This guide to school transformation sends a wake-up call about the out-moded current school system. As educator and advocate during a sixty-year career, Wayne B. Jennings, PhD, writes in this revolutionary new text that our educational system remains stuck in the past. Jennings argues that the system should skip Band-Aid reforms and go for a full reboot!
Jennings captures critical aspects of change. In School Transformation, he advances:
· understanding the true purpose of education,
· realizing we live in a new era,
· seeing the fundamental flaws in the system,
· bringing schools into the twenty-first century,
· preparing students for an unknown future,
· examining recent efforts to reform the system,
· taking specific steps for transformation, and
· considering examples of transformed schools.
Jennings’ experience as a teacher, principal, school board member, and university facility member energized him to start eight schools during his career. He believes community members, teachers, and students can respond to educational challenges and transform their schools. He describes specific steps and processes to follow and provides examples of transformed schools. He believes that transformed schools will make school an exciting, enriching experience for an entire generation of independent, innovative thinkers.
Wayne B. Jennings, has spent sixty years in the field of education as a teacher, principal, school board member, and university teacher. He has written books and articles, presented at conferences, and served as state and national education organization presidents.
Jennings’s long career began at Fort Riley, Kansas. After he was drafted into the army, he was selected to teach in field-wire school, and he fell in love with the profession.
After military service, Jennings entered the University of Minnesota on the GI Bill all the way to a PhD. Since then, he has served as teacher and principal for a K–12 experimental school, a conventional junior high, and a large high school. Jennings also founded six schools and two other schools aimed at supporting at-risk youth. He has spent several decades working on education legislation and policy.
Jennings believes fervently in the importance of diversity, respect, and understanding in the classroom. He wants students to become responsible active citizens, have satisfying, productive careers, continue as lifelong learners, and unlock and express talents.
