Original photocollage by Thom Dunks
Over the span of thirty years in school administration I have watched with great interest the tides of educational reform flow and then ebb.
During this first decade of the new century, we’ve heard a loud and persistent clamber for accountability from policy makers and the media alike. Consistently, they prescribe more and more collection and analysis of linear data with the focus on mathematics and literacy skills.
Yet among the myriad of voices advocating change, there are some who share a different vision, who offer very persuasive notions about the crucial need for a new and welcome emphasis on creativity and innovation.
The research of Christopher Dede of Harvard University is receiving global attention in the quest for designing reform that will adequately prepare the next generation for the 21st Century. The opening sentence of his profile on the university’s web page states the following: “Chris Dede’s fundamental interest is the expanded human capabilities for knowledge creation, sharing, and mastery that emerging technologies enable.” To paraphrase Dr. Dede, If we were to start new schools from the ground up, would we replicate the current model of the industrial age?
Sir Ken Robinson speaks to audiences throughout the world on the changing needs of business, education, and organizations in the new global economies. He continues to build a foundation in the promotion of creativity and innovation in teaching and learning. His findings and perspective on the topic have been published in his two most recent books, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (2001) and The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything (2009).
The ideas and works of Daniel Pink address the needs of our future economy and society. He sees the future belonging to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind—creative, empathic “right brain” thinkers. In the extraordinary book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule The Future (2005) his publisher footnotes that “Drawing upon research from around the advanced world, Daniel Pink outlines the six fundamentally human abilities that are essential for professional success and personal fulfillment—and reveals how to master them.”
Author and columnist Thomas Friedman writes extensively about Education, the Economy, the Environment, and Technology in these modern times. I found a recent editorial entitled, The New Untouchables to be a very relevant compass in this search for new directions and expanded strategies.
This period in modern American Education is at its most significant crossroad. For the past two decades, educational leaders and futurists had predicted that the 21st Century would mark a significant paradigm shift in the landscape of teaching and learning. We are now 10 years into that new century, awaiting signs of tangible reform and innovation. I would advocate that the time is now to pay close attention to those voices in the wings. The urgency to innovate and create new models is very present.
Yes, the “urgency to innovate and create new models is very present.” In his book, Five Minds for the Future Howard Gardner presents a framework for how we might go about this. While touching on some of the same themes as Pink’s book, Gardner’s speaks directly to educators and provides examples we can easily apply to our work. Learn more at http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/teaching/TC106-607.html
RE: “Creativity and innovation: voices waiting in the wings?”
How about just letting children be children? Children are hard-wired to learn through play. Allocating more unstructured play during a school day has several advantages:
1. Teamwork and social skills are strengthened.
2. Problem-solving skills develop.
3. Physical exercise takes place naturally.
4. Disruptive behavior is minimized.
Sometimes we adults forget that children are just that: children. If we just lighten up, everything will work out.
Can we have the best of both worlds?
I certainly enjoyed Dr. Pink’s book, as well as Sir Ken – but I’m not sure that Right brains are ALL that will be necessary in the future.
During our attempts to reform, we should pay attention to what has worked well in the past, keep it, and replace what has not worked well in the past. Oh, and this should happen at a faster pace than it has in the past 150 years.
M Burroughs, in the response above, mentions letting children be children. I recently was able to spend some time with Marsha Tate, of “Shouting won’t grow Dendrites” fame and she echoed this sentiment. Having a wide range of children in my home, I selfishly spent the time with her asking what my wife and I could do specifically to increase any chances of our then 4-year-old’s chances for academic success. She said, “Let him do what he wants to do naturally, which is to play.”
So often in the past we have stripped out the extracurricular in favor of more time in the core. In the movie, Two Million Minutes, I felt a sense of urgency to get all of our children to focus on science, math, and technology because we were having a shortage of engineers in the U.S. Then it occurred to me, since when are engineers the holy grail of society?
It takes all types of brains to make a diverse society… Lefty’s as well as Righty’s (as well as the in-between.) In our reform, we should be careful to design a reform that fosters all and doesn’t favor one side over the other. As Malcolm Gladwell said during a question and answer session once, the kid who can give you 50 different ways to use a brick but scores low on the entrance exam deserves the same opportunity at college as the one who aces the entrance exams.