by andrew@learnedleadership.org | Apr 25, 2013 | Leadership News
WHEN Tony Wagner, the Harvard education specialist, describes his job today, he says he’s “a translator between two hostile tribes” — the education world and the business world, the people who teach our kids and the people who give them jobs. Wagner’s argument in his book “Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World” is that our K-12 and college tracks are not consistently “adding the value and teaching the skills that matter most in the marketplace.” This is dangerous at a time when there is increasingly no such thing as a high-wage, middle-skilled job — the thing that sustained the middle class in the last generation. Now there is only a high-wage, high-skilled job. Every middle-class job today is being pulled up, out or down faster than ever. That is, it either requires more skill or can be done by more people around the world or is being buried — made obsolete — faster than ever. Which is why the goal of education today, argues Wagner, should not be to make every child “college ready” but “innovation ready” — ready to add value to whatever they do. That is a tall task. I tracked Wagner down and asked him to elaborate. “Today,” he said via e-mail, “because knowledge is available on every Internet-connected device, what you know matters far less than what you can do with what you know. The capacity to innovate — the ability to solve problems creatively or bring new possibilities to life — and skills like critical thinking, communication and collaboration are far more important than academic knowledge. As one...
by andrew@learnedleadership.org | Nov 2, 2012 | Entrepreneurial Learning, Leadership News
I’m very excited to announce a new phase in the development of Learn[ed]Leadership. Through many conversations with school leaders around the world as well as ideas sparked from readings by Tony Wagner, Michael Fullen, and others. I’d like to humbly introduce Entrepreneurial Learning, a multi-level and multiple disciplinary project-based approach to learning. Although still a little rough around the edges, it’s my hope that the concepts of Entrepreneurial Learning can help schools partner with their local communities to develop realistic learning opportunities that empowers students to choose their learning objectives and spark the innovative learner so many of us are talking about. A vital part of the Entrepreneurial Learning curriculum is its connection with the website entrepreneuiral-learning.com, which should be operational within the next few months. This website will serve as a base for schools and communities who use project-based learning to share stories, gather resources and sharpen the effectiveness of the program. Please click here to connect to the new Entrepreneurial Learning section and to learn more about the different phases of the...
by andrew@learnedleadership.org | Oct 2, 2012 | Leadership News
Earlier this summer I announced the exciting news that Learn[ed]Leadership had been granted the opportunity to host a workshop at the EARCOS Leadership Conference this November in Kuala Lumpur. I’m pleased to update those of you who plan to attend, that in addition to Tim Carr from Jakarta International School and Jim Koerschen from Concordia International School Shanghai, Steve Dare from Hong Kong Academy and Bambi Betts from AISH and the Principal Training Center have also agreed to sit on our leadership panel. As of now the Leadership Symposium workshop will be hosted on Saturday, November 3 at 3:30 in conference room Kedah. Please join us to learn more from these experienced leaders in international education including their challenges, triumphs and other observations, as well as take questions from the audience. More details about the Leadership Symposium can be found here. I look forward to seeing you at the workshop next...
by andrew@learnedleadership.org | Sep 16, 2012 | Leadership News
In case you’re not familiar with Caine’s Arcade I’ll give you a little background. A couple months ago a film maker in LA stopped by a used car parts store to pick something up. When he arrived he discovered the owner’s son Caine had commandeered the front of the shop and transformed it into and arcade full of simple cardboard games (you know the ones you used to make when you were a kid). Inspired by Caine’s ingenuity and entrepreneurship the film maker coordinated with friends, Caine’s dad, and social media to mob Caine’s Arcade with customers…and of course as a film maker he made a film (click here to view) from it that went viral and has been seen all over the world. Since then, the Caine’s Arcade group has come up with a follow up film and used the money and inspiration raised by the first film to create the Imagination Foundation, a organization designed to spur entrepreneurship and innovation in kids. You’re better off watching the video then listening to me explain it. Watching the new film got me thinking about whether we doing enough to push kids to innovate? I’d like to think yes, but it might be more helpful and truthful if we try to identify the truly innovative things we’ve seen our students do. Can you do that? Hopefully? Although I’m sure there is some innovative stuff going on at our schools (just off the top of my head I can think of IS Bangkok’s Invention Center), I fear that many of our students are simply on their predestined path to university and...
by andrew@learnedleadership.org | Sep 5, 2012 | Leadership News
The ideas in this article aren’t new to most of us, but I think it’s a good reminder that great leaders empower others. However, do you think as a leader you could be disconnected from your school for two-weeks to go on vacation? I’m not sure we’d all be able to confidently do this, but it’s a good idea for you heads of school out there. In many ways the need to give space for others to act is similar to a something I witnessed in my class the other day. During a student led discussion with 10th graders I noticed that 3 students were dominating the conversation in an attempt fill the silence by their classmates, or in an unsuccessful attempt to spark a thought in someone else. A noble idea, but it wasn’t until I gave these chatty students a 5-minute “no talking penalty” that the discussion finally pulled everyone in as the dominate speakers were forced to watch. Do you or some of your colleagues need to be ‘forced to watch’ for a few weeks to allow others a chance to step up? Editor’s note: J. Keith Murnighan is Harold H. Hines Jr. distinguished professor of risk management at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and author of the recent book, “Do Nothing! How to Stop OverManaging and Become a Great Leader.” (CNN) — Far too many leaders do too much. Does this include you? If you can’t take a two-week vacation without your cell phone, your laptop and your tablet, it probably does. Don’t get me wrong — this is not unusual. Instead, it’s...
by andrew@learnedleadership.org | Aug 27, 2012 | Leadership News
“What the world cares about is not what you know, but what you can do with what you know, and that is a completely different education problem. Then the question becomes do you have the skill, and do you have the will to use the knowledge you have acquired?” Tony Wagner’s words and passion for innovation and entrepreneurship ring true with many things I’m finding in the world of education around me. Take a look at his recent TEDx talk. It will be 15 minutes well spent. Is your school creating innovators? What’s been the catalyst? What’s standing in the...
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