Is Learning an Attitude?

|Anderson|

“What did you learn in school today?”

This is a great question.  It helps sort through the activities of the day and rework some information in a student’s head.  Asking this question can start a good conversation that eventually takes the mind down some other cerebral pathways on a journey of scaffolding.  Learning is linked to previous experience and knowledge; good questions cause us to go further.

Why do we stop asking the question as adults?

Who is asking us what we learned in life today?

Starting this week, our students will be asking their parents what they learned each day.  The students need to see learning modeled and understand that all of life brings learning.  As adults, we can interpret the world the same way a child does.  It is either with an attitude willing to learn something, or the belief that our brain is full or we can predict the outcome with a high degree of certainty.

What if learning is an attitude?

If we asked the kids, would they talk about what their parents learned at work, or home, or from someone else today?

Many of us like a portion of the passage below from Philippians 4.  In the context, it’s interesting that Paul reveals his need to learn.

“I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

It seems, Paul can make the final statement as a result of what he learned.

At Anastasis Academy, we want to promote an attitude of learning.  An awareness of the learning taking place and seeing learning in its many forms and presentations.  What if it took a lifetime?  If so, that would be success.

 

What we can learn from Google, IDEO and Pixar

|Tenkely|

This weekend I spent some time with incredible innovators at Stanford University to talk about innovation in education.  All walks of life gathered at d.school to discuss problems in education and to propose solutions.

My biggest takeaway: Education needs more design thinking and collaborative concepting at all levels.

Throughout the day we shared stories, created concept maps, brainstormed collaboratively, identified problems in education and prototyped possible solutions.  I love that we didn’t just give answers. We prototyped possible solutions in the prototype lab where we had access to all kinds of great building materials.  We came up with some pretty impressive solutions.  What if schools operated more like this?  If teachers and students worked together as designers.  This is the drive behind Anastasis Academy’s morning inquiry block.  We look at big questions and work on interdisciplinary projects that incorporate a range of subjects and disciplines of learning.

“What if the process of education were as intentionally crafted as the products of education (i.e., we always think about the book report or the final project, but not the path to get there).” (Fast Company)

Schools have a lot to learn from Google, IDEO and Pixar.  These are companies that have created a culture of creativity, play and collaboration.  IDEO mirrors this culture in their physical space.  The space lends itself to creativity and new ideas because the space isn’t overly prescriptive.  Stanford’s d.school was very similar.  Tracks run all over the building where walls of whiteboards can be clipped in and moved around easily.  A writing space wherever and whenever you need one.  Brilliant.  All of the furniture is on wheels, it is easily moved and rearranged based on current needs.  Large wooden Lego-type blocks can be easily moved, arranged and built with for any situation.

I love the philosophies of Pixar, the layout is designed to foster “forced collisions of people”.  Students with different backgrounds, passions and understandings collided in new understandings.  Would forced collisions of people encourage a whole new population of da Vinci thinking?

At Google play is not only encouraged, it is deeply engrained in the culture.  Spaces are flexible and constantly changing and being built.  This is was the case in Stanford’s d.school and I have to say, the instant ability to edit our workspace impacted our thinking.  “Imagine what might happen if students had this same power to edit and make their own spaces within the school environment.” (Fast Company)

I highly recommend the following article from Fast Company “What Schools Can Learn From Google, IDEO, and Pixar.”

The article mentions High Tech High, a collection of charter schools in Southern California led by Larry Rosenstock.  Please take the 14 minutes to watch this great video about High Tech High!  Innovation is education is emerging in pockets all over the world. Anastasis Academy is a part of this innovation!

 

Searching for da Vinci

|Tenkely|

True learners are multidimensional, they are passionately curious about the world around them.  Leonardo da Vinci was one such learner.  The quintessential Renaissance man, da Vinci was a scientist, inventor, painter, sculptor, architect, cartographer, mathematician, musician- the list goes on.  da Vinci had an insatiable curiosity about the world around him.  He is still highly regarded as a brilliant creative genius, his thirst for learning is just as relevant today as it was 500 years ago.  One question I couldn’t help but ask as I learned about da Vinci: Is the current school system set up to foster the da Vinci’s of the world?

We often assume that because a schools offer a variety of subjects, that we are creating a population of individuals who will excel in a range of subject areas.  The problem with this notion is that children don’t really excel at any of them because they aren’t given the opportunity to become passionately curious about any of them.  25-45 minute subject periods guided by boxed curriculum doesn’t give students enough time or resources to become captivated by learning.  These blocks of time are dedicated toward subjects that prepare students for one thing: testing.

Children need the freedom to explore areas of passion. They need to be allowed to view learning through the lens of life. They need to be shown that subjects of learning are not really separate entities, but rather that learning is multidimensional, overlapping and interwoven.

When I look at all that da Vinci accomplished, it is apparent to me that this is someone who understood that all learning is life, it is connected. I suspect that da Vinci didn’t set out to be a jack-of-all-trades; I suspect that he set out to learn and as he learned, it led to other disciplines, interests and knowledge.  What resulted: a man who was able to use his unique talents and gifts to change the world.

If we send all students through the exact same subjects, the exact same way, to meet the requirements on the same test, do we have any hope of fostering students who are able to use their unique talents and gifts to change the world?  Or, will they graduate from high school with a degree that sends them into the next system where they are now expected to undo all the learning that has made them look the same and decide what makes the unique?

I’m sending out a call to create the da Vinci culture.  Anastasis Academy capitalizes on the overlaps in learning and the transdisciplinary nature of life.  It aims to create a culture of learners that are passionately curious, creative and innovative. We seek to create a da Vinci culture that helps students discover who God created them to be.