fart in a phone booth (remember those?) and I’ll keep myself company online for a few months. Either way, to paraphrase George Patton, there is one thing you will be able to say when this chapter of American history is over. Thirty years from now when you're sitting by your fireside with your grandchildren on your knees and they ask, 'What did you do during the Post-Pandemic Purge?' You won't have to cough and say, 'Well, I scrolled through shit on my phone.' No, you can look them straight in the eyes and say 'I joined the great Open-Source Learning community!'?

What is your favorite online learning space? Drop me a line – I’m curious!