Are we as educators placing more emphasis on standardized testing and content delivery, or focusing on teaching students how to learn? I think in most schools it is a combination of the two, but are most schools too top-heavy in the former direction? This ongoing discussion in education is a centerpiece of Will Richardson’s musings as to whether schools should have a Chief Learning Officer. Thought-provoking reading. An excerpt:

…I wondered how many schools could point to someone, anyone, who is in charge of learning. By that I mean someone who manages the culture of the school by focusing not on outcomes as much as how learning is writ large in the system. Someone who also understands the ways in which social Web technologies accentuate the need for the learning skills we’ve desired all along: creativity, critical thinking, independent thought, collaboration, etc. I know I keep going back to this, but I wonder how many of us can look at our colleagues and answer the question “How does that person learn?” And think of the leaders in our schools in that light as well.

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