The Dr Pepper view v's Guerilla Innovation

I'm just sitting at Berlin airport after the 2010 Innovative Education Forum. I know that this phrase is often over used, but I found the event inspiring. The main reason for this was that the focus was firmly on innovation in learning, rather than innovation with technology. I plan to post a few ideas in the next few days. This post is about some of the reflections that I have had over the past few hours.

First of all though, many congratulations to Jan Webb and Simon Horleston. You can read about their excellent projects over on Partners in Learning.

Over the event it struck me that it's our role, both as a school leaders and as an innovators, to help our teams to overcome the Dr Pepper question. I think that many barriers stand in the way of change because people start with asking 'What's the worst that could happen?' This approach means that often, change is seen as too risky. So have can educational leaders stop people from asking the Dr Pepper question?

I'm not claiming to now the answer, or that what follows is either new or innovative. In fact, I think that it goes on in schools all of the time. However, my time at #IEF_2010 cleared my thinking on this issue. I love Ollie Bray's Star Trek Principle; the determination of Jan in moving change forward; the mix of realism and optimism of Jim Wynn's keynote and the changes that are taking place in Ireland (more on all of those later). These people and the many others that I met (including @w2YDAvid ) have got me thinking about the answer.

I think that Guerilla Innovation is the way forward. The way to overcome the barriers, especially where a person (or people) is blocking the way. By Guerilla Innovation, I mean make changes, gather evidence and then share that evidence as widely as possible. This is nothing new, but how can we reach audiences other than those who are connected?

Thanks also go to Dan from the Geography Collective. He had the idea of Guerilla Geography. Guerilla Innovators do not ask 'What's the worst that can happen?' Instead they ask 'What if?'

For example, think of the rules of Assessment. Assessment (in the UK at least) rules are:

Mainly written
Formal
Doesn't allow cheating
Time controlled
Doesn't allow the use of mobile phones
Has set content
Focuses mainly on knowledge
You must have a grade

So what if we did away with grades and assessed pupils via an interview panel where they were allowed to access social media?

Again, nothing new, but how do we share and get others to follow suit?

Guerilla Innovators aim to influence as many people as possible. My aim from now on is to reach as many people as possible. I'm also going to start at school. I'm going to start with the most difficult, as well as sharing with those that are open minded. I'm also going to ensure that, like the IEF, the focus is on learning, not technology. Scary, that sounds a little like a Guerilla Innovation manifesto ;-)

This all may be old news to some.

I'm not wearing a Gorilla outfit though ;-)

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge. I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post. I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff. If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey. As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others. Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up. I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions. From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment. From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die. How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach? Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment is not always conducive to profound

The danger of Teaching and Twitter conversations: poorly formed bipolar arguments.

Sometimes in life, there really are only two options. Get the wrong one and you can look like a muppet. Take this useful sign for the toilets in Morocco. I successfully navigated it, choosing the right option. The result? No egg on my face. As a mountain leader, there are many right or wrong decisions that I’ve faced, as there are all over life. It’s not a good idea to let inexperienced young people walk themselves down Snowdon. They may die or be seriously injured. If someone is showing the signs and symptoms of hyperthermia, you need to treat it fast in a specified way. There is no real arguing with this sign: Other options are less obvious. Take this sign recently spotted near to where I live: Now, I wouldn’t consider sleeping in a bin. However, faced with a sub-zero night, I could see the appeal. The danger? Being tipped into one of those huge lorries with a compactor. (by the way, I only really considered all of this thanks to questions from my four year old boy).

David Rogers

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