Imagine

Humanity dates back 2.6 billion years, yet has seen the most dramatic change it’s ever known over the last 200. In two centuries, the global population has grown from one billion to over eight billion people. The World Health Organization predicts by 2100 that number will grow to 11 billion. With this increase in human life we’ve seen a terrifying rise of factors that have the greatest impact on global health. CO2 concentration, loss of rainforest and woodlands, species extinction, water usage, energy consumption, ozone depletion, foreign investments, and global temperature increase has reached proportions so great scientists are warning environmental degradation could lead to a irreversible collapse of the global ecosystem in this century. Additionally, the need for poverty solutions, access to water and sanitation, disease prevention, disaster relief, advocacy for human and gender rights, food security, and global waste solutions worldwide has never been greater.

Conversely, the last 200 years have brought the most significant and life changing inventions of our time into existence. The Industrial Revolution brought about fundamental changes in agriculture, textile and metal manufacturing, transportation, economic and political structures. While the technology boom is reshaping the entire structure of how we play, learn, communicate, research, connect, and create. Think about extinct creatures being brought back to life, driverless cars, animal cloning, artificially intelligent computers, and fully functioning all terrain military robots. Sound like science fiction? Well, it’s old news. These things have all happened in the last two years.

With all this rapid change occurring we need to ask ourselves: what is the purpose of education? And, how can that education support this frontier of change? For decades the purpose of education has been two-fold: to prepare children for citizenship and to cultivate a skilled workforce. While still relevant, the ‘why’ of education is shifting beneath our feet. We are living in a new, complicated world that is struggling with complex and life-critical issues the likes of which no one has encountered before. The true purpose of today’s educational system should be to develop leaders, visionaries, and problem solvers.

We need people who can provide real solutions for clean energy; environmentalists who can protect the planet. We need politicians who can effect change for the betterment of society. We need historians who can remind us of the lessons our past can teach us and ensure we don’t make the same mistakes. We need filmmakers who can document and educate; we need designers who can shift perception and generate life-changing ideas. We need inventors, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, scientists, astronomers, physicists, engineers, architects, authors, curators, programmers, coders, and software developers. We need people who have an innate passion for life, for learning, and a deep sense of respect for humanity. We need people who desire to leave a positive and impactful footprint. But, most importantly, we need healers. We need people who can approach these critical issues from a foundation of prayerful reflection, pure-hearted intention, and strength of character.

Therefore, our challenge is to adopt a new paradigm for the 21^st century. Our task as educators is to dream big, reinvent schools and take education into the new century. We need to be courageous for the sake of our children, the students in our schools and the welfare of the world. Let’s re-imagine schooling.

Imagine a school where all students are excited by what they learn that they can hardly wait to begin the day. Imagine having only a few discipline problems because the students are so engaged. Imagine self-directed students collaborating on thematic, interdisciplinary, project-based units that are research driven. Imagine a challenging curriculum designed around deepening understanding where teachers teach for transfer; a curriculum that is highly relevant, articulated, intellectually demanding and one that meets the students’ needs. This is a learning environment where knowledge is constructed and connected to previous experience.

Imagine a school where children get a firm grounding in academics and use their knowledge to promote a democratic society. This is a school where issues of social justice are at the heart of the curriculum so that children may benefit from the rich history of people who didn’t settle for the status quo. They have a voice and are confident and skilled innovators and believe in their ability to lead for good.

Imagine a school where students collaborate with others around the world learning to solve issues in an ethical and harmonious manner. Students understand their ethical responsibility. Imagine a school where service learning around topical issues forms the core of the curriculum. Students learn about the environment through meaningful, rigorous real life projects where they are the scientists, the politicians, the environmental lobbyists, the international relations experts. This is a school where people are inspired by students being creative, thoughtful and innovative. Students are generating new thinking around issues directly affecting the planet. Learning experiences are focused on developing as well as implementing student-generated solutions to local and issues students have identified and taken on as a challenge.

Imagine a place where ‘green’ is actually taught and demonstrated in the school through overt practices (sustainable buildings, vegetable gardens, water tanks, monitoring electricity consumption) that are driven by the students at all levels. Imagine a school where students have full access to technology and are taught not only how to be media literate but are given the space to create. Imagine a school where students see no borders. They design environmentally sustainable buildings, making films and documentaries for others to learn from, posting projects on YouTube, collaborating with young people and experts across the globe via social media to solve problems and complete assignments.

Imagine a school where teachers are engaged in rich discussion around their own teaching practices; where ideas are shared and thoughtful reflection is part of the culture. Imagine a school where teachers plan in teams, observe each other in action and provide useful feedback. Imagine a school where there is a strong connection between research and practice. This is a place where teachers are taking cognisance of educational research and applying it to their work, but are also conducting action research projects around their teaching and other initiatives. Assessment becomes a performance of understanding through application of knowledge in real life and novel contexts and self and peer assessment form an important part of daily learning. Teachers are acutely aware of the world the students will be inhabiting so they inspire passion, engagement and relevance. They teach for understanding and transfer so that knowledge and skills are applied.

Imagine a school that fosters a culture of inquiry where all learning prepares students for the now and the future not a world passed by; a culture where curiosity is instilled and sound moral values are expected and modelled. Imagine a school where every child has realised their unlimited potential and their capacity to be good, kind, creative and brilliant; to be a dynamic force for positive change in the world.

Parents, students, leaders, educators, imagine.

Picture source: https://angelicview.wordpress.com/2013/04/

Attitude, not age matters

Some years ago I was in a role that required me to initiate change in an organisation. Seismic shifts were occurring due to unprecedented changes in technology and advanced brain research that were impacting on education. New tools and approaches needed to be embedded in teams in order to meet the demands of the 21^st. My role was to put together a team that could begin to facilitate the necessary change and move towards more innovative ways of teaching and learning. The results after several years were extremely positive. Change had occurred and it was sustainable.

A question I often get asked is, “Did you get the youngest, freshest, Gen Y’s on board to help you drive the innovation and change?” My answer quite simply is, “No.”

The key person on the team (in fact the first person I brought on board), without doubt was a lady who had worked in the industry for 40 years and was one of the oldest staff members. She proved to me that it is attitude and not age that matters. The qualities she brought to the table were a major driver in change and innovation:

1.           Wisdom: She got the bigger picture. She knew where education had been and where it was going. She had years of good practice to use as a springboard to innovate further.

2.           Ego: There was no ego. There didn’t have to be. She had been there done that. Her role was now to coach and inspire.

3.           Risk taker: She had a wonderful saying that pushed our thinking. “Who made that rule?” This question forced us to keep challenging 

our paradigms and the status quo.

4.           Student centred: She was in touch with the customer (the students). She spent time with them listening to their needs, understanding their world and identifying gaps to be filled.

5.           Learner: In her late fifties, she completed a Masters degree. Besides that, she was an avid reader, traveller and theatre goer. Her mind was continuously being stimulated and in turn she was providing the stimulus for others to stretch their ideas.

6.           Technology: This did not scare her. iPhones, iPads and all the social media were part and parcel of her life. She was tech savvy and wanted to know more.

7.           Mentor: She gave confidence to younger teachers and encouraged them to push their classroom practice and use innovative teaching practices. She was a wonderful cheerleader to those who needed the support to implement new ideas. 

I learned a person with an attitude that inspires, persists, rolls with change, and creates change is gold. A person who can laugh, is optimistic and is a cheerleader for other innovators is gold. This ‘youthful’ mindset ensures plenty of fresh and innovative ideas. Get them on your team!

Peter Dry

September 2015

The naughty kid in your class may be the innovator!

Do innovators have certain attributes or characteristics? What makes them move beyond creative ideas to actually innovating? What is it that drives them?

I’ve taught thousands of students and some are memorable for the wrong reasons.  Let me introduce you to Justin who I taught some years ago. He is in his 20’s and is currently living in San Francisco. Justin left school and went to work at a Nature Based school in South Africa. There he fell in love with wild animals and teaching. He came back to Australia to complete a teaching degree in Maths and Science. This is all rather ironic as Justin was never a great fit for school. He really should have been expelled but I miscalculated how many times he had been suspended. However, Justin had was an inquiring mind and great energy. Unfortunately, this meant he was often kicked out of class because the teachers couldn’t handle him. He was never malicious; he just always challenged the status quo.

In his first few weeks of teaching Justin became frustrated at being unable to assess exactly where his students’ understanding was as the class progressed. He wanted instant feedback and not have to wait for tests, exams or for kids to put their hands up to ask questions. He tried various methods to elicit better and quicker feedback but was not satisfied. He wanted real time feedback so that he could adapt his teaching minute by minute, student by student.

This hunger for better information on his students resulted in him designing an app. Justin has no particular advanced IT skills but worked out a basic design. He tested it in class and realised that it was giving him better insights into his students’ understanding. He then made contact with an old school friend living in Berlin where there is a small hub of IT start ups.

Within a few months the app, Geddit, had developed enough for venture capitalists in the USA to take an interest. Justin and his small team where offered a ‘scholarship’ to live and work in San Francisco to develop the app. Justin quit his job as a teacher and headed off to the US where he has been for several months. (See Justin in a 3 minute video http://www.letsgeddit.com/).

Now he is working at AltSchool, the most innovative edtech start up I believe the world has seen. (More on that another time). Justin speaks with much excitement about the new world he is discovering and the fascinating people he is working with.

When I look back at him and others like Justin who challenge the status quo, it is interesting to reflect on what kind of students they were:

They were academically very strong scoring in the top 10% of the State. They were not ‘ideal’ students in the sense they did not always conform and didn’t give themselves 100% towards their studies. Why? Because they were directing their energies towards goals they were caring about. Justin was helping to start a basketball club and numerous other school initiatives (as well as playing cricket and football in classrooms and being responsible for numerous broken windows). They were always looking for new and better ways of doings things and were happy to give multiple things a go without much fear of failure. They had a broad friendship circle, curious and eager to embark on new experiences. (For example spending a few weeks living and working with underprivileged communities in South Africa).

They were very positive about life, resourceful and had the confidence to self-promote themselves and their ideas.

They were seen as ‘creative’ students but creativity alone is not sufficient for innovation. Innovation requires developing, producing, and implementing an idea. This is what sets Justin and others apart from “latent” innovators. (We have all a number of great ideas that have never been implemented).

It is also worth considering what has driven them to innovate.

1.       Frustration with the status quo.

2.       A deep desire to want to do things better.

3.       A sense of purpose seen in the desire to make life easier for others.

4.       Not driven by financial outcomes but by the desire to radically improve the way things are done. For Justin it was immediate feedback that could revolutionize the way we teach in schools.

Besides realising that the naughty kid in the class might be the next great innovator, we can start to consider that innovators do have certain characteristics and drives that push them to innovating.

Do you have any ‘naughty kids’ in your team? Before you try to get them to conform, you may consider what they could be bringing to the organisation.

By Peter Dry

2015