Figuring Out Ian Jukes (The Story of the Committed Sardine)

Originally published here on July 9, 2008.

Well, Monday August 4th my school district is bringing in Ian Jukes to kick off the
McDowell County 21^st Century Learning Expo at the Armory in Beckley. So I've been reading up on Mr. Jukes....

Jukes advocates change. He thinks change is required to effectively reach the digital natives that are today's students. And he uses the story of the committed sardine to illustrate what it means to be an agent of change. The gist of the story is that individual teachers may feel small (like sardines), but if they advocate change, move in a different direction than those around them, then eventually other people will move with them in the direction of that change. It takes between 10% and 15% of a school of sardines moving in a new direction to bring about a change of direction for the whole group.

So I'm guessing Jukes is going to try and tempt us to go against the flow...