BRAIN FOOD

EDUCATION Vol. 1, No. 1

AN APPETITE FOR CHANGE

A digest of major problems, solutions, and opportunities facing education in the 21st century

FOREWORD

HELLO.

Like others, UNBOUNDARY sees education as one of the linchpin design challenges of our time. And like others, too, were drawn as if by a tractor beam to play a role. That attraction, no doubt, is fueled by the parallels we see to our quarter century of helping some of the biggest and best-known enterprises in the world rethink and transform themselves. We enter into this challenge with a declared bias: our belief that the transformation of education is interconnected to the transformations happening now in both corporations and the social innovation space

CORPORATIONS

SOCIAL INNOVATION

EDUCATION

This bias has shaped the structure and practices of Unboundary, which now has interdependent practice areas in corporate, social innovation, and education transformation. We also enter this challenge offering Brain Food: a proven approach for shifting the din of idea-sharing into a useful design-thinking discussion. Brain Food is curated provocation. It is both question and answer. It is both perspective and focus. We welcome you to Volume One, Number One of Unboundarys Education Brain Food. And we look forward to the discussion it opens among us.

INTRODUCTION

Why isnt school more like

The philosopher Eric Hoffer once said, In times of profound change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. Which begs a simple, but telling question: ARE WE
LEARNING AS FAST AS THE WORLD IS CHANGING?

For decadesreally, more than a centurythe school has existed as the information and knowledge commons of every community. But in the most recent decade, we have been living in a networking revolution that makes information abundant rather than scarce. This epochal change has profound implications for the core character and purpose of schools. Ironically, though, the slowest changing institution in these times of rapid change is educationthe industry that should be most focused on the constructs of learning often appears the most resistant to transformation. Education faces problems. Its basic design is largely stuck in the image of industrial-age factories. Its systemically misaligned with what we are discovering about the brain. It underperforms at developing the most precious resource for our futurecreativity. Almost 100 years ago, John Dewey said, Education is not preparation for real life. Education is real life. Yet, our education system doesnt look much like real life, and its not preparing kids for real life.

Education is a complex entity in need of systemwide adaptation and accelerated change. Were optimistic about the potential of such adaptability and acceleration because we see examples of bright spots and promising innovation. A nucleus of change is expanding around ideas such as project-based learning, design thinking, and gamification. Schools of innovative practice are emerging in the public, independent, charter, and post-secondary spheresschools like High Tech High, The Nueva School, and The Studio School. And educational leaders of visionary determination are setting their shoulders behind the drive for transformation. In the pages that follow, weve curated tight sections on the PROBLEMS, PREDICTIONS, SOLUTIONS, EXEMPLARS, and LEADERS in education. These sections contain links to explore, articles to read, and videos to watch. The resources gathered here are by no means exhaustive. Instead they are portion-controlled tastes, collected in one place to generate thinking, promote conversation, and build perspective. All so we can work more collaboratively and purposefully on the systemic transformation that education demands.

CONTENTS

Problems

WHY SHOULD SCHOOLS CHANGE?

Predictions

Learn about the issues we face in readying learners, both today and tomorrow. The case for change is strong.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

Solutions

Understand the set of skills and ways of thinking deemed essential as we educate our future citizens and leaders.

HOW MIGHT SCHOOLS CHANGE?

Exemplars

Explore some of the most profound trends in educational innovation and discover ways that the education system could better align with the needs of learners.

WHO IS LEADING CHANGE?

Leaders

Be inspired by the people who are mapping paths to enhanced education, and see practices that prove change is not as hard as it may seem.

WHAT HELPS MANAGE CHANGE?

Discussion Guide

Learn leadership and management strategies and tactics to captain the transformation you want to steer in your organization.

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

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Use this Brain Food to become a catalyst for change in your school or learning community.

PROBLEMS

Why should

schools change?
Education stands at a critical crossroads. Down one route we can see business as usual the school continuing on its habitual journey, staying the course with only minor tweaks and adjustments. Along another path, we see possibilities for significant upgrades and whole-cloth enhancements developing Education 3.0, which unifies school and real life. Some say education needs slow evolution. Others shout for immediate revolution. But what are the problems causing such focus on change, regardless of the speed of the shift? An old, outdated model. A system not keeping up with our knowledge of the brain. Disharmony between the world inside schools and the world outside school walls. Dropout rates and international comparisons. Overemphasis on standardized testing. Lack of creativity. In this first section, we point to a concise collection of pieces that describes the big problems facing education, the future of schools, and schools of the future.

FROM MILITARY FORMATION TO ASSEMBLY LINES TO ROWS AND COLUMNS OF DESKS. Photo by: JJLosier

PROBLEMS: WHY SHOULD SCHOOLS CHANGE?

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IS HISTORY, YET SCHOOLS ARE STILL STUCK IN THE FACTORY

Education is modeled on the interests of industrialization and in the image of it.

SIR KEN ROBINSON

For roughly the last 150 years, schools have been made in the industrial-age image of factories. Like widgets on an assembly line, students move on a bell schedule to have their heads filled with math, English, science, history, etc. Its not that the content is bad for kids, of course, but a content-centric curriculum removes much of the learning from its real-world context. Thats why the question When will I ever use this? has become the iconic student complaint. Sir Ken Robinson, who earned knighthood for his contributions to education, argues for a new paradigm for education that awakens learners senses to peak levels and shifts from standardized conformity to creative inspiration.

95%
APPROXIMATELY 95 PERCENT OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE BRAIN WE LEARNED IN THE LAST 20 TO 25 YEARS. BUT SCHOOL CONTINUES TO LOOK ABOUT THE SAME AS IT HAS FOR THE LAST 150 YEARS. SOME TEASE THAT THE SCHOOL IS THE ONLY THING RIP VAN WINKLE WOULD RECOGNIZE IF AWAKENED FROM HIS 100 YEARS NAP.

Now the brain research doesnt say that this approach is necessarily wrong. It just reveals that this kind of approach is not compatible with how the brain learns best.
RENATE NUMMELA CAINE AND GEOFFREY CAINE

RSAs mesmerizing video visualizes a segment of one of Robinsons TED TALKS, which is one of the mostwatched of all time.

Confucius said, Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand. Now, brain research confirms the philosophers wisdom. Our brains connected to our hearts thrive on the active search for meaning. We are natural explorers and discoverers. But school is largely structured for passively receiving information. Too much of school is still sit-n-get. We live in a 2.0 world, trying to get to 3.0, but the school largely remains 1.0. Many classrooms use a sage-on-the-stage format where a teacher broadcasts info to rows and columns of radio-receiver students. But in a world of Wordpress, GarageBand, and Instagram, we can be producers of knowledge, not just consumers. And dynamic knowledge the kind that integrates knowing and doing, the kind that is critical for a rapidly changing world is built through deep engagement in real-world stuff that matters. As long as 15 years ago, such educational researchers as Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine, WRITING FOR JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, implored us to upgrade school based on the modern capabilities of technology and the brain.

PROBLEMS: WHY SHOULD SCHOOLS CHANGE?

MIND THE GAPS:

ARE WE PREPARING STUDENTS FOR OUR PAST OR FOR THEIR FUTURE?

Aran Levasseur, academic technology coordinator at San Francisco University High School, wrote, The best schools throughout history prepared their students for the social and economic reality of their time. Do you think our educational system is aligned well with this purpose of schools? The Harvard Business Reviews Tammy Erickson doesnt think so, and shes not alone. As she explained in THIS HBR PIECE, there are significant gaps between school purpose and school performance. Relevance and real-life skills gaps. Generation gaps. Network-hierarchy gaps. Global achievement gaps. Kids and adults are asking for us to address these gaps. Its got to be a priority.

For more insight from Aran Levasseur, we suggest reading Mindshifts article:
DOES OUR CURRENT EDUCATION SYSTEM SUPPORT INNOVATION?

THE CREATIVITY CRISIS

Are schools killing creativity?

KINDERGARTNERS AVERAGE

98%
ON CREATIVITY MEASURES YET BY HIGH SCHOOL, THE GROUP SCORES LESS THAN

The necessity of human ingenuity is undisputed. A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 leadership competency of the future.
PO BRONSON AND ASHLEY MERRYMAN

10%
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You may remember from Robinsons talk that kindergartners, as a group, average 98 percent on creativity measures. Yet by the time those same kids finish high school, the group scores less than 10 percent. Since 1990, the Creativity Quotient (CQ) decline has been happening worldwide, and its been most severe for American school children. From the brain research in the last two decades, we know so much more about how creativity blends so-called left brain/right brain thinking. But the school doesnt tend to put students in enough situations to exercise their brains in the ways we now know our brains work best. In this great DAILY BEAST PIECE, award-winning science writers Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman build a strong case for making creativity development a national priority.

PREDICTIONS

What does the

future hold?
Steve Jobs and hosts of other visionary leaders have held up a mantra attributed to the most famous hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzky: Skate to where the puck is going, not to where its been. Despite the fact that Gretzkys dad was the actual source, we still appreciate the message. In this section, we look at where the puck is headingto the future todays learners will face. Many ed leaders already have DANIEL PINKS Six Senses in mind: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning, which he called essential for the new era ahead. Maybe youre familiar with Howard Gardners FIVE MINDS FOR THE FUTURE too: the Disciplinary, Synthesizing, Creating, Respectful, and Ethical minds. Those two thinkers and works exercise profound influence on Unboundarys beliefs. Its on those foundations that we include more current scaffolding about 21st century thinking and the skills and mindsets we see as most important for the future were pursuing. With these next resources, youll be skating to where we see the puck going. If schools intend to prepare learners for reaching future goals, educational change must weave in these threads.

A WORLD OF TEACHERS AND CO-LEARNERS ARE ON SECOND LIFE.

Photo by: NMC SecondLife

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PREDICTIONS: WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

HOW 21ST CENTURY THINKING IS JUST DIFFERENT

TONY WAGNERS SEVEN SURVIVAL SKILLS

There is more information available to any student with a smartphone than an entire empire would have had access to 3,000 years ago.
TERRY HEICK, DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM AT TEACHTHOUGHT

Weve seen toddlers playing with iPads before they can even crawl. Or weve seen photos of friends children Skyping or Facebooking with grandparents. Point taken: Todays portable social technology gives youth the ability to connect and learn like no other generation. Such access to ubiquitous information and digital hangouts is altering the fundamental ways we think and function in a more interdependent, information-abundant world. Yet this transition isnt as easy as just supplying students with iPads. It requires developing new habits of mind. It requires coaching students to participate in much larger human and intellectual ecosystems than just the relatively simpler physical communities of our past. As media and connectivity continues to expand, we have to be thoughtful about engaging learners in these different modes of thinking which will likely grow even more pervasive. READ HERE about all the new habits of the mind.

The rapid pace of change in society means business leaders will have to adapt and learn critical survival skills to thrive in the 21st century. Recent studies have proven that skills sought out for leadership roles are shifting from the authoritative command and control director of the industrial age to the collaborative soft influencer. Tony Wagner is co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and senior advisor at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We found WAGNERS PERSPECTIVE on the top seven survival skills particularly telling, especially given the strong voices of the quoted business leaders.

THE 10 KEY SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE OF WORK

THE MOST-DESIRED SKILLS OF 2020 WILL BE

The hyperconnected world represents a land of opportunity for Millennials, as long as they retain their ability to focus amid constant distractions. This PEW INTERNET & AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT SURVEY found that internet literacy will be one of the most valued skills. The key ability to navigate the sea of information, search effectively and sort what is noise and what is the message, will be the defining factor between leaders and followers. The ability to work collaboratively within the global network, mine for meaningful patterns, and synthesize findings through original communication should be practiced.

When it comes to preparing our students for the real world, are we focusing on what really matters? Rather than betting on the top 10 job titles in the next decade, we believe betting on THE TOP SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE is a far better investment. THE INSTITUTE FOR THE FUTURE a Palo Alto, Calif., nonprofit research center forecasted and released a report titled Future Work Skills 2020, which deconstructs the broad skills that will help workers adapt to an ever changing career landscape. From adaptive thinking to design mindset, the COMPLETE REPORT details why certain skills will be crucial in the near futureand how education, business, and policymakers can work together to develop these skills for students.

SOLUTIONS

How might

schools change?
When has your own learning been the most powerful and provocative? What conditions existed that made those peak-learning experiences so meaningful and memorable? Take a few minutes and think about those questions. Maybe even jot down a few notes. Were guessing you didnt describe the typical classroom setting. From our research and experience, weve found that people learn best when they 1) feel more selfdirected and have a sense of choice; 2) pursue a passion and strive to master something; and 3) believe they are contributing to a bigger purpose. Before and after school (in a single day or over a lifetime), real-life learning happens through searching and exploring, engaging in projects and challenges, trying and failing, making connections with people and ideas. The school often feels disconnected from these more natural and vibrant ways of learning. In fact, our purposeful play in educational innovation at Unboundary stems from two main curiosities: 1. If school is meant to prepare kids for real life, then why doesnt school look more like real life? 2. How might we reimagine and redesign school to look more like real life? Remember what Dewey said about education being real life? At Unboundary, we think the best innovations in education blur the boundaries between teacher and student, work and play, and school and the rest of the world.
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SELF-INITIATED LEARNING IN SUGATA MITRAS HOLE IN THE WALL PROJECT.

Photo by: Delhibound

SOLUTIONS: HOW MIGHT SCHOOLS CHANGE?

BLURRING BOUNDARIES BETWEEN SCHOOL AND REAL LIFE

THE FUTURE OF LEARNING

Educator, consultant, and blogger Will Richardson investigates the question, Should We Connect School Life to Real Life? in an October 2012 post on the fabulous blog MindShift. In only a few minutes you can READ THE POST, but we think itll inspire you to seek out his entire, latest (short and quick) E-BOOK on the topic Why School: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere.

Students are the future, but whats the future for students? To arm them with the relevant, timeless skills for our rapidly changing world, we need to revolutionize what it means to learn.
GOOD

We think this 12-minute DOCUMENTARY BY GOOD highlights a cadre of super eduvators and the guiding principles for the future of learning.

THE BIG SHIFTS

In his TEDx talk at Rhode Islands St. Georges School, Pat Bassett, longtime president of the National Association of Independent Schools, put some great meat on the bones of the MacArthur Foundations Big Shifts coming in education. WATCH HIS TALK, READ THE TRANSCRIPT, or do both theyre that good.

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SOLUTIONS: HOW MIGHT SCHOOLS CHANGE?

GAMIFICATION

People spend more than 3 billion hours playing video games every week. Why? Because theyre fun and interactive. And they use feedback looping and badging to keep us at our ever-changing challenge level, excited about our new achievements and progress. An increasing number of really smart folks are advocating for a shift: Stop complaining about all those hours of video-game playing and weave the wisdom of gaming into the fabric of education. We love this INFOGRAPHIC on Gamification from Knewton, one of Fast Companys 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2012. And were big fans of Jane McGonigals TED talk, GAMING CAN MAKE A BETTER WORLD.

COMPLETE INFOGRAPHIC HERE

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING

In real life, everything is a project. Learning to walk, investigating dinosaurs, playing the piano, discovering cancer treatments, advertising a product all projects. At work, we work on projects. For education, PBL, or project-based learning, continues to live at the center of ed reform and school-transformation efforts. As Suzie Boss explains in her EDUTOPIA PIECE, Project-Based Learning: A Short History, PBL possesses a strong genealogy that includes Aristotle, Confucius, Dewey, and others, as well as an ideal fit for preparing learners for the future.

And the high-school phenom Nikhil Goyal, voice of The Learning Revolution, speaks to the MESSINESS OF GREAT LEARNING and highlights three case studies for anti-disciplinary, project-based approaches.

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EXEMPLARS

Who is

leading change?

On May 6, 1954, Dr. Roger Bannister broke the fourminute mile. Before he accomplished this feat, there had been so many failed efforts that most experts said such a run was physically impossible. After Bannisters barriershattering run, another determined trackster went sub-four the next month. In the ensuing year, about a dozen runners broke four minutes. Today, more than 900 people have done so. Our limitations often come from our own beliefs about whats possible. Just seeing even one example can help us raise our aspirations and trajectories. We begin to see the impossible as entirely possible. And exhilarating. There are many such exemplars creating the maps for educations future people and schools at the crossroads, choosing the paths that will make learning more relevant, resonant, and significant aligning schooling with the locomotives of tomorrow, not just the legacies of yesterday. This section gives you a peek into a few places that are searching for and finding the new possibilities for education.
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LEARNING WELL BY DOING GOOD: STUDIO SCHOOL STUDENTS PAINT STREETS IN NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY PROJECT.

Photo by: Nikki McKenzie

EXEMPLARS: WHO IS LEADING CHANGE?

FINLAND

When folks talk comparative education, Finland is bound to come up. On the PISA Survey (PISA stands for the Programme for International Student Assessment), Finland consistently scores at or near the top. The other top five countries are typically Asian nations. Because Finland is the only Western top performer, Finland gets a lot of attention in the U.S. Theres even a DOCUMENTARY FILM about Finlands incredible educational success The Finland Phenomenon: Inside the Worlds Most Surprising School System. Among all the coverage about Finlandian education, we like this ATLANTIC PIECE BY ANU PARTANEN What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finlands School Success. Where most articles describe the anthill we can see, Partanen goes below the surface to the real core. If you want to see 15 minutes of highlights from the 60-minute film documentary by Bob Compton and Harvard researcher Dr. Tony Wagner, you can watch that on YOUTUBE. To learn more about PISA, this RSA VIDEO can get you schooled up in no time.

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO FINLANDS TOP TIER EDUCATION SYSTEM AS NOTED BY PISA

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMPREHENSIVENESS OF EDUCATION COMPETENT TEACHERS STUDENT COUNSELING AND SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION ENCOURAGING EVALUATION SIGNIFICANCE OF EDUCATION IN SOCIETY A FLEXIBLE SYSTEM BASED ON EMPOWERMENT COOPERATION A STUDENT-ORIENTED, ACTIVE CONCEPTION OF LEARNING

HELSINKI

THE NUEVA SCHOOLS INNOVATION LAB

Years ago, Daniel Pink argued that D-school was the new B-schoolthat MFAs would trump MBAs. One of the premier design schoolsStanfords d.schoolpartnered with THE NUEVA SCHOOL in Hillsborough, Calif., and they built an Innovation Lab at Nueva that has transformed the school and the ways students and teachers are working. Schools around the country are trying to replicate the magic at Nueva.

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EXEMPLARS: WHO IS LEADING CHANGE?

THE STUDIO SCHOOL

HIGH TECH HIGH

Geoff Mulgan is a social innovator and entrepreneur who reimagined school in the U.K. He started with a simple question. What kind of school would have the teenagers fighting to get in, not fighting to stay out? In response, he founded the Studio School. Its been a huge success, and the students are hugely successful. In three years, theyve expanded from two schools to more than 30. Studio School provides a SUPER MODEL for blurring the lines between school and real life.

Larry Rosenstock is the CEO of High Tech High. But at one time his title was Emperor of Vigor. Theres no technology class in his collection of San Diego HTH schools, so dont let the name throw you. Rosenstock prefers the description that HTH is the greatest liberal arts school in disguise. But theres not much sitting in desks. The students are designers, builders, tinkerers, and inventors. Oh, and consultants. The learning is integrated, contextual, purposeful, and compelling. We think this VIDEO FROM HTH will make you want to enroll your kids and yourself.

INNOVATION PROFILES FOR THE INDEPENDENT CURRICULUM GROUP

The 17 member schools of the Independent Curriculum Group are a courageous band of brothers. Tired of the test-focused ed culture, and realizing they had power in numbers, they formed a tribe to demonstrate that when schools facilitate active creation from students, rather than passive reception, then graduates build better capacity for being engaged citizens and future leaders the kind of learners and doers who make maps instead of just reading maps. On the ICG WEBSITE, you can click on the Innovative Profiles link to read stories from all of the member schools.

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING AT HIGH-TECH HIGH

THE OPEN BADGES PROJECT

One reason why gamers love gamingfabulous feedback. You know where you stand and you have a clear sense of what you need to work on to get better. Many games provide incentive and reward for leveling up through badges. Mozillaof the web browser worldis developing a SYSTEM for rewarding badges for all kinds

of learning achievement. Many educational innovators see badgification as one of the best features of the gamification of education. Were thinking Mozilla is onto something very big and very important. Wed give em a badge for enabling better and more fun feedback for folks trying to learn and improve.

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LEADERS

What helps

manage change?
We believe that effective change is purposefully designed. Because most change leads us into uncertain and uncomfortable conditions, design thinkingrooted in empathy and prototypingcan ensure that healthy cycles of creating, trialing, and improving make the processes of transformation more tangible, perceptible, and successful. In this section, we point to a few of the change leaders whom we most admire. It is from their voices that we are reminded of the importance of communicating clearly and passionately about the Why of any change we undertake. It is from their voices that we consider how to hack the future and deconstruct change to the smallest high-yield strategies. It is from their voices that we call on the secrets of innovation as waypoints on the paths of change.
THE HIVE IS GREATER THAN THE BEE.

Photo by: wildxplorer

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LEADERS: WHAT HELPS MANAGE CHANGE?

WHY DOES YOUR SCHOOL EXIST?

TO BE PART OF THE FUTURE YOU HAVE TO HACK IT

When you have opportunity to speak about your school, what do you say? Do you detail the what and the how? Do you inspire with the why? In this PIECE FROM AUTHOR SIMON SINEK, we are reminded of how powerful why can be. We learn from Nikes Phil Knight why the legendary company exists and why we should make the most of opportunities to share the why of our schools existences. Also, Sineks TEDx Talk
HOW GREAT LEADERS INSPIRE ACTIONis

The best way to understand a complex system is by interfering with it.

WILLIAM STARBUCK

Hackers are creative, playful, and sometimes irreverent analyzers of systems. Given the complexities of the educational system, we believe that deep-level understanding and innovation can come from adopting and adapting the MINDSETS AND TOOLKITS OF THE HACKER. Insights gained will prove invaluable for redesigning the new system.

eye-opening.
MOTION LEADERSHIP

LEARN THE

With the pervasive emphasis on innovation, what a relief that its totally learnable. We subscribe to the notion that people are inherently creative. What keeps us that way, and what helps us grow more creative, is discipline and determination. After extensive research, Dyer, Gregersen, and Christensen wrote a seminal book called THE INNOVATORS DNA. What gives us great hope, though, is that innovation has little to do with DNA and everything to do with five practices and behaviors. We think this CNN ARTICLE provides a nice brief for the entire research and book.

SECRETS OF INNOVATION

The Heath brothers, Dan and Chip, call it shrinking the change. Michael Fullan calls it the skinny on becoming change-savvy. Whatever you call it, its about the collective power of many small changes. All the bees working together for the good of the hive. Forty years of educational-change research has led Fullan to believe that such collectivity is an essential ingredient for effective and significant change. We think this Q&A WITH FULLAN is a super synopsisand inspiration for digging deeper into his optimistic, change-agent know-how.

What the innovators have in common is that they can put together ideas and information in unique combinations that nobody else has quite put together before.
HAL GREGERSEN

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DISCUSSION GUIDE

Tools and resources

for discussion
There are countless ways to use this education-focused Brain Food. One idea is to dig into the content and implications with your school community or educational organization. This curated collection could serve as a basis for discussion with faculty, administration, students, parents, or alumni. We love the idea of forming discussion and action groups composed from a mixture of all these stakeholder categories. We can suggest a sampling of ideas to generate discussion on your own about this Brain Food.

1. Unboundarys suggested prompts

Weve developed five sets of prompts that provoke deep thinking about how the concepts, ideas, and models shared in this Brain Food can directly apply to your school or learning community.

2. Protocols for Professional Learning

For unpacking and debriefing an article or section, we like the Four As protocol in: PROTOCOLS FOR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING (The Professional Learning Community Series), a workbook from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

3. Gamestorming
To spur imagination about future possibilities, we recommend the Cover Story game. Check out the website GOGAMESTORM.COM, and the book: GAMESTORMING: A PLAYBOOK FOR INNOVATORS, RULEBREAKERS, AND CHANGEMAKERS
"IT IS A MIRACLE THAT CURIOSITY SURVIVES FORMAL EDUCATION." ALBERT EINSTEIN

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Photo by: Mark Fischer

DISCUSSION GUIDE:

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: UNBOUNDARYS SUGGESTED PROMPTS

1.

PROBLEMS: WHY SHOULD SCHOOLS CHANGE?

How do you see the problems described in section one manifesting themselves in your own school or educational organization? What are you doing to address these issues? Whats working? Where are you frustrated? Why?

Unboundary will begin piloting Pedagogical Master Planning 1.0 in mid-January, 2013. PMP gives a school community the processes, tools, and facilitation needed to develop shared understanding, unified direction and adaptive progress. If your school or learning community is interested in being a part of this pilot program, please contact:
BO ADAMS

2.

PREDICTIONS: WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

What if you had to prove to parents or other stakeholders that your school is equipping students with the skill sets described as 21st century skills in the 2020 list? How would you do so? What ideas do you have for improving how you are developing such skill sets in your students?

Director of Education Innovation bo@unboundary.com 404.614.4299

3.

SOLUTIONS: HOW MIGHT SCHOOLS CHANGE?

Is your school pursuing, or even perfecting, any of the solutions described in the solutions section? If so, what are the bright spots of your own program development in, lets say, project-based learning, for example [or insert the actual solution you are working on]? What are the obstacles? How are you strategizing to amplify the bright spots and minimize the obstacles?

4.

EXEMPLARS: WHO IS LEADING CHANGE?

What excited you most from the list of schools and programs in the section four on exemplars? Why? How might you enhance your own schools offerings in one or more of these areas? How might you become an exemplar in your own regard?

5.

LEADERS: WHAT HELPS MANAGE CHANGE?

How do the resources in the leadership sectionsection five resonate with you? In what ways could you apply that thinking and action to your own leadership at your school or educational organization?

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MEET UNBOUNDARY

WE ARE A STRATEGIC STUDIO THAT HELPS ORGANIZATIONS TRANSFORM.

We see transformation as purposefully designed change. The need to transform can be triggered by several thingsnew leadership, a significant innovation, a changing landscape, or ever increasing expectationsbut it always involves recognition of a new, greater possibility. Begun in 1987, Unboundary has been shaped by the imperatives our clients have faced: rethinking IBM back to life, re-imagining Sesame Workshop for the digital age, redefining success for The Coca-Cola Company, re-framing FedEx to reveal its greater role and relevance. Enabling transformation is the hardest but most rewarding work of leadership. Transformation requires helping others to see, believe, understand, and act on greater possibility. We're an intentionally boutique-sized firm with well-developed methodologies but few rote processes. Our size and approach allows us to work with a select number of clients. Through a quarter-century of experience, we've developed a unique combination of strategic consulting, communications design, and enabling workshops.
KEY FACTS

CORPORATIONS

24-person team of strategists, designers, producers, and relationship leaders Constantly curating a vibrant network of contributors and collaborators Adaptive shaped by the imperatives we help clients define and address Optimistic and curious Intentionally independent, which allows us to influence the work of existing agencies or resources

SOCIAL INNOVATION

EDUCATION

THREE INTERRELATED PRACTICE AREAS CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION

Our core practice area is in corporate transformation and integrated corporate/ marketing communications. This work ranges from our Brain Food tools that give executive teams the perspective to see greater possibilities, from strategy and narrative development, to integration strategy and planning, to implementation, to content creation and publishing.
SOCIAL INNOVATION

SELECT CLIENT LIST

Overlapping our corporate practice area is our social innovation practice. This work draws on the methodologies and capabilities of our corporate practice, with added emphasis on community development and collaboration.
EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION

unboundary.com
For more information please contact:
TOD MARTIN, President & CEO

tod@unboundary.com 404.614.4299

Our newest practice area, which overlaps our corporate and social innovation practices, is an education practice. Our history of successful large-organization transformation and community-building gives us great insight into how to help educational institutions shift their approach and processes to accelerate needed change.

Accenture American Express Arthur W. Page Society The Coca-Cola Company Dow Jones FedEx IBM InterfaceFLOR Johnson & Johnson Leadership Atlanta Nasdaq Novartis OTC Polo Ralph Lauren Charles Schwab Sesame Workshop/ Joan Ganz Cooney Center ThreeDotDash/ We Are Family Foundation WhiteWave Foods Xylem