147. Fixing the Education System One School at a Time with John Camp

Sometimes it takes time working and learning in a broken system to find the path to changing lives. After more than 25 years in education, John Camp (or Camp, as he prefers to be called) was on the lookout for something that was more student-centered and progressive at a school level than what he had experienced thus far.

 

As founding head of teaching and learning at New England Innovation Academy, Camp and his colleagues are on a mission to prepare a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs to enter the workforce and make a big impact.

 

How do they do that? By focusing on student-centered learning based on what the lead stakeholders (students and teachers) know is best.The school integrates many subjects into one lesson and has let go of both a traditional semester system and old-school assessment and grading.

 

Listen in to hear more about how this innovative school is changing the way we teach and learn.

About John Camp:

Camp had led and taught in independent schools for over 25 years. He is the founding Head of Teaching and Learning at New England Innovation Academy, which opened in the fall of 2021. He is an assessment guru, including being the architect of NEIA’s competency-based system. Camp also teaches Humanities and writing classes, such as “The TV Writers’ Room,” and interdisciplinary courses such as “The Art and Physics of Time Travel.” At St. Mark’s School, which bestowed him with The Trustees Chair and the Kidder Faculty Prize, Camp served as the Director of Experiential Learning and Associate Director of The Center of Innovation in Teaching and Learning.  

Jump in the Conversation: [1:38] - How Camp got started in transforming the system [3:36] - What he’s created [5:16] - Student and staff opportunities for innovation for students [6:03] - Integration isn’t an exception to the rule; it IS the rule [7:46] - How to assess in this model [8:58] - What an assessment looks like [10:06] - Letter grades are single data point [11:50] - Feedback is key for any assessment system [14:15] - What is human centered design [16:10] - Be awesome and be able to defend why you’re teaching something [16:50] - Unpacking some course titles [20:56] - What innovation looks like in past jobs [21:28] - Big perk of building a new school [22:50] - Have the courage to try to fix something if you see it needs to be fixed [23:39] - Stepping out of status quo school landscape [25:37] - Turbo Time [29:10] - What Camp would change about schools [30:49] - Maureen’s Takeaways Links & Resources New England Innovation Academy Heidi Hayes Jacobs on rethinking schools Sum of Us book Email Maureen Maureen’s TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools The Education Evolution Facebook: Follow Education Evolution Twitter: Follow Education Evolution LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution EdActive Collective Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids Micro-school feature on Good Morning America The Micro-School Coalition Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition LEADPrep