IMAGINATION, CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

The buzzwords in education circles recently are ‘Adaptive Learning’.  Computers are to analyze how a student responds to different presentation styles and serve up more of what works best. 'Adaptive learning is an educational method which uses computers as interactive teaching devices. Computers adapt the presentation of educational material according to students' learning needs, as indicated by their responses to questions and tasks.'   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_learning Sounds good so far. This should mean that students will learn more efficiently and presumably at their own pace. The argument goes that the learning gaps between higher and lower achievers will close and that students will have increased confidence. Still sounds good. But is this all there is to learning? Is successful learning what happens when presentation of content is absorbed and the student can complete some practice exercises? A P-P-P MODEL The teacher

'If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.'     Abraham Maslow, The Psychology of Science , 1966. A ‘Birmingham screwdriver’ is the one tool used by the lazy for all purposes – i.e. it is a hammer!   You are not a leader if you apply the same concept, methodology or technology to all problems.   In fact, if all you see is problems then you are not seeing opportunities.   Leaders see opportunities everywhere, even in the problems they face.    Leaders have many tools in their box of tricks, not just a Birmingham screwdriver.   The non-leader will look for anything that looks like a nail so they can hammer it down – crossing off ‘solved’ problems, usually internal, from their to do list so that they ‘achieve’ more than others. A leader looks for opportunities to solve others’ problems, usually external, so that people – customers and staff – feel appreciated. They ‘do’ with people, not to people. Beware the term ‘best’ practice.   ‘B

The table below is my attempt to separate the traits of Managers from those of Leaders.   There are roles for both Managers and Leaders of course, and things are never quite as clearly defined as this table suggests, but for me this is a useful comparison that helps me modify my behavior if I feel I am slipping into the (more comfortable) role of managing when I should be leading (or vice-versa).   Personally I find that when riskier things aren’t going as well as I expected that my frustration leads to behavior from the left hand column when what is needed are the traits from the right hand column. Manager Leader Demands obedience, controlling, trusts no-one fully Objective is to repeat previous results but a little more cheaply or a little more efficiently Cuts costs, limits variation Plays it safe Takes the credit Points out flaws and criticizes mistakes Makes decisions, gives answers H

Recently in Thailand and beyond, the media was abuzz with stories of ‘Frank’, the high school student who started a Facebook campaign to abolish the mechanistic school system in Thailand.   Schooling in some Asian countries demands military-like discipline from students in order to produce a homogenized, compliant and a near-identical set of adults.   In Japan, for example, for much of their school lives, hair length and hair color are regulated. http://www.todayonline.com/world/asia/thailands-schools-vestiges-military-rule Frank and his ‘friends’ want to transform the purpose of Education and encourage ‘free-thinking’.   What they are seeing is that society’s demands of them as adults and citizens are vastly different from the adults they are taught to become. The strict conformity of some Asian school systems highlights the gulf between what is taught and what is needed, but in most countries it is fair to say, I believe, that there is a disjoint between the objectives of

The Optimist says: 'This glass is half full.' The Pessimist says: 'This glass is half empty.' The Physicist wonders why they are using the wrong glass. We are often encouraged by trainers and professional development consultants to 'think out of the box' or 'out of the square'. The implication is that by changing the parameters, we may find more creative solutions to our problems. The assumption though is that we have correctly identified the problems we have. Both the Optimist and the Pessimist have assumed that there is not enough water in their glass. The Physicist wonders why the Optimist and the Pessimist are using the wrong glass to hold the right amount of water. This is not looking for a creative solution to the 'problem', but a redefining of the problem itself. Rather than 'thinking out of the box' the Physicist has thrown the box away. Many will have heard the story of the boy who fills his

Michael Evans of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute speaks to ‘Today’s Schools’ about ICE-EM, a series of textbooks for school years 5 – 10 that matches the Australian Curriculum for Mathematics. The International Centre of Excellence for Education in Mathematics (ICE-EM) is managed by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, a consortium of 27 university mathematics departments, CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Mathematics Trust.  ICE-EM was set up to strengthen education in the mathematical sciences at all levels - from school to advanced research and contemporary applications in industry and commerce. ICE-EM is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Education, Science and Training. The original ICE-EM Mathematics series has been rewritten and developed for the Australian  Curriculum for Mathematics, while retaining the structure and approach of the original

‘A ship is always safe at the shore – but that’s not what it is built for.’     Albert Einstein Why is it that organizations fail to innovate?   Why can a company with a good track record and a sound core business miss out on opportunities it is presented with? Executive management has become all about metrics, about maintaining and growing existing market share and about predicting future growth – right down to the last cent.   This is a company like a ship moored at the harbor where it is safe from the uncertain nature of the open sea.   The open sea is too risky.   We don’t know what’s out there or if the weather will turn. But this same executive management urges its employees to come up with out-of-the-box remarkable new ideas for generating extraordinary growth.   This has to be done without upsetting the normal operations of the company and its predictable, budgeted-for growth. This is a mixed message to staff.   And what they will hear