A Sense of Urgency

By Mary Anne Moran, Associate Principal, Nipmuc Regional High School

​Some educators naturally feel a sense of urgency about the need to reimagine our schools as the model of our current schools which was created over a hundred years ago is no longer serving the needs of our students in these incredible times of change.  It is our responsibility to prepare students for a world that we cannot predict.  Despite not having all the answers and not knowing what the road ahead looks like, those of us that feel the urgency, charge ahead into the unknown seeking possible solutions, reimagining our work, and failing forward.  We also know that there are others that don’t feel this same sense of urgency.  These educators continue to teach the same lessons, adhere to the same curriculum, and offer the same assessments.  If we all know that the world outside of our schools is changing, how to we work together, with urgency, to reimagine learning for our students?

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The Importance of Urgency
by John Kotter

​In this article and podcast, John Kotter, author and Harvard professor, speaks about the sense of urgency that is needed to bring about change in organizations.  Thinking about urgency as necessary to incite change, Kotter shares some great insights in regards to organizational change.  Click on either of the images below to access the article and/or podcast.

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Changing Education Paradigms
by Sir Ken Robinson

​Sir Ken Robinson, author, speaker and educational leader, shares his thoughts about our current educational system.  Maybe best known for his TEDtalk “Do Schools Kill Creativity”, Robinson provides his thoughts in this video about rethinking schools to ensure spaces for divergent thinking and creating opportunities for students to be “fully alive” by challenging many of our assumptions about our current model of education. ​

Please share your thoughts below about where your own sense of urgency comes from in regards to reimagining school.