Transcriber: Qiaochu Chen Reviewer: Denise RQ
Good morning everybody.
I am so thrilled to be here.
As Tamara said, my passion is social entrepreneurship
When I was a child, I loved school
In the fifth grade, we made solar systems
out of paper mache, wire hangers and balloons.
I loved the smell of the paste.
I loved the feel of the newspaper strips
as I moulded them into Jupiter.
And I loved the paint!
My solar system was not the most elaborate in the class
but I am sure it was the most colorful!
My public school experiences exposed me, prepared me,
and stretched me to find my place in a wide world of opportunity.
I am driven to provide those same kinds of opportunities
to children who live in poor communities.
My passion is creating university assisted public schools.
Together with my mentor, President Susan Fuhrman,
and my colleagues, we bring resources to schools
that would otherwise be practically unimaginable
if they depended on families and the public school system.
Our faculty design cutting edge curriculum
based on what we know of how children learn.
Our students bring their energy and enthusiasm
as they lead after school clubs in nutrition, art and robotics.
My vision is for every university in the country
to do the same in their community.
I've had the great privilege to start two university assisted elementary schools.
As Tamara mentioned,
the first is the Penn Alexander School in Philadelphia
which was created with the University of Pennsylvania,
and the second is our own Teachers College Community School in Harlem.
The basic model is this:
By design, these schools are non-selective neighborhood community schools.
All children in the community are eligible to attend.
By design, these schools attract families from across
the diversity of the community,
and that is social, economic, educational, and linguistic diversity.
At Penn Alexander, for example,
families speak 21 different languages at home.
By design, the schools are part of the regular public school system.
They're not charter schools, they're not private schools.
But there is no doubt that they're special schools.
We have contractual arrangements with the school systems
that allow us as university affiliates to have significant input
in curriculum, pedagogy, schedule and staffing.
For example, Professor Herb Ginsberg,
an eminent cognitive psychologist here at TC, has designed
an iPad app for teaching math concepts to young children.
Every week, his graduate students work one on one with kindergarteners at TCCS,
on fun games on the iPad that push their understanding of numbers.
Key to the university assisted school model
is that we hold ourselves accountable for the school's success.
The first kindergarten class at Penn Alexander started in 2001.
Today every one of those children is in college.
This has been difficult work, there is no doubt about it.
It requires patient negotiations with school district officials,
teachers unions, State authorities, community leaders and university faculty,
each of which has legitimate agendas and accountabilities
for their professional careers and for the schools.
Sometimes it has felt like beating my head against the wall.
But I have to say that the successes of the Penn Alexander School
and the Teachers College Community School
are the highlight of my professional career.
The Penn Alexander School
is one of the top neighborhood schools in Philadelphia.
And the Teachers College Community School this year in its first year
received 230 applications for next year's 50 kindergarten's spots.
When I began my journey as a social entrepreneur in the 1990s,
I didn't know what it was
and I didn't know that I was one.
But I did know this:
Too many of our graduate schools of education
were preparing professionals for 20th century schools,
while the world was rapidly reinventing education for the 21st century.
Scientists now know how young brains learn
through first hand experiences.
As a result, instead of making paper mache models of the solar system,
today's middle school students at Penn Alexander
go outside on clear nights
and record and chart the movements of the actual planets.
I wanted our graduate students to be leaders of tomorrow's education.
Where public-private partnerships, virtual learning,
and non-traditional schools are already the norm.
So I created a course in educational entrepreneurship.
To my continual amazement,
virtually every student who has taken my class over the past 10 years
has come with an idea for a social venture
and usually one they've been harboring secretly for many years.
For example, Tamara van Gelderen, one of the organizers of today's conference
came to class with an idea, an innovation
for bringing together schools, families and local farmers' markets
to support better nutrition and the local economy.
Typically, half the class is made up of international students
who fully intend to go home and start their ventures.
So here is the idea I want to leave you with today.
I envision a world where poor children have as many educational opportunities
as their wealthier peers and as I did.
A world where change is brought about by energetic entrepreneurs like you.
I hope that today's talks inspire and embolden you
to pursue your passion for social entrepreneurship.
Thank you and have a wonderful day.
(Applause)