In a previous newsletter, I unpacked what it would mean to "trans/form” schools.

To literally “form something new”

I said that to work for the transformation of schools is to work to change them from one way of being to something else entirely

To reimagine their very form, their essence, their purpose

To change them from what is to what could be

In today’s edition, I want to dream out loud what I think schools can, should, and must become in the Innovation Era

To begin, let’s remind ourselves of what traditional schooling looks like:

• Desks & Row

• Quizzes & Worksheets

• Tests & Grades

• Teacher as Content Deliverer / Student as Content Consumer

• Individualistic

• Subject Centered

Teachers deliver content, students take content down, teachers gives tests, students take test, teachers assign grades…rinse and repeat six or seven times a day

This model of schooling is what most of us know and experienced

And yet, this is not the model of engaged learning today’s students need as they step into the 21st century era of innovation, challenge, and opportunity

If the 19th and 20th century model of schooling can be defined as the Memorization Era of education

The 21st century model must come to be defined as the Innovation Era

The Innovation Era

In the Innovation Era, new technologies are coming at us not in years or months, but literally in nanoseconds

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly changing everything…from cars to coins…and many of the jobs we take for granted are in fast danger of becoming automated or, for humans, even obsolete

Everything from writers to lawyers, market analysts to health care professionals, accountants to yes, even teachers, are all in danger of seeing their roles diminished or replaced altogether

There is literally no telling what the job market holds for our students once they graduate, but I am pretty certain they will not be prepared for it by cramming more content, taking more tests, and doing more worksheets

If schools are going to prepare students for life in the Innovation Era, they must be completely reimagined and holistically transformed

Innovating schools for the Innovation Era

To prepare our students for the Innovation Era, I believe we must transform schools to be:

Hubs of Innovation and Creativity

Centers of Purpose and Meaning

Communities of Care and Belonging

Hotbeds of Advocacy and Activism

I will unpack each of these over the next four issues

HUBS OF INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY

If schools are to prepare our students well for life in the Innovation Era, they must be Hubs of Innovation and Creativity

It is time we unshackle our students from their desks and rows and invite them to put their unique talents, intellects, and curiosity to work on the biggest challenges and opportunities we face today

Classes must no longer “subject centered” teaching ____ [math, history, literature, science] to students

Instead, they must become innovation centered…driven not by content but by creative inquiry around questions, challenges, and opportunities of serious merit

Instead of sitting in desks and rows doing worksheets and cramming for quizzes…

Our students should be putting creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, imagination, and ingenuity to work solving not merely algebraic equations…but the existential crises of our times

What if, instead of memorizing content or doing multiple choice quizzes, our students were put to work thinking wisely and well about issues of local poverty, polluted oceans, cancerous pesticides, and crippling heatwaves?

We could then integrate the disciplines in ways that give students realtime access to learning as they put statistics to work on incarceration rates, economics to work on issues of poverty, history to work on political unrest, literature to work on abuses of power.

The subjects get put to use as students create and innovate solutions to real problems in real time

In that way, the disciplines themselves are set free and put to Good use

As Hubs of Innovation and Creativity, classrooms are no longer sterile, static places, but active, living hubs of wonder and design

Classrooms as hubs of innovation find students working together in collaborative groups to research, ideate, hypothesize, dream, brainstorm, experiment, test, question, and design

Gone are students sitting still in desks and rows consuming content for their own personal achievement, as classrooms become living workshops, buzzing with inquiry as students bounce ideas off each other

Gone are the “single subject” courses that students must compartmentalize as classes are now multidisciplinary, combining history with science, mathematics with art, literature with research, graphic design with music, e.g.

Gone is the teacher as “expert” as she instead becomes the facilitator, the mentor, the encourager, the supporter, the champion, and yes, even the learner, making space for innovation and creativity to flourish for all

Gone are the questions

• “When will we ever use this?”

• “Why does this matter?”

as meaning and purpose are found right up front

Gone is the concept of student as “student” … replaced instead by “student” as entrepreneur, innovator, designer, researcher, team leader, collaborator, marketer, public speaker, artist, engineer

Gone is the classroom as silo as students get the chance to engage with real life experts in a wide variety of fields, blurring the lines between the school and the world

Gone is the idea that students must wait until they “grow up” to put their learning to use as these as hubs of innovation and creativity afford students the real world opportunity to be complex thinkers in an interconnected world…right now

Classrooms as Hubs of Innovation and Creativity might operate in longer periods of time, reimagining even the school day itself

Example of an Innovative School Day

• City Planning and Urban Design (Social Studies and Statistics) 9am-10:30am

• Visual Storytelling (Literature, Art, Graphic Design) 10:45am-12:00pm

• Tiny Home Design (Geometry, Engineering, Marketing) 1:00-2:30pm

I’m sure there are many more ideas on how to transform traditional schools into hubs of innovation and creativity

Here are three models putting this vision of schooling to work everyday:

• Mount Vernon Institute for Innovation

• High Tech High

• Odyssey Leadership Academy

Mind you, I am not talking merely about an elective class or an after school program

I am talking about wholesale, fully transformed schools placing innovation and creativity front and center in who they are and what they do

We cannot continue to offer our students a “traditional” education and expect them to flourish and thrive in the bold new Innovation Era they stand to inherit

If we truly care about our students and their place in the world, we owe it to them to transform schools to be hubs of innovation and creativity

Post Script: What we have found at Odyssey Leadership Academy is that our students get into their top schools of choice on significant scholarships because we are a school that operates as a Hub of Innovation and Creativity. Feel free to reach out ([email protected]) to learn more

NEXT WEEK: Transforming Schools To Be Centers of Purpose And Meaning

→ Key Takeaway: If we want to prepare our students to flourish and thrive in the Innovation Era, we must transform schools to be Hubs of Innovation and Creativity

→ Key Resource: Dr. Tony Wagner’s excellent book, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World is a must read for transforming schools into hubs of innovation and creativity

→ Today’s Action Step:

TEACHERS: Consider how you might reimagine and reengineer your classroom as a hub of innovation and creativity. How might you take the subject you teach and create from it innovative opportunities for your students to put the subject to work as problem solvers and solution bringers?

SCHOOL LEADERS: What might it look like to walk your school towards a full transformation into a Hub of Innovation and Creativity? What steps would you need to consider to help your site become innovation centered?

My life’s work is to help see schools transformed into places of human and communal flourishing.

When you are ready to make the move towards creating your site as a Hub of Innovation and Creativity, here are 4 ways I can help you:

→ Check out the work we are doing at Odyssey Leadership Academy: If you would like to see a model of schooling that has completely shaken the Etch-a-Sketch to transform what schools could be, we would love to have you check us out! Everything we do is centered around fostering innovation and creativity. If you want to see what that looks like in action, our next ReimaginED Educator Site Visit is September 28-29, 2023. Come spend two days with us and let us help you transform your school!

→Check out my website: If you're looking for direct, one-on-one advice on transforming your school or classroom, my website is where I take all the wisdom, experience, struggle, knowledge, and expertise I have learned over my 30 years as a thought leader in reimagining education and bring it all to YOU! From one-on-one dream sessions, to consulting with your team, to sharing at your site, I am passionate about helping you make a difference in your learning community.

→ The Flourishing Schools Podcast: For a more in-depth, deep dive into thinking imaginatively about schooling, check out my “Flourishing Schools” podcast, where I jam with thought leaders, experts, community leaders, educators, students, and parents on all things related to the intersection of schools and student well-being

→ The Odyssey Center for Transformative Schooling: If you are looking for more upstream, systemic resources, the OCTS is just the thing! From leader cohorts to educator collaboratives, onsite training to inspirational retreats, this is the hub for inspiring hope and resourcing transformation! The OCTS partners with insightful, innovative educators just like you from around the world to help bring about upstream, systemic change.