Assembled elements for html print. Here we stop short of reading the actual pages.
Here is Jess's unfolding story: It's Not Okay — Lean in, I’m going to tell you a story. My story.
Seen, Heard, Transformed — I endured many years of fitting in before I was able to begin returning to myself. My transformation was ignited by the very place that initially quietened me - school.
The Soil — I am an educator at Griffin State School. It's a transformational school. It's a special place.
Conscious Cultivation — Opening a bright, shiny, new school with state-of-the-art facilities and a budding community to shape was no easy feat but Vicki set out the way she intended to finish, with strong relationships and by putting the people first.
The Griffin Way — A phrase that reminds us of our culture, commitments and accountability in a snapshot.
Intentional Language — Language has played a significant role in the Griffin State School story. From very early on in our journey, we recognised the power that language had in creating a different school environment and its role in cultivating school culture.
Enculturation — Ron Ritchhart describes enculturation as the process of gradually internalising the messages and values that we repeatedly experience through our interaction with the social environment. It is said that this internalisation takes time as we identify the messages and values that are consistent and reoccurring in our environment.
Mantras, Artefacts, Rituals and Traditions — In a sense, our mantras, artefacts, rituals and traditions ‘brand’ us. They allow others to see, hear and feel what we stand for. They communicate our strong sense of identity and create a sense of belonging.
Keepers of the Culture — Culture is contagious. It catches on, both positively and negatively, spreading like wildfire. Elements that individuals let in or let go of spread, easily creeping in and fading away in the blink of an eye. This understanding is why we talk about being Keepers of the Culture at Griffin. We know it’s all too easy for a culture to shift negatively or to lose parts that you hold dearly if you’re slack on the upkeep.
Wonder and Wander — In 2016 when Griffin opened, I was a confident teacher, self-assured in my practice but with a yearning for something, a perturbation rumbling. Sounds a bit cheesy but it’s true. Perhaps that’s why I was intrigued by Vicki’s mention of Inquiry-Based Learning in the early days of Griffin. I had been experimenting with more ‘Fun Friday’ in my day for a few years at this point, recognising that I was on the verge of becoming stagnant and endeavouring to shun that fate. I just hadn’t quite found the alternate – or realised that I needed to shift my minds
Learning-Orientated — Classrooms are interesting habitats. Twenty-five (or more!), little humans and one adult growing and learning together for over twenty hours a week. They construct a micro-culture of their own. Each with their own daily actioned routines, accepted ways of interacting and upheld beliefs carried out, consciously or not.
Under the Influence — My first classroom was beautiful. Colourful and labelled and matching and themed. A place for everything and everything in its right place. Resources I managed, displayed and protected.
Inquiry Stance — Inquiry is a ubiquitous approach at Griffin. It is our unwavering vision for learning and is consciously woven into every aspect of our culture. An inquiry stance is more than just harnessing Inquiry-Based Learning. In everything we do, we deliberately ask, ponder, wonder and talk about ideas.
The Curious Child — During our preparation to open Griffin State School in 2015, Vicki connected us to the Curiosity and Powerful Learning (CPL) Brisbane network. Authored by Wayne Craig and Professor David Hopkins and published by McRel International, CPL is a school improvement process with curiosity at its core. Our continued work with Wayne Craig and the network has broadened our understanding about the nature of curiosity and how we might best harness it as a powerful tool for learning.
Beginning to DIG — During the peak of our 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, the staff at Griffin were hooked by a new journey. One that awakened our wonder in ourselves, in each other and in the way learning could be further transformed for our learners.
The Shared Truth — Thompson says, as we awaken wonder in ourselves, we awaken it in others; as we research, we become inspired; as we journey we are empowered as meaning-makers; once you feel the power of a DiG, you can’t un-feel it.
Griffin Kids DIG Learning — With our dominant themes defined, we set off to design and conduct experiments in our Year Four, Five and Six classrooms. Guided by our intention, 'to awaken wonder and harness the dominant themes', our teachers employed their own creative genius to weave in elements of the DiG that they thought they could manage or wanted to tinker with first. They were united in their desire to embrace the Designed InGenuity Learning Framework in their classrooms yet experimented differently.
Process Over Product — During a DIG learning journey, the focus is on intention and process, allowing the learning to have real purpose and meaning. Emphasis on the intention and the process, challenges how we usually construct learning opportunities, with a particular product in mind. Thompson uses the words of Lao Tzu to further define this notion- "If you tell me, I will listen. If you show me, I will see. But if you let me experience, I will learn."
The Emotional Journey — Intriguing artefacts are emerging out of our experimenting. We’re gauging an impact on class culture, learning through a DiG is changing the way learners interact with each other. Our teachers speak of learning communities empowered by higher levels of trust and connection. They’re noticing that their learners are more willing to take risks, to be vulnerable and uncomfortable in their learning. There’s a shift in their courage and confidence. Levels of engagement are changing profoundly for individuals.
Narrative Identity — One of the most profound impacts of the DiG learning framework that many of our teachers are noting is the shifting identity of learners. They are morphing into active learners who are empowered to reveal their hidden potential. This 'DiG thing' is changing how our learners see themselves and how our teachers see them, too.
Empowering Potential — Capturing the narrative identity of our learners has been an intriguing experiment. It has surprised us and delighted us but mostly led us to wonder. We used this data to initiate conversations with our learners about their potential with the hope of inspiring change, a shift in narrative identity.
The Linchpin — In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child.” Unleashing curiosity and valuing it as a crucial ingredient in engaged, purposeful learning is the beginning and end of our work at Griffin. We believe that without curiosity there is no joyful or deeply engaged learning. Curiosity is our linchpin; it drives learning, both for our learners and for ourselves.
Storytelling — The power of storytelling is understood in many cultures. For us at Griffin, we too value it's power. We repeatedly tell our stories in an effort to keep our culture thriving, speaking of the seeds that sprouted the trees we dwell under. If you have a willing ear, we'll tell you the stories of our manifestation, there are many.
Learners, Not Students — Our Bold Vision is just a 'bold vision' without our commitment to learning and action. In ambitiously striving to produce learners, not students, we too must transform. We too must be learners.
A Culture for Innovation — There is no recipe for innovation, no pathway illuminated, little guidance but mantras like the old ‘think outside the box’. Not always helpful in inspiring action. At Griffin we’ve been consciously noticing what is helpful, observing the conditions that inspire and support innovation in our staff. Interestingly, we are learning powerful lessons from the behaviour of schools of fish that are guiding us as we stimulate innovation; a new meaning for our mantra, ‘We all swim together’.
Purposeful Change — Change requires us to hover between order and chaos. To journey into that uncomfortable space where there’s unknown and uncertainty and often a lot of unanswered questions. It requires us to surrender somewhat. Surrender to the knowledge that chaos will enter our lives, hopefully only momentarily and in a way that we can manage, in order for growth to occur.
Stepping Into Potential — We all have particular educators we remember fondly. We likely have the privilege of being those people for many children, too. We remember those who were kind and funny and others who championed us and celebrated us as we journeyed.
Our Legacy — Our stories are powerful. They are our wisdom that often lies hidden within us. When we are called to reveal our stories by others, we are challenged to find our voice. We truly find our voice when we are empowered by others.
Constructive Discontent — I'm a constructive discontent. My friends have accused me of wearing the 'black hat' too often. I often have a healthy feeling of dissatisfaction with how things are, that things could be better, and I have the a desire to do something about the situation. I now understand that this feeling is the precursor to important creative breakthroughs, and tell my story to share some recent and life changing learnings.
Being Sorted — Schooling was designed with deliberate intent. To sort children for a contribution to an industrial world. The brightest to be offered higher levels of education so to be captains of industry, and to lead the church or military. The discarded, those who didn't 'make the grade' were destined to work in the mines, field and factories.
Papering Shame — Six years after leaving school, during which time i worked in finance, I received a Diploma of Teaching and three years further on I added a Bachelor of Education degree. Any redemption for my learning inadequacies wasn't felt. There was still a shame attached to my school results and a drive to prove 'them' wrong.
Self-confidence Stymied — There is another thread to my schooling story that also reduced my confidence. The transition from a small primary school where I knew many of the students as friends, to what was at the time the largest secondary school in Queensland, was difficult.
Boys in an Industrial World — I am an introvert and, like many I suspect, have felt the insecurities that come with not being seen, and the debilitation of the imposter syndrome.
Dobbiamo Fare — My Dad passed away recently. He slowly declined over years with the cruel theft Parkinson's Disease inflicts on the body. It was a devastating decline for a sportsman and journalist. In life Dad was a gentleman and a gentle man and to a large extent risk adverse. I felt his dreams were not realised and aspirations not met. I wonder what his contribution might have been.
Finding Courage — I have been challenged to go deeper as I reflect on what may have contributed to me inhibiting my full creative potential. I have attempted to prove myself through career promotions and collecting qualifications. But what still persists is a feeling my potential is yet to be fully released, and my dent in the universe is still to be made.
The Power of the Status Quo — Schooling is a social construct and the often described lack of change to how schools have been constructed and operate can be attributed to our collective understanding of what schools 'look like'.
Fast and Remarkable — In 1903 the first powered flight took place in Kitty Hawk, a small town in the United States. The Orville and Wilbur Wright story is folklore, and the story of flight illustrates human capacity to innovate. Within four decades of that first flight advances had enabled the production of the powerful, 700 km per hour, highly manoeuvrable P-51 Mustang fighter. It was an amazing and beautiful piece of human engineering.
Frustratingly Stubborn — Many years ago I was offered the opportunity to contribute to a new innovative teacher education program
My Why — I find being perfectly clear about one's purpose is no simple a task. My childhood dream was to be an architect. I didn't get accepted in the first round offers and accepted a university place in business. Before finishing I had a job in finance and it was a couple of years later I returned to university to prepare for teaching.
Aligning of the Planets — When I talk about an ‘aligning of the planets’ I’m referring to that rare occasion in which a number of factors, perhaps seemingly unrelated, support a particular outcome. Securing a new position created by the Queensland Association of State School Principals (QASSP) was once such aligning of the planets for me. The new position brought together my passion for learning, my experience as a principal, business experience and qualifications, nearly four years in the tertiary sector and a love of design (a point I will return to). I thought I was made for
Learning Architect — What I find great meaning in is being in the service of others, and in particular of their learning, and especially when that learning is collective.
Designing Experiences — Introverted as I am, I've always enjoyed leading others to experience learning. Discovering things, and then sharing that discovery, is a joy to me. An example, and fond memory of mine from my past, is taking groups on night walks in the tropical rainforests of North Queensland, getting everyone to turn torches off, and listening to the responses of wonderment and awe as eyes adjusted and the luminescent fungi dominated the forest floor.
Learning Generosity — Learning Generosity is a willingness to facilitate a colleague's professional curiosity. It is to say ‘yes’ to a request for information, knowledge, to share. It does means taking a risk, to be vulnerable, because opening a school to outsiders has the potential for assessment, evaluation and judgement.
NOII — (now NOIIE) In early 2016 a fortuitous meeting occurred at Queensland’s Noosa Heads. Learning First had just released the report Beyond PD: Professional Learning in High Performing Systems (Jensen, Sonnemann, Roberts-Hull & Hunter, 2016). This report had identified British Columbia as the highest performing English speaking jurisdiction in the PISA rakings (first for reading, second for mathematics and third for science, above the Canadian average and well ahead of Australia) and had attributed this high performance to the collaboration and professional learning app
What Motivates Complex Work — The 2017 QASSP International Study Tour that travelled to British Columbia to learn more about NOII highlighted the similarities between the province and my state of Queensland. Similar populations, socio economic circumstances, colonial past impacting first nations people… the ah ha moment came when considering the motivation for improvement. The ah ha moment for me came when considering the motivation for the improvement in British Columbia. The Networks of Inquiry and Innovation were self-organizing, independent and unfunded groups of educators across
Dayton Experienced — This was another fortuitous meeting for me. This one occured in April 2019 in Dayton, Oregon. I had organised QASSP's third study tour to the USA to investigate the impact of technology on education. The tour had visited Apple Park, the ALT School and Stanford University, and was to visit the University of Oregon, and Microsoft and Amazon in Seattle.
The Pivot — Following the success for the 2019 QASSP Study Tour, and the wonderings about what was experienced in Dayton, the 2020 Study Tour was to investigate how schooling systems were responding to a changing world, investigating collaboration, agile, inquiry and design thinking. We had planned to have Thompson Morrison and Jami Fluke meet the group in San Francisco.
Designed InGenuity (DIG) — **Designed inGenuity (DIG)** is a learning framework for the creative mind.
Accepted and Respected — Psychological safety is an important factor in team performance. Its how members of the group feel about their contribution to the group without fear of damage to their self image, status or career. That is is safe to take risks giving individuals the courage and confidence to act.
Pondering the Path — What have I learned from opening Multiple Windows into what's happening out of sight over the last few years, and especially from the windows opened on study tours? There are some key learnings for me and the most obvious is schooling is not the same as schooling.
Learning Rather Than Schooling — Schooling was designed for sorting children to meet the needs of an industrial society. It has been evaluated by measuring a narrow range of outcomes, be that students, or schools, by measurement and rankings. The international movement to improve schooling basically underpinned by economic drivers, is focused on application of particular strategies, often decided upon at a policy or system level. It requires convergence on a particular outcome and my experience is this places principals and teachers in an environment of control and compliance.
Rhythm, Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose, Safety — As discussed earlier British Columbia is a high performing system. One of the features of this system is the existence of a voluntary network of educators with a clear purpose. The networks use a 'spiral of inquiry' in a drive to understand an identified issue and improve learning and life outcomes for their students. It is an iterative process of checking, scanning, focusing, developing a hunch, learning and taking action.
Meso Level Activity — The macro level in education is where politicians play, and where bureaucrats set policy and funding methodology. It is the place where standardised testing, improvement initiatives, system comparisons have become important, and therefore where the performance of principals and teachers is considered. The macro in our education systems is largely about control, compliance and setting direction. Its born of an industrial worldview. By its DNA it overlooks the potential in the middle levels of the education system to actually deliver the learning because o
Lead Differently — I am reluctant to promote a new leadership model. When I walk through the isles of 'Leadership and Management' in the local book store the panacea for 'better' leadership are abundant. In education also there are many to consider: Instructional Leadership, Imperfect Leadership, Participatory Leadership, Student-Centered Leadership, Fierce Leadership, servant Leadership...
Leaders as Learners — Its no longer what you know that is important, its how fast you learn with others that will make the difference in our world. The outdated belief we can engineer an outcome, take a top down, directive approach, is no longer the way forward. It may have severed us well but we are no longer in the industrial age. The world has changed and the evidence is clear that its not improving outcomes for students, not in a way that warrants the level of investment of human and financial capital.
A New Narrative — The power of story telling is evident throughout human history. Human beings are literally hardwired for narratives. For millennia, stories have bound communities, transferred traditions and built culture.
Courage Found — Picasso said the path to youth takes a lifetime. I've found my youth, and with a wisdom that is building confidence. This newfound courage at this stage of life's journey delights me. It's the rediscovery of the Beginners Mind, a liberation that has come with rediscovering the joy of being a learner rather than striving to be a knower, of being surprised and delighted by great ideas when good ideas collide. When learning comes alive.
Here is Thompson's story: Finding the Why — We learn, deeply learn, when there is a personal purpose that creates personal meaning.
Compulsive Questioning — I used to drive my Dad crazy. I remember the day he had enough.
Unfolding Wonder — Let's start here, pondering how it is that wonder unfolds. We wonder – that is at the core of our being.
The Black Hole — Light can't escape from a black hole. We sense that the traditional education model, one designed for another economy, is no longer orbiting a star, but instead, what now feels like a black hole – a star extinguished.
Technology of Thought — Before we further explore Descartes let's take a moment and reflect on the impact of a new technology that set the stage for his time, that of the modern printing press – a technology that gave individuals access to printed books at an unprecedented scale.
Taking Things Apart — Descartes felt that our intellectual authority was a divine gift. In fact, he believed that it was through a special gland in our brain, the pineal gland, that we had a direct connection to God, a connection that gave us the right to God's authority.
Other Knowing — While the Western Ways of Knowing, birthed by the Enlightenment and based on intellectual rationalism, has become preeminent we would be amiss if we did not name two others ways of knowing that are powerful and valuable in their own right, what we could call the Eastern Ways of Knowing and the Indigenous Ways of Knowing.
Sensing the Garden — As the 19th century was dawning, there was a sense, first voiced by artists and scientists in Germany and then in England and the rest of Europe, that there was something more mysterious to life than that which could be directly measured through instruments.
Genius Heard — We hear the word 'genius' and we think of those of exceptional intellectual or artistic prowess. These are individuals set apart from the rest of us, we who trudge through life with what are deemed 'normal' capacities.
A New Altar — Yes, this is a story about reimagining education. But before we get there, we have more of the cultural backstory to tell. A story that now leads us into the Industrial Age – a period that laid the foundation for our current education paradigm.
The Eliot Model — When our current education model was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was designed to produce a workforce for an industrial economy.
A New Era — We see a new creative economy emerging around the globe, one that is being empowered by computer technologies.
The Dawning — It has been said by some that we are at the dawn of a new era, one that might be called the Creativity Age.
Whitehead's Impact — For someone so little recognized today, one can't underestimate Whitehead's impact.
Imagination Unleashed — No longer bound to the constraints of a reality defined solely by causal relationships in a physical realm, Whitehead flung open the door to the potential of an unbounded imagination.
Poetic Magic — Influenced by Whitehead, Alonzo Church introduced lambda calculus in the 1930s, creating a framework that allowed mathematicians to develop abstractions of poetic meaning that felt magical.
Many Paths — Borges, a leader of a literary movement called 'magical realism', was exploring that creative potential which emerges then the boundaries of imagination and physical reality blur.
Verbs, Not Nouns — It's with David Bohm's writings that appeared in the 1950s that we begin to fully sense the potential inherent in Whitehead's speculative philosophy.
Sensing Surprise — The work of the neuroscientist Karl Friston has transformed our understanding of the brain. But the impact of his work is taking us much further, leading us to a deeper understanding of the very nature of learning.
Weaving Together — Wow, that was a lot. Let's take a moment and reflect on what we just learned as we briefly plunged into the thinking of not only Church, Borge, and Bohm, but also of Friston.
Dayton Revisited — When Jami Fluke and I started our partnership together, we defined an Audacious Aspiration, that of unleashing the Creative Genius of every student in her school.
Gobsmacking the Aussies — Jami knew that, when the delegation of twenty five Australian educators came to visit her school, there would be little time to share a very complex story.
Digging Deeper — No one expected it. When Covid hit Oregon in March of 2020, we were woefully unprepared. At the middle of March with three days notice, our schools were closed, just as spring vacation was about to begin.
Awakening Wonder — It has been said that our current education paradigm turns learners into students in the process that destroys innate curiosity and just produces, in the end, 'compliant learners'. Unfortunately, compliant learners are woefully unprepared for the complexity of the world they will be entering.
Experiencing Emergence — The essential experience of creative learning is the feeling of emergence.
Peeling the Onion — We are curious about this experience of learning. Why, we wonder, is this joy so powerful and becomes an experience that has a deep impact? A feeling that can't be unfelt.
Appreciating Friston — Earlier in this story, we introduced the thinking of four people who might, we hope, illuminate what is going on here at a deeper level. The last person mentioned was Karl Friston, the neuroscientist.
Sense Making — We are left wondering, what does this story mean as we ponder the Audacious Aspiration of reimagining education?
Magic Felt — As we end this story, it may be helpful to recall the words of Lao Tzu, spoken some 2,500 years ago:
preface
Preface will go here.
index 3 works
Index
work Jess's Story
Jess's Story ⬀
slug It's Not Okay
unavailable at this time
slug Seen, Heard, Transformed
unavailable at this time
slug The Soil
unavailable at this time
slug Conscious Cultivation
unavailable at this time
slug The Griffin Way
unavailable at this time
slug Intentional Language
unavailable at this time
slug Enculturation
unavailable at this time
slug Mantras, Artefacts, Rituals and Traditions
unavailable at this time
slug Keepers of the Culture
unavailable at this time
slug Wonder and Wander
unavailable at this time
slug Learning-Orientated
unavailable at this time
slug Under the Influence
unavailable at this time
slug Inquiry Stance
unavailable at this time
slug The Curious Child
unavailable at this time
slug Beginning to DIG
unavailable at this time
slug The Shared Truth
unavailable at this time
slug Griffin Kids DIG Learning
unavailable at this time
slug Process Over Product
unavailable at this time
slug The Emotional Journey
unavailable at this time
slug Narrative Identity
unavailable at this time
slug Empowering Potential
unavailable at this time
slug The Linchpin
unavailable at this time
slug Storytelling
unavailable at this time
slug Learners, Not Students
unavailable at this time
slug A Culture for Innovation
unavailable at this time
slug Purposeful Change
unavailable at this time
slug Stepping Into Potential
unavailable at this time
slug Our Legacy
unavailable at this time
work David's Story
David's Story ⬀
slug Constructive Discontent
unavailable at this time
slug Being Sorted
unavailable at this time
slug Papering Shame
unavailable at this time
slug Self-confidence Stymied
unavailable at this time
slug Boys in an Industrial World
unavailable at this time
slug Dobbiamo Fare
unavailable at this time
slug Finding Courage
unavailable at this time
slug The Power of the Status Quo
unavailable at this time
slug Fast and Remarkable
unavailable at this time
slug Frustratingly Stubborn
unavailable at this time
slug My Why
unavailable at this time
slug Aligning of the Planets
unavailable at this time
slug Learning Architect
unavailable at this time
slug Designing Experiences
unavailable at this time
slug Learning Generosity
unavailable at this time
slug NOII
unavailable at this time
slug What Motivates Complex Work
unavailable at this time
slug Dayton Experienced
unavailable at this time
slug The Pivot
unavailable at this time
story Designed InGenuity (DIG)
Designed inGenuity (DIG) is a learning framework for the creative mind.
slug Accepted and Respected
unavailable at this time
slug Pondering the Path
unavailable at this time
slug Learning Rather Than Schooling
unavailable at this time
slug Rhythm, Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose, Safety
unavailable at this time
slug Meso Level Activity
unavailable at this time
slug Lead Differently
unavailable at this time
slug Leaders as Learners
unavailable at this time
slug A New Narrative
unavailable at this time
slug Courage Found
unavailable at this time
work Thompson's Story
Thompson's Story ⬀
story Finding the Why
We learn, deeply learn, when there is a personal purpose and personal meaning.
story Compulsive Questioning
I used to drive my Dad crazy – I remember the day he had enough. We were driving and he turned to me and said, with a sigh of exasperation, "Thompson, don't you ever stop asking why?"
story Unfolding Wonder
Let's start here, pondering how it is that wonder unfolds.
story The Black Hole
Light can't escape from a black hole.
story Technology of Thought
Before we further explore Descartes, let's take a moment and reflect on the impact of an invention that set the stage for his time, that of the modern printing press – a technology that gave individuals access to printed books at an unprecedented scale.
story Taking Things Apart
Descartes felt that our intellectual capacity was a divine gift. In fact, he believed that it was through a special gland in our brain, the pineal gland, that we had a direct connection to God, a connection that gave us the right to act as a conduit of God's authority.
story Other Knowing
Let's pause here.
story Sensing the Garden
Cracks in the universality of the mechanistic worldview birthed by the Enlightenment began to appear in the dawning of the 19th century.
story Genius Heard
We hear the word 'genius' and we think of those of exceptional intellectual or artistic prowess, those who are Profoundly Gifted. These are individuals set apart from the rest of us, we who trudge through life with what is deemed 'normal' capacities.
story A New Altar
Yes, this is a story about reimagining education. But before we get there, we have more of the cultural backstory to tell. A story that now takes us back to the Industrial Age – the period that created the foundation for our current education paradigm.
story The Eliot Model
Our current education model was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to produce a useful workforce for an industrial economy. Stop. Let me say that again: a 'useful workforce' for an 'industrial economy'.
story A New Era
We see a new creative economy emerging around the globe, one that is being empowered by new computer technologies.
story The Dawning
We find ourselves, at this moment in history, in the liminal stage of a new age, the Creativity Age. A liminal stage is a time of transition from one space or mindset to another – it's a time of uncertainty but also one of immense opportunity.
story Whitehead's Impact
Despite being little recognized today, one can't underestimate Whitehead's impact.
story Imagination Unleashed
No longer bound to the constraints of a reality defined solely by causal relationships in a physical realm, Whitehead flung open the door to the emergent potential of unbounded abstract imagination.
story Poetic Magic
Math is said to be the language of the universe. Through math, we hoped to describe the laws that govern all relationships – in math lies our aspiration for conceptual truth.
story Many Paths
Borges, a leader of a literary movement called 'magical realism', was exploring that creative potential that emerges when the boundaries of imagination and physical reality blur.
story Verbs, Not Nouns
It's with David Bohm's writings that appeared in the 1950s that we began to open the door further to the potential sensed in Whitehead's earlier speculative philosophy.
story Sensing Surprise
The work of the neuroscientist Karl Friston has transformed our understanding of the brain. But the impact of his current explorations is taking us much further, leading us to a deeper understanding of the very nature of learning.
story Weaving Together
Wow, that was a lot. Let's take a moment and reflect on what we just explored as we briefly plunged into the worlds of not only Church, Borge, and Bohm, but also of that of Friston, exploration inspired by the seminal work of Whitehead.
story Dayton Revisited
When Jami Fluke and I started our partnership together, we defined an Audacious Aspiration, that of unleashing the Creative Genius of every student in her school.
story Gobsmacking the Aussies
Jami knew that when a delegation of twenty-five Australian educators came to visit her school there would be little time to share a very complex story.
story Digging Deeper
No one expected it.
story Awakening Wonder
It has been widely said that our current education paradigm destroys innate curiosity and produces 'compliant learners' who are woefully unprepared for the complexity of the world they will be entering.
story Experiencing Emergence
The essential experience of creative learning is the feeling of emergence.
story Peeling the Onion
We are curious about this experience of learning. Why, we wonder, is this joy so powerful and becomes an experience that has a deep impact? A feeling that can't be unfelt.
story Appreciating Friston
Earlier in this story, we introduced the thinking of four people who might, we hope, illuminate the meaning of this journey at a deeper level. The last person mentioned was Karl Friston, the neuroscientist.
story Sense Making
We are left wondering, what does this story mean as we ponder the Audacious Aspiration of reimagining education?
story Magic Felt
As we end this story, it may be helpful to recall the words of Lao Tzu, spoken some 2,500 years ago:
index 50 pages, 7 with link slugs
marks Index
garden Active Inference
Neuroscientists are more deeply learning how we learn, casting new light on what Jean Piaget theorized.
garden Agile Mindset
Once someone has had the experience of Agile, they cannot unsee it, cannot unfeel it.
garden Audacious Aspiration
Change requires courage – innovation is not for the faint of heart. To be successful, one must become Comfortable being Uncomfortable.
garden Authentic Self
Who are we, really? Who are we when we emerge from the amour and disguises we use as protection? How would we show up if we walked in our truest selves?
garden Autopoietic Systems
An autopoietic system is a system that is capable of reproducing and sustaining itself.
garden Bayesian Belief Update
One of the leading models of how we learn is based on the groundbreaking work Karl Friston, an important contributor in the development of modern neuroscience.
garden Believing Eyes
Believing Eyes are powerful. They have the ability to influence us profoundly, to change us. When we are seen with Believing Eyes, we show up differently.
garden Cartesian Mindset
A page with 10 items.
garden Claim the Joy
Authentic learning is a joyful experience. It’s challenging but it vitalizes us, leaving us with more energy, not less.
garden Cognitive Horizon
We make sense of our life with the context of our known. Nietzsche referred to this as our 'horizon' - a _cognitive horizon_.
garden Cognitive Model
Consciousness uses a cognitive model, a model that is bounded by the experiences of the learner. In this sense, consciousness has a Cognitive Horizon beyond which the learner is not able to make meaning from chaotic information.
garden Comfortable being Uncomfortable
As someone embarks on a true learning journey, consider this rule number one: One must become comfortable being uncomfortable.
garden Compassionate Wisdom
We claim a commission, that of Reclaiming Humanity in our schools, in our society, in our world. A commission that guides us, challenges us, gives us courage to do the hard work of transformation.
garden Confident Courage
Walking a path of deep learning challenges us to walk outside our existing schema. By so doing, we must face our fear of chaos.
garden Control Planning
Control planning begins with the concept of the Gantt chart.
garden Creative Curiosity
Deep Learning begins with curiosity. When our curiosity is ignited, our minds are literally transformed as neurotransmitters activate key parts of our brain's analytical and memory areas. We are able to learn faster and retain what we are learning better.
garden Creative Genius
We typically think of genius as referring to people who are deemed by society as highly intelligent. They are set apart from the rest of us "normal" people. This understanding is based on the premise that intelligence can be accurately measured on a linear scale and that we can all be ranked by our relative intelligence.
garden Creative Thinking
We think of those times of creativity, walking into the Emergent Whitespace of our imagination.
garden Dancing at the Edge
We make new meaning at the edge of our current consciousness.
garden Deep Learning
We name that which we seek: _deep learning_.
garden Deep Listening
To listen deeply, we must listen with all of our senses. We must also listen with our hearts wide open.
garden Efficiency Movement
To understand why our schools are structured the way they are today, you have to go back to their roots, back to the early part of the 20th century when the Efficiency Movement was defining how industry and education leaders were thinking about system design. The Efficiency Movement was embraced by leaders in the United States, Britain and other industrial countries. This movement focused on increasing production efficiencies.
garden Emergent Whitespace
We continue to ponder the importance of 'whitespace', that space of potential, that space long recognized by Taoist and Buddhists as 'wu wei'.
garden Epistemic Foraging
Epistemic foraging, the process of seeking meaning in an unknown, is not only a core concept in Friston's Active Inference theory, it's also an essential element of the Agile Mindset.
garden Essence of Agile
The Essence of Agile is joy. The joy of discovery, the joy of learning, the joy of insight.
garden Eureka Moments
Eureka Moments are when an individual or a team has a sudden rush of insight that lays clear the solution to a complex problem or the answer to a perplexing question.
garden Eurocentric Worldview
While many have gained mightily from the fruit of the Scientific Revolution and Industrialism, we have begun to more deeply appreciate the constricts of the worldview that birthed it. A worldview that justified not only colonialism but also repressive control of others.
garden Fully Alive
We seek to become fully alive. It's not happiness that we seek, but meaning. Alive with meaning.
garden Hero's Journey
The hero’s journey is a monomyth that was first popularized by Joseph Campbell to describe the transformational journey that has been found in multiple epic stories through the ages – where a hero faces challenges, gains insight, and returns transformed.
garden Hidden Potential
As we look at complex systems – the human systems of schools and the computing systems of microservices – we wonder about that formless energy held 'below the surface' in what is called quantum potential.
garden Higher Purpose
A higher purpose is a goal that is bigger than any one individual, company or community – bigger than the system that is being transformed.
garden In & Out Demo
At the end of each sprint in The Dayton Practice, the student teams present their findings. These presentations are done through an In & Out Demo, a practice developed by Jenny for her Genius Hour class.
garden Indigenous Ways of Knowing
The western appreciation of first nations ways of knowing and doing is beginning to gain attention. Notions of ownership of land and things, connection to the land and the interrelatedness of all that live on it, and the importance of the collective deserve our attention.
garden Joyful Experimenting
Hacking is at the core of the agile mindset. The word ‘hacking’ these days often has a negative connotation – used to describe individuals who are trying to break into computer systems with evil intent.
garden Joyful Sandbox
One evening, with beers in our hands, we were reflecting on our journey. At the table with us was Ward Cunningham, one of the original signers of the Agile Manifesto.
garden Know the Problem
The reason that we fail is not because we are a failure – we fail because we don’t know the problem deeply enough. When crafting a solution, we are making too many assumptions that are incorrect.
garden Learn Faster
How fast we learn is critical for success. The faster we learn, the fast we can grow. We learn fastest in short, iterative Learning Cycles. Each cycle has three parts, planning, doing, reflecting.
garden Learning Confidence
Learning confidence is critical for the learning process itself – for Deep Learning.
garden Learning Cycles
The key to the transformative power of Agile is fast, iterative learning cycles. The learning cycle begins with an intention. Then a commitment, an action, and a reflection. Then it begins again. The intention may be a question. Or it may be a desired solution. This intention is best inspired when aligned to an Audacious Aspiration.
garden Natural Learning
Illuminated by the work of Karl Friston, we now recognize the natural process by which we learn, everything learns.
garden Paradigm Shift
The book itself represented a paradigm shift.
garden Profoundly Gifted
There are those who believe that intelligence can be measured, allowing us to compare and rank each other's capacity for thinking and creating. This belief has a relatively short history, reaching back only 150 years, back to Sir Francis Galton who used newly developed statistical tools to measure the potential for Creative Genius.
garden Psychological Safety
Being in a space of psychological safety feels like belonging. It is a space where we are lovingly held, we are heard and seen, a space where we can begin to be known. There is no fear here, for there is no judgement, just admiration and celebration.
garden Quantum Thinking
One where we experienced emergence – that emergence that Whitehead speaks of and then to make meaning as Friston speaks of in his theory of Active Inference.
garden Quixotic Quest
In 1605 Cervantes published the first volume of _Don Quixote_, a book that some consider the first modern novel, a novel of the creative imagination. With that book, the foundation of literary fiction was laid, stories where worlds are created that are "as real as but other than the world that is", to borrow words from John Fowles.
garden Super Teachers
Super Teachers are different. You'll know one when you meet one. Their Agile Mindset, dedication to relationships and Believing Eyes usually set them apart.
garden Taylorism
Tasks that could be broken down, put into a sequential order, and precisely timed. An approach that laid the foundation for Henry Ford's production lines. Production lines that become the model for production throughout the industrial economy, production that was managed through Control Planning.
garden The Dayton Practice
The Dayton Practice is a framework that adapted agile practices to the classroom. It was developed by a team of teachers at Dayton working with industry agilists and was developed into Designed inGenuity (DiG so that it could be shared with educators around the world.
garden Vega Rising
As we walk into this Audacious Aspiration, our steps are guided by a North Star – not a star we can clearly see but one we sense is emerging.
garden Walk into the Unknown
We love the comfort of the known. It is a place of belonging, of security, or order.
slug The Dayton Practice
Can't resolve: designed-ingenuity-dig
slug Deep Listening
Can't resolve: sensing-the-eddies, curiosity, meaning-makers
slug Know the Problem
Can't resolve: deep-truth, shadow-curtain
slug Fully Alive
Can't resolve: sensing-the-eddies
slug Compassionate Wisdom
Can't resolve: reclaiming-humanity, meaning-makers, the-stories-we-tell
slug Super Teachers
Can't resolve: hearts-and-minds
slug Quixotic Quest
Can't resolve: cultivating-ustawi