Change is necessary and it is hard to get going, but once the momentum kicks in there is little stopping the energy for change. The key for any leader is to be able to keep going in the early stages until leading change becomes energising. You will know because: The desired culture is evident andContinueContinue reading “Making Change Stick: Three ways a leader builds momentum”
Category Archives: Innovation and Creativity
The principles of Making Change Stick: Its more ‘mud map’ than ‘blueprint’
One of the things I love to do is work with groups, speak about change and present ways of navigating a path that will transform schools and engage this generation. Because my role at Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning (SCIL) is embedded in Northern Beaches Christian School (NBCS), I use the school’s experience asContinueContinue reading “The principles of Making Change Stick: Its more ‘mud map’ than ‘blueprint’”
Back to basics? Time to redefine ‘basics’ for the 21st century
The headline in the newspaper cries: ‘Tests show NSW [Australia] students behind in everything except spelling’ …followed by: the state’s new education chief promised she will order schools to get “back to basics” – as tests showed NSW is behind other states in everything except spelling This is the reaction in my state and myContinueContinue reading “Back to basics? Time to redefine ‘basics’ for the 21st century”
Making change stick: The important ‘unseen’ in a culture of innovation
Highly innovative and creative contexts can be challenging in the day-to-day, so success for the long haul depends on a strong foundation of policies and practices that provide the scaffolding for change, innovation and creativity occur. We all sit somewhere along the innovation and change continuum. At one end, some thrive in a free-fall andContinueContinue reading “Making change stick: The important ‘unseen’ in a culture of innovation”
Why do we continue to use 20th Century spaces for 21st Century learning/working?
The classroom is a relic, left over from the Industrial Revolution, which required a large workforce with very basic skills. Classroom-based education lags far behind when measured against its ability to deliver the creative and agile workforce that the 21st century demands. This quote is from Prakash Nair in a commentary in Education Week*. InContinueContinue reading “Why do we continue to use 20th Century spaces for 21st Century learning/working?”
Making change stick: Is your school a learning community?
The question almost sounds ridiculous. Is your school a learning community? Students may be learning, but is it a community learning? This is significant for schools in a couple of ways: 1. Students are immersed in an environment where learning is modelled as a key value at every level. There are numerous lists of skillsContinueContinue reading “Making change stick: Is your school a learning community?”
My top 10: Building a Culture of Teams
I presented a workshop today about building a culture of teams at a workshop at the CSA National Leaders Conference. We put the ‘work’ into workshop. We talk about the 21stC skills that our students need to navigate the future, yet who are they going to learn them from? If schools expect to prepareContinueContinue reading “My top 10: Building a Culture of Teams”
Making Change Stick: Five priorities of an effective team
Build a Culture of Teams The team is always going to be greater than the sum of its parts. We all benefit from PD in action all day every day. (Teacher at NBCS) Creative and innovative organisations value strong team culture. Quality key relationships reinforce a culture of teams throughout the entire school – when a school’sContinueContinue reading “Making Change Stick: Five priorities of an effective team”
My Top 10: Making change stick
Implementing and then maintaining lasting change in your school occurs by design, not by default. We want to transform our education system into one that can effectively prepare young people for the many opportunities that await them. To do this change and innovation must become an integral part of the corporate DNA. Transforming schools isContinueContinue reading “My Top 10: Making change stick”
What’s the difference between the ‘Open Classroom’ of the 1970s and ‘Open Space’ learning today?
Students working in multi-age groups Teachers as coaches Teams of teachers worked collaboratively with one another Spaces reconfigured to for large and small group projects and individual work Architects commissioned to design schools without walls. Teachers given discretion to create new academic courses Students direct their own learning. This sounds like the types of learningContinueContinue reading “What’s the difference between the ‘Open Classroom’ of the 1970s and ‘Open Space’ learning today?”
culture | learning | design 