Difference Making at the Heart of Learning: Students, Schools, and Communities Alive With Possibility

by Tom Vander Ark, Emily Liebtag

Your students will change the world!Today's learners face a complex future, where multilayered technological and societal issues will require new ways of problem-solving. This inspirational yet practical guide helps educators, counselors, and youth-development leaders build on students' talents and interests to develop their desire for a better world, entrepreneurial mindset and personal leadership skills--so they can make a difference to their families, their communities, and society. Features  -New learning priorities centered around difference making-A framework based on the 25 most important issues of our time-Examples and case studies from a diverse range of projects, people, and places

Genres: Education

136 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2020

Reviews

[Patricia Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

“What if learning experiences were focused on making a difference in the world?” Emily Liebtag and Tom Vander Ark (2021) challenge educators, schools, and leaders to a call to action in the era of globalization and continuous technological innovation. Educators, policymakers, parents, and communities are called to transform our schools with new learning priorities focused on difference making which is centered around the essential components of equity, leadership, and problem-solving. The most important 25 global issues provide an educational road map for our students, teachers, and leaders in the emerging social economy. Liebtag and Vander Ark share a wealth of examples from schools, industry, to higher education institutions that support the value of difference making for our students and communities. They share awesome stories and research to document that students not only thrive as individuals, but are recognized for their abilities by their schools, local, and global communities when learning experiences focus on making a difference in the world. The authors provide support and guidance for education professionals, policymakers, and communities to shift from outdated traditional learning experiences to those that provide our students with the personalized and experiential education required to learn about their strengths, interests, and values. All students deserve to thrive individually and collaboratively to ensure that they will make the sustainable and lasting contributions much needed in the world. Read this book with a sense of urgency to learn more about how difference making can transform our traditional educational models, collective mindsets, and schools!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

As we collectively enter the third decade of the twenty first century in the midst of what may well be the most disruptive period in history in the last hundred years, we have the opportunity for transforming how we think about and operationalize meaningful learning at all ages in our society.
Written by two individuals deeply committed to improving our educational ecosystem, Difference Making approaches the reasons for and approaches to educational redesign from a different tack, bringing "The Psychology Behind Making a Difference" and its impact on engagement and learning to the "25 Most Important Issues of Our Time". One important point among many is that difference making is not just for learners, but brings renewed purpose and career satisfaction to everyone in the education field.
Perhaps the most valuable contribution Difference Making offers is the many, many examples of schools that successfully putting difference making at the center of their purpose, mission, curriculum, and programming. This is not an anomalous concept or even an alternative approach to education, but a critical repurposing of the role of education within the lives of everyone involved with and touched by schools that has multiple existing proof points.
While an extensive bibliography will help those interested in taking next steps, I wanted more from the Conclusion for readers in terms of how to learn more (Getting Smart blog, for instance), connect with a community of practice (Education Reimagined), and start making a difference in their own educational contexts. An Appendix summarizing the K-12 and higher education programs referenced in the book and how to learn more about them would have been a valuable addition. All that said, Difference Making at the Heart of Learning is an essential read for anyone invested in the power and potential of education.

[Rachel Miller Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about purpose that filled me with purpose. I jotted down countless notes in the back and in the margins and will have to return to this text again to mine it for the ideas that came to me while reading. I’ve already reread the first chapter three times and imagined who I will share it with next.

[Mephistia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another one that thinks tech disruption will change the future.