What if schools embraced (at least a bit more of) the unknown? Yes, and…

Posted on June 13, 2014 by boadams1

What if we structured (at least some) time in school to provide for the type of research that Uri Alon describes in his talk: “Why truly innovative science demands a leap into the unknown?”

What if we recognized and said “Yes, and…” to the likelihood that genuine and authentic research – the kind that stems from deep questioning and sustained curiosity – is most likely to lead learners (young and old) into the “Cloud” that Uri talks about?

What if we did more science – practiced more of being scientists – than just studying science in school?

What if we reverse engineered (at least part of) school and created margins and white space for the kind of exploration and discovery that bypasses the points A—>B path that we expect and embraces the unexpected “point C” that Uri shares with us?

What if we allowed time for learners to originate their journey(s) from projects of significant and profound interest to them and made it okay to reroute numerous times along the way?

What if we had at least two points of origin for the kinds of work we do in schools: 1) subject-area points of origin that later find projects, and 2) project points of origin that later find disciplinary avenues? What if we built schedules to allow for – and to encourage – both/and? And the weaving together of the two…. What if we widened the spectrum of school learning to more closely match with life learning (before and after school years)? How might we ignite more play, passion, and purpose in these ways?

What if we built capacity as faculty members and community partners to facilitate the type of relational way-finding that Uri declares is the nature of true, meaningful searches? What if we more significantly prioritized the guide-on-the-side postures by making room for the student learners to be the chief navigators of (a more significant amount of) their journeys?

What if you watched Uri’s talk and figured out ways that its corp might change the core of your classroom practices and school-day architecture?

What narrative do we hope school-age students share about “school?” #WhatIfWeekly

Posted on June 4, 2014 by boadams1

Summer is the time of adventures, exploring what is out in the world that you really enjoy. Then you come back to the fall with a good basic foundation to start the school year ready for action. It is almost like the true beginning of the year is the summer because it is when you really start learning and preparing for the next year. – High School (Rising) Sophomore, from her blog

It’s an interesting narrative, isn’t it? Worthy of much reflection and inquiry. Is it the narrative we educators really want school students to have? That summer is the time of adventures – the seasonal time in our annual cycle to explore in the world that which “you really enjoy?”

What if school-age students perceived school to be the time of adventures and the time to explore that which we really enjoy? What if we reverse engineered from that desired outcome? What if we backwards designed from that narrative? What if the content, competencies, and motivations (HT @DrTonyWagner) that we know to constitute deeper, lifelong learning and citizenship formed the bedrock of formalized schooling? What if play, passion, and purpose (HT #2 to @DrTonyWagner) were more deliberately woven into the tapestry of what we call the academic year? What if summer were not the sole domain of adventure and exploring “the world that you really enjoy?”

What if form followed function in school? Inspired by David Epstein #TED talk

Posted on April 30, 2014 by boadams1

On May 11, 2014, I will (quietly) celebrate a third anniversary. That day will mark the moment that I have spent exactly three years watching a TED talk every day.

Being an educator, as I watch TED talks, I think about how they might “fit” into school. I sometimes imagine the speaker as a student in a typical high school, and I wonder what courses and subjects his or her talk would align with.

And often that exercise bothers me. It bothers me because I imagine a speaker like David Epstein prepping and preparing his “Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger?” talk embedded below. I wonder…. Would David be doing this “project” in math class? In science class? In history class? In English class as a persuasive speech assignment? Maybe in some technology course? Would he be so lucky as to have teachers who would allow a single project to “count” for all of his courses? After all, the project integrates a number of disciplines that we subdivide and separate in school.

And that entire imagining bothers me because of the ridiculousness of having to think this way. Why do we continue to remain so wed to the unnatural subdivision of the “school subjects?”

What if at least part of David’s school day allowed for him to pursue the project of his dreams and interests and the subject-area lenses were more like threads in a tapestry that David is weaving?

And what if that deep project identification and discernment had developed partly because of more innovative “homework” that encouraged and made room for David to explore his developing passions and curiosities?

And what if the subject areas in his school behaved a bit more like “subjects on demand” and recitations in which David could schedule time with a relative expert to spend some concentrated time digging into the statistics or biology specificity that he needed for his emerging understanding?

And what if his assessments were more akin to badges and endorsements showcasing the disciplinary, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary knowledge, skills, and understandings that David was building?

And what if David were at the center of his own progress reporting and learning conferences?

Then school would look different. Because form follows function.

Enjoy the talk. It’s amazing.

How are you igniting #curiosity and wonder in your own backyard?

Posted on April 10, 2014 by boadams1

new perspective creates wonder and inspires us to become explorers in our own backyards.

This quote comes from Louie Schwartzberg’s TED talk “Hidden miracles of the natural world.”

And this one…

What is the intersection between technology, art and science? Curiosity and wonder, because it drives us to explore….

Schwartzberg’s films are beautiful. And they originate from curiosity, wonder, and… field work. Getting out and exploring.

Last week, speaking to a group of educational leaders, I said that the school campus and surrounding area may be the single most underutilized learning environment in the world. What if we explored our own campuses more – in the same spirit as Schwartzberg explores and discovers? We might just reignite the curiosity and wonder of millions of learners.

Go. Explore. Observe. Discover. Question.