{"id":384,"date":"2012-02-19T20:56:26","date_gmt":"2012-02-20T04:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/?p=384"},"modified":"2012-02-19T20:56:26","modified_gmt":"2012-02-20T04:56:26","slug":"a-movement-for-radical-social-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/?p=384","title":{"rendered":"A Movement for Radical Social Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Think of yourselves as a movement not\u00a0attached<\/span>
\n to the union or the government.<\/span>
\nCharles Leadbeater<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>I was fortunate to attend the BC School Superintendent\u2019s Winter Conference along with over 425 other attendees. I heard from Charles Leadbeater<\/a>, Larry Rosenstock<\/a>, John Abbott<\/a>, Geoge Abbott<\/a> and Bruce Beairsto<\/a>. It was Charles Leadbeater\u2019s comments, however, that were the most provocative. His presentation was called Innovation at Scale: Strategies for Radical Social Innovation<\/em>. I also heard him speak at a CoastMetro session earlier in the morning. There were 150 people, including teachers and parents, in attendance at that morning event. Some key thoughts from all three of his sessions resonated for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour vantage point determines what you can see\u2026<\/span>\u201d was the opening slide. Our own organizational and system blinders often insulate us. Much like horses, we keep our focus away from the crowds and anything that might distract us from our purpose. He encouraged us to take ourselves out of education and have conversations about innovation with others. When we are consumed by racing down our own tracks, we fail to see what is happening around the world. Education and innovation look different elsewhere. The conversations with others in other professions, in other fields, in other business, and in other places, can enrich our own understanding. As tweeted by Cale Birk, \u201cWhen we innovate, need to look sideways at other fields. We are too protected in our Ed cloistered life.\u201d A wider vantage point, as we consciously and intentionally remove our blinders, allows us to create a more compelling and urgent vision. Leadbeater emphasized, \u201cJust doing more isn’t enough. You have to do more, better and different. It is the different<\/em> that is key.\u201d It is strikingly different elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee yourselves as mobilizers of the community rather than administrators of the system<\/span>,\u201d urged\u00a0Leadbeater. He challenged us to move beyond pockets of innovation to transforming the whole field. He proceeded to ask us, \u201cHow do we increase this community\u2019s capacity to learn?\u201d How do we create large-scale system change? What are the tools at our disposal? Radical social innovation is most successful when it is a movement connected to a committed community that is driven by a compelling vision. Think of yourselves as a movement and not a system. We are the mobilizers of that community. \u00a0Who is leading this transformation? Our movement will be educators in the field that are engaged in shifting their pedagogy and collaborating with other educators in this pursuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have to be pulled to innovation. You have to craft activities that draw people to innovate.<\/span>\u201d Are we doing that in our district? Your district? Who is crafting these activities that will draw educators\u2014administrators and teachers alike\u2014into the movement? Are we creating a pull to a new way of leading? Teaching? Learning? It isn\u2019t about a push; it is about a pull because it is connected to a meaningful, authentic, moral purpose. We are creating a future for our own children. My son in kindergarten loves school. His favorite activity is \u201ccentre time.\u201d My son in grade 3 loves math and gym. My two oldest boys, however, in grade 8 and 10, have \u201cmixed emotions\u201d about school and sometimes find it \u201cboring.\u201d The love for learning that characterizes young children\u2014needs to be replicated for all students. Who will do that for my two oldest? Must we wait until it is too late for them?<\/p>\n

Leadbeater made reference to the C\u2019s in Innovation. These are composed as a series of questions, causing us to reflect on our own leadership practice.<\/p>\n

Crisis<\/span>: Is there a crisis<\/span>–a sense of urgency for this change?\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Curiosity<\/span>: Have we created a space for educators to be curious<\/span> and explore?<\/p>\n

Connections<\/span>: Are we working in combination with others? Are we creating connections<\/span> with others, with ideas, with the past and the future?<\/p>\n

Conversations<\/span>: Are we having a conversation<\/span> with others about this? Who is in the conversation? Who is hosting it? Where do we have our best conversations?<\/p>\n

Challenge<\/span>: Are we prepared to challenge<\/span> ideas, ask stupid question, pursue useful deviants, and support the move to the future?<\/p>\n

Commitment<\/span>: And have we (that would be both you\u00a0and<\/em> me) made a commitment<\/span>?\u2014\u201cYou don\u2019t learn to swim standing on the side of the pool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Co-creation<\/span>: Can we co-create<\/span>? Are we open to innovating for, with and by others? Who can you adopt? Who do you follow? And who is following you?<\/p>\n

The C\u2019s allow us to think strategically about our efforts.<\/p>\n

I had the privilege of attending a powerful conference with world-class speakers. For that I am deeply grateful. But along with that privilege comes the responsibility to do something with the knowledge I have gained. If it doesn\u2019t change my practice, then it has merely been a fascinating, titillating but somewhat empty intellectual exercise. That simply isn\u2019t good enough for me. I want to create the movement. Are we creating mere pockets of innovation or can we scale it up to a radical social movement? I am committed to jumping in the pool. Will you join me?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Think of yourselves as a movement not\u00a0attached to the union or the government. Charles Leadbeater I was fortunate to attend the BC School Superintendent\u2019s Winter Conference along with over 425 other attendees. I heard from Charles Leadbeater, Larry Rosenstock, John Abbott, Geoge Abbott and Bruce Beairsto. It was Charles Leadbeater\u2019s comments, however, that were the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4,6],"tags":[9,14,18,21,287,86,285,36,42,46],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=384"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":395,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384\/revisions\/395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innovativelearningdesigns.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}