I was inspired by the questions and decided to join the #OSSEMOOC blog hop this week as they discuss the The Innovator’s Mindset.  In the book, George Couros shares a process for creating a vision to dream big and figure out what is important.  I love the “What If” questions to push thinking and move beyond what is. We have begun to convene tremendous leaders in San Diego county to join in on these conversations from the business, community, and education sectors to move schools from where they are to where they needs to be.
The “what ifs” that are currently driving some of our work and spurring lots of great conversations locally in San Diego are:

• What if we developed and built upon the strengths and interests of all learners ?
• What if our assessment and accountability systems focused on developing the skills that aligned to our visions?
• What if we valued the process of learning and the various pathways to allow for more personalization?
• What if educators we created networks to support educators to learn, reflect, innovate to improve learning experiences for students to be successful now and in the future?

Networks, partnerships, and willingness to take risks are critical to leverage resources and expertise in order to make these “what ifs” a reality. As George argues, it is not a top down or bottom up approach; it requires all hands on deck to make the shifts in our schools to align with the world we live in.  I am encouraged as the community comes together to move from what is to what if. I can see these ideas and dreams begin to take shape to ensure all learners see their place in the world and know how to get there. As we move forward and support one another to create new and better experiences in our learning communities, we must ask “what if” and dream big.   I am looking forward to reading everyone else’s thoughts and ideas.