World Ready Committee Meeting – S³
Minutes

January 30, 2008
6:30 PM

Attending:

Cindy Hrube, David Griener, Connie Howell, Jim Hieftje, John Kingsnorth

Proceedings:

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM.

Jim Hieftje brought to the attention of the committee an excerpt from the book Preparing our Schools for the 21^st Century. Ten strategic intentions of the vision for the “new school in action” were reviewed including the following:

• School buildings designed for the Industrial Age will be redesigned to suit the needs of the knowledge society.
• Students, teachers, and other professionals will increasingly work in teams, reflecting a pattern that is widely evident in workplace arrangements in other fields, with many parallels for professionals in education and medicine.
• Virtual schooling will be a reality at every stage of schooling, but there will still be a place called school, with approaches to virtual schooling including neighborhood educational houses, especially for the very young.
• Teachers will have access to the best resources to support their work, with many of these resources accessed from CD_ROMs and the Internet. Teachers will have assistance from learning resource specialists who locate and advise on sources and help with financial and other arrangements to protect intellectual capital.

Since the book was first published in 1999, the committee discussed perceived gaps in what was projected for schools in that year, the current reality of our schools in 2008, and how the gap might be bridged.

Discussion centered on the development of a unique “school within a school” concept which would involve a student cohort and carefully selected and trained teachers. Such a school would serve as a prototype school and incorporate many of the 21^st century skills and concepts that have been identified as essential for schools of the future.

The committee is interested in further discussion on this concept. John Kingsnorth will call the State Superintendent of Instruction to inquire about a waiver of “seat time” and more information regarding exploratory schools of this nature will be presented at the next meeting.

Adjournment:

The S/3 World Ready Committee adjourned at 8:03 PM.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 18 at 6:30 PM.