PYP Exhibition |
INspiring minds
No man (or woman) is an island and neither should we be when it comes to sourcing inspiration for the PYP Exhibition. The following are people you may wish to learn more about in order to help you and your students and families throughout this journey.
As teachers, it is almost impossible not to be inspired by Sir Ken Robinson. The ‘buzz’ generated by his TED talk on the death of creativity in schools, swelled to a loud roar. He was amazing, insightful and inspiring.
This live talk was followed up with an animated version, utilizing the now more common-place skill of visual notetaking.
Before you get swamped in the Exh ibition, find the time to read his books “The Element” and “Out of Our Minds”and for the ideas he shared to percolate. If you prefer a more visual form of learning, check out his YouTube channel.
This live talk was followed up with an animated version, utilizing the now more common-place skill of visual notetaking.
Before you get swamped in the Exh ibition, find the time to read his books “The Element” and “Out of Our Minds”and for the ideas he shared to percolate. If you prefer a more visual form of learning, check out his YouTube channel.
There is a positive trend moving forward in the Exhibition which sees the focus switch to kids exploring their passions. Fast forward to the point at which you are trying to define passion, explain what it is and how to find it, to your kids. You will want Leo's post at hand: The Short But Powerful Guide to Finding Your Passion in which, he outlines the following steps to finding your passion:
1. What are you good at?
2. What excites you?
3. What do you read about?
4. What have you secretly dreamed of?
5. Learn, ask, take notes.
6. Experiment, try.
7. Narrow things down.
8. Banish your fears.
9. Find the time.
Great advice, fully explained in his post = a must read!
1. What are you good at?
2. What excites you?
3. What do you read about?
4. What have you secretly dreamed of?
5. Learn, ask, take notes.
6. Experiment, try.
7. Narrow things down.
8. Banish your fears.
9. Find the time.
Great advice, fully explained in his post = a must read!
Simon is the “why” guy. He advocates that we should ‘start with why‘ and in doing so, will discover our purpose.
His advice: find out what you like to do, how you do it and then consider why you do what you do, the way that you do it.
Simon has a Golden Circle that you can learn more about by watching his TED talk on the subject - one that has been viewed over 21 million times!
Simon generously shares his art. Click here to view a folder of free resources that will help you to help your kids uncover their 'why'.
His advice: find out what you like to do, how you do it and then consider why you do what you do, the way that you do it.
Simon has a Golden Circle that you can learn more about by watching his TED talk on the subject - one that has been viewed over 21 million times!
Simon generously shares his art. Click here to view a folder of free resources that will help you to help your kids uncover their 'why'.
Having read Seth Godin's “Linchpin” I was excited to see the follow-up workbook “Ship It“ (available in the Downloads tab of this blog).
Once your Exhibition journey is defined, Ship It is a great addition to your toolkit.
Ship It cuts to the nuts and bolts. It makes you write your shipping date, articulate your fears, add and subtract from your project to increase awesomeness and really set yourself up for a successful journey. Seth encourages us all to be artists, to be bold and to challenge the status quo - the essence of the Exhibition.
Having filled in the Ship It book, it is a great idea to write yourself a letter to read the day before the Exhibition. As Seth says, you could save the space for writing what actually happened or we could speak truth into the future.
Seth is an advocate of "making a ruckus" - of poking the box and pushing the edge of possible. His inspirational education manifesto "Stop Stealing Dreams" further highlights the multitude of reasons why we need to make school different and would be an excellent read prior to beginning the Exhibition.
Once your Exhibition journey is defined, Ship It is a great addition to your toolkit.
Ship It cuts to the nuts and bolts. It makes you write your shipping date, articulate your fears, add and subtract from your project to increase awesomeness and really set yourself up for a successful journey. Seth encourages us all to be artists, to be bold and to challenge the status quo - the essence of the Exhibition.
Having filled in the Ship It book, it is a great idea to write yourself a letter to read the day before the Exhibition. As Seth says, you could save the space for writing what actually happened or we could speak truth into the future.
Seth is an advocate of "making a ruckus" - of poking the box and pushing the edge of possible. His inspirational education manifesto "Stop Stealing Dreams" further highlights the multitude of reasons why we need to make school different and would be an excellent read prior to beginning the Exhibition.
Tony Wagner’s book “Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World” is a brilliant read. Instead of hoping kids will develop 21st Century skills by accident or as an ‘aside’ to their school career, Tony believes we need to explicitly look for ways to equip students with skills needed for what he describes as “an increasingly flat world”. He calls these the Seven Survival Skills:
The last skill, ‘design thinking’, is a concept employed at IDEO . (If you don’t know a lot about this company, take a look here or go straight to this great Fast Company Design piece on what schools can learn from IDEO, Google and Pixar – brilliant!). Wagner shares IDEO’s design thinking concept as an example of a way of viewing the world that is fundamental to any process of innovation. (Wagner, pp13). The CEO of IDEO, Tim Brown, goes on to describe five characteristics of ‘design thinkers’:
- Critical thinking and problem solving
- Collaboration across networks and leading by influence
- Agility and adaptability
- Initiative and entrepreneurship
- Accessing and analyzing information
- Effective oral and written communication
- Curiosity and imagination
- perseverance
- a willingness to experiment
- taking calculated risks
- tolerating failure
- a capacity for “design thinking”
The last skill, ‘design thinking’, is a concept employed at IDEO . (If you don’t know a lot about this company, take a look here or go straight to this great Fast Company Design piece on what schools can learn from IDEO, Google and Pixar – brilliant!). Wagner shares IDEO’s design thinking concept as an example of a way of viewing the world that is fundamental to any process of innovation. (Wagner, pp13). The CEO of IDEO, Tim Brown, goes on to describe five characteristics of ‘design thinkers’:
- empathetic – looking at the world from multiple perspectives and putting others first
- integrative thinkers – being able to see all aspects of a problem and possible breakthrough solutions
- optimistic - believing that no matter how challenging a problem, a solution can be found
- experimental – being willing to use trial and error to explore possible solutions in creative ways
- collaborative – this above all!
- curiosity – being in the habit of asking good questions with a desire to understand more deeply
- collaboration – listening to and learning from others who have perspectives and expertise different to your own
- associative or integrative thinking
- a bias toward action and experimentation
As an educator and a parent, what I find most significant in this list is that they represent a set of skills and habits of mind that can be nurtured, taught and mentored!
What I have seen, firsthand, through the PYP Exhibition is proof-positive of his words. And it is a beautiful thing.