… don’t screw up.

I spent today outside of Oregon, speaking to folks from four different school communities who are thinking about school reform. One of the towns just passed a bond that will allow them to rebuild their high school, and a day that many of them thought would be about bricks and mortar was instead about teaching and learning and new ideas and School 2.0.

For me, it was a chance to team up with Christian Long and also a chance to meet High Tech High founder Larry Rosenstock. It’s rare that I get to be the most conservative of a group of speakers, but that’s really how I felt today watching Christian and Larry shake things up. Christian’s presentation about the future of learning spaces, and Larry’s history lesson, activist speech and discussion of High Tech High were both amazing and inspiring. One of the things I actually love most about getting out and presenting is that you don’t just present, but you get to listen a lot too. And if you ever have the chance to hear either Christian or Larry speak, do so. They’re both brilliant and inspiring.

But what was most inspiring — and what caused the title of this post — is that this wasn’t a conference. This was a group of teachers and administrators and city officials coming together because they knew that they wanted to change education in their town. In a town where only 25% of the residents have children in public school, they were able to pass a major bond initiative, and they are taking that public trust and really thinking deeply and critically about what they want education in their town to mean.

This is a small town suburb with one elementary school, one middle school and one high school. It’s not, in my experience, where I’ve found the folks who are willing to gamble on changing the educational game. Suburban schools tend to work pretty well the old-fashioned way, even if they aren’t the most innovative or the most progressive, they educate the kids and get them into college. Many people aren’t willing to risk changing that — for very understandable reasons. It’s in our cities, where we see so many of the problems really manifest, that people are willing to go out on the limb and create something new. It’s out of a sense of hope, yes, but often also out of a sense of despair that the old ways aren’t working anymore. And on some level, it’s when we see these ideas move into the suburbs, when communities where the residents could clearly argue that the school is "good enough" start demanding dreaming big about School 2.0 ideas that we’re really going to see some change.

And these are putting everything on the table for change. And talking to these folks, and seeing them grapple with ideas we were putting out there. Listening to them talk about changing their framework for education… and looking out onto the room and not seeing one person with their arms folded in that "I’m hearing you, but I’m not listening to you" pose was inspiring. These are folks who want to engage in deep, meaningful change in their schools. From the mayor down to the first year music teacher, they were willing to spend their Saturday listening to three guys they probably hadn’t heard of — well, two anyway… they probably had heard of Larry — try to offer them some questions to answer and maybe even an answer or two.

These folks were actively engaged in trying to change their world. And they were doing it in powerful, thoughtful, deliberative ways. They won’t screw up. I just hope they invite me back so I can see the various stages of the process.

I’m tired, I’m writing this in the airport, waiting for the boarding call, and I want nothing more than to be in my own bed, but I’m also inspired and energized after taking part in today’s meeting… it was a great chance to reflect on SLA by telling our story, it was an amazing chance to hear two educational voices who I greatly respect, and it was inspiring to watch an entire community embark on a similar process to what I’ve been through over the last two years.

Wow.

[Update: Be sure to read Christian Long’s entry about the day as well.]