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Time to stop doubting and to start changing...

5/15/2017

5 Comments

 
PictureGandalf and Pippin riding to Gondor (John Howe)
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.

Picture
PictureJohannes Gutenberg's Printing Press (c. A.D. 1450)
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.

5 Comments
Alicia Munnings
5/16/2017 04:45:53 pm

As John Dewey wrote in 1897:

"With the advent of democracy and modern industrial conditions, it is impossible to foretell definitely just what civilization will be twenty years from now. Hence it is impossible to prepare the child for any precise set of conditions. To prepare him for the future life means to give him command of himself; it means so to train him that he will have the full and ready use of all his capacities; that his eye and ear and hand may be tools ready to command, that his judgment may be capable of grasping the conditions under which it has to work, and the executive forces be trained to act economically and efficiently."

Since we don't know what the future will bring, we must prepare students to "command themselves" so that their eyes, ears, hands, and minds will work effectively for whatever situation is before them. It seems to me that thinking skills take prominence over the training of the hands these days, but other than that, perhaps education will always have the same objective. The landscape may be changing but the goal is still the same.

Dewey, John. "My Pedagogical Creed." The School Journal, Volume LIV, Number 3, 77-80. URL: playpen.meraka.csir.co.za/~acdc/education/Dr_Anvind_Gupa/Learners_Library_7_March_2007/Resources/books/readings/17.pdf

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Jeremy Johnston
5/16/2017 05:13:45 pm

Hey Alicia,

It is amazing how John Dewey's ideas are just starting to take hold now. I agree that we can't chart the future, although the last 100 years of education functioned as though it could. This is no doubt a consequence of industrial efficiency and predictability. Since the employment and economic context is now officially post-industrial, we need to start doing some of the things Dewey argues for in education. For my research, I need to do a better job qualifying what I mean by creativity and innovation. I think some still associate creativity with airy fairy bohemian hippies... I am convinced that innovation and creativity are the new frontiers not fully understood or integrated into education. More on that later. Thanks for adding to the conversation!

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Alicia Munnings
5/17/2017 03:31:45 pm

Like Grant Lichtman acknowledges in his book #EdJourney, most educators associate innovation with technology (xx). Defining creativity and innovation is an important step, and I'm glad to hear that's coming. Defining terms is where I would encourage my students to begin their argument. This might be something useful that we need to discuss as a staff - what do we mean when we say innovation or creativity?

Jeremy W Johnston
5/18/2017 05:14:20 pm

My reply became a mini-blog post... See below!

Jeremy W Johnston
5/18/2017 05:13:23 pm

Lichtman is right; most educators miss the "big picture" and tend to solve educational problems with incremental or small changes like using technology to do the same thing only better. The one author I cite above (Horn, 2017) argues that "disruptive innovation" is very rare in the history of change. Something as dramatic as one-to-one laptops wouldn't be seen as innovation by Horn; it is simply an improvement on chalk and slate from the turn of the century. Likewise, Smartboards are simply digital black boards. Neither are truly "disruptive innovations."

Horn blips over a range of innovations and dismisses all of them as mere tweaks of old educational approaches. I think this may be a bit narrow, but it shows the extremes that exist about what is truly innovation.
In all of this discussion, I need to restate that I am a firm believer that human beings fundamentally don't change; they are also less subject to their circumstances than progressive educational theorists and historians argue...

This is why I am also concerned with defending the relevance of topics like content and direct instruction, as well as unchanged human attributes such as laziness, pride, narcissism, rebellion and selfishness. Differentiation, personalisation, self-directed, learner-centred, multiple intelligence theory and teacher-as-facilitator are all (in part) rooted in a human being's fundamental desire to rebel against authority and avoid challenge and difficulty. This shouldn't be forgotten. Of course a student would rather do something they have chosen rather than learn to submit to the wiser and more experienced voice of a teacher! Giving student "choice" isn't some new insight into human motivation. It is like seeing an infant choose ice cream over broccoli... This doesn't mean we should overhaul nutrition and developmental diets. The human heart is the same as it has always been. We cannot lose sight of the unchanged core wisdom testified in thousands of years of mythology, literature and history across thousands of cultures and contexts.

Back to innovation... There are multiple definitions of innovation I have come across but they all say the same thing. The one I am using is from Tanner (2016): innovation must meet three criteria. It must be new, be executed and create value. The third criterion is perhaps the most important!

Anyway, this blog is only a small part of the work I am doing; it is the tip of the iceberg. These posts are meant to be "teasers" (comparable to a movie trailer, but not the movie itself!). In order to keep my posts clear, succinct and brief I can only focus on "one thing at a time." You are raising great questions, which means you are really thinking about what innovation truly means and whether we truly are at a watershed moment in history. We have had too many people in education "crying wolf" and claiming that the "sky is falling..." There have also been too many soothsayers claiming that this tech or that is going to eliminate that other technology (e.g., ebooks killing books, television killing radio, Internet killing newspapers, automobiles killing trains). The issue is really about figuring out what people really want to do and less about the technology itself. Certainly some tech didn't take hold even though it was better (e.g., Beta vs. VCR). With technological innovation, there are several factors that determine whether new tech will be adopted or not; surprisingly, the least significant (although still important) is the technology itself. I recently Tweeted out a Harvard Business Review article that addresses this concern. Essentially, the hardest part of innovation is not coming up with the new idea but convincing other people to adopt the new idea.

But back to Lichtman's point: innovation isn't about technology. It can be (and it often does involve tech) but it isn't the soul catalyst and it isn't the most important thing. In education, "personalisation" is a pedagogical innovation compared to education 20 years ago. One-to-one technology supports this pedagogical approach but it didn't cause it.

One thing I need to convey to you and all my colleagues is the need for an intentional approach to innovation. This shouldn't be about constant flux, chaos and everyone looking for the next "new" to implement at all costs. Incessant newness is tedious and tiring. We need a clear plan and a corporate vision. If we are going to develop grit and perseverance, we need a hope to strive for and to believe in. "Innovation" is the means not the end of our work in education.

So, I am glad you are already reading #EdJourney; I just brought in this week! I would really like to have a special TLC book club in the fall focusing on a central theme/question and a core book (or books). Let me know what you think of Lichtman; his text may be a top candidate for such a small group learning community.

Lots to discuss, both as a department and as a College-wide faculty. Voice at the table is key t

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    Jeremy W. Johnston, OCT

    ​This EduBlog Forum is for CONVERSATION and THINKING about innovation & creativity, and teaching & learning in the classroom and beyond.

    In this space, I plan to chronicle my research on nurturing innovation and creativity in our students, our classrooms and ourselves.

    Jeremy Johnston, OCT

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