One book that “rules them all” is J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. In the opening chapter of “The Return of the King” the wizard Gandalf has ridden his mighty steed for several days toward the capital city of Gondor; his goal is to warn them of the impending doom that lies upon the horizon of this unsuspecting city. Here is the scene when Gandalf arrives at the city gates; upon seeing Gandalf's approach, the gatekeepers cry out, “Now we know the storm is nigh” to which Gandalf replies:

‘It is upon you. I have ridden on its wings. Let me pass! I must come to your Lord Denethor, while his stewardship lasts. Whatever betide, you have come to the end of the Gondor that you have known. Let me pass!’ (Tolkien, 1999, p.11).

Gandalf is warning the people of Gondor that whatever happens, one thing is sure: everything they know is about to change. In many ways, this is the same situation that educators are facing. The messenger is at the gates of our educational institutions declaring that we have come to the end of the “world that we have known” and (therefore) the beginning of a new educational system the world now needs. When educational pundits talk about “the twin agendas of innovating education and educating for innovation” (Kao, 2017, p.37), they are not speaking about the latest educational fad; they are talking about a real and present reality that the ground has shifted. The world not only is changing but has changed... whether educators want it to or not. Like the gatekeepers in Gondor, teachers are sceptical—is this another false doomsday prophet? Over the last 50 years of schooling, educators have been through the undulating sea of one edu-fad after another. Harebrained schemes, silver-bullet solutions and panaceas to educational problems are regular occurrences in education.  Every educational guru is seen sceptically as a snake-oil salesman selling books, workshops and keynote speeches. Is innovation just another "buzz word"? What I am discovering in my research on innovation and creativity is that this isn’t the next flash-in-the-pan gimmick. The Director for Education and Skills for OECD writes, "The demands on learners and thus education systems are evolving fast [...] Today schools need to prepare students for rapid economic and social change than ever before, for jobs that have not yet been invented, and to solve social problems that we don't yet know will arise" (Bialik, et al., 2015, p.1). Likewise, John Kao writes, "We live in a time of VUCA [volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity]. Times of stability require only incremental adjustment and fine-tuning. Times of VUCA require bold innovation" (Kao, 2017, p.31). Kao suggests the following metaphor: the tsunami-like tidal wave of change is breaking upon our shore; we need to learn how to ride the wave or we will be swept away.

This isn't about tweaking a lesson plan here or there; this is about total, system-wide change. If the world is volatile and unpredictable, then we need flexible and adaptable students; if we need flexible and adaptable students, then we need flexible and adaptable schools. John Kao writes, “Every educational institution must prepare to navigate the Age of Innovation in the face of disruptive change” (Kao, 2017, p.34). At the epicentre of this “disruptive change” is the Internet and “online learning” (Horn, 2017, p.24); this epochal shift is equivalent to the advent of the printing press five centuries ago, which ushered in a new era of human endeavours with mass media and the creation of a global village (cp. Marshall McLuhan’s Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man, 1962). Monks in the 15th century, sitting in the local Scriptorium copying out illuminated manuscripts, faced a tsunami of printed books, pamphlets and posters. They needed to change not because fashions changed but because the world they lived in had changed. The paradigm-shifting Gutenberg Printing Press was about more than mere advances in technology; the printing press ushered in the Reformation and the intellectual achievements of the Enlightenment. The impact on education was as profound: literacy became vitally important.

This is why I am asking this central question: How can we as educational leaders foster innovation and creativity in our students, teachers, classrooms and schools to better prepare our students for life, learning and employment in the Age of Innovation?

It is time to stop doubting and to start changing.

References

• Bialik, M., Fadel, C., and Trilling, B. (2015). Four-Dimensional Education.  Boston: Center for Curriculum Redesign.
• Horn, M. (2017). The Job of Innovation. Independent School, 76(3), 22-28.
• Kao, J. (2017). Education in the Age of Innovation. Independent School, 76(3), 30-37.
• Tolkien, J.R.R. (1999). The Return of the King. London: Harper Collins.

I spent a glorious couple of hours chatting, listening and learning with Garth Nichols, the Vice Principal Student Engagement & Experiential Development at Havergal College. Nichols’ job title is a mouthful, and we both had to glance down at his brass name tag to remind ourselves of the official wording. The title, however, seems only to capture a slice of the role he is seeking to fill and the goals he is working to achieve at Havergal. An independent school for girls in Toronto, Havergal is an historic institution with a rich academic tradition; but it is also a school that recognises the changing times we live in. Like most CAIS and CIS schools, Havergal is seeking to transform itself.

In the recent Independent School magazine, author and researcher John Kao notes bluntly, “Like it or not, education must transform; there is simply no alternative” (Kao, 2017, p.34). Educational institutions need to prepare students to be creative and adaptable for an undulating and unpredictable future. Garth called this “preparing students for a VUCA world”… VUCA is a military acronym meaning “Volatility Uncertainty Complexity Ambiguous.”  A “war zone” is a fitting metaphor for the future employment market.  Kao observes, “traditional jobs are giving way to an unknowable future landscape of employment;” what is now needed are the skills of a soldier on the battlefield—“the ability to quickly learn new skills” and adapt to new situations (Kao, 2017, p.32) This volatile and uncertain future was underscored in a recent Pew Research study on the future of jobs and employment training: “People will create the jobs of the future, not simply train for them” (Anderson & Rainie, 2017). It is imperative that students develop creativity, entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking skills if they are going to be successful and adaptable for the global labour context they are facing; likewise, Garth points out, it is imperative that “educational systems” (not just lesson plans or classroom activities but whole educational systems) need to transform to meet the needs of students in the 21st century.

When I arrived at Havergal, Garth toured me through parts of the historical school buildings to his office, situated between classes along a vibrant and busy hall.  As we chatted in his office, I glanced at the white boards filled with the battle scars of brainstorming and innovation: block letters, arrows, circles, sticky notes and underscoring. I knew I had climbed the mountain and was sitting at the feet of an innovation guru—humble and unassuming as Garth actually is.

My first question for Garth was how do we create a “culture of innovation” in our schools? This is something that George Couros considers crucial in implementing innovative thinking in our schools; Couros  calls this the “groundwork” for empowering educators and students to take risks and innovate (2015, p.65). Garth began answering my question by citing another innovation expert, Grant Lichtman, who says, “Change isn't hard, it's uncomfortable.” Teachers like challenges; they don’t like discomfort. What is it going to take to engage teachers with change? Garth says, we need a “compelling vision” (here again, Garth cites his source: John Kotter, Corporate Culture and Performance, 2011). One overarching vision is to view teachers as learners and transform our schools into learning organisations. This sort of transformation takes time. Ironically, schools are often slow to learn. Transformation of this sort also takes a series of “short term wins,” Garth says. “Show your colleagues that innovation works.” This isn’t about “change for change’s sake”—innovation is about new ways to contribute “real value,” Garth points out. Innovation also isn’t only about adding something new: “sometimes taking something away is innovation.” Along this vein, Garth commented on the “layer, upon layer approach” of many independent schools when attempting to innovate. Garth was fundamentally clear that this doesn’t work: “if you add one new thing, you should take two things away.” Instead of doing a lot of things mediocre, Garth argues, we should do “fewer things well.”

This may also apply to curriculum. Referencing Four-Dimensional Education: The Competencies Learners Need to Succeed, Garth points out that some of the courses offered by Ontario secondary school curricula are “overloaded” with content and skills, some of which were relevant in bygone days but are no longer pertinent today. So, what content and skills are redundant? What content and skills do students need to master and what can they be exposed to? How can we leverage technology to expedite student learning? To achieve this bird’s eye perspective, Garth is an advocate of curriculum mapping (a dirty word at my school). But with Curriculum Mapping, educators can look at the curriculum and determine what can be removed and identifies the places where students can go deeper. So goes the old adage: less is more. Making room for innovation is the goal; teachers shouldn’t try to “add one more thing” to the syllabus. Teachers need to take things off their plate to make room for the skills and content needed for success now, in the 21st century.  

​Axing content and skills can make teachers skittish. Innovation, however, is not about slashing and burning decades of curriculum. Innovation doesn’t always mean “out with the old, in with the new;” sometimes, it is about approaching the “old” in new ways. Inquiry-based approaches, experiential learning, and student-directed questioning are some of the ways Havergal teachers are attempting to engage and empower their students with innovative thinking.

With any great independent school, there are a lot of stakeholders who are passionate about the things that make (and made) the school great. Change doesn’t necessarily mean that everything we were doing is bad; it means that there may be a better way or it may mean that the great school that “was” can’t be the great school that “will be” going forward.  During my short visit, I saw a lot of amazing things happening at Havergal; the administration and faculty are willing and able to invest resources, space, finances and time into a number of innovative projects. From the “Forum for Change” and “the Global Experience Program”, to the rotating Chair of Teaching & Learning, Havergal is well on its way to becoming a learning, changing and adapting organisation for its students.
 
Thanks to Garth for carving out his time to meet with me and to share his thoughts and experiences (and his reading list) and to Jennifer Goldberg (former Chair of Teaching & Learning) for allowing me to pick her brain as well.

One of our goals as an educational institution is to prepare students for a bright and prosperous future. This includes teaching students to read deeply and to communicate effectively orally and in writing; students need to have numeracy skills, critical thinking skills and have an expansive understanding of themselves and the world around them (e.g., humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, health, etc).

There is, however, a problem with the mandate of preparing students for the future: the future is unknown. What future are we preparing students for? Parents and teachers are tempted to prepare students for the sort of future they faced. This isn’t always a bad thing, unless, of course, we are at a watershed moment in history. I am convinced we are at a watershed moment in the history of education, economics, history and civilisation itself. The future is going to be decidedly different place than the future of our parents or grandparents.

A point of clarification about “crystal-balling” the future… It always concerns me when educational pundits predict the future; too often the “unknown future” becomes a leveraging tool for fear-mongering and manipulation… and sometimes for speaking gigs, book deals and consulting fees. The professional development poster cries out “Beware of the future [insert problem]; this can only be solved by reading my book, coming to my lecture, attending my workshops”… The “unknown” is always a root cause of fear, and fear tends to cause hasty decision-making and short-sighted reactions. Since the future hasn’t actually happened yet, it is essentially “nothing.” As Shakespeare put it, we have a tendency to “make much ado about nothing.” We should base current decisions on the unknown “nothing” of the future.
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Nevertheless, some of the ways we can “project” into the future is to look at current practices and values, compare the present to past epochs of human activity and to look at trends.

​The chart below shows similar trends as the one above; however, this graph also indicates “shares of the workforce” (Florida, 2012). 

Both the “Service Class” and the “Creative Class” are on the rise; agriculture workforce and the industrial labour workforce are on the decline (Florida, 2012). Florida defines the Creative Class as the “workers in science and technology, arts, culture and entertainment, healthcare, law and management, whose occupations are based on mental or creative labor” (Florida, 2012). He notes that the Creative Class “generates more than $2 trillion in wages and salaries—more than two thirds of the total US payroll;” Florida also predicts (based on data from the "Bureau of Labor Statistics" projections) that there will be “an additional seven million or so Creative Class jobs will be created over the next decade” (Florida, 2012). Without a doubt, "creativity" is bringing home the bacon.

Similar trends are emerging in Canada as well; below is a graph showing job growth in rural Ontario.

Creativity is no longer a skill just for introspective, tortured artists dabbling in bohemian lifestyles while the real business of life is attended by more serious and mature citizens… Creativity is becoming the key differentiator for future employment and productivity.

Florida argues that we must invest in “the creativity of every single citizen and human being—in order to upgrade and generate new higher-paying jobs, address the gross inequities in our economy and society, and lay the institutional foundations for a new era of shared prosperity” (Florida, 2012).
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In the minds of parents and teachers, “creative” pursuits are often equated with a diet of dessert. This is most evident in the realm of the arts (e.g., music, drama, painting, creative writing); desserts are nice to have but they are not necessary. As we look at the trends above, we see that creativity is no longer an optional “dessert” but rather a hardy and nutritious meal. We need to move creativity from the periphery of teaching and learning (i.e., “dessert”) to the heart of education (i.e., “dinner”).

Reference
Florida, R. (2012). "Creativity is the New Economy" The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2 May, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-florida/creativity-is-the-new-eco_b_1608363.html