Disruption, Creativity; Innovate 2 flourish

Future focussed progress is reliant on innovation.
To engage in deep innovation for success: Open your minds, listen with your hearts and
STRETCH your learning. What action will you take ? What deep innovation will you make ?

Active participation and deep reflection stimulated by the Edward's and Martin Delivering Innovation Conference (June, 2018) led to the creation of a video. The personal challenge was to succinctly capture two full days of powerful learning in a three minute animated video to share with others.

                                              

Here is the way the video evolved:

1. Reading through my own notes, the slides from the conference and collaborative notes shared  from colleagues, led to the scribbling of key words, ideas and images in the pages of a large sketch book.

A sample of the collation of ideas for the video

2. Three strong links to my 2014 sabbatical report and 2014 sabbatical video became apparent. Themes of trust, using the expertise within the group and moving out of our comfort zones, were mental models that were revisited in the new video. The images were adapted and refined to reflect my new learning in relation to innovation.

Images from the 2014 video were revisited and refined for the innovation video

3. I proceeded to replicate and refine the text I developed for some of the original video images such as the heart, the world globe and the ripple waves. I also included new images such as those from the presentation and others to carefully align with the innovation theme.

Adjusting & playing with images on the videoscribe

4. I began writing a script for the narration. The script was refined several times to ensure it succinctly captured the essence of key learning within the three minute time frame. Iteration after iteration was made to carefully match with the images and the online creation of the sketches in real time.

Iteration after iteration of script to capture the key messages

5. The voiceover took several attempts and although not perfect, there comes a time where one runs out of time and simply has to finish !

Here is the final narration script for the video to engage in deep innovation for success:

To engage others in deep learning we must move out of our comfort zones and personally experience the passion, energy, excitement and creativity of learning (Hawkins, 2014. This is an outcome of the research I carried out,  during my principal sabbatical. You can read the full report here).

You can access the original video at this link

How do we engage in deep innovation for success ?

Kim and Mauborne (2015) refer to non - disruptive creation. This is as important as disruption for successful outcomes. Such disruption motivated and inspired the creation of this new video. 

It is an outcome of actively participating in the Edward's and Martin Delivering Innovation Conference (2018).

The focus of the conference was the powerful Innovation Model designed by Edwards and Witten-Hannah. This model has a proven record of delivering significant results in business, sporting and educational institutions.

Edwards and Witten-Hannah Innovation Model

Refining three key mental models for engagement in learning (Hawkins 2014), has led to a deeper understanding of the Model of Innovation.
A culture that genuinely fosters trust is vital. Relatedness connects the hearts and minds of the group and drives purpose and shared ownership.
Ownership is strengthened when the skills and expertise of the group are valued and celebrated. This leads to long - term gains and sustainable outcomes.
Thirdly, the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition (1980) progresses from novice to expert. The competence level often becomes the comfort zone. Stretching and challenging learning to the proficient and expert level is necessary to truly engage in deep innovation for success.
How can success be sustained ?
The Edwards and Martin Schools That Deliver Network (2016) is authentic innovation in action.

This book published in 2016, is based on years of research in practise

Every voice contributes to a contextual vision and core values.
Research teams spend months in the action learning phase, gathering specific data and reflecting on ongoing iterations to bring the vision to life.

Innovating means operating at the high performance level.
This can happen when we:
Shift from talking to active listening.
Hold weekly cadence sessions.
Encourage peers to strongly challenge thinking and openly share progress.
One to one interviews are more valuable than surveys.
Embrace the learning pit. It is the only place to stretch learning.
Allow quality time to practise, research and refine ideas.

Future focussed progress is reliant on innovation.
To engage in deep innovation for success:

What action will I take ?

Create a video. Share this video. Spread the message.

Listen with my heart to others. In particular listen to our learners, staff and parents. 

Use one to one conversations to gather feedback instead of written and online surveys. 

What deep innovation will I make ?

It is evolving. 

It will be collaborative in relation to our vision moving forward. 

It will move us from competent to highly proficient to recognised experts 

within our community and beyond.

What about you ? 

POPE Brings St Patrick's School Vision to Life

At St Patrick's School, POPE (Parents as Open Partners in Education) gatherings have evolved into authentic, needs based, staff and parent action work groups, that help to bring the vision of Engaged and motivated learners always faithful to our loving God to life.

At the end of Term 1, 2018 staff worked with the Schools That Deliver facilitators (you can read more at this link) and developed a detailed, practical vision narrative to further enhance our school wide vision. The narrative reflects the passion of our staff as they aim to ensure our "learners leave St Patrick’s self motivated and ready to make a positive impact on their world." You can read the full vision narrative at this link.
In particular, these key statements from the vision narrative apply to our POPE:

• "St Patrick’s taps into the expertise and initiatives of our parents and the wider community and regularly invite them into our school."
• "St Patrick’s provides a safe environment where everyone experiences a genuine sense of belonging." 
• "Our Leadership model is strong and fair promoting a clear vision, building respectful, cohesive and positive relationships across our community. "
• "We utilise technology to communicate learning and strengthen home school partnerships." 

 In 2016, the POPE gatherings began as meeting times, where interested parents met with the principal to provide feedback around learning processes at school. For example, the feedback in relation to reporting to parents, directly contributed to the recently redesigned school reports. Based on parent feedback, a group of staff spent several months researching different report models. They specifically designed a new model to best suit the needs of our St Patrick's community.

Parents contributed to the renewed visioning process at an early POPE meeting

A natural evolution of the POPE gatherings has also been the development of needs based parent action work groups. These groups utilise the professional expertise and experience of our parent community. The Child Safety team, the Out of School Hours (OSH) review team and the Masterplan team are examples of authentic working groups, where parents and staff contribute their expertise for the benefit of all learners.

The most recent example of this partnership model has been the OSH working group. In Term 1, 2018, parents were surveyed about the existing OSH provider. Feedback indicated the need for a review. Interested parents who utilised the facility were invited to join the principal to form an action work group. The exisiting OSH provider and four others were shortlisted to give a presentation to the work group. Based on parent feedback from the initial survey, key criteria specific to the needs of our school community were developed. The working group used a traffic light system to assess the presentations against the set criteria (a similar approach was used by architects K2LD with the Masterplan team). After a rigorous evaluative process, including opportunities to visit the other providers, the OSH working team were unanimous in the appointment of a new provider. Team Kids commence in Term 3 at St Patrick's.

The assessment criteria devised and used by the St Pat's OHS action work group

Some of the outcomes of our other work groups are the new Child Safety outdoor signage, new sign - in arrangements at school and the completed first phase of the Masterplan. We are grateful for the support of our parent community with these initiatives. 

The Masterplan was an outcome of several iterations based on student, staff, parent, parish & work group feedback.

At our last board meeting, we discussed the success of such parent action work groups and suggestions for further potential needs based groups from the board include :

• Grants - to help with grant applications including those in relation to our masterplan
• Safety - to help focus on the physical safety of the school environment 
• Website - to help review, redesign and develop our school website 
• Alumni - to help explore ideas to involve past students 

Along with the already valued contributions from our Parent Helpers, Class Reps, Parish Education Board and Parents & Friends, we are looking for parents interested in sharing their valuable skills and expertise in any of the above areas. There are no huge commitments required and meeting times are very flexible. 

Consider this as a way to share your expertise and model to your children how you as parents are "self- motivated and willing to make a positive impact on their world ". 

In doing this you are helping to partner with our community to bring the St Patrick's school vision of Engaged and motivated learners always faithful to our loving God  to life.