The Second Compass Point…Be an Inventor!
This post is part of a series. The earlier posts are linked at the bottom of this post.
As educators, we’re likely to spend most of our time focused on this part of The Human School Compass --- be an inventor.
It’s where we get to imagine and work with others to invent solutions to the challenges we identified from being an objector...
Kevin Kelly…founder of Wired Magazine believes…
To imagine is really the first step in creating anything.
Yes…we get to imagine amazing possibilities, be designers of change….and that can make being an inventor fun and exciting!
But I know what you’re thinking….
I’m not creative….Let’s leave this inventor stuff to the creative people.
There’s that fixed mindset trying to convince you not to change!
But to help us overcome that fixed mindset, we have three core mindshifts.
And the first one?
Start with the human.
As educators, what’s our why? Why do we do what we do?
I’m gonna say….it’s to serve the learners.
Or if we’re formal leaders.. to serve...the adult learners.
To help our people feel seen, heard and valued…that’s our why!
And if people are our “why,” there’s no better way to begin the invention process than getting to know our learners and those we serve.
We NEED relationships. Deep, transformational relationships.
When we build connection with our people..and they know us… that builds trust.
And trust? It’s the “secret sauce” that’s going to move us closer to our dream of The Human School.
To foster deep, transformational connection, we need to get to know our people first and foremost as the humans they are, before anything else….and absolutely before diving into teaching our subject content.
Connection before content…
Building The Human School is heavy lifting… We need trust and to get rid of the friction of judgment. When we intentionally connect with our people… we gain respect, trust and a flatter hierarchy...things that will make the heavy lifting feel not so heavy..
You might be familiar with the work of Brené Brown, the well-known researcher, author and psychologist...she says this about connection…
“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.”
Feel seen, heard and valued….that’s the system of schooling we want….that’s The Human School!
Ted Sizer, one of the 20th century’s leading educational visionaries captures relationships and connection this way:
I cannot teach students well if I do not know them well.
Connection..it’s critical as we invent.
Remember...Start with the human.
These humans…our people…they don’t live in a vacuum. They live in a world that’s constantly changing.
There’s a pretty strong agreement by those outside schools that we’ll all be living through monumental shifts over just the next decade…
…in areas such as the environment, technology, the economy, racial and opportunity equality, and politics.
Back in 1987 the Army coined this term…. VUCA, and it’s used to describe change that’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.
We are living in a VUCA world!
As inventors, understanding change in the world...it's critical... we’ll need to flourish…not just survive… no matter what situations or circumstances we bump up against….
This brings us to our second core mindshift as inventors:
Step out of the present and into the possibilities of the future.
Humans… we’re instinctively short-term thinkers. It’s hard for us to take the longview….to be what some say is... future literate.
Turn on the news and you’ll see “short-termism” playing out in our inability to effectively manage things like the climate crisis, pandemics, war, artificial intelligence, glaring social and economic inequities, systemic racism and the future of democracy.
As future literate inventors, we embrace the present, but also understand that taking the long view is really critical. And….we also understand something else critically important…
...the future doesn’t just happen to us..the future can be shaped….that WE can and must shape this future…
Think about driving a car….you look ahead…and you shape your journey based on what you see. If you close our eyes to what’s ahead, you’re gonna have an accident.
As we invent, we look beyond the present into the future…seeing what’s ahead…so we can create solutions that will live beyond the now..
Alright...so we’ve gotten to know our people...and in the contexts of both the present and the future.
Now it’s time to get down to the actual work of invention!
And we’re going to do it….
Alongside others…
And that’s our third core mindshift….
Design collaboratively.
When we invent with others, we can get exciting, even awe-inspiring, magical solutions.
Think for a moment about your most memorable learning experience. Did it take place in a formal school setting --- perhaps k12 or even university?
Did it take place in an informal setting--maybe tinkering with ideas or “stuff” in your backyard or in a friend’s basement?
What role did the adults play? How about peers?
Why was the experience so memorable and motivating?
When I ask people these questions, most often those memorable and motivating experiences…they’re real…not fabricated in a traditional classroom setting... And they didn’t happen alone.
I’ve seen this anonymous quote lately, and it applies to this mindshift…
There are three responses to a piece of design -- yes, no and WOW!
When we’re inventing solutions, let’s find the awe...the magic...Let’s uncover that wow!
And one way we can find the wow is to design alongside others…our learners….as often as possible. Our young learners…they know what magical looks and feels like! And they’ll be honest in letting us know whether the work is a yes, a no, or a WOW!
Engaging the perspective of the very ones that schooling is designed to serve, just makes sense. It’s human. When we collaborate with our learners in the design process, guess what…
They feel seen, heard and valued!
And we don’t need to stop at our learners…. let’s not forget about the other adults and community-based organizations that we can turn to, learn from and collaborate with.
Our parents….the local hospital...the coffeeshop...service organizations...even the mayor and town council.
Work together. Design collaboratively!
So we now have three entry points into new ways of thinking about being an inventor...three core mindshifts....
Start with the human:
Navigating from Prioritizing the needs of the system to Prioritizing the needs of the people
Step out of the present, and into the possibilities of the future:
Navigating from Ignoring the future to Embracing the future.
Design collaboratively
Navigating from Designing alone to Designing with others.
In the next post, we’ll take a look at a real learning environment that’s living these ways of thinking everyday.
Previous posts:
