Author Archives: Devin Vodicka

By Devin Vodicka As K-12 school administrators, we strive to provide the best educational experience for our students. One way to achieve this is by implementing a developmental sequence for career-connected learning that builds on each level of education. In this post, we’ll explore a three-step developmental sequence that we used while I was SuperintendentContinue reading “A Developmental Career-Connected Sequence for K-12 Schools”

By Devin Vodicka As John F. Kennedy once said, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” The more we learn, the better leaders we become, and the more we can inspire our students and staff to pursue their own learning journeys. As learner-centered leaders, it’s our responsibility to create a culture that values lifelongContinue reading “The Role of Learner-Centered Leadership in Embracing AI for the Future of Education”

By Devin Vodicka Imagine a world of education ecosystems where all learners know themselves, thrive in community, and actively engage in the world as their best selves. In this vision for the future, we incorporate the best of what we know from the integration of learning sciences, from psychology and sociology, from personalization and inclusiveContinue reading “The Best of Both Worlds: Change Grade Levels and Courses to Microschools”

By Devin Vodicka Go to just about any school or district website and there will be a claim about preparing students to be “college and career ready.”  According to Inside Higher Education, the most recent pre-pandemic data from the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System indicates that 37% of college students in theContinue reading “Rethinking College and Career Readiness in a Hybrid World”

By Devin Vodicka When I was hired as Superintendent in Vista Unified School District in 2012 I began a series of transition meetings to help me develop a sense of current context and immediate needs.  Since I had a relatively short timeline between when I was hired and my start date, my priorities were toContinue reading “The Power of Identity: How Changing Two Words Changed Everything”

By Devin Vodicka When we recall powerful growth experiences in our lives it is not hard to identify our purpose, participants, and feedback.  We can think about these three elements at the individual and at the collective level and it is at the collective level where leadership occurs.  In my first month as a newContinue reading “A Different Path: Building on Community Strengths”

By Devin Vodicka Given the dynamism and agency that is inherent in living systems, influence can be exerted from anywhere and at any time.  In Learner-Centered Leadership I shared how this view reframes leadership from a role or title to how we exert influence through our relationships.  At the heart of this influence is relationalContinue reading “Leadership for Living Systems: Purpose, Participation, and Feedback”

By Devin Vodicka It is important to be honest in confronting the reality that living systems have a dark side.  In natural systems, predators consume their prey for their own benefit.  Sentient beings develop pathologies, sometimes harmless and also sometimes very harmful to self and to others.  Suicide and murder are extreme examples and thereContinue reading “Predators and Pathologies: The Shadows of Living Systems”

By Devin Vodicka The mechanistic view focuses on optimization of the parts with the idea that if each of the parts is better understood and improved the overall system will improve.  This approach became popular in organizational management in the early 1900s, largely driven by the influence of Frederick Winslow Taylor and his “Scientific Management”Continue reading “Anything Becomes Possible: The Butterfly Effect and Living Systems”

By Devin Vodicka Is schooling synonymous with education? With learning? The mechanistic mindset takes a reductionist view and sees education as a closed system.  In a living systems view that focuses on interconnectedness and active agency, it is much more challenging to determine the boundary of any system.  As a result, while we may beContinue reading “A Web of Mutual Influences: Expanding constraints to reconsider learning opportunities”