Joanne McEachen on Contributive Learning

This month on Getting Smart, the podcasts will be focused on the theme of difference-making — which is also the subject of a new book launched just this week by Tom Vander Ark and Emily Liebtag, Difference Making at the Heart of Learning: Students, Schools, and Communities Alive With Possibility.

To kick things off, Joanne McEachen is joining the podcast to have a conversation with Tom about her newest book, The Depthvale Detectives and the Great Education Crisis: A Guide to Contributive Learning in Schools. Joanne is the founder and CEO of The Learner First, an international education consultancy. The ‘welcome’ to her new book, The Depthvale Detectives and the Great Education Crisis, promises that all students can learn to contribute and add to the world in all manners of ways. And, when they do, no matter their plans or pursuits, they’ll have what they need to find real success. This book is a story for both educators, parents, and students about using your powers (AKA what you’re learning) for good. These powers can help you discover what it takes to contribute and how to make wellbeing, meaning, and fulfillment the ultimate outcomes of all that you do.

In Joanne’s conversation with Tom, they discuss how schools can commit to contributive learning so that all students can learn how to add to the world, what is important to measure, the key elements of deep learning, and the fascinating five-phase change process that she outlines in her newest book, The Depthvale Detectives and the Great Education Crisis.

Key Takeaways:
[1:18] Joanne elaborates on what her email signature, “Meaning and fulfillment is the new wealth, and contribution is the only way to earn it,” means.
[2:36] How Joanne thinks about contribution and what it means.
[5:06] The ‘welcome’ to Joanne’s new book, The Depthvale Detectives and the Great Education Crisis, where she first made the discovery of the sentiment described, and what it means.
[7:27] Contributive learning: the new superpower.
[7:49] Joanne shares about growing up in New Zealand and how her education has shaped her current philosophy around education.
[8:48] All of Joanne’s books indicate a strong sense of purpose and measuring what matters. She elaborates on how she developed the ideas in these books while leading two schools in New Zealand.
[10:54] Joanne shares what is on her list of important things to measure and how she hopes they would be measured.
[14:26] Joanne describes the elements of deep learning and what it has been like for her to write with Michael Fullan.
[16:35] Joanne elaborates on what she and Michael mean when they speak about deep learning.
[17:34] Why did Joanne choose a novel format for her new book, The Depthvale Detectives and the Great Education Crisis: A Guide to Contributive Learning in Schools?
[19:28] Joanne cleverly worked in a five-phase change process into the story of her new book. Tom recaps the first two phases (1. Start with yourself; who are we really? 2. Pinpoint your purpose; why are we here?) and Joanne explains why it is important for teams to start with these ideas.
[21:45] Joanne elaborates on the next two phases (3. Dive into outcomes; what do we want? 4. Plot your position; where are we now?).
[23:22] Joanne explains what the final phase, “5: Invite teams to commit to contribution,” looks like.
[25:15] What Karanga is, where to find it online, and why Joanne is passionate about it.
[27:29] Where to find Joanne online and learn more about what she is up to.
[27:51] Tom closes out the podcast with a beautiful sentiment from Joanne, and Joanne shares how people can incorporate this idea into their school.
[28:38] Tom thanks Joanne for the work that she does and for joining the podcast.
[29:08] About Tom and Emily’s new book, Difference Making at the Heart of Learning: Students, Schools, and Communities Alive With Possibility.