How do we design a school that unlocks creativity? C2 at WISE 2017
We partnered with WISE to create a Lab experience within the conference to collectively imagine a school in the future. We custom-designed an experience where participants in teams of four participated in a creative brainstorm beginning with riddles and games (think escape the room in the backpack) putting them in a solutions oriented mindset to unlock the brainstorming challenge: how do we design a school that unlocks creativity? They had the opportunity to contribute to the space, the teaching methods and the skills they would develop in the school of the future. Throughout the two days, the walls of the C2 Lab illustrated over 1000 ideas demonstrating the collective creativity of this unique ecosystem.
The beginning of every event starts with a mixed feeling of excitement and insecurity. How will it be received by participants? What will they think? Will it make sense? Will it inspire them? What will they remember? Will it develop interesting content? And will it make for meaningful conversation?
We put the last touches on the C2 Lab: Envisioning the Future of Schools and headed up to the opening ceremony of WISE 2017 with +2,000 delegates from over 100 countries. We were taken aback at the diversity of age, gender, religion and ethnicity of the folks piling into the main hall. Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, who serves as Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, delivered the opening address welcoming the international community to this important initiative about education not only for Qataris but for the world. Following this, Fareed Zakaria, CNN host of GPS, kicked off the conference with a brilliant special address about the global political context in which this conversation about education was especially relevant and important. What is it that human beings should learn to master in an age when the computer can out-master us in so many ways? How can we find compromise on issues that face our core identity and how do we insist on truth and fact in a post truth world? Needless to say, we left energized to take on the next two days of learning with our ears and eyes open to what the WISE could collectively envision and build.
Our Lab was full within the first ten minutes of the first day which settled all the little pre-event anxiety bugs we had buzzing around. We met Qatari students, teachers, innovators and practitioners from South Africa, Syria, China, Pakistan, Argentina, Kuwait, India — you name it! When they asked about C2 and what the activity involved it didn’t take much to convince them to join. We had worried our design was western centric but play is universal. It doesn’t matter where you come from or how old you are, play breaks down barriers between people. It creates a unique space to have a meaningful conversation and at WISE people from all over connected over the common belief that education was something we need to build together. We also realized that being asked what they wanted and how they saw the future was culturally surprising. Whether it was kids or adults, they deeply appreciated the space to make these contributions. Participants enthusiasm was unanimous: they felt like they were being heard and their ideas connected between each other and to a larger vision of the future of schools and learning. Our Lab was located in front of the Ministry of Education so we had a lot of representatives from the government take part. In talking to them, we learned that next year, the Qatar Foundation will be building a future school here in Doha! It’s a really fulfilling feeling to know that this ideation was part of a real project that will have a tangible impact on learners and accelerate progress towards for the future of education. We are so excited to continue to explore how C2 can support their incredible initiatives around the world.
Day two opened up with a special address from the Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana who commended WISE for the noble undertaking of creating a bright future for the world’s youth especially those whose lives have been disrupted. As co-chair of the SDGs he shared his vision of a global development that leaves no one behind and education, he said, is the key enabler to that realizing that and has the greatest multiplier to build lifelong opportunities. “Education is the soil for growing dreams.” What truth.
Participants piled into the Lab once again as the Majlis opened its doors. Schools brought groups of students to participate. The Qatari girls showed a special interest and their engagement was apparent in the answers they produced. It echoed what the speakers and statistics showed that investing in girl’s education delivers promising return. Lots of teachers approached us asking about the methodologies and how they could bring this into their classrooms. We hadn’t honestly considered how impactful this type of design could be in education but learning is learning whether it’s in business, in school or in life. One teacher spoke to us about a reality that we all face which is the fear of failure. This is too often indoctrinated in schools that require rigid results and there’s punishment for underachievement. It fundamentally stunts creativity because it converges ideas towards consensus instead of appreciating independent thinking, something that participants envisioned in the school of the future.
The role of technology in education wove its way through plenaries and the interactive activities. We are all living a learning journey with technology and the best practice shows that it complements brick and mortar. We are persuaded that technology is neutral — but that’s an alternative fact. There are ethics in design or what it is omitting from being designed and we need to exercise editorial responsibility. At C2, our ethos combines analog and digital. We bring people together to exchange and learn from each other and use technology as the vehicle to support that connection. One does not exist without the other. At WISE, we learned that the future of education has to be more than hard skills for jobs. It’s simplistic to only focus on the sciences without a deep sense of citizenship and impact in the world we live in today. The evidence shows that top entrepreneurs are educated in creative activities as well. They have ethical compasses and lead with empathy. Humanism in education grows in the connections we build with people and society.
In this post-truth world education is the only way we can deal with the new force of radicalization. It’s more than a human right it’s a global need for those both directly affect and those who will be indirectly in the future. The CEO of WISE, Stavros Yiannouka closed the conference in conversation with Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Post truth is a call to arms for education. He said, “let’s not spend any more time navel gazing on what we should and shouldn’t do. Build respect for the substantiated truth which often means listening to competing ideas and building reasonable discourse and empathy.”
Reading through the key takeaways cards at the end of the day generated a whirlwind of emotions, but all in all, it comes down to one unified reality: we all have similar hopes and dreams, we all wish for positive change, we all choose to believe that there is good in this world and we can achieve it through collaboration and openness.
WISE annually awards the Prize for Education Laureates to inspiring role models dedicated to building the future of education as the foundation for a more secure, prosperous, and sustainable world. This year’s recipient was Dr. Patrick Awuah who founded Ashesi University in Ghana which supports a transformational journey for students of ethical leadership and community based education not on the promise of entitlement but by a strong sense of collective responsibility for the greater social good. He shared his story in the closing ceremony admitting his dream of of exploring space as a child. He said, “Today I am not an astronaut but there are days when I feel like I am amongst the stars.” We couldn’t agree more of our experience at WISE 2017.
Key highlights from the Lab
- Students want a sense of ownership and agency on their education journey. There is not a “one size fits all” education. They are eager for an education that is self-directed — they want to be able to choose their topics, their classroom layouts and the teaching methods.
- Students want to be recognized as individuals with unique talents — they want their teachers to take time to listen to them and nurture their individuality and give them a space to express themselves.
- Skills of the future are not hard skills but soft skills: it’s all about learning to be independent, creative, to collaborate, to think and feel.
- Students look to teachers for inspiration. They want passionate role models who lead them towards their aspirations.
- Students are excited about hands-on projects and working on real-life issues that will help them get a jump start into the real world
- Students imagine the school of the future as one where the space blends organic natural elements with new technologies integrated within that enhances their creativity
Check out WISE Summit 2017 for more info about the conference.
