What can schools and parents learn from startups?
Having spent the past few years running and working for a couple of different internet startups, I’ve noticed a number of things they do well that we should be translating across to both our parenting and our schools to encourage learning in children.
Now that I’m spending a bit of time out of the startup landscape I’ve got the chance to reflect on my experiences so far, and I’m sure more will come from this reflection. For now, here are some initial thoughts -
1) Physical environments play a big part in either fostering or drowning creativity. You don’t have to go crazy (most startups come from humble beginnings - mine certainly did, starting off in a spare bedroom), but the point is that you can’t expect children to feel inspired in a dull (or worse, cluttered and messy) space. If you want to promote creative thinking, make sure the physical environment reflects that.
2) Systems are great when used correctly and where necessary (for example, when developers track bugs and feedback, or when teachers track learning progress against desired outcomes), but rigid systems will frustrate (for example, spending more time tracking development progress using bloated software than is spent writing code, or blocking out school subjects into 60 minute blocks, or ringing an obnoxiously loud bell to signal ‘break-and-eat time’). Loosen up the structure, and you’ll loosen up the mind!
3) Trust your children, it gives them confidence. Just as a startup gets the most out of a team by building a culture of trust, so too should parents and teachers. How many of you grew up in classrooms where it was always ‘suspicious teacher vs misbehaving kids’? Not the way to get the best out of a group. Trust builds respect, and respect is a key element in fostering learning.
4) Technology is advancing rapidly in this digital age, and we should be making use of it wherever we can. Startups utilise technology all over the place to great effect for planning, collaboration, communication and networking, but many schools and parents seem reluctant to explore the possibilities. Gaming in particular gets a bad wrap, when actually it can open up whole new worlds and fantastic new learning opportunities. Check out MinecraftEdu who have had huge success introducing Minecraft to children (as well as having the official version tweaked to support different curriculum needs), and have used this incredibly engaging platform to teach skills across science, engineering, math, history, collaboration and communication. Technology and gaming can no longer be seen as a mind-numbing weekend distraction - kids are engaged by it to an incredibly high level, so let’s use that!
5) Everyone’s body clock is different and the world has moved well beyond the industrial era, so why do we still force factory-style schedules on kids in school? Startups have shown us that flexibility in schedules help get the best results from people - if you have a natural mental lull in the afternoon, don’t fight against it. If you spark up at 9pm, use it! This idea is becoming so accepted it’s even permeating standard workplace philosophy, yet most schools are still stuck in a mindset that is distinctly factory-like. In high schools here in New Zealand a bell rings to signal a subject change every 50 minutes! Other bells signal when to take a quick break, and when to eat your lunch. If you’re not hungry at that time, too bad. If you have a science lesson scheduled for your 2-3pm block and you don’t function well mentally at that part of the day, too bad. Why are we still training children to operate on a strict factory schedule?
6) Startups don’t solve problems in a silo. When faced with a problem an effective team will brainstorm and collaborate until a solution is found. Often, the process of solving the problem will take the team in an unexpected direction, and they’ll come up with a result that answers more than just the original question. The same should apply in schools - don’t hand kids a worksheet, tell them to write the answers on it, and then run down the list either ticking or crossing with a red pen. Throw a problem or idea out there and encourage exploration and collaboration. There’s more than one way to a result, and if it’s a good, open ‘problem’ there should be many possible results. The journey is where the real learning happens, so can we put away the red pen and crosses now?
