Whitespace is a void of deep listening. It's a space where we are held lovingly and given permission to share our thoughts without censorship. Whitespace feels like acceptance, support, and championing.
We all hold whitespace for others at different times in our lives - it's a given for deep friendships and a supportive family. But how often do we hold whitespace for our colleagues? In times of stress, change, and experimentation, whitespace provides valuable airtime for processing and deep learning.
The staff at Griffin State School recognized the power of holding whitespace for colleagues as they began courageous innovation experiments aligned with the Designed inGenuity learning framework. Intentionally carving out frequent ‘whitespace’ has propelled innovative practices in classrooms. Whitespace has a powerful impact on inciting innovation.
When considering innovation, there are many different spaces that can be considered helpful - physical space, temporal space, and cognitive space, to name a few. But some of the most important spaces we might create are ‘whitespaces’. These are the spaces of emergence and potential.
By simply creating space, intentionally listening, and prompting to notice surprise, delight, and wonder, we create the space for emergence. Courage thrives in whitespace, for being deeply heard and seen is empowering.
Carving out ‘whitespace’ for educators is supporting innovation to thrive at Griffin. as teachers experiment with the DIG learning framework, our curated whitespace allows for learning to become collective. Like learners undertaking a DIG learning journey, the whitespace provides the void, the nothingness from which something emerges. We need space to wander and wonder. Innovation needs whitespace to emerge and flourish.
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