Change School

Welcome to Change School, a powerful 8-week online experience for educational leaders who are serious about designing and creating relevant, sustainable change in their schools and districts.

Change School 2 (Summer 2017 Session) is SOLD OUT!

Over 120+ educational leaders from around the world are now a part of our fast growing community, all of whom are raising the bar on change in their schools.

To be first to get notified when enrollment opens for Change School 3 (Fall 2017), enter your email below.

Welcome to Change School, a powerful 8-week online experience for educational leaders who are serious about designing and creating relevant, sustainable change in their schools and districts.

Change School 2 (Summer 2017 Session) is SOLD OUT!

Over 120+ educational leaders from around the world are now a part of our fast growing community, all of whom are raising the bar on change in their schools.

To be first to get notified when enrollment opens for Change School 3 (Fall 2017), enter your email below.

A Unique Approach to Building Relevant, Sustainable Change

The Change School experience is built on proven strategies for reimagining classrooms and practice. Features include:

~ Direct access to Will Richardson, Bruce Dixon and the Change School team

~ High level coaching to develop a personal, comprehensive playbook for change in your school or district

~ Connection to and participation in a global community of change leaders from around the world

~ Lifetime access to our global community and our archive of videos, podcasts, whitepapers and more

Because right now, reimagination is required.

Why Reimagination?

Today, anyone with the need or the desire can learn with people half a world away. Any of us can create things with the phone in our pockets that were unimaginable just a few years ago, publishing to audiences that number in the billions.

In other words, real life and real school are moving further and further apart each day. Learners of all ages are now more fully in control of the what, the when, the where, and the how of learning than ever before.

This new reality means the traditional narrative about learning and schooling is breaking down. In no uncertain terms, learning in the traditional sense is leaving the building.

Raising the Bar on Change

All around the world well-intentioned, time-stressed educational leaders are trying their best to keep up and “change” schools in some way. But most of these efforts fall short.

Technologies and “innovations” and adjectives about learning come and go as quickly as the seasons.

The change modern schools need is more than “flipped” or “blended” or “competency-based” learning. It's more than iPads or Chromebooks. And it's more than “Genius Hour” or “Makerspaces” or “Hours of Code.”

Long-term, relevant, sustainable change requires you to thoroughly reimagine what schools are and what they must become, not just tinker on the edges. And it requires you to reimagine your role as a leader and raise the bar on your current definition of “change” in schools.

From Our Participants:

"Unlike anything I've ever participated in."

"Change School has created an interactive learning experience unlike anything I have ever participated in. The experience itself demonstrates the power of purposeful, passionate learning."

Laura Henderson
Founder, Epiphany Learning

"Take your leadership to the next level."

“At Change School, you’ll find like-minded learners, leaders and coaches to help you take your leadership and learning to the next level.”

~Randy Ziegenfuss

Superintendent of Salisbury Twsp (Pa.) Schools

"Challenging my assumptions."

“With the help of the Change School community, I have been digging more deeply into my beliefs about learning, challenging my assumptions, and building a more thoughtful vision for what school can be.”

Bryan Glover
Director of School Renewal, NYC Schools

Real Change is Hard.

As an educational leader seeking high-bar change, you need to understand deeply and personally the challenges and opportunities of a connected, networked world of learning and education. You need a willingness to use that modern lens to unlearn and then relearn your long held systems and stories about schooling. And then, you need the courage to push through the barriers that prevent change and an intense commitment to see the process through.

And even then, it’s a struggle. While today, many more school leaders like you may understand the “why” of relevant, sustainable change, most still grapple with the “how.”

You struggle with how to use technology in ways that help students learn more effectively rather than just help teachers teach more efficiently.

You struggle with how to change culture, not just classrooms.

You struggle with how to inform and engage parents and the community of your progress towards a modern learning environment.

You struggle with how to embrace change and transparency.

You struggle with the isolation of the work.

And you struggle with your ability to truly be a modern learner.

In other words, you’re struggling with how to transform, not just tinker.

It's Time to Stop Tinkering at Change

Introducing Change School

An 8-week, inquiry-driven, interactive experience that will push your thinking and your practice, and leave you with a unique plan to move forward.

Additional information can be found on our FAQ.

Community of Change Leaders

You'll never feel isolated in the work again. Our Change School private, online community is a social environment where you'll have regular interactions with other changeleaders in your position or region.
(See a list of our participant's schools.)

Coaching and Support

Bruce and Will and the Change School team will provide coaching and support throughout the process on the creation of your playbook and the thinking around making relevant and sustainable change in your school.

Access to Thought Leaders

In addition to the core Change School team, global thought leaders and special guests will keep you highly engaged in the online community via live chats, interactive sessions, and video conferencing.

Videos, Podcasts, Whitepapers

We'll guide you through the 8-week process with provocation videos, masterclasses, exclusive podcasts, whitepapers, workshops and more.

Recommended Resources

We've invested the time to test, read, listen to, etc. so you don't have to. You'll have access to our carefully selected books, tools, apps, social media sites, websites, etc. to assist you.

Lifetime Access

We want you to continue the work after the 8 weeks so we've included lifetime access to the community, videos, podcasts, documents and more as well as future webinars, presentations and discussions.

Create Your Personal Playbook to Move Your School Forward

Each week, via online discussions, live team events, participant presentations, and personal coaching directly from our team, you and our Change School community will engage in a deep dive into the main ingredients required to create a relevant, sustainable recipe for modern change that you can employ in your school or district.

And along the way, we’ll help you design and write your own “Change Playbook,” your unique plan to bring meaningful change to your school or district.

Modules that will inform your playbook design include:

Module 1 - What's Now Possible

Welcome to Change.School

Introduction and Overview

Defining "High-Bar" Change in Schools

Framing the Inquiry

Playbook 101

Community Norms

Dispositions for Change

Module 2 - Principles of Learning

Learning Then, Learning Now

Starting at the Core: How do kids learn most powerfully and deeply?

What does real learning look like?

Leaders as learners

Module 3 - Modern Contexts for Learning

Understanding Change

Building a Common Language for Change

Creating Change Cultures

Schools That Change

Module 4 - Modern Mission and Vision

Why School?

Creating a Modern Mission and Vision

Building a Common Language

Creating Norms

Module 5 - Starting Points for Change

Creating and Implementing Prototypes

Transparency in Practice

Finding Your Changemakers

Module 6 - Telling the New Story

Painting a Compelling Picture of Learning

Audiences for Change

Modern Marketing and Public Relations

Measuring Your Impact

Module 7 - Into the Future

Building Capacity for Ongoing Change

From "Playbook" to Process

Keys to Sustaining Change

Living and Learning in Perpetual Beta

Staying Focused on What Matters

Module 8 - Modern Leadership

Personal Growth

Growing Your Networks

Constant Learning

Change School Connections

We're Uniquely Positioned to Lead Your Journey

Bruce Dixon, Will Richardson, and Melissa Emler. We’re the founders of Change School.

Bruce Dixon

Co-Founder Modern Learners

Will Richardson

Co-Founder Modern Learners

Missy Emler

Community Manager

Bruce Dixon

Co-Founder Modern Learners

Will Richardson

Co-Founder Modern Learners

Missy Emler

Community Manager

First, we’re educators. We have a combined 50+ years experience in the classroom and as principals, supervisors, and technology specialists.

Second, we’re leaders when it comes to the intersection of learning, schooling, and technology. Collectively, we’ve published seven books and dozens of articles in leading journals and newspapers, and we’ve challenged hundreds of thousands of educators via our keynotes and presentations at thousands of conferences around the globe.

We were among the very first in the world to implement 1-1 laptop programs in schools and use the Internet and social media in classrooms. Our whitepapers, podcasts, and posts at ModernLearners.com have been widely read and shared as provocations for change. In other words, we know our stuff.

But more than anything, we’re learners. And we're passionate about understanding the absolute best ways for schools and districts to change in relevant and sustainable ways. Change School is a direct outgrowth of what we've learned working with a host of leaders from around the world who are reimagining their schools.

Is Change School Right For You?

Are you a school leader who is fully dedicated to the task of reimagination? Are you a superintendent leading district-wide change? Are you a principal leading building-wide change? Are you an educator who aspires to a leadership role? If so, Change School is for you.

Participating in Change School is a serious commitment. Thinking differently and building the capacity to turn thoughts into action is hard work. It’s a commitment to spending time with a global community of thought leaders to push their bars higher as well.

~ You want to raise the bar on current change conversations. We will push you.

~ You want to become part of a dedicated, inspired group of global changeleaders. We can connect you.

~ You want to truly reimagine the work of your school. We will guide you.

~ You want to be able to model learning in the modern world. We will show you how.

Isn't now the time to became a part of larger movement to not just reimagine the work of schools, but actually change the work of schools as well? If not now, when?

Additional information can be found on our FAQ.

The Change School Difference

We know that the decision to join us is significant. But we also know the Change School experience will give you the tools you need to start creating real, relevant change in your school today. And we're taking a different approach:

~ It's not a course. Instead, it’s an 8-week, online journey that is focused on the “how” of change, by thinking, doing, creating, and sharing.

~ And it's not a curriculum. It's an opportunity for you to create and share a unique, bold, sustainable plan for change in your own school or district.

~ It's not professional development. It's an exclusive online community, made up of our team at Modern Learners and leaders from around the globe who are willing to challenge traditional approaches to evolving their classrooms.

~ It's not "professors." It's a group of expert coaches with a combined 50 years experience at the intersection of technology, education, learning, and change.

What Others Are Saying

“Will was fantastic. Really great…Will is someone you have to listen to.”

Sir Ken Robinson, (co)Lab Conference Keynote, Atlanta, GA.

“Will and Bruce have an amazing way of chopping up the big rocks and providing bite size pieces of complex thought leadership. If you are responsible for leading any size team, these two guys have nailed the solution for bringing change to your school.”

Pete Phillips, Executive Director Technology Services North Central (WA) ESD

“Any leader looking to be challenged and encouraged about how to approach learning in their school should have been excited walking out of your presentation. You presented the research and innovative practices schools are using to help motivate student to perform in a fun and engaging way.”

Jason Leahy, Executive Director, Illinois Principals Association, October, 2016

"I have received a lot of advice, training and knowledge… Never, (and I mean this sincerely), have I been more excited or impacted by what anyone has taught me or relayed to me than I am right now, after having heard you speak."

Mindi Beach, Centennial (PA) SD, August, 2016

Change School 3 Notification

Change School 2 (Summer 2017 Session) is SOLD OUT!

Over 120+ educational leaders from around the world are now a part of our fast growing community, all of whom are raising the bar on change in their schools. To be first to get notified when enrollment opens for Change School 3 (Fall 2017), enter your email below.

Money Back Guarantee

We’re confident that your experience with us will be worth time and treasure that you devote to building your own change process. If, at the end of Change School you don’t agree, we’ll refund your money in full. All we ask is that you share with us your completed playbook, just so we know that you gave it your best shot.