A Manifesto for Agile Education
Why is agility in schools only valued in the gym department?
In 2001 when the software developers created the Agile Manifesto they did so to underpin the emerging practice of software development. Since then its principles have been adopted by businesses all over the world, including those whose products don’t involve writing computer code.
When it comes to schools, however, save for a few pockets here and there, agility is still confined to gym class, basketball training or dodgeball. Why have the key principles of agility not made their way into the classroom? Why do many education leaders not know what it means, or how to instil these practices in their leadership teams?
While the answer to that question is likely found in a confluence of historical factors that involve multiple parts of the education system (I have a theory about an educational generation gap but more of that another time), let us instead turn our attention to what we might be able to do about it now.
There are four aspects to the Manifesto for Agile Software Development:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
A possible Manifesto for Agile Education might look something like this:
- Student interactions over lectures and textbooks
- Applied knowledge over completing exams
- Student co-design over standardised curriculum
- Responding to learners over following the lesson plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.
Educators and schools all over the world are looking for authentic learning experiences that prepare students for the future of work. And while we don’t know exactly what jobs will exist we should at least give them a window into the world of work as it is now.
We should seek to maintain pace with the world as it evolves. Agile is a growing part of the current working world.
By developing lessons that follow some of the principles above, such as prioritising student interactions — both with the educator and each other — over lecturing and textbooks, or by prioritising the testing contextual, applied knowledge over preparing students for exams, we might make a start on empowering students to develop the skills necessary to thrive in the future.
It would also be helpful to follow some of the processes that surround the agile manifesto such as a visible kanban board of where the learning is up to and what’s to come, as well as weekly or daily stand-ups or scrum meetings. These processes set up the conditions for the agile methodology to flourish and also help students get a sense of where they’re at and where they’re going with their learning; something so many struggle with.
So, next time you’re thinking about what improvements you can make in the classroom, think about being more agile.
