Leaping into 2020!
Written by Adam Rubin, Founder + Partner and Todd Kern, Founder + Partner
As we launch the new decade here at 2Rev, we enter with hope...as well as some anxiety and a growing sense of urgency. Given the volatility and uncertainty thrumming in the world around us — including the fact that85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 have yet to be invented — we are more eager than ever to support K-12 and higher ed learners to become more agile, resilient and successful.
Like so many of our colleagues across the field, we also have been using this moment to pause and reflect on the past decade. Ten years. Over that span, 2Rev has led more than 400 design engagements in 35 states. The common denominator: partnership with entrepreneurial leaders who were dissatisfied with the status quo and willing to foment a learning revolution in their classrooms, schools and organizations. We are truly (and regularly) humbled by the insights and learning, the many skinned knees and the opportunity to help shift the life trajectories of tens of thousands of young people by direct work with educators and systems and community leaders across the country.
By the numbers, over the past decade, 2Rev has:
Deliberately engaged at multiple levels: classroom, school, district, community, state, higher ed, education/training organizations and field-wide;
Worked with 6 state education agencies, 91 districts, hundreds of schools and thousands of educators, as well as 60 for-/non-profit organizations and 38 higher education institutions;
Helped design and launch 4 new organizations and strategically supported another 10 to be better positioned to help shape the Future of Learning;
Led 35+ topical learning and short-cycle prototyping networks for educators;
Led 20+ school design processes with 350+ school design teams (including ongoing personalized coaching and implementation supports for many of those teams);
Introduced tens of thousands of educators and stakeholders to the power of personalized learning and ultimately supported them to launch Future of Learning models and systems;
Developed a cutting-edge national credential program (Certificate/MEd/CAGS) in Leading and Learning in a Competency-based System; and
Spearheaded, or participated in, several national initiatives to help advance the field’s readiness and capacity to move more aggressively toward the Future of Learning approaches our kids and families need.
We’ve been so head-down, focused on the work, that it’s sometimes difficult to pull up and reflect on all that’s been achieved. Looking back across an entire decade is a little daunting and there are way too many stories to tell, but it was a fun trip down memory lane. Below is a sampling that highlights key examples of our work designing new school models, seeding system conditions and building educator capacity to transform toward their Future of Learning. Along the way, we’ve also tried to prioritize sharing what we’ve learned.
Our team is very proud of this work — the risks taken, as well as our collective achievements — and the strength of the authentic partnerships we’ve forged. And yet, we remain dissatisfied and impatient. This work is slow, murky and often messy, but we’re convinced it’s also how change happens. People often ask us how 2Rev has managed to thrive over the past decade in such a volatile, fast-shifting environment. It’s a complicated question, but most of the answer can probably be boiled down to two factors: 1) relentlessly curious, creative and talented team, and 2) never leading with an answer or “solution,” but instead trusting the design process. It can be uncomfortable, but almost always leads to a better outcome.
Moving forward, our team is committed to doing a better job of more clearly defining and measuring the social impact we seek and regularly (and more broadly) sharing our insights. In the meantime, we’re happy to announce anupdated website - the first of what will be a series of more frequent updates on our learning from every member of our team. We’re also in the process of distilling some of our deepest insights and updating our theory of transformation. More on that soon.
For now, as we lock arms and march together into this next decade of uncertainty and opportunity, we wish all of you as much risk as you can stomach, as much courage as you can muster, and all the collaboration and resilience we’ll all need to do right by kids. Last, we leave you with this gem from John Seeley Brown: “The way forward is, paradoxically, to look not ahead, but to look around."
Cheers to more transformation in 2020!
Todd & Adam
Founders & Partners