Exercises in Futility: Most Efforts to Transform Schooling Fall Short. What Should Be Done Instead?

Industrial-style schooling is incapable of addressing the diverse needs of today’s learners. Growing numbers of students and families want new approaches to schooling, and major influencers across the education landscape—including philanthropies, advocacy organizations, and school system leaders—are putting critical money and effort behind initiatives to spur innovation and system redesign. To some extent, these efforts produce worthwhile improvements. But if the goal is to transform student learning, they largely miss the mark. The big question is: Why? In this session, Thomas Arnett, a senior research fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute and expert on disruptive innovation, will reveal where innovation investments can and can’t move the needle, and why this understanding will not only save the field millions in lost dollars and years of time, but ultimately bring student learning into the future.

‍