The challengeOur world is undergoing massive change and education systems haven’t kept up. Students need more than book knowledge to thrive today, and schools everywhere are struggling to adapt. Meanwhile, public dialogue is dominated by news media that present efforts to improve education in a context of crisis or conflict, without clear solutions. The result is weariness and pessimism among the public, which erodes support for positive change.

The responseA partnership that embedded a journalist-in-residence within a network of hundreds of schools in seven countries to document their stories and gain a deep understand-ing of education change informed by both systemic and on-the-ground perspectives.

The productA digital journalism platform that captures students’, teachers’ and parents’ ambitions, struggles and accomplishments and tells stories of local change in the context of global trends and leading education science. An engagement and media strategy to foster conversations with the general public that instill urgency, but are as hopeful as they are practical.

What we did:Content strategy // Partnership management // Research and reporting // Data analysis, visualizations and infographics // Interactive maps // Video animation Videography and editing // Media partner outreach // Community engagement

A MULTI-SECTOR PARTNERSHIP TO ENABLE DEEP, SOLUTIONS-DRIVEN JOURNALISM ABOUT HOW COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO IMPROVE EDUCATION

Deeper Than Knowledge

Created by Discourse Media. In partnership with New Pedagogies for Deep Learning. Funded by Collaborative Impact and corporate sponsors.

Collaborative solutionsjournalism

Documenting changeCaptured the stories of students, teachers, principals, parents and education experts from over 500 schools in seven countries on four continents.

Collaborative journalismLeveraged partnerships with school systems, education experts, philanthropic organizations, nonprofits, media outlets and corporate sponsors, while protecting journalistic integrity.

DeeperThanKnowledge.comNewPedagogies.org/TheStory

The challengeNews media do a good job of reporting on what’s broken with our education systems; however, journalists don’t typically cover promising solutions with the same vigour.

A recent study found that the majority of education journalism focused on student achievement gaps on standardized tests and funding shortfalls — oversimplifications of the problem. Challenges were framed as conflict between parties (the teacher’s union versus the government, for example) or in partisan terms. Stories focused on single schools or political figures rather than on system-level innovation. Students, quoted in only three per cent of coverage, were not described as players in changing their own education. Almost no one was asking, “What would education that is irresistible to students look like?”

Without media coverage that engages the public in constructive dialogue about solutions, perceived barriers to change can seem insurmountable. Communities need forward-looking, serious journalism about responses to problems facing education.

The platformThe product of over a year of research, Deeper Than Knowledge is a digital storytelling platform that empowers its audience with information to help them catalyze change in their own communities.

Readers who want to dig deeper can explore interactive footnotes that annotate the feature with explanations of key concepts, links to notable studies and books and videos that bring users into the classroom.

The platform features long-form, investigative stories interspersed with supporting data interactives, video interviews and animations.

The partnershipTo respond to this challenge, we collaborated with New

Pedagogies for Deep Learning, a multi-sector partnership that

aims to transform education. We embedded a journalist-in-

residence in NPDL's living laboratory: a network of hundreds

of schools around the world.

The goal was to contribute to positive change by asking hard questions about impact, limitations and scalability. We explored questions like:

• What sort of education prepares students to take action on the complex challenges facing us today?

• Can abilities like character and empathy be taught, and what does that look like in the classroom?

• How is technology helping, or hindering, the shift towards a new model for education?

By committing to a framework that gave the journalists autonomy, NPDL enabled them to critically and independently identify trends. This approach helped NPDL track its progress on the ground, identify barriers and communicate its impact to its partners. The authenticity of the journalism was also key in engaging the public and establishing media partnerships.

The project was funded by Collaborative Impact, which managed contributions from corporate sponsors including Intel, Microsoft and Promethean and acted as a buffer to protect the journalism’s integrity by preventing funders from influencing content.

Accompanying stories illustrate how big ideas are being applied in real, everyday classrooms and the barriers educators there face. These stories are stand-alone pieces that can be syndicated by other media outlets.

"Deeper Than Knowledge is truly very, very interesting. Very inspiring and useful to see the connecting dots.”Cecelia de la Paz, Founder of E.dúcate Uruguay

EngagementWe produced stand-alone stories that took a deeper look at how school is changing in Australia, Canada, Finland, the United States and Uruguay from students' perspectives.

Our most popular feature was an interactive map that displayed global education attainment data over time and offered a brief history of education change.

Our video animations explored education change concepts that emerged from interviews with educators, students and experts from around the world.

Our digital engagement strategy fostered deep conversations about the future of education with the general public and key influencers, including Nobel Prize-winning education advocate Malala Yousafzai.

Deeper Than Knowledge was translated into Spanish for syndication in Latin American media outlets.

“Our collaboration with Discourse Media wasn't only about spreading the important insights stemming from our schools' work. Deeper Than Knowledge also helped us and educators within the NPDL partnership by revealing the connections between their work on the ground and the global deep learning movement."

Joanne McEachen, President of The Learner First and Global New Measures Director of New Pedagogies for Deep Learning

About Discourse MediaDiscourse Media produces in depth journalism projects focused on the complex challenges facing society today. We believe collaborative approaches to journalism can help us better understand both the issues we face and potential solutions.

Our expertise lies in leveraging new media to find innovative ways of telling stories and meaningfully engaging partners, media outlets and the general public. Our team of reporters, editors, designers and developers produces projects ranging from print editorial packages published in partnership with traditional media to more complex, strategic digital projects that involve stand-alone websites, deep engagement strategies, digital documentaries, infographics, data visualization interactives and applications.

Our goal is to produce journalism that is informed by our community and supports constructive public dialogue about social issues.

For more information please contact: info@discoursemedia.org

460 - 425 Carrall StreetVancouver, BC, V6B 1H7778 828 9028 www.discoursemedia.org @discourse_media