Levers for Change & Emergent Strategy
The analysis of the systems mapping process for the Vermont learning ecosystem yielded five critical leverage points for affecting systemic change. Those leverage points serve as the rootstock for an emergent set of network action projects. At each biannual summit, teams come together to strategize new goals to apply pressure on these levers. Some projects collaborate directly with professional work already underway, while others emerge from the design process itself.
(Click here to view the full map, and here to see a simplified version highlighting the levers)
Each lever is independently critical, but by weighting all five levers in coordinated effort we radically enhance our power to accelerate the pace of change.
Youth with access to their learning potential
The entry point to system change is equitable access. Critical elements of this lever include: addressing the equity gap, increasing the understanding of the neuro-psychology of learning, increasing community engagement in education, and increasing learner agency.
Project examples: Draft and share community-based models that demonstrate ways to bridge in-school learning experiences with meaningful community learning experiences; support and collaborate with groups like the Vermont Education Equity Project in supporting an equitable and broad vision of community schools.
Youth-adult partnership
To achieve meaningful progress in how we design and enact learning experiences that are meaningful, transformative and durable, we must understand learning as an evolving partnership. Authentic youth voice and choice are central to meaningful learning
Project examples: Create and share a rubric for powerful youth adult partnerships in learning; Collaborate on youth-led events such as Power2 and Global Citizenship: Engage; include youth at all levels of leadership, facilitation and dialog within VTLFF’s own events and network.
Design ecosystem
The work of this lever promotes an emergent, solution-oriented design process, a network of collaborative partners, and a portfolio of transformative practices that move us towards our goals.
Project examples: Host a series of free Design Studios centered on VTLFF themes; partner with Big Picture Learning and the Vermont Principal’s Association to host an Outside the Box dialog series for school leaders during the pandemic.
Digital Learning
Vermont as a rural state, and our ability to achieve our goals is significantly impacted by the quality and equity of access to digital learning. Access to high-quality digital learning is essential to realize the full potential of Flexible Pathways and the creative, engaging, and meaningful learning it promotes.
Project examples: Support and collaborate with projects such as the Vermont Learning Cooperative and PLP Pathways to broaden access and use of digital resources in support of just, joyful and sustainable learning.
Framing and Messaging
Our efforts as a network to leverage change in all of these areas to collectively transform education for a more just, joyful and sustainable future is critically enhanced by our ability to effectively communicate the need, process and desired outcomes for change.
Project Examples: Cultivate and publish papers written by Vermont practitioners to inspire through narratives of practice, inform through research, and provide practical suggestions and policy to facilitate the transformation of schools: Occasional Papers Series; Curate and share regular Network Newsletters with events, resources and collective action opportunities related to our through lines; host events to connect, learn and design for collective impact towards our goals.
All of our work begins with an understanding of the need for Diverse Emergence Capacity to address the complex challenges our communities and ecosystems face here and around the globe. To create the conditions that cultivate youth with the passion, ability, and determination to realize this goal, we are strategically nurturing the transformation of our educational ecosystem. This work is done in partnership, across differences, with a commitment to continuous learning.