Leaving to Learn: How Out-of-School Learning Increases Student Engagement and Reduces Dropout Rates

by Elliot Washor, Charles Mojkowski, Ken Robinson (Foreword)

In this provocative book, authors Washor and Mojkowski observe that beneath the worrisome levels of dropouts from our nation’s high school lurks a more insidious student disengagement from school and from deep and productive learning. To keep students in school and engaged as productive learners through to graduation, schools must provide experiences in which all students do some of their learning outside school as a formal part of their programs of study. All students need to leave school—frequently, regularly, and, of course, temporarily—to stay in school and persist in their learning. To accomplish this, schools must combine academic learning with experiential learning, allowing students to bring real-world learning back into the school, where it should be recognized, assessed, and awarded academic credit. Learning outside of school, as a complement to in-school learning, provides opportunities for deep engagement in rigorous learning.What others are saying about L2L“School isn’t something that kids are trying to do. Rather, they want to succeed at important things. Elliot Washor and Charles Mojkowski show the remarkable transformations in schools and their students when this becomes their focus.”—Clayton Christensen, Harvard business professor and author of Disrupting How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns and How Will You Measure Your Life?“Leaving to Learn puts forth a provocative and powerful A significant number of capable young learners are dropping out of high school not because they can’t meet their schools’ expectations, but because schools don’t meet theirs. The authors have worked with these young people and have some exciting insights to share about student engagement and intrinsic motivation. If you’re concerned about the dropout problem, you owe it to the young people in your life to pick up this book.”—Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and A Whole New Mind“Elliot Washor and Charles Mojkowski rightly identify student disengagement as the central cause of our nation’s dropout crisis. Their solution—‘leaving to learn’—connects education to the real world of life and work, creating highly engaged learners in the process. Their strategy—redesigning schools in fundamental ways—is made understandable by this vivid and compelling account.”—Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education, Stanford University“The authors get inside young people's heads and hearts in order to understand why and how they disengage from learning and often drop out. It's deeper than you think, the authors say, and they are right. Their solution is spot on—start with students’ interests to break the cycle of failure. Here’s hoping schools will listen.”—Pedro Noguera, Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education, New York University

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching

185 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2012

Reviews

[Ted Fujimoto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read by EVERY educator, policymakers, business leader, and parent. It will shake up your perspective about what school should be and shatter the common misguided myths of how to fix schools. It will inspire you about what is possible in not only in schools but also what you are capable of doing when it comes to learning for your career and life.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of bits of wisdom and ideas of practice.

[Darren Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

While it may not have the blueprint to undertake the political changes required, it still affirms and reaffirms the hopefulness education increasing fails to deliver on. If we are going to help our young people succeed longer term, we have to pay closer attention what Washor and others say… and do repeatedly.

[Matt Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the premise of this book and many of Big Picture Schools practices, however I felt the book lacking on details of how to make this work.

[Shannon Hong · Rating 4 out of 5]

hw for work -- interesting

[Shelley Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who works with middle or high school aged youth, has a child this age, or cares about children this age. If we want to change the way our education system is failing our children- then we have to look for answers outside of the walls of the classroom. This is an excellent book that introduces some simple strategies to increase student engagement all the way to introducing how to redesigning a school into a Big Picture program.

We know that academic failure, poor behavior, life events, and a disinterest in school are leading reasons to why youth dropout. This book also addresses how youth feel like they don't matter at school, they don't fit in, their talents and interests are unrecognized, and there are too many restrictions within the educational setting. From there it discusses productive learning, how schools can support learning, ways students can "leave" to learn, and what does our future look like.

While this book should be read cover-to-cover with a hi-lighter and post-it notes by every secondary education educator it wasn't written with so much educational jargon that a parent wouldn't find it an interesting read. The blended learning model will be standard in every high school in the not so distant future- and this book is a great introductory to why it's a necessary paradigm shift from traditional teaching methods.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very logical and optimistic. Good ideas but doesn't necessarily deal with challenges of implementing the ideas, which are more about politics than change management.