Great ideas happen when good ideas bump into each other. This ‘bumping’ can happen at any time - when reading, listening to others and, especially for school leaders, when attending gatherings like conferences. This is when creative breakthroughs can emerge. Three factors contribute to such Eureka Moments occurring at gatherings like conferences.
Attending a conference or symposium necessitates a school leader being away from the day-to-day busyness of running a school, creating the Emergent Whitespace to think and reflect. In addition keynotes and presentations offer new ideas or thinking to emerge, and especially if these people offer perspectives outside of education. And finally at these gatherings like minded people attend which means they have an understanding of the schooling context, and are driven by a similar purpose. Talking to colleagues about the about the ideas presented can spark new meaning. Attending a conference opens creative windows with new views, which is a place full of potential.
These three criteria can be magnified through study tours as the leader is not only away from the busyness of leading a school, but of all other aspects of life. Ideas can emerge from experiencing other people’s work and connections can be made to one's own context AND there is the opportunity to talk about these ideas with people with whom meaningful connections are be developed. Its powerful when we are engaged in Collective Learning!
What can emerge can surprise and delight, not just for an individual, but others in the collective as ideas spark of each other. The trust built through learning together, being vulnerable together, in enjoying the generosity of hosts, underpins the success of this type of professional learning.
This is why we need to build genuine collaboration into our school, not because we are social beings, or because it feels good, but because it enhances the potential for learning. It is how we can enhance innovation, harness creativity, and seek out important breakthroughs
This is because good ideas can bump into each other when they are shared, the subsequent learning is both intrinsically motivating and motivational for the group. This is the work in the meso level.
DOT FROM preview-next-diagram