Creativity, Innovation and critical literacy: Key ingredients for good schools

Dr. Thomas W. Price Headmaster The Branson School, Ross, CA USA www.branson.org

[email protected]

What’s changed in American Schools?

• Many things, but consider the elementary school classroom of 40 years ago.

Daily features of my elementary school classroom

• Arrive between 7:45 and 8:15 AM—free discovery with art materials or practice on one of two classroom pianos.

• Daily “circle time” to build community and to discuss issues of importance to us. Made guided choices about field trip and some classroom activities.

• Art, music, and storytelling and story writing each day; all in class and taught by homeroom teacher.

• Foreign language daily. I will always recall the travel and menu dialogues and the elaborate travel brochures we created as we imagined what it might be like to visit Munich, or Paris, or Mexico City!

It is always challenging to generalize about American education because one of its salient features, for good or ill, is its decentralization.

However, my elementary school in the 1960s was a wonderfully engaging, creative, and physically active environment . The school served the children of the working class---80%+ of our parents worked in a General Motors factory or factory or enterprise supporting GM.

Teachers, most trained in normal colleges, were expected to teach art, music, to play an instrument (in my experience it was always piano), and to teach some exposure to a foreign language (of whichever language had some knowledge). Through my elementary years, I learned to order lunch and to ask directions in French, Italian, Spanish, and German!

language (whatever they spoke). Daily lessons in mathematics and science were taught by the homeroom teachers until a degree of specialization was introduced in the 6 th grade, when mathematics instruction was offered by a master mathematics teacher.

Romantic remembrance?

You would be forgiven if you were sighing at the moment, thinking to yourself that these are the ramblings of an old man feeling nostalgic for the “good old days.” The truth, however, is that I gave very little thought to my own schooling until I had the responsibility of running an elementary school and then again when it was time to enroll my child in an elementary school. A lot has changed. Most elementary school teachers, especially after grade 3, are pretty unfamiliar with the earlier version of the contained classroom. “Specialists” became common for math, science, technology, art, music, and physical education.

Less creativity in our Classrooms

My claims are these: 1.Changes in the teaching elementary and middle school teaching population and increased demands for “specialization” by teachers and parents has resulted in less creative classrooms.

2.Standardized curricula, followed by oppressive high-stakes testing (NCLB and its many state-by-state antecedents) drove additional nails into the coffin of the engaging, creative classroom at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

3. Chronic under-funding of most of our public schools in the US has now institutionalized classrooms that are pale comparisons to my classroom of 1968. Art, music, and foreign language instruction are gone, or might was well be given their perfunctory inclusion, from an alarming number of American schools. Gone, too, from many schools is any meaningful program of physical education and development.

What Remains?

Of course, many good, even great, things remain in many schools, but •far too many of our public schools are organized around preparing for, taking, and then analyzing the results of standardized tests. •Gone or mightily reduced from the scene are art, music, history, literature, theatre.

•With the best of intentions (improving the skill level of poorly performing students) too many of our schools have given up on developing and nurturing creativity, critical thought and literacy, and moral imagination

Can we really Prepare students to succeed in this world if they score well on reading comprehension tests and basic mathematical competencies, but •Don’t understand their country in the context of current events and national history?

•Can’t, through exposure to literature, theatre or art, to imagine the life of another?

• Can’t use their intellectual powers and imaginations to reframe questions and to develop new, better answers to challenging problems?

•Can’t adequately inhabit the culture and mindset of an adversary so that common ground might be established?

Education must be about basic competencies, but without a broader view that includes the humanities, the arts, and culture we risk depriving our students of the imagination and the desire to innovate, create, and dream a better world for us all.

My Premise is that our schools are doing a poor job of preparing students for their role in solving the planet’s problems, But also for University Work and the 21 st Century work place

The Four Questions

Trilling and Fadel, 21 st Centrury Skills:Learning for Life and Our Times (2009)

Question 1: What will the world be like in twenty years when the children we teach have completed School and are engaged in the world?

Possible responses: • The world, for the those with resources will be more connected by technology and transportation • The volume of information and the pace of change will continue to increase exponentially.

• Global economic interconnection makes isolation impossible.

• Constrained resources—water, food, energy • Acute need for global cooperation in environmental challenges • Increasing concerns about security, privacy, and terrorism • Economic necessity to innovate to be globally competitive • Work force requiring teams spanning languages, cultures, geographies, time zones • Many that we cannot yet imagine

Question 2: what skills will children need in the future we just imagined?

• Critical literacy: thinking, problem-solving • Communication: oral, written, digital • Creativity and innovation • Digital literacy: information retrieval, reasoning and discernment, discrimination and sorting • Adaptability • Initiative and self-direction • Productivity and accountability • Leadership and responsibility • Social and cross-cultural competence

Question 3: What conditions need to exist to create ideal learning environments?

Answers to this question varies, but for me: • High degree of intellectual challenge • Care and support of teachers who wanted me to succeed and who prodded me when I failed to do my best work • Encourage to try new things, to take risks, to aim high What would you add to this list?

Question 4: how would schools be different if they were designed with your answer to questions 1-3 in mind ?

• Work would be done by teams working to solve challenging problems and the work product would be judged by a discriminating expert • Tools, technology, video, etc. would be available as needed to complete task and effectively communicate results • Real problems and questions, requiring content knowledge and expertise, would be the focus the school day

In today’s world what skills and knowledge are required?

Here is what Harvard researcher tony Wagner says:

The Seven Survival Skills for Careers, College, & Citizenship in the 21st Century 1.Critical Thinking and Problem Solving "The idea that a company's senior leaders have all the answers and can solve problems by themselves has gone completely by the wayside...The person who's close to the work has to have strong analytic skills. You have to be rigorous: test your assumptions, don't take things at face value, don't go in with preconceived ideas that you're trying to prove." - Ellen Kumata, consultant to Fortune 200 companies

2. Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence "The biggest problem we have in the company as a whole is finding people capable of exerting leadership across the board...Our mantra is that you lead by influence, rather than authority." - Mark Chandler, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Cisco

3. Agility and Adaptability

"I've been here four years, and we've done fundamental reorganization every year because of changes in the business...I can guarantee the job I hire someone to do will change or may not exist in the future, so this is why adaptability and learning skills are more important than technical skills." - Clay Parker, President of Chemical Management Division of BOC Edwards

4. Initiative and Entrepreneurship "For our production and crafts staff, the hourly workers, we need self directed people...who can find creative solutions to some very tough, challenging problems."- Mark Maddox, Human Resources Manager at Unilever Foods North America 5. Effective Oral and Written Communication "The biggest skill people are missing is the ability to communicate: both written and oral presentations. It's a huge problem for us." - Annmarie Neal, Vice President for Talent Management at Cisco Systems

6. Accessing and Analyzing Information "There is so much information available that it is almost too much, and if people aren't prepared to process the information effectively, it almost freezes them in their steps." - Mike Summers, Vice President for Global Talent Management at Dell

7. Curiosity and Imagination

"Our old idea is that work is defined by employers and that employees have to do whatever the employer wants...but actually, you would like him to come up with an interpretation that you like-he's adding something personal-a creative element." Michael Jung, Senior Consultant at McKinsey and Company

The Generative Question

: What curriculum will prepare students for the 21 st Century? What skills & values will be demanded and rewarded?

• cross-disciplinary knowledge •

communication

skills • teamwork • analytical reasoning • real world problem-solving skills

Message from the Marketplace:

Tough Choices or Tough Times

Report of the New Commission on The Skills of the American Workforce, 2007: Nation@Risk2 • “The crucial new factor, the one that alone can justify higher wages in this country than in other countries with similar levels of cognitive skills, is creativity and innovation.” p. 29 • “[O]ur schools emphasize memory and analytical abilities and therefore may not benefit creative students. This is not true of the best of our independent schools and suburban schools But it is emphatically true of most of our schools.” p.30

• “People those who are comfortable in working in artistic, investigative, highly social or entrepreneurial environments are more likely to succeed…. Schools will have to learn to simulate those environments….” p. 31 (source: Bassett, NAIS)

Has the World Really Changed and Does that Mean Schools Have to Change Too? In a word… YES

“The crux of success or failure is to know which core values to hold on to, and which to discard and replace when times change.” Jared Diamond “The illiterate of the 21 read or write, but those that cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” st Century are not those that cannot Alvin Toffler

Most of our schools are not doing a great job of preparing our students for the past or the present The current educational environment, saturated with high-stakes testing begins with the premise that goal of education is to provide information and a few applications skills to students. Assessment model is the standardized test. The premise is wrong, but even if it were right, there is no evidence that students are doing particularly well in this system. Furthermore, the assessment tool is embarrassingly narrow in what it actually assesses.

More on the skills needed for our future:

Multiple Intelligences

• disciplined mind (expertise in a field) • synthesizing mind (scanning, • filtering, and weaving into coherence)

creating mind (discovery and innovation)

• respectful mind (open mindedness • and inclusiveness)

ethical

mind (moral courage)

Students must have solid foundations in the traditional Liberal arts (Humanities, Language, science, mathematics, and the arts) but they need not be taught in traditional ways. Thinking in new ways can be taught and cultivated

Teaching Creative

Thinking

•

• •

Teaching Creative Thinking Skills

Six Hats Thinking Lateral Thinking: Random word-association

In order to students to gain the skills and competence Required, schools are going to have to change substantially. School are going to have to become places where creativity, innovation, and problem-based learning is the norm rather the rare exception.

Do such schools exist?

• Video Player copy • ThinkQuest Winning SARs Team Video - OEF Video Player copy

Critical literacy & creativity are keys to Developing an innovative mindset

Critical Literacy

Critical literacy: analyze, interpret, evaluate, summarize, and synthesize Key Critical Literacy Skills: 1.Reason effectively 2.Use systems thinking (how to parts of the whole interact with each other to produce outcomes) 3.Make judgments and decisions (analyze and evaluate evidence, arguments, claims, and beliefs; analyze and evaluate alternative viewpoints; synthesize and make connections between information and arguments, interpret information and draw conclusions; reflect critically on learning process) 4.Solve problems (solve unfamiliar problems in conventional and non-conventional ways; identify and ask significant questions to clarify or suggest better alternate solutions) Source: Partnership for 21 st Century Skills

Because so much of the work of the 21 st century (knowledge economy to creative economy) is done with others, learning to communicate and collaborate are key skills.

Communicate Clearly • Articulate thoughts orally, in writing, using multiple media • • • Listen effectively Learn to communicate to persuade, inform, instruct, motivate Utilize technology and media to communicate • Communicate across cultural landscapes Collaborate with Others • Work effectively and respectfully with teams • Exercise flexibility and compromise • Assume responsibility for your role in the team

Example of Learning that requires collaboration, communication, and critical literacy

Creativity and innovation

Creativity and innovation are mindsets that can be taught and cultivated “We do not grow into creativity, we grow out it.” Sir Kenneth Robinson Traditional education’s focus on facts, memorization, and testing had been very bad for the development of creativity and imagination. Educational systems around the world, from Finland to Singapore have begun to move innovation and creativity to the top of their national educational agendas.

“Creativity and innovation can be nurtured in by learning environments that foster questioning, patience, openness to fresh ideas, high levels of trust, and learning from mistakes and failures.” Trilling and Fadel (2009)

Final Thoughts

Critical literacy, collaboration and competence, and creativity and innovation are three top-drawer skill sets in the toolbox for learning, working, and living in the 21 st century. Powering these learning and innovation skills are the knowledge tools and technologies of our times. Let’s be bold. Let’s experiment. Let’s ask big, important questions of our students and then let us stand back and let them amaze us!

Some Concrete Example of Changes Underway or Under Consideration at The Branson School: Longer class periods Alternate Day schedules Eliminate most APs More research, problem-based courses in 11 th and 12the grade More public presentations as assessment Wonderfest, Thinkquest Horizons Much more to do and to consider

Many more ideas from great schools from around the world.

Let’s share them!

Thank you for your kind attention

Please visit us in the Bay Area of California when you have the opportunity.