Education: A business?

Today I was told education is a business. Here’s my response to that statement:

IS EDUCATION A BUSINESS

Kind of. Like a business, schools must establish a model that reaches its target market. In a school’s case, the target market are the parents. But unlike business, that can appeal to a certain type of customer; Apple, with its high end phones and fancy gadgets that appeals to the tech savvy, creative user; or Starbucks that caters to the socially conscious, business exec that can run global board meetings but also join a campaign to save the endangered dolphin; educators have to appeal to a broader, less definable demographic; one that includes students and families of all colors, race, creed, backgrounds, wants and needs.

Educators must appeal to a market that includes the boy who walks in twenty minutes late because dad and mom were fighting and school for the moment took the back seat. Educators must appeal to the student who needs a detailed outline of daily events while soft music resonates in the background because if not, they will wave their hands wildly in the air and begin peeling paint off the post in the center in the room. Teachers, to please their most conservative parents, must avoid any part of the curriculum that includes only the scientific perspective; but at the same appeal to their more liberal counterparts who demand the exploration of any and all alternating theory to canonized doctrine.

Yeah, education is like a business, with the market being the entire world. You see, education unlike any other good or service offered in the world, for the most part is free. And unlike world- class businesses, it offers one of the biggest returns on your investment. What business for no fee puts the world at your fingertips? What business freely offers second and third languages so that its constituents can become more globally aware and engaged citizens? What business is willing and able to adapt daily to the needs of its consumer? What business is engaged in continual ethical conversations that places integrity over profit margin? What business if not achieving its goal is not allowed to shut its doors and throw up its hands in failure? What business, despite offering the most life- changing product in the world, is criticized from all sectors as not doing enough?

Marketing and business students should take their introductory course from incredible educators, who run the most successful businesses in the world.

The Classroom: The third teacher

The new buzz phrase in education is the classroom as the “third teacher.” In the digital, do it yourself age of the 21st century, classrooms can indeed do much of the teaching if they are set up correctly.

Through my exploration of classroom and school design last year, I came across several resources that helped guide us in envisioning the Futures Academy space. I have provided a brief summary of the findings below inclusive of workshops, books, Moocs and online learning forums. 

1. Defining the need

Will your classroom promote and foster collaboration? Innovation? Encourage creativity? 

Defining the need of the classroom will help guide teachers and students in the setup that promotes this kind of thinking. Edutopia advises a guided protocol called “word association” that directs participants to think of one word to associate with the prompt. This will help direct them into shared goals and get everyone thinking on the same page.

Another strategy to “define the need” is having a colleague observe where you and the class spend most of your time during the course of the day. By tracking movement through various colors, you can more easily see the space most important and conducive to the learning you conduct.

2. Remove unnecessary clutter

As teachers we oftentimes fill our rooms with posters, guidelines and rules to promote the delivery of our subject matter. While these can be helpful in guiding students in the initial stages, oftentimes they distract from learning that changes daily. By defining the most important space and removing unnecessary clutter, the class can focus on the type of items that actively promote learning. 

3. Allow for flexibility

The cliche, “What we learn today will be outdated by tomorrow,” while most certainly overused, is very indicative of the kine of learning that takes place in a rapidly shifting 21st century. Our classrooms should allow for this kind of flexibility and adaptability in learning. Furniture should be on wheels, walls should be movable, resources all available online, and finally, forums that allow for input to be changed daily.

4. “Maker Space”

The maker’s movement is taking off in the most innovative schools across the world. Students are building robots, formula one cars and simple machines with the only parameters being they create something of use. This open criteria for innovation has allowed students to take part in the same innovation that companies are asking of their workers fresh out of college. 

5. Integration around Projects

The “third” teacher should also allow for the integration of content. Schools previously taught science, math, humanities, and technology as stand alone courses; but in the age of readily available information and the empowered employee, is this the best way to prepare students for their future? Projects help for the natural integration of content, whether it be an architectural project combining sustainable design and mechanical engineering or a model united nations project combining geography, history, economy and civics.

I have included pictures below of the way in which we have designed the Futures Academy Classroom with brief descriptions of what kind of thinking they promote.

Tables groups of four to six students. Writable white board surfaces and flexible shapes. Trapezoids allow for easy re-shaping and designing of the space.

Small group breakout session. Great for reading conferences/ literature circles.

Brainstorm session around writable surface. Storage station for headphones to provide quiet environment or easy plug in.

Organizational system for student work and the development of portfolios. TV for display of daily schedules and slideshow of student work/ photos of them in the workspace.

Small group reading/ brainstorm area with writable glass surfaces. Buoy chairs from Steelcase allow for comfort and different elevations.

Meeting area for Skype conversations with experts. White boards to divide collaboration areas. Movable project screen for presentations.

Tinkering lab. Adjustable height table for various working positions. Arudinos, rasperry pi’s available for programming. White board in back of room for storyboard design. Cameras for film work. Will paint the back wall green for filming and sides with chalkboard paint to allow for collaboration on script ideas.

 

Architectural adjustments

What happens when you return to a Futures Academy space that has not even started construction? 

You adapt…

Futures Academy will face its first test of the values it espouses by how it responds to not having the state of the art facility it was promised at the beginning of the 2014 school year. Chinese permits (or lack thereof) have slowed the process of building Futures Academy and have placed us in a waiting game. The Futures Academy Space will take 40 days to complete once construction begins. 

And while one door seems to have closed, another one has opened. 

Futures Academy in response will kick off the school year in the lower dance studio of the world class dome adjacent to campus. This large open space has two projectors, a fully equipped sound system, an abundant amount of mirrors as well as white board space. It’s the perfect alternative to our originally planned space. We were even able to claim the storage shed at the far end of the room which will serve as our initial “tinkering/ video production lab.”

Two things that did arrive on time were our furniture and tech items. I’m as giddy as a schoolboy. Some highlights of the furniture include:

– 24 colorful sitting blocks with built in storage space

– 8 trapezoid tables with writable surfaces

– 3 small “coffee tables” for brainstorming and leisure with writable surfaces

– 24 node chairs with built in desks, storage space and wheels

– Oval shaped meeting table with height adjustable controls

The furniture helps reflect the innovation we are hoping to inspire. It is highly flexible and adaptive, and most importantly, allows for the collaboration.

Here are some of the highlights of the tech items we received:

– 4 Monitors to showcase student work

– One LCD screen for rolling video that demonstrates progress of Futures Academy

– UP! 3-d printer for design based thinking work

– 12 arduinos and 12 rasperry pi’s for programming and robotics work

– 6 IPAD Minis for learning via apps and portable field work (Pro-scope microscopes for field observation)

– MIDI keyboards, audio interfaces and HD cameras for professional video/ music production

Needless to say, I’m excited. Yes, it will take 40 days for from start to finish for Futures Academy to be built but perhaps these 40 days are exactly what we needed. We will have 40 days to establish the model for learning. We will have 40 days to help solidify the self- directed creation of schedules. We will have 40 days to make several mistakes and learn from our failures. We will have 40 days to demonstrate mastery in learning while honing craftsmanship in our students. And finally, we will have 40 days to create an environment conducive to the type of 21st century skills we hope to promote.

Yes, the building of Futures Academy has been delayed, but the building of student efficacy begins today. 

 

 

Passion

Can you build a school around passion? Most would say not. Passion cannot be standardized, tracked or developed. It does not allow us to compare and contrast results, or measure how students are achieving compared to their counterparts. We can however, create schools around systems. We can create and measure these watered down systems with guarantee-able outcomes. The expectation that all students will know and understand the quadratic equation; be able to analyze literature and write persuasive essays. At some point, we all have to face reality and realize that the world works according to these systems, that have little room for an individual’s passion. These systems create order, stability and standardization. Passion creates an unsettling force that cannot be measured, taught, or standardized. 

I thought I had the answers. At least that’s what they taught me in school…

I had a conversation with someone who’s work schedule was dictated by passion. As a dignified employee of an IT firm, his only job responsibility was to complete projects by agreed upon deadlines. On some days, he spent from dusk to dawn on international digital infrastructure projects, conversing with clients from the confines of a small home work space, knowing that tomorrow was his and his alone. The next day he awoke and spent two hours lifting weights, two more surfing waves, two more grabbing coffee with other self- employed friends, and only one on his “set project.” Incidentally, he managed to fulfill every deadline. 

Where did the persuasive essays and quadratic formula show up in his work day? 

You see, it’s the entrepreneurs who represent the biggest threat to established systems. They defy the standardization of “work place attire.” Ditching the suit and tie, for jeans, a retro shirt, and aviator shades, they dress according to their own standard. They defy the set schedule that dictates where they need to be and who hey need to report to, and instead manage their own. They defy the standard path to wealth by bypassing wealthy CEO’s and instead seeking out socially responsible angel investors. They defy the top down management system of past generations and invite everyone to be a stakeholder, including the naive intern from the local community college.

Which leads me to my next question: What if we taught our students to be entrepreneurs? Or more specifically, how to pursue their own passions?

What relevance would schools have then?

As educators, we cannot be afraid of today’s standard for success. We are no longer living in a world where people are powerless, or dictated by circumstance. Societal barriers have been removed. Hell, today you don’t even need a college degree to become a multi- millionaire. All you need is an idea. Ideas can catapult you to success, and more importantly, they can bring down the “old boy’s clubs” that used to rule our past; the clubs comprised of rich parents and Ivy League degrees.

Post college, I was told I could do three things with my history degree: Teach, research, or go to law school. But I had an idea. What if what I wanted to do in life had nothing to do with college, degrees, or what I studied. What if I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life when I was 12 years old? When I was organizing students on the playground; telling jokes; captaining my tennis and soccer teams; and peer mediating when friends had disputes. You see, those were greater indicators for what would make me happy than my college degree. They were the things I chose to do with my time without any overarching schedule or expectations.

 

I’m hoping to provide my 12 year old students with the same opportunity. To create a place that frees them from the confines that direct them to a life confined by rules and systems. One that allows them to explore; allows them to fail, allows them to question. Allows them to be WRONG; encourages them to be wrong, so they can get closer to being right.

Then perhaps I can make the case that schools should be built around passion.     

The new learning model

The underpinnings of 21st century education.

Part of a robot “suma” competition at the International School of Beijing.

* Photos provided by Emily Chan (ES Music Teacher)

Teaching kids to question

Source: http://www.lolshelf.com/tags/140/tags/140/motivator/page/5

This is a picture I “remixed” as part of a Hack/ Make Space course. We were asked to remix an existing image, song, video, etc. in the digital world.

When I first started teaching, I was terrified of not knowing the answer to student questions. In fact, I spent hours agonizing over presentation material, and many sleepless nights rehearsing the delivery of material and the response by students. Of course, as all teachers know, you can never know what to expect with kids. Let’s go back to one of those days…

It was a Friday, but it could have been Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, the days were a blur at that point. I had just begun my student teaching assignment at Granite Hills High School, my previous arch rival as a norseman who attended Valhalla only 3 miles away. The class consisted of thirty 9th graders. I was responsible for teaching them history, and this particular lesson involved the lust for power, with Ancient Rome taking center stage. Except, in my mind, there was only one person on stage; a naive twenty year old who could have passed for one of the students. He looked poised, confident and composed as he moved through each slide of Roman Emperors, but under the surface, his heart beat like a bass drum.

I got to a slide without a name. The picture of the Emperor was clear, but I had no context of explaining where he was from, when he came to power, or what his contribution to the main idea was. I panicked, tried to flip quickly to the next slide, but then Danny, one of my favorite students (funny that I still recall the name) pried.

“Hey, Kyle,” we were on a first name basis.

“Who’s that?”

I should have told him I didn’t know. And in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t matter. But I lied, I made up a Roman sounding name.

He called me on it. He knew the Emperor. I was exposed in the middle of class.

From that point on, it was hard to regain their attention or respect. Teacher training school could not have prepared me for some of the unexpected realities of the profession.

So what have I learned? It’s ok not to know the answer. In fact, it’s oftentimes encouraged. Because really, if you have all the answers, there’s no place for your kids to be empowered. Your “Curse of Knowledge” has placed you in the driver’s seat, as the only one who knows how to operate the wheel. My teaching method now involves only asking questions. Even if I know the answer. And consequently, I sleep much better at night.

Pie

Pi is quite an abstract concept. It’s defined as “the ratio of the circumference of a circle in comparison to its diameter.” As a kid it’s part of one of the few formulas I was able to memorize. I remember 2πr^2= Area. 2π*r= Circumference. What I can’t recall is why? It was simply a constant that helped us solve problems from a textbook. Today, I still can’t pinpoint its relevance to the real world. Perhaps it doesn’t require relevance to any other field than physics, architecture, or space exploration, but I’m still curious. I’m quite a practical person.

On Friday, our school will hold π day. Students will eat pies, form a massive π to be photographed, and compete to memorize the infinite number to as many digits as their mind allows. Last year, the record was over 500. But I’m wondering if this is what π day should be all about.

Memorizing 500 digits in the correct sequential order is an amazing feat no matter how you look at it, but I wonder if it translates into true understanding of the concept. Will they forget the digits by next month?

In a practice session I stumbled across, a student rattled off the first 200 digits of Pi with barely a pause for air. I asked the student why π was useful. He paused for a brief moment, shrugged his shoulders, and said “I don’t know.” Really, I don’t want to downplay what he had accomplished, because it was extraordinary, but I wonder if it translated into real learning.

I believe as educators we need to redefine the definition of rigor. Rigor is not completing 5 AP courses or memorizing abstract principles. Rigor is applying abstract concepts to real world situations. “True genius lies not in making the simple abstract, but in making the abstract simple.” Howard Gardner in “Five Minds for the Future” talks about this kind of disciplined mind. The “disciplined mind” is able to clarify and simplify an unfamiliar discovery in terms of a concept they have already studied. Yet, when cognitive researchers examined a nationwide cross- section of secondary students, they found most students lacking this kind of thinking. In fact, what they found was that those who at one point studied the concept, gave the same answer regarding the unfamiliar discovery as those who have never taken the relevant courses.

For example, a group is asked to explain the possible scenarios of a missing Flight, let’s say it’s the Flight 3307 that never landed in Beijing. There are a few clues left behind. A part of the fuselage lies in a jungle. Some fuel tracks stain the South China Sea. And two passports went missing in Thailand two years prior.  A group that took a course on aviation or airline catastrophe would be just as likely to stumble across the possible scenarios as a group that hadn’t.

You see, the disciplined mind knows how to problem solve. This is the higher order thinking. They begin asking the right questions.

How were the two passports lost in the first place?

Do communication systems ever fail on their own?

What could cause an electronic malfunction of this magnitude?

Can planes fly below radar? If so, what is that altitude?

Was the plane checked? If so, when? Were there repairs made?

Who were the passengers who used the stolen passports? Do these passengers have a criminal record?

For the five people who were “no- shows,” why did they miss their flight?

You see, the disciplined mind need not know a thing about aviation, mechanical engineering, or how to fly a plane, they must simply know how to ask the right questions.

On π day tomorrow, I’m hoping that someone will be able to make the abstract simple.

Tony

Tony is like most 12 year olds. He is a kid with a vivid imagination who likes hands on projects. Can school adapt to his needs?

This video used close to 300 images and was shot over the course of three hours. It was created entirely by students with only the “Futures Academy” writing in the middle and the end inputed by myself. I recruited a talented 8th grade videographer, artist and director. You will see their names displayed in the credits.

These are the kind of projects I see Futures Academy students engaging in next year!