It has been widely said that our current education paradigm destroys innate curiosity and produces 'compliant learners' who are woefully unprepared for the complexity of the world they will be entering.
If we want our students to be deep learners, powerful learners, creative learners, we must model for them what it means to be a learner. Unfortunately, for most educators, many who are compliant learners themselves, that modeling can be hard to do – their learning potential locked away, behind the armor of being a 'knower'.
We immediately recognized that in order to bring the creative learning experienced at Dayton to the classroom around the world, we must first help educators become, once again, learners – creative learners.
The problem, though, is that it is difficult to explain this creative learning that is at the core of Agile to one who has not experienced it. But, as it has been said many times, once it has been experienced, it can't be unseen, it can't be unfelt.
We initially developed the framework, then, to guide educators through a learning experience to awaken their wonder – the key to creative learning – in a way that might inspire them to bring this experience of fast, joyful learning to their students.
The DiG training for educators is typically a five-day learning journey. After experiencing it, educators are then encouraged to begin creatively experimenting with it, recognizing that it will look very different based on their classroom and curriculum.
The DiG journey is done with others in what is called a 'learning pod'. This pod is a critical part of the process, providing accountability and inspiration.
At the launch of a DIG, the pod is given a topic, called a 'base'. Each member is then randomly given another topic, called a 'scrambler'. The pod members are then challenged to understand the relationship between these two topics in a way that personally relates to them – their interests, their curiosities.
The primary guidance that is given to them is that “The answer is always ‘Yes’”. Can this aspect of the topic be explored? Yes. Can this type of object be created? Yes. While the removal of a predefined definition of success is very challenging for some, it’s essential for the learning to be authentic.
Each time the pod gathers, everyone shares what they have learned and where they plan to go next with their journey as they seek to understand something that they are beginning to recognize is important to them. This Deep Listening to each other is essential for the process of guiding everyone to Deep Learning.
For the demo day, when their stories of deep learning are shared with each other, they are asked to tell that story with a 'creative artifact' they have made. The making of this artifact helps each learner clarify the personal meaning of their learning.
The learning sprint ends with a retro where the pod reflects on their journey before embarking on their next learning adventure.
Next: Experiencing Emergence
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