Learning from Schools

From Joyce Wycoff:

Recently I've had the opportunity to work with a group of people who are planning a new high school in my area.  Their commitment is to create an "innovative and creative" learning environment so I've had a great time researching what's going on in the area of high school education ... and there is a lot.  If you're at all interested in this area, I've gathered a lot of information, articles and videos
into a New High Schools blog.

All of this has reminded me of the commonality of certain principles of innovation in all arenas.  One example comes from the School of the Future, a new Philadelphia school developed with assistance from Microsoft.  Mary Cullinane was the head of the project for Microsoft and she maintained a blog throughout the process.  The following is her post just before the opening of the school where she lists six lessons learned, lessons that are applicable to any innovation project:

Chronicle 10 - The Calm Before the Storm -- 

And when people are inspired, amazing things can happen.

Well, it has been a while since I have written. However, in 5 days, this school is going to open and I couldn’t allow that to happen without some reflection. So, what have we learned?

1.  People first -- everything else later. As a result of this project, I’ve been interviewed by a fair share of reporters. I’ve given a few speeches, and have spoken with educators from around the world. And there is nothing that I am more certain about than this… -- The School of the Future will open on September 7th because we had the right PEOPLE on the project. They were passionate, focused on kids, willing to try new things and worked harder than ever. Finding the right people ... Getting them on board... and then helping them cross the finish line is how great things happen. And it is certainly what allowed this school to open.

2.  Politics and coalition building are necessary levers.  The past three years has brought many challenges. Some more significant than others. And most had to do with politics and bureaucracy. During those critical points, our ability to not only identify the person who could remove the obstacle, but also have a pre-existing relationship with them, was critical. I can’t imagine what I would have done without the support and responsiveness of district leaders.

3.  This is hard. It shouldn’t have been this hard. It shouldn’t take a miracle to build a great school in an urban community. It shouldn't be an exhausting experience, leaving participants tired and frustrated. It needs to be easier. We need more agile learning organizations. We need to figure out a better balance between control and creativity. We need to create an environment that is inspirational, not just functional. We need governance structures and public policy that set high standards, but also provide resource to achieve them.

4.  Hope matters. This school was willed into completion. As the months progressed, more and more individuals jumped on board. More were motivated by the thought of creating something that hadn’t been created before. People were inspired. And when people are inspired, amazing things can happen. We need more inspiration in our schools. We need to fill district offices, hallways, community centers, neighborhoods with a sense of hope, We need to communicate a message that we understand the challenges, but that we are ready to take them on.

5.  You have to ask the question. If you want to bring reform ... ask. If you want to try something new ... ask. If you want to change the status quo ... ask. This project would never have come to fruition if Paul Vallas hadn’t ask the question, "What if...?."  9 out of 10 times, the answer will probably be no. But if that one time the response returned is yes ... all the years of being turned down just became worth while.

6.  It’s the journey ... September 7th will be amazing. But it will pale in comparison to the moments experienced over the past three years. I’m pretty sure I will never have the opportunity to be part of something like this again. (I don’t think I’ll be up to it ...) However, the past three years have been the chance of a lifetime. I hope I have served it well.

More info about Mary Cullinane:  http://marycullinane.com

Comments

[John Blue]

I have been participating in Viewpoints Research Insititue's (http://www.vpri.org/) SqueakFests in Chicago these last several years. While the SqueakFest is focused on a bit of technology (Squeak (http://www.squeakland.org/)) the majority of the conversation at the event is about the people (teachers, students, parents, etc) and their goal of helping kids create and develop powerful ideas.

At the 2006 SqueakFest (http://interactive.colum.edu/partners/squeakfest/), Dr. Seymour Papert was the invited speaker. He shared his thoughts on education as it stands today and what must be done to really change. One interesting story he told that got a good laugh was from an event several years ago when Alan Kay and SeymourPapert were both keynote speakers at a conference on computers and education. Seymour, during his keynote, stated that he hoped that this would be "the last conference on computers and education" because he felt that the focus on the computer was driving behavior in education the wrong way. The comment that hit home (and got the laugh) was "There are no conferences on paper and education.".

Seymour's talked at length about education in the USA and the approach being taken to "fix" the "system". He believed that fixing it is not the approach; through a parable he expressed his thought: The people of a fictional country only ate suet. While suet is edible it is not the best for long term health (lots of fat). So the doctors in this country focused on making things to add to the suet to make it a better food so that the lives and health of the people improved.

A change occurred in the country where connections with the outside world improved and new and better foods could be brought in; greens, fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. The leaders of the country asked the suet doctors to design a diet with the new foods coming in from the outside that would be good for the people. However, the suet doctors did not know anything about the new foods, they only knew suet. So they continued to focus on improving the suet food additives. Seymour equated the education professionals of the USA to the suet doctors; when a new and improved opportunity for a new way to educate children presented itself, the educators continued to focus on improving the current model and system, instead of taking the opportunity to latch on to other methods of education.

Seymour said "It is easy to think something is impossible ... what pushes us to do the impossible? A crisis, panic or pressure." He eluded that the education system in the USA is headed for a crisis but not there yet so the "suet doctors will continue."

(more at http://www.innovationcreation.us/2006/07/innovation-in-education.html)