Educational Revolution Starts with a Single Brick

by Conrad Watts

I used to start introductory creative writing classes by asking my students to open their books to a clean piece of paper and write down as many uses for a brick as they could think of in three minutes. The brick was chosen for two reasons — it was an object so common and instantly recognisable. The writing task had an unusual function. No, it wasn’t a sly opportunity for me to ‘rest my eyes’ for three minutes and neither was it a creative writing exercise. It was an exercise in data acquisition.

When the time was up, I asked the students to read out their lists. For a majority of kids in whichever class I had, three minutes was far too much time. Before the first minute was up, I would see them lay down their pens and gaze out of the window or idly scan the walls of the classroom. Others would get to two minutes. And for a very few students, hearing me call the exercise to a close would be hugely frustrating.

“For a very few students, hearing me call the exercise to a close would be hugely frustrating.”

There were no right or wrong answers. The kids who were most instinctively aware of that fact were those who found themselves still writing when those all-too-brief three minutes came to an end. This writing task was without doubt the most straightforward way for me to gauge — just by watching — which students were going to enjoy my creative writing classes and which were going to need help getting back in touch with their natural creativity.

Little did I know that Sir Ken Robinson — the renowned international advisor on education — would use the same technique years later in a lecture on changing education paradigms. In his words, making that ‘brick list’ was a chore for most of the kids. Robinson went on to declare that the model of education we employ globally today crushes creativity and with it the motivation to learn.

“The model of education we employ globally today crushes creativity and with it the motivation to learn.”

Governments the world over are all too aware of this sad state of affairs and keep trying to redesign the way in which they educate their young people. But the systematic deconstruction of natural creativity is not the only problem facing education. We are profoundly affected by the enormous speed of technological advancement. When it comes to the pace of economic change, educators are facing a situation never before seen in human history.

Back in the day, young people used to emerge from school ready to join a market identical to the one that existed when they entered the school. Things couldn’t be more different today — nine years might represent one generation in the school system, but many more in the context of today’s economy.

“Nine years might represent one generation in the school system, but many more in the context of today’s economy.”

For the first time, teachers need to ask themselves, ‘How can I teach these kids to be best prepared for a world that might be completely different at the end of the week to the one we have now?’ How do you create an educational model that will not be obsolete before it is implemented?

According to Robinson, the problem of traditional educators is that they are trying to solve the issue by continuing to do what they’ve always done in the past. Attempting to future-proof the educational systems of tomorrow using the thinking of the past seems nonsensical, because that’s exactly what it is.

Everything moves incredibly fast today. With the advent of artificial intelligence and traditional industries falling like dominoes to the power and efficiency of unstoppable startups, the word ‘future’ is gradually merging with the word ‘present’. But there are still many parts of our society — especially those constituting our major institutions — that still move at a glacial pace. Line them all up alongside one another and my bet is education would be the slowest.

One of the reasons for this is that the current educational paradigm is extremely old. It has been in place since the beginning of the 18th century — designed to suit a post-enlightenment world, fresh into the opening sprint of the industrial revolution. When it comes to the difficulty of imposing meaningful change on our educational systems, perhaps the most significant is the fact that those who are attempting to change it are all products of it.

“The winners in the near future will be those who design products specifically targeting the student who wants to learn, but doesn’t want to go back to the stiffness of the traditional classroom environment.”

There is some good news, however. While the crawling behemoth of the education paradigm may take decades to see any significant change, the world of education beyond school exists in a marketplace driven by innovation. When it comes to lifelong learning, adult education and the huge global language learning market, the winners in the near future will be those who design products specifically targeting the student who wants to learn, but doesn’t want to go back to the stiffness of the traditional classroom environment.

“The world of education beyond school exists in a marketplace driven by change and innovation.”

The game-changers in this brave new world of education will be people like those with the longest lists of things to do with a common brick. The ones for whom three minutes was not enough. People like this will be merging creativity with science and technology to create new paradigms of learning which are at once engaging, cutting-edge and effective.

“People like this will be merging creativity with science and technology to create new paradigms of learning which are at once engaging, cutting-edge and effective.”

Institutionalised educational paradigms may be resistant to change, but I can foresee them becoming the focus of a revolution. The educators of tomorrow need not ask for permission to wipe the slate clean and establish something much better. Our world is a glittering rollercoaster of colour and noise in which the outdated paradigm of traditional education is a grey and uninteresting brick looking less and less fit for purpose with each passing day. Luckily there are people brimming over with brilliant ideas about what to do with boring old bricks and it’s just about time to let them take the lead.