I just finished reading Tony Wagner's Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People who will Change the World. With every great, inspiring book I read, I feel a sense of urgency to reinvent my vision of teaching and learning. Not that all I've believed about schooling has changed, but I certainly feel challenged and refreshed by Wagner's findings and conclusions about today's school settings. Wagner shares numerous stories about recent innovators to show the importance of play, passion and purpose - 3 words that I had not yet connected to teaching and learning in the way Wagner does.
By studying what he called their ecosystems, Wagner discovered that these recent innovators were given the time & space to play. This play time cultivated a passion for a particular area of study - i.e. sea turtles, 3D design, etc. As these young innovators worked more closely with a mentor (sometimes a teacher but not always), the passion for the topic begin taking on a purpose to make a difference in the lives of others. It seems no coincidence that the majority of these innovators attended Montessori schools - where play at an early schooling age is encouraged. The parents of these innovators also recognized the importance of the children discovering their unique, individual interests. Parents did not micromanage each second of the child's life, but merely remained observant to what interested the child and gently nudged them to pursue opportunities within this interest. Do we value the same time and space in schools that cultivates this play/passion/purpose?
Wagner's book dealt a great deal with reinventing schooling at the college level, and he did share a few stories about innovating learning at the high school level. I think it is crucial to disrupt and innovate both educational institutions simultaneously. Often times, high school teachers will boast about how well their students are prepared for college. What if the colleges we are sending our students, however, are not preparing our students for the real-world? What if these colleges we so well prepare our students for are still preparing students for an industrial world where finding work means merely having a breadth of knowledge? What if these same colleges that our students do so well in only require students to acquire knowledge and skills that can be regurgitated on a single, subject-area test? Is the fact that students do well in college a true indicator of a high school's effectiveness? We will not do a good job of educating our high school students if we do not also prepare those who choose to purpose the rigor of college. However, the higher-ed folks must recognize that the learning happening in their schools must also reflect the demands of our global society.
I am on a quest - a focused study I guess - of what it takes to make a great high school into an even greater place of learning and teaching. We must continue to question our beliefs, traditions and practices to ensure that every student who walks through our doors has the opportunity - not by chance but by design - to play, find his/her passion, and discover a purpose in making a difference.
What ideas can you share to disrupt and reinvent our current high schools so they cultivate this idea of play/passion/purpose? Please comment below.
