Oops we got our name wrong

dilemas, Education, What is happeing

Wrong

We are now contemplating the next stage of Innovation Space and it appears that we blooped – in choosing our name.

Why “Innovation” is a bad name

Primarily because it is what most non-innovative organizations call themselves – leaving behind a trail of organizational failures in their attempt to organizationally create and support innovation. We don’t belong in this type, because we succeeded in what we intended to do, causing some confusion along the way.

Innovation is too strongly related to cleverness and success – a relationship that we do not see or believe in. Much of successful innovation in the projects we have supported is about nurturing what is seen as failures. We do not seek “smart students” either. We realize that outstanding achievements are generally made by students who do poorly in school.We do not run a program for “gifted students”. We attempt instead to provide opportunities for kids to discover their gifts.

We are more of an “Incubation Environment”

It may have been a mistake in not naming our selves as such. But incubation environments also succumb to  the same failures of organized innovation environments. So it is best for us not to change our name – but clarify what we do instead.

  1. We enable exploration – provide time, space and resources (in that order)
  2. We help form new projects (incubate) – this is the trickiest part of our operations
  3. We encourage peer support – we are now totally peer to peer support based for learning
  4. We provide recognition – not enough, we need to do this better
  5. We connect – students to external organization and experts

We essentially do not do anything to innovate. Innovation is just an outcome. Our focus is clearly now on incubation.

When you allow students to take control of their learning – Truly amazing things happen

Education, Great Initiatives

How true. We are not alone in this discovery. Peter Hutton principle of Templestowe College has got it right. He seems to have liberated students who are “Victims of the Curriculum” to “take control of what they want to learn“. We have a lot to learn from this school.

The school seems to be “committed to the philosophy that students have far greater skills and abilities than they are generally given credit for…. “. ASMS shares some key aspects of this school. “The extremely flexible structure of TC allows you to manage your own learning, to progress at your own pace and study subjects at whatever year level you choose or even study your own area of interest well outside the conventional curriculum! ”

And Innovation Space is of course is about pushing those very limits, with the rare privilege of  – operating totally outside conventional curriculum.

Innovation Space is a Space on Wheels

dilemas

WheelsSelf Organizations is about enabling mobility. So we bought cheap tractor chairs – with wheels of course. Also construction scaffolding with wheels for our  TV screen – defying in the process the convention of locking students to location – for their safety and well being.

Sitting still for long hours was  thought to instill discipline – now regarded as unhealthy. From sitting is the new smoking.

“a 2013 survey of nearly 30,000 women found that those who sat nine or more hours a day were more likely to be depressed than those who sat fewer than six hours a day because prolonged sitting reduces circulation, causing fewer feel-good hormones to reach your brain.”

Education based on a factory model requires sitting. But then, it was found that such a system along with its factory model was deficient in developing creativity – but very few researchers attribute that to Geo Locking.

Moveable Space Can Ignite Creativity in the Classroom . 

They talk about Innovation Space too. Innovation Space is about setting students free – to explore what they wish to explore. Wheels do help.