{"id":19540,"date":"2024-12-12T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/?post_type=cw_post&p=19540"},"modified":"2024-12-12T15:52:51","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T20:52:51","slug":"learner-centered-ecosystems-as-a-path-forward-for-public-education-a-convergence-of-perspectives-and-research","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/learner-centered-ecosystems-as-a-path-forward-for-public-education-a-convergence-of-perspectives-and-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Learner-Centered Ecosystems as a Path Forward for Public Education: A Convergence of Perspectives and Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post about learner-centered ecosystems is part of our <\/span><\/i>Aurora Institute Symposium 2024<\/span><\/i><\/a> series sharing ideas from #Aurora24 sessions.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Our daily reality is rife with challenges that threaten our individual well-being and our collective progress toward creating a better society. The longstanding scarcities and inequities behind many of those challenges are exacerbated by a growing abundance of access to information, healthcare, technology, and resources for some Americans, but not all of us.<\/span><\/p>\n

No group is more threatened by these challenges than our school-age youth, who navigate them during some of the most crucial years of their lives. More than ever, we need our education system to nurture our youth and guide them toward a path of personal fulfillment and prosperity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, our current public education system largely operates as it did over a century ago, designed to prepare students for the industrial careers of that era, which helped many participate in our democracy and contribute to our economy. Since then, significant shifts in jobs, communities, and collective identities have made success increasingly dependent on one’s ability to adapt and thrive amid constant change, rather than merely on knowledge of static facts. To help students build resilience, discover their passions, and set goals for both today and tomorrow, we need more than just a rigorous academic curriculum. We need more supportive environments, enriching real-world and project-based experiences, and meaningful relationships that enable students to truly flourish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spanning three decades, several studies in the field of positive youth development have illustrated the power of giving students access to these opportunities. They foster the enriching, real-life learning they need to lead fulfilling, active lives during their schooling years and after graduation. While promising, youth development programs and providers have historically operated in the margins \u2014\u00a0functioning mainly as a supplement to a child\u2019s traditional education or as an alternative for students struggling in the current system. Reaping the benefits of positive youth development practices on a large scale would require a shift in our notion of what schooling is and how our education system operates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emerging research conducted across the American public shows a strong appetite for that shift. Parents, learners, community organizations, employers, and educators are increasingly united in their concept of what education should provide while expressing frustration with our current system\u2019s shortcomings. In early 2024, Education Reimagined commissioned my team to publish <\/span>Too Essential to Fail, Why Our Big Bet on Public Education Needs Bold National Response<\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a>The evidence gathered in the paper demonstrates a growing desire to move towards a public education architecture that leverages the full complement of community resources needed to empower and support learners for life, work, and civic engagement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Communities and champions nationwide are finding opportunities to accomplish this by exploring the concept of <\/span>community-based, learner-centered ecosystems<\/span><\/a>. These ecosystems are designed based on how our young people learn, where they learn, and the crucial role institutions operating beyond the walls of a conventional school building play in equipping learners with vital developmental assets. They can provide a flexible infrastructure that utilizes the expertise, capacity, and experience of a plethora of institutions, including youth development, early childhood, traditional K-12 public schools, higher education, local businesses, and community groups.<\/span><\/p>\n

By examining this recent data on the public\u2019s expectations of our current education operating system alongside the robust, decades-long research into the benefits of positive youth development, we can chart a path forward to embrace new education systems focused on learners. Our knowledge of the possibilities for creating these systems is at an all-time high, making this the perfect time to innovate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Too<\/p>\n

Examining the Desire for a Reshaped Public Education System\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

To identify the best opportunities for systems evolution, we can learn from the public\u2019s perception of our current education system, and determine what outcomes they want the system to achieve for graduates.<\/span><\/p>\n

New research by Populace<\/span><\/a>, a think tank co-founded by Todd Rose, indicates that the majority of Americans are open to significant updates to public education. Simultaneously, 2023 polling data from <\/span>Gallup\u2019s Confidence in Institutions<\/span><\/a> indicates that only 28 percent of Americans expressed high confidence in our public education system \u2014\u00a0illustrating a widely held appetite for innovation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Populace\u2019s Purpose of Education Index<\/span><\/a> further reveals a consensus on what the public values in education: an applicable, real-world definition of competence outlined in learning frameworks such as a <\/span>Portrait of a Graduate<\/span><\/a> and the <\/span>Five C\u2019s Model of Positive Youth Development<\/span><\/a>. While instruction in reading, writing, math, science, and other traditional subjects is important, people find even more value in an education system that helps students develop a stronger character. They want students who can think critically and solve complex problems while also learning practical skills, such as how to manage finances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Research from the <\/span>Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation<\/span><\/a> and the <\/span>Global Strategy Group<\/span><\/a> affirms this desire. Released in 2019, their <\/span>Visions of the Future report<\/span><\/a> included the results of an online survey conducted from an audience of 1,000 adults (half of which were parents), 500 employers, and 500 high school students. All groups agree that developing real-world skills is more important than focusing on other traditional subjects.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a <\/span>2022 report by Bellwether<\/span><\/a>, a national nonprofit focused on transforming education, parents across the country spend more than $200 billion each year on these types of programs \u2014\u00a0with half of this total spent on programs taking place after school and during summer break.<\/span><\/p>\n

These data points show a shared desire for students to emerge from their education with skills and traits beyond those that our current education system was designed to confer \u2014\u00a0assets that will prepare them for fulfilling careers and lives after graduation. Additionally, the amount invested in learning opportunities outside of school demonstrates a strong level of trust and belief in their ability to build these competencies in our youth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Individual
Photo by: Education Reimagined<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Exploring the Benefits of Positive Youth Development<\/span><\/h2>\n

Opportunities for supplemental learning in organized, non-school settings could be even more accessible, affordable, and, ultimately, more collectively accountable for learners\u2019 success if parents, policymakers, and the public had more confidence in their beliefs about what matters for youth success. Research demonstrating the power of providing a wider breadth of developmental opportunities and support to young people during their high school years validates the public\u2019s instincts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Youth Development Strategies Inc. (YDSI)<\/span><\/a>, a positive youth development policy research organization, shed light on this in <\/span>a landmark 2002 study<\/span><\/a> examining the question of whether positive youth development approaches and developmental outcomes contributed to young adult success. According to the study\u2019s findings, learners with strong positive relationships, access to engaging learning experiences, and opportunities for meaningful involvement during high school were five times more likely to thrive in young adulthood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In particular, high school seniors who maintained good grades and plans for life after graduation, established healthy relationships, and practiced skills to help them avoid risky behaviors were four times more likely to be doing well as young adults and eight times less likely to be struggling legally, financially, or in other areas. Notably, YSDI found that strong developmental relationships were just as beneficial in this regard as having challenging learning experiences or opportunities for connection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Positive relationships are one example of developmental assets \u2014 strengths our youth possess within themselves and through reliable supports in their lives that contribute to their long-term outlook. <\/span>Research conducted by the Search Institute<\/span><\/a>, a leading positive youth development research organization, dove deeper into the importance of both internal and external assets, such as a child\u2019s commitment to learning and their social support networks. The research shows that youth with more of these developmental assets are much more likely to demonstrate positive, thriving behaviors and are much less likely to engage in a wide range of high-risk behaviors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amid the growing recognition of the importance of assets beyond traditional academic skills, the <\/span>University of Chicago Consortium for School Research<\/span><\/a> conducted a comprehensive review of evidence to discern what our youth need to develop from preschool to young adulthood to be successful in college, work, and life. This work also sought to identify the kinds of experiences and relationships that guide the development of these factors inside and outside of school. Through this review, <\/span>the Consortium found that children learn through developmental experiences<\/span><\/a> that combine action and reflection, ideally within the context of trusting relationships with adults.<\/span><\/p>\n

Collectively, this research emphasizes the reality that young people are constantly developing \u2014 whether at home, at school, in an afterschool program, or out in their community. Many more young adults could be productive, healthy, and connected if developmental supports such as these were available throughout their lives. Increasing access to these opportunities will depend on a combination of supportive conditions: families and community adults with more capacity to support youth; public institutions, including schools, operating in ways that fully support youth development; coherent policies that incorporate positive youth development programming into public education; and communities activating their wealth of high-quality developmental activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Inspirational
Photo by: Education Reimagined<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Community-Based, Learner-Centered Ecosystems: A Path Forward<\/span><\/h2>\n

A growing nationwide movement is working to advance a public education system reflecting the true nature of how and where learning happens through the exploration, creation, and expansion of community-based, learner-centered ecosystems.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this vision for a new public education system, young people proactively lead their individual learning experiences with steady support from caring adults, educators, and mentors. Learning occurs and is credentialed across their community, within curated and supported networks of parks, museums, libraries, natural settings, sports fields, businesses, homes, virtual settings, school and college buildings, civic centers, and community squares.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, <\/span>the youth in a community-based, learner-centered ecosystem are empowered and supported<\/span><\/a> to co-create their learning journeys, discover their unique gifts, build meaningful, trusted relationships, and develop the skills, knowledge, and adaptability to build secure and fulfilling lives, even amid constant societal shifts and established and emerging challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n

Early efforts to test the components of these ecosystems<\/span><\/a> are demonstrating the potential to provide a learning experience aligned with what the public values and desires to see from our education system \u2014\u00a0producing graduates who possess a combination of knowledge, character traits, and capabilities readily applicable throughout their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Student
Photo by: Education Reimagined<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Time for Change is Now<\/span><\/h2>\n

While the benefits of youth development programming have long been established and consistently researched, the emerging public consensus around the skills and qualities our youth need for success creates the right conditions for innovations that incorporate those benefits into our public education system. The promise demonstrated by community-based, learner-centered ecosystem efforts \u2014\u00a0all amid a rapidly changing world and workforce that demands greater adaptability and ingenuity \u2014\u00a0provides a blueprint to act on our aspiration for what public education can and should make possible for our youth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coordinating this broader notion of learning across multiple places and spaces in the community requires a new operating system to provide the foundations, pillars, and beams of an architecture that centers learning as well as other aspects of youth development. Structures such as community schools, governmental coordinating bodies, cross-sector collaboratives, provider networks, and mobilization efforts can all support its formation.<\/span><\/p>\n

We must find ways to affirm the public\u2019s aspirations for public education and what it can provide for our youth \u2014\u00a0<\/span>showing people in communities across the country that sustainable change is not only possible but decidedly doable<\/span><\/a>. We must recognize, bring together, and build upon the learning ecosystem partners who are already working in our communities \u2014 intentionally\u00a0moving from boutique responses that work for some learners to systemic changes that work for all. We need bold demonstrations to get all parties thinking differently about what it takes to encourage systems to support the learning ecosystem.\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

The stars are aligned. The goal is achievable. The public commitment to education \u2014\u00a0and a system that nourishes and is nourished by the broader learning ecosystem \u2014 is essential for our young people and our nation to thrive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn More<\/span><\/h2>\n