I had some time this week to read quite a bit into the "innovators" book and I have to say that it was rough reading at first, only because much of the intro and fist chapter focused on building buy in and credibility. I am already sold on the concept, a true believer.
So as I read, I took notes. When I sat down to flesh out a blog response I found that there are 3 P's that go into the realizing of a true innovator, personality, parenting, and play.
I am almost certain of the order of development, but since I am not an expert I will begin with the beginning... personality. I have always believed that a child is born with a predisposition of nature that is either smoothed over or roughed up depending on the next P: Parenting. According to the author, an innovator needs to be possessed of a nature that is optimistic, collaborative, empathetic, able to accept and even master mistakes and criticism. It makes total sense that the more open and flexible an individual is the more likely they are to become an innovator.
Again, the author expands his research outward to parenting as another key ingredient for a successful innovator. Taking the individual that comes with all or even most of the above mentioned personality traits or key dispositions one can also be nurtured into the complete package through a Montessori style learning environment both at school and home. The author speculates that the individual he is referencing not only had a well rounded nature, but his parents were also of the nature to encourage alternate means of self expression and educational discovery. The father spoke of how he approached parenthood as a case study that he himself learned through trial and error. There were some humorous failures and some stunning successes, and much like the innovator he raised, the father (and mother) embraced parenting on a very deep and committed level.
Another portion of the parenting element that was interesting and impacting was that the parents had "...no assumption about what he was to become other than the expectation that he would peruse his passion." The parents supported this by having set protocols for bedtime, reading, homework, and play. Play turns out to be another key tool in the development of an innovator.
The author really focused in on the importance of the kids playing, and the parents encouragement of personal discovery. the author stated that play was a huge element of developing innovators. I found the parents belief that their kids needed to "get bored in order to figure out how to become un-bored." fascinating and very true. In my own household we do not have cable TV, we have a similar night of the week where we watch BBC television together, fold laundry, eat pizza and do nothing. This family had a super clear balance between structured time and unstructured. That flows directly to the child's educational journey that took on a very similar pattern of structure and unstructured, following passions until they led him to the innovators capital, Apple.
So personality, parenting and play are the necessary tri-fecta to raising and encouraging a true innovator.
I am reminded of an article I read in Outside magazine called "We Don't Need No Education" about the unschooling phenomenon in which parents allow their children to have total autonomy over their day and explore their interests in the natural world in a homeschool setting. One of the important takeaways from the article for me was that the featured children (as well as others) were consistently described as confident, curious, and creative - all adjectives equally applicable to Kirk who had (and endured) much more structured learning experiences. The writer made an interesting argument to parents who thought that they were depriving their children of educational opportunities and a traditional track toward a successful career. He agreed that they were depriving their children of the traditional learning experience, but that every parent makes a choice to deprive their children of something (freedom and self-directed learning), and his would be the structure and risk-aversion of institutionalized learning. I wonder if Kirk would not have enjoyed and benefited from the unschooling movement? I also hope that PBL is the middle ground between unschooling and traditional learning.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly what I am hoping for. today I had my students write a letter as if they were settlers in the New World and it was like the "Cows that had never been out to pasture" example. I gave them framework and they questioned me and read up, and then questioned some more and then I said "JUST WRITE" and by the end we were laughing and amazed with and by each other. they things they write. I had settlers that were in the midst of writing and then...were killed by natives or fell asleep with a burning fever and had just awoke still weak (malaria). I am with you structure is necessary, creativity is too, the two shall meet in our classrooms!
DeleteGreat entry...lots of get ponderings here! Thank you for your questions. Yes, I too believe that all things must be in balance. Too much freedom is not necessarily a good thing, nor is too much structure. There must be a good balance between the two. This also echoes the idea that effective teaching is a balance between of an art and science. And so is life...a balance between work and play, rest and productivity, social activity and personal time.
ReplyDeleteWithin the classroom, I believe we must allow for exploration and discovery. Should this be completely unstructured? No, not necessarily. Perhaps some but again within balance. As professionals, our work functions in the same way. Yes, we have a structure purpose for our learning (often determined by the current initiatives of our school) but we also like to extend this learning into other possibilities that include things outside the realm of organizational initiatives. So, it is for our students.
Thank you again for your continued thinking and reflecting of these ideas and how they can be applied or considered within your own practice!