2011 Lesson #3 - “Do then think”: take risks

Okay … this lesson probably commenced in my early childhood if I count the number of hospital visits from bumping into (stupidly designed) concrete telegraph poles in Auckland, slipping off high chairs to raid the top kitchen cupboards or eating poisonous plants because they looked nice. But the notion of learning by doing really took ground in 2005 when I visited the Icelandic Ministry of Education. Their motto: ‘do then think’. Why, because if you wish to see transformation occur in education, then you haven’t got the luxury of small scale carefully monitored and measured experiments – you have to run with passion, intuition and confidence instead. I must admit, that innately appeals to me.

Peter Pan

This video about wingsuit flying (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cs-zZ0Qu5Y&feature=related) is a great example of ‘do then think’ in action. I am not advocating that we all rush off and try this – but it is a great example of the power of collaborative thinking and experimentation – even though they don’t appear to have yet worked out how to land without old parachute technology. But that hasn’t stopped the more intrepid applying lessons easily observed in the animal kingdom (think flying foxes or bats) and mixing that with modern textile technology and aerodynamics. When I was small and dreamed of flying like Peter Pan over Auckland (imagining far more efficient ways of getting to school), little did I imagine that within four decades, people would have started to have worked out how it might be possible to fly without mechanical assistance. 

Megachange

Why is this such an important lesson now? Back in 1995 Seymour Papert made the comment that “Some sectors of human activity such as medicine, transportation and communications were transformed beyond recognition during the twentieth century. Compared with such megachange the practices of school have been virtually static …” We are now getting close to two decades since these comments and regrettably there is still great truth to his observations. That will only change if we as educators and leaders are prepared to embrace innovation and transformation based on intuition. We know what works and what doesn’t. Our colleagues have good ideas about this too.

I am now very much drawn to some of the more innovative workplace environments where companies are designing ideas / collaboration spaces as the key feature of their workplace arrangements. IDEO is a fantastic example of this (http://www.ideo.com/) and their videos about design ideas are inspirational. The Coolhunter website has great examples of highly creative workplace environments (http://www.thecoolhunter.com.au/offices). I have absolutely no doubts that if designed schools to naturally encourage conversations in a variety of settings (campfires, watering holes and caves), we would release a new generation of far more passionate and energized learners. I remember seeing a US based design competition last year looking for student input into new furniture designs for the classroom. Regrettably it was limited to desks, chairs and lockers. How crazy? How many of us would choose to spend time in gridlocked furniture patterns in endless repetitive classrooms?

Inspirational Spaces

I have had the opportunity to speak at many conferences during 2011 and a question I love raising (and then hearing the responses) is related to what spaces inspire us as adults. Rarely, if ever have I had a teacher, educator or architect suggest any school, university or institution. The spaces that inspire us to talk, think, learn and relate are the cafés, atriums, large public foyers with casual seating and perhaps outdoor spaces that we all naturally gravitate toward. I can recall countless passionate conversations this year conducted in cafés or small group contexts. Why don’t we build schools like this?   

Back to topic

‘Do then think’ – we will not transform education at a speed that keeps pace with a rapidly changing global context if we stumble toward change in a half-hearted, hesitant way. We must make transitions more deliberately and with more calculated risks. I have watched people observe our work at SCIL (the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning – www.scil.com.au) and I know they are thinking ‘but what about your results?’, ‘what about your parents?’, ‘what about the noise?’. If we limit our actions because of these ‘what abouts?’, then we run the extreme risk of producing non-engaged students, kids continuing to drop out of school early. We will also watch the school system step closer each day to the Borders scenario of being suddenly the wrong model and unviable.

We’re not alone

I have been impressed this year with the growing pockets of passionate enthusiasm for transformation in learning. People that seemed to have embraced the necessary ‘risk taking’ to not only advance our collective thinking about learning – but enable deeper engagement in the process. That list would have to include Dr Becky Parker and her unbelievably (off the scale) work at the Langton Star Centre in Canterbury, UK (http://www.thelangtonstarcentre.org/), Bea Beste with playDUcation in Berlin (www.playducation.org), Kelly Tenkely and Matthew Anderson at Anastasis Academy Colorado (http://www.anastasisacademy.com/), Brian Bennett (www.brianbennett.org) and Aaron Sams (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H4RkudFzlc) with their flipped classroom journeys.

SCIL – a constant playground for new ideas

Final note – I love the team with whom I work at NBCS / SCIL. They have caught the ‘do then think’ bug well and truly. And it now flows through to students who willingly engage in far deeper learning than we might have imagined when we started to make some changes around the place. I see innovation taking centre stage every day (http://vimeo.com/28448313) and (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohnC3sURgKU).

And the outcomes?

Innovation does not have to come at the expense of high outcomes – and I was very much encouraged at the Simon Langton Grammar School this year to hear them talk of not tracking their students – because they were so ultra-confident that learning arising from deep, passionate conversations, would inevitably easily outstrip conventional results. It is very clear that is the case there. It is also quite clear for us at NBCS. (Okay, I’ll admit to a smile when learning that our top student this year was 99.85 - only 0.1 from the highest possible rank in the state-wide ranking process – and that two of her courses were undertaken in online mode.) We have also been amazed at the depth and quality of the work coming from the self-devised projects undertaken by a group of Year 9 & 10 students electing to join a DIY course.  

However, I suspect that the real measure of a school’s impact on a student’s learning journey would be to track them five or so years after completing school – not the short term memory recall of final year examinations. How have they gone at university? How have they fared with employment? How are they managing their relationships? How are they changing their worlds?

 Stay tuned …

Lesson #4

MIXed mode learning – “way to go”

Lesson #5

Make teamwork, collaboration, and relationship building a habit

Lesson #6

Invent new creative structures to enable deep and passionate learning

Lesson #7

Educators can learn from entrepreneurs

Lesson #8

Knowing and growing the tribe – some amazing educators I have met this year

Leadership Framework NBCS / SCIL 2012

The image of a ball bearing with cogs is particularly apt as a new paradigm leadership framework: each ball fulfilling a key role in keeping the movement of the bearing fluid and the combined structure creating the energy to initiate movement – and subsequent engagement. A great metaphor.

This picture illustrates a new paradigm framework for a dynamic leadership model.

Having been frequently asked about the leadership model of Northern Beaches Christian School (NBCS) this year, I took the challenge of seeking to better capture the effective leadership framework of NBCS and the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning (SCIL). The answer came to me once I worked out a metaphor that kept me as a member of the team and placed the vision and values of the organisation at the centre of focus – rather than any person. We are united by these values and the vision, so of course it should be at the heart of the dynamics. Surrounding that core I have positioned three key elements of our organizational DNA – innovation, leadership and resourcing (of people, ideas, spaces, tools).

2011 Lesson #2 - Leadership is IMPORTANT

I find leadership a fascinating topic. If something typifies our 21^st century world for me, it is the lack of leadership where and when it is needed.  This is evident in micro and macro contexts – in countries, communities and schools. The issue is possibly that the media focuses way too much on political leadership and political leaders seem way too concerned with media image and re-election processes, than creating good forward thinking policy. And too often communities operate through reaction, rather than inspired leadership. Or there is a failure to act or lead. What are we modelling to our kids?

Reflect

Can you name the four or five leaders whom you most admire? What makes them stand out? How do they lead? If they are known to you personally, do you trust them? Why do you trust them? Do you discuss such questions with your leadership team?  If I answer that question, the list would definitely include world changers like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa and probably Mikael Gorbachev. It would also include some kids. In November this year I visited the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, after the VSS Conference. I really liked the ‘Power of Children’ exhibition. It told the story of three children who faced seemingly impossible trials, but finished as heroes of the 20th century. The stories of Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges, and Ryan White exemplify how every individual has the capacity to lead and can make an incredible difference (http://www.childrensmuseum.org/themuseum/powerofchildren/html/index.html). But I also really liked the fact that it didn’t stop there. There was encouragement for children visiting the exhibition to make a difference themselves - and so was equally inspired by the efforts of the teenagers receiving awards for their projects, especially the 2011 Award winners for instigating the Little Wish Foundation, Ken-Ya Help Us, Educate Jamaica and VETSupport projects. Positive proactive leadership in action. As adults we can learn from that – so often we pull back from taking the leading step and enthusing change.

Working out what new paradigm leadership models might look like

I have struggled for the last few years to find leadership frameworks that are non-hierarchical and dynamic. As a school leader, I have learnt that my leadership style is extremely important – but that leadership itself must change to suit the context. I am probably most comfortable in servant leadership mode. In fact I love nothing better than to shift furniture around the school and in so doing, get among the community at every level. But there are times when I need to be visible - in active out-the-front leadership. Especially in times of community crisis or stress, a community needs active visible and compassionate leadership. But I can also be visible every day by talking to the children as we walk past each other, or take the chance to chat casually with the teacher who I know has imagined me to be far more significant than I am. And the very best way to start the day is to greet children and parents as they walk or drive into the school, or spend the first couple of hours informally visiting the different learning spaces across the campus or spend half an hour with the team looking after the grounds and buildings.

Above all, I know that my leadership will be stronger if I constantly think about leadership and challenge my own thinking, concepts and practice daily. A few years ago I drew leadership models that were a series of blocks; inevitably though, I was positioned at the top – definitely old paradigm thinking. I was never comfortable with that because it suggested the operation of the school depended on me. The ‘flying geese’ metaphor was helpful in my thinking (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4w7FWIMNW4&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImbalBnzW24&feature=endscreen&NR=1), emphasizing the role of teams very clearly. I have also liked the notion of high performance leadership and unfaltering teamwork as exemplified in the Red Arrows flying teams (http://vimeo.com/28502034). The idea of years of individual training and experience coming together for high performance purposes appeals.

But this year, I have been captivated by the practice of flocking starlings as a collaborative leadership metaphor. The murmuration of starlings can provide multiple worthwhile analogies to fluid, dynamic teamwork (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLLz5Cdrjo8). It would be a worthwhile activity to simply watch the video with colleagues or students and then allow a free discussion as to what we can learn from this. Another great leadership development strategy is to share journeys visiting other schools known for fresh ideas, or to observe innovative institutions and inspiring spaces – and then to collectively debrief and imagine new futures. What a fantastic way to sharpen collective vision and grow others!

Key role

Experience has taught me that my key organisational function as Principal, apart from speaking vision, is to empower others and distribute leadership in real terms. Nothing should ultimately hinge on me. Empowerment should then be modelled in every context. I also need to view every challenging person as someone with untapped potential – whether they be student, staff or parent.

I know that I need to recurrently place myself in learning journeys with my team – where I can bounce off their thoughts and let them enhance the vision in new and unexpected ways. And let them make mistakes – that’s how I learnt.

“What is the leadership model of NBCS/SCIL?”

Having been frequently asked about the leadership model of Northern Beaches Christian School (NBCS) this year, I took the challenge of seeking to better capture the effective leadership framework of NBCS and the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning (SCIL). The answer came to me once I worked out a metaphor that kept me as a member of the team and placed the vision and values of the organisation at the centre of focus – rather than any person. We are united by these values and the vision, so of course it should be at the heart of the dynamics. Surrounding that core I have positioned three key elements of our organizational DNA – innovation, leadership and resourcing (of people, ideas, spaces, tools). The image of a ball bearing with cogs is particularly apt: each ball fulfilling a key role in keeping the movement of the bearing fluid and the combined structure creating the energy to initiate movement – and subsequent engagement. A great metaphor.

Leadership is important

Leadership is vital – and if as school leaders we do not constantly focus on growing leadership, sharing leadership, demonstrating active leadership and at the same time empowering others, our schools will not move with the dynamism necessary to transform schooling into multimodal learning communities that will be the key to solving 21^st century challenges. And we should not be backward in taking the clear lead from time to time – in order to unite our communities around a common forward thinking vision - one that knows that it is possible to engage every learner and together, we might just finally see all the children in the world gain access to education. Now there is a worthy goal!   

Multimodal ‘Learning Experiences’:  an attempt to create a less stereotyped Principal’s segment within a more formal context 

Highlights from the multimodal Learning Experiences segment from the December 2011 “Celebrating Achievement” night for the secondary section of the school community. This interview formed the key input component of the event. It was conducted within a live Twitter environment where members of the audience (parents, friends, students) were encouraged to tweet interesting facts about the world. We were seeking to model interactive multimodal learning within a more formal setting. It worked well gaining positive audience feedback and participation.

Identifying Common Denominators of Successful Innovation

WISE 2011 Session: Charles Leadbeater, Stephen Harris, Jørn West Larsen, Prof. Rajani Paranjpe

While each innovative learning program is, by definition, new and unique, different programs are likely to share some characteristics. What lessons might policy makers and practitioners draw from the experiences of these highly innovative schools and universities?