Town Hall Recap: Difference Making and Purpose-Based Learning

On this Getting Smart Town Hall we celebrated the one year bookiversary of Difference Making at the Heart of Learning by Tom Vander Ark and Emily Liebtag. We came together with a live audience to discuss purpose-based learning,  getting communities involved and how this ties into the idea of a global citizen. 

As always, we kicked off with a poem: 

And We Love Life
By Mahmoud Darwsih

And we love life if we find a way to it.
We dance in between martyrs and raise a minaret for violet or palm trees.
We love life if we find a way to it.
And we steal from the silkworm a thread to build a sky and fence in this departure.
We open the garden gate for the jasmine to go out as a beautiful day on the streets.
We love life if we find a way to it.
And we plant, where we settle, some fast growing plants, and harvest the dead.
We play the flute like the color of the faraway, sketch over the dirt corridor a neigh.
We write our names one stone at a time, O lightning make the night a bit clearer.
We love life if we find a way to it…

Attendees shared the following as reflection: 

• “These are challenging times. We need to find hope and beauty in the world,” Elizabeth Crawford 
• “Every student, every person has a different instrument to play. Our job is to curate the symphony of different instruments,” said Corey Mohn.

The authors then kicked off the discussion by reflecting on a 2021 postscript to Difference Making at the Heart of Learning, aka, what they would epilogue the book with if they had the chance. 

“The cultural zeitgeist is here to stay,” said Emily Liebtag. “We need to come together and rethink what the purpose of education is. Come together in ways and design new muscles in designing and working together.”

Additionally, the authors reflected on the notion of “We’re all in this together,” something that has only become more clear as we’ve been forced to confront global, connected challenges. Peter McWalters, a chairperson at Big Picture Learning, shared that “[The world is becoming] more dependent on the network/networking.”

After riffing on the subject of purpose-based learning and the future of learning for some time, Corey Mohn shared, “I really do think the answer is going where students lead.” This is an idea that has been braced my many organizations, but continues to surprise even those who know it to be true. 

The facilitators also covered Watershed School in Boulder, Colorado, a school that is using the 25 Global Goals identified in Difference Making as learning goals for their project-based learning experiences. 

“We don’t have that long to change how we’re living and supporting students.”

If you are interested in purchasing Difference Making at the Heart of Learning, you can do it below and use the code SOCIAL25 at checkout for 25% off and free shipping! 

Check out all the links and resources mentioned in the town hall below. 

Our next town hall will feature Green Schools National Network and will focus on Sustainability Mindset and the green schools movement. We will be joined by Jennifer Seydel of Green Schools National Network and can’t wait to discuss their new GreenPrint and a sustainable revolution. Register below.