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What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation In Education: Demoing

This is the fourth part in a series connecting the ideas from Two Beats Ahead by R. Michael Hendrix and Panos A. Panay to education. To read part 1 on listening, go here, part 2 on experimenting, go here, and part 3 on collaborating, go here.

Connected to experimenting, demoing as a mindset is an invitation to get dirty, reflect, fail, and iterate. And much like experimenting, it is a part of teaching and learning that is not appropriately valued in designing educational experiences.

The authors of Two Beats Ahead provide an in-depth look into the process of demoing. It is a critical part of the musical process and one that offers tremendous value in education. Its application centers around the idea of the educator as a creator, in contrast to the deliverer of knowledge that she has traditionally been limited to.

What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation In Education: Collaborating

This is the third part in a series connecting the ideas from “Two Beats Ahead” by R. Michael Hendrix and Panos A. Panay to education. To read part 1 on listening, go here and part 2 on experimenting, go here.

Collaboration is the musical mindset most severely lacking in education. There are examples of developing yourself as a professional. This could be two teachers writing a lesson plan together or giving each other feedback on their instruction. From the musical perspective, these examples don’t get to the heart of how collaboration functions.

Going All In

I recently delivered a talk as part of the Speak Hawai’i educator storytelling event. My talk was titled “Going All In” and was inspired by the book Two Beats Ahead by R. Michael Hendrix and Panos A. Panay. You can listen to the talk by clicking on the YouTube below. Enjoy!

Learn more about the book at this link https://twobeatsahead.com

Learn more about the event and join the mailing list at this link http://bit.ly/speakhawaiisite

What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation In Education: Experimenting

This is the second part in a series connecting the ideas from “Two Beats Ahead” by R. Michael Hendrix and Panos A. Panay to education. To read part 1 on listening, go here.

“Dare to suck.” – Justin Timberlake

Experimenting can be a controversial topic in education. The model of teaching and learning that has dominated our schools for the past 100-500 years is based on the idea of a curriculum, which is essentially a planned sequence of study. In fact, some research suggests that the term “curriculum” was introduced by Calvinists in the 16th century to produce more structure and order to the educational system.¹

What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation In Education: Listening

The book “Two Beats Ahead” by Panos A. Panay and R. Michael Hendrix examines what musical minds can teach us about innovation. It has been on my radar since I first heard Hendrix mention these ideas in a podcast with IDEO about a year and a half ago. I have been waiting for this book with anticipation and am excited to finally have a settled moment to sit with the first chapter last night.

I intend to capture my thinking from this first chapter and the subsequent chapters as well. I will be doing this through the lens of education and teaching. As a musician and songwriter, I connect deeply with the premise of the book. It has unlocked ideas that have been floating around in my mind for the last few years.

Listening: The Space Between the Notes

The first chapter is titled “Listening: The Space Between the Notes.” The opening quote is by Björk:

“The most powerful thing is often the thing which lies slumbering in the silence.”
Björk

Rinse, Wash, Wash Again, Repeat

I recently engaged in a Twitter educhat in which we were asked to share our big “aha” from this year. For me, it was undoubtedly the reduction in the number of content standards I teach and assess.

Heading into the summer our principal suggested the book “Focus – Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning“. There was one line in there that just lept off the page – “We should reduce the content contained in most standards documents by about 50 percent”. I was shocked, I mean I already have eliminated a number of standards from the “typical” Algebra 1 curriculum, but how would I reduce it by 50%?

Time to KonMari Your Professional Learning

The recent shift to online and virtual professional learning opportunities has presented a buffet of options for educators. Since the end of the school year last June I have consumed hundreds of hours of content, many of it free. This is tremendously exciting. As a teacher I am always looking to grow and learn new things. But when is too much….too much?

I recently hit my breaking point. Between the demands of teaching, the need to support my home life, and a renewed focus on my own well-being, I had to reconsider the amount of time I am chasing professional growth.

Context Driving Content–A Case Study In Skateboarding Innovation

I began to lose interest in school as I entered my teenage years. Yes, I performed well, did my homework, and completed the assignments, but I can’t say I was into school. What I wanted to do was two things—play guitar and skateboard. I would also add playing basketball too. Now that I am working in the field of education, I see how those three things form my framework for understanding the possible innovations of learning.

In this post, I just want to focus on skateboarding. There is a lot that can be brought into the education space from the skateboarding world. These could be entrepreneurship, creativity, expression, and physical fitness. But there is one key idea I want to focus on that was explained by skateboarding legend Rodney Mullen in his TED Talk “Pop an ollie and innovate!.”

Carefully Move and Tend to Things

The minimal viable product is a key idea in the lean startup method. But is this the correct approach? I recently came across an interview with Roger McNamee in which he dug into this question. I believe that with access to the data about the effects of technology on our health and safety we need to reconsider our answer to this question.

Creating a landing page for a website and publishing it seems innocent enough and in many ways it is. What about a pharmaceutical? Or an AI algorithm that collects data about users? Facial recognition software? Should these technologies be put in front of users before they have been properly vetted and tested? I don’t think so.

The Path to Entrepreneurship

Part 3 in a three-part series on Entrepreneurship In Education for the course Education Theories, Trends, and Entrepreneurship at the Oulu University of Applied Sciences Education Entrepreneurship Master’s Degree Programme. Read part 1 by clicking here and Part 2 by clicking here.

There has been a large amount of skepticism toward the idea of teaching entrepreneurship in schools. Economics and finance are common in many high schools and even in some middle school programs, and of course colleges and universities across the United States offer degrees in business and related fields. But when it comes to entrepreneurship it is seen as not fitting into the box of formalized education.

Entrepreneur Stories

Part 2 in a three-part series on Entrepreneurship In Education for the course Education Theories, Trends, and Entrepreneurship at the Oulu University of Applied Sciences Education Entrepreneurship Master’s Degree Programme. Read part 1 by clicking here and part 3 by clicking here.

As an aspiring entrepreneur, I enjoy learning about the journeys of other entrepreneurs. There are many that are relevant to me in which I can take a piece of their experience to use as inspiration. There are the obvious candidates – Phil Knight, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, and Oprah Winfrey as their stories are true examples of entrepreneurial magic. For this article though I would like to focus on three entrepreneurs that are most relevant to me in the current moment.

Entrepreneurship In Education

Part 1 in a three-part series on Entrepreneurship In Education for the course Education Theories, Trends, and Entrepreneurship at the Oulu University of Applied Sciences Education Entrepreneurship Master’s Degree Programme. Read part 2 by clicking here and part 3 by clicking here.

What is Education Entrepreneurship?

Individually the words entrepreneurship and education can be romanticized and idealized. Together they can conjure up some contradictions. Why is education being economized? For me, they are bound by two important words, creation, and value.

Experiences Developing Knowledge in the Fields of Education and Entrepreneurship (and Creativity)

Learning and knowledge are difficult terms to define, yet are elements that are integral parts of our existence as humans. How can something that is so ingrained in our identity be such a challenge to talk about? Probably because learning and knowledge are highly complex activities that are highly variable from person to person, from moment to moment, and from experience to experience.

This is a summary of three key components of my knowledge base and the learning experiences that nurtured their development. In this post, I will cover the following:

Jumping In: Part 3 of Diving Into Inquiry

This is the part of the journey in which I made the bold and adventurous step of directly incorporating the inquiry model into my classroom. Having read the book Diving Into Inquiry by Trevor McKenzie I had arrived at the point in which I could see with some level of clarity how this would look in my teaching.

Examining the Water: Part 2 of Diving Into Inquiry

With the book Dive Into Inquiry in hand I was very excited to embark on the journey reading this book. As I shared in my previous post in this series linked here, I had already connected with the author on Twitter, had a conversation with a colleague about the book, and so I was very anxious to begin. Before I get into the content of the book there are a couple things I want to share that immediately got me excited. First is the bi-line to the book: “Amplify Learning and Empower Student Voice”. I loved how this was so student-centered. A lot of books I have read or have come across in education talk about “improving my teaching” or how to “better deliver content” etc… I immediately connected with the focus on the student experience and so I had a feeling that this book would deliver.

Arriving at the Pool: Part 1 of Diving Into Inquiry

Towards the end of the school year in June, I posted on Twitter asking for suggestions on a good summer read with a particular focus on project design, inquiry, or student agency. One suggestion that stood out to me, in particular, was a book titled Dive Into Inquiry by Trevor McKenzie. I asked a colleague I trusted about the book and he said he hadn’t read it but he’s heard good things. He also suggested I follow Trevor on Twitter as he is a good follow and posts a lot of interesting things about education, inquiry, and teaching in general. So I asked my principal for the $20 for the book, got approved, and put in my order.