Organizational lessons from Hunterdon High

Fascinating case study of better meshing high school with real world demands. I suspect that, if this experiment is allowed to continue (by no means a certain thing), these are students who will be prepared to cope with the world they will have to face. Here’s the money quote for me:

“You have to make available all the technology you can get your hands on,” Farley explains. “And then you have to do one more thing – you have to trust them.” At Hunterdon, kids already prepare their own lesson plans. What’s more, Farley expects to see extensive at-home schooling within two years. “You have to decentralize learning,” he says. “It doesn’t all take place in the classroom. Our technology makes that possible. Then you have to think through what that means for the school buildings. Even more important, you have to think through what that means for the school community.” [Fast Times at Hunterdon High]

If you think this is only applicable or relevant in schools, you haven’t been paying attention. I really don’t fully understand why, but the leadership strength it takes to let the “inmates run the asylum” remains all too rare; despite the accumulation of evidence that it pretty much invariably works, be it in schools, business organizations, or elsewhere. Most likely because few of our leaders had the benefit of this kind of educational environment.

First Impression: Life Speed. “Kids today live in a nanosecond world.”

Ray Farley , Superintendent, Hunterdon Central Regional High School

[Fast Company]