“Wander & Wonder”
Podcast

(5) Big Ideas from the Episode:

• why inquiry-based / real-world learning models foster the “21st Citizenry that we all need”
• we must create “cultures of caring” that serve both students and educators
• why the principal’s office should be located in the physical heart of a learning community, accessible to all by design
• what purposeful systems-based coaching makes possible
• why Ultimate frisbee is a powerful team / player experience (and catalyst for learning)

(5) Big Ideas from the Episode:

• the vital importance of choosing to “fail up” as a community
• one benefit of the pandemic: realizing that learning is no longer tied to time, space, or place
• why leaders must ensure all colleagues are given space and support to have a “revival of meaning and purpose” in their daily practice and career
• advice to other Heads of School: “take the long path” by thinking of yourself as an “ancestor” of future generations from now
• how the school’s faith-based foundation naturally led to Mount Vernon becoming one of the most recognized leaders in the US (and beyond) in human-centered design thinking methodologies, inquiry-based learning practices, and innovation on and off campus

(5) Big Ideas from the Episode:

• his school purposefully “looks for evidence of magic” and was launched to defend the idea that “everything is interesting”
• why would you invite a kid to “be a robot on Mars” as a strategic response to Covid and how do you scale that invitation to kids around the world?
• build in “improvisational collaboration” across a school -> “create serendipitous overlaps where things emerge”
• why an accessible power tool wall (drills, drivers, saws, etc) implicitly says to a young person: “We trust you” and “Use what you need to explore your idea”
• letting elementary, middle, and high school kids co-build a 2-3 story structure called “Kid City” in an empty warehouse helped the school’s vision and pedagogy become real to everyone in year one

(5) Big Ideas from the Episode:

• “Space isn’t the solution; it is a tool.”
• the “Pedagogy of Play”
• you can’t force anyone to play but you can “train your playfulness”
• why everyone – including teachers and administrators – need to learn how to fail in order to design better possibilities
• a question for school leaders: Do we treat our community as living, breathing creatures who need different things or do we treat them as efficient machines moving towards the same outcomes?

(5) Big Ideas from the Episode:

• be awesome at asking questions; linger longer in the questions
• the positive power of “not-working-ness”
• the negative irony of creating a ‘space for prototyping’ (like a formal maker space) can sometimes mean that prototyping doesn’t happen anywhere else
• why Scott advocates for the inefficiency of teaching collaborations: “my knowledge is as not the boundary for any topic.”
• prototyping isn’t ultimately about the ‘thing’ you design or the ‘solution’; it’s about “embodying questions” that need to be explored

(5) Big Ideas from the Episode:

• “Education often gets in the way of learning.”
• “The world of education is not broken. It’s doing exactly what it was made to do. The world around education changed.” Thus: “our Education system is no longer relevant.”
• “You don’t fail or succeed; you just constantly iterate.”
• “Google for Education” launched two weeks after Jaime joined the Engineering team at Google; they wanted to “change communication and collaboration in education.” There was no expectation of entering the K-12 market until they noticed iPads; the K-12 work began with one client in Oregon to show proof-of-concept that the Chromebook made it so that any kid is “on campus” no matter where they are
• key to the future: doubling down on “Human Skills” like storytelling or managing a problem: “I don’t care what my daughter’s subjects are. I just want her to be able to collaborate, solve problems, etc.”

(5) Big Ideas from the Episode:

• why he believes: “Show kids you are willing to step into an uncomfortable realm of learning yourself.”
• building a process so that you as a teacher can step back so that the students own what lies ahead
• why he believes an ideal PBL project is one that “slows time down”
• 2 barriers to PBL adoption in traditional schools: 1) schools measure the quantitative (from college matriculation to schools impacting local real estate values), and 2) existing learning cultures in a school or the larger community itself
• what years of spearfishing have taught him about honoring the ‘learning’ process. Hint: the fish is not actually the goal.