When it comes to school improvement – or the fine art of problem finding and solution seeking – it’s always best to try and get everyone involved in the process. It’s a way to develop co-ownership of the culture and collectively seeking solutions that have a chance of actually being effective. As Margaret Wheatley says: … Read more
I’m looking forward to the NAIS Annual Conference- #naisac15 – this year – assuming of course that Boston can dig its way out of all the snow. The theme is appealing: “Design the Revolution”. It’s a slogan that manages to evoke the design thinking and maker movements while also embracing the ineluctable truth that the … Read more
I first tried “The Five Whys” in a faculty meeting. It was an attempt to try something new in tackling a thorny problem. This is new territory for me so it’s all a bit of an experiment. I had another shot at at the HMAE Annual Conference earlier this month where working with heads of … Read more
How many designers does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Does it have to be a light bulb? All those “why” questions to get at the root of the need or the problem are at the heart of systems/ design thinking. They can feel very annoying but they are essential to the process. The problem … Read more
What can you tell about a school in one visit when the kids are still on vacation? Well – quite a lot as it turns out. I had the opportunity this week to visit the Robert C. Parker School which is a wonderful progressive pre-k through 8th grade school up in the Albany area. I … Read more
A recent Twitter chat included the following exchange with Mark Crotty, head of school at St John’s Episcopal in Dallas. Mark blogs at To Keep Things Whole and I am a frequent visitor. He used it in a post entitled: Failure of Promoting Failure that you can read at the link. He alerted me to … Read more
I’ve been playing with making visuals for the design thinking process. Here’s the latest.
I’m just back from a fantastic three days at the NYSAIS STEAMCamp. Twitter: #steam13 So much to think about, so much to process and so many plans to make for the new year. Thank you to NYSAIS for hosting the event and to all the leaders, facilitators and participants. And special thanks to all my … Read more
Design thinking – it’s everywhere in education. And that’s great because problems are everywhere and design thinking offers a way forward. It aligns with problem seeking, solution finding, empathy, integrative and interdisciplinary work, collaborative processes, open-ended thinking, revision and creative contribution – all that good authentic and relevant stuff. And it’s great that we seemed … Read more
I’ve been playing with a new graphics tool – easel.ly – and this is my first effort. I took the slogan Think*Make*Improve from Sylvia Libow Martinez and Gary S. Stager’s invaluable new book Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom. The result is a bit of a pig’s breakfast and probably runs counter to every principle of good … Read more