On November 5th I had the pleasure of being a panelist at the 4th annual MindShare Learning Canadian EdTech Leadership Summit at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto. The theme of the summit was Beyond Pockets of Innovation.
The day was interesting for many reasons but it was the nature of the audience that I found most intriguing.
We were:
Educators
Start-Up Companies
Executives
CEO's
Policy People
Marsians (Martians? What do you call the people at MaRS who foster innovation and entrepreneurship?)
Business Owners
Education Administrators
Researchers
Graduate Students
Event Organizers
This was the most diverse group of people that I have encountered at an event focused on education.
As I listened to presenters, observed start-ups pitch their companies, learned of fascinating research projects and participated in round table discussions, it struck me how much educators lose because we tend to engage in professional development conversations only with other educators. Perhaps the term "silo" has become somewhat cliche, but it is apt when it comes to how conversations in and about education happen. We talk amongst ourselves.
One person that I was able to converse with was Douglas Williamson, CEO of The Beacon Group. Mr Williamson hosted a conversation on "The Global Stage: Exporting Canada's Innovations." It was an eye opening experience, because it brought me into a world that I do not know, yet must prepare students for. Where else but at an event such as this would I have such an opportunity? Kudos to Robert Martellacci for thinking it important that this kind of relationship building begin.
From Mr Williamson I learned where opportunities lie for Canadian business. I learned what it is about how Canadians approach problem-solving and communication that is beneficial and what we do that creates barriers. I learned that the federal government has pretty much disappeared from assisting Canadian businesses develop trading relationships in other countries and what businesses must now do to counter that. I learned which countries are better for women who wish to grow their businesses internationally. What I wanted to find out from Mr. Williamson was what do I need to do to best prepare students for that world? His answer surprised me. I am paraphrasing, but it went something like this, "I don't need the specialist who has a very narrow focus and not much experience. I need the wind surfer who has traveled, knows opera and has a range of experiences that he or she can draw upon." He needs creative thinkers and problem solvers.
Another conversation I sat in on was "Ready, set, grow! How Do Education Start-Ups Scale Their Innovations?" with John Myers, President, Edsby and Joe Wilson, Education Advisor, MaRS. Again, it was fascinating and completely outside the realm of typical discussions that occur in elementary education - and yet, what I learned was invaluable and so relevant to my teaching practice. Once again, I posed a question related to how we educate students. If we are to graduate students who think in terms of, "I'm going to run my own company," rather than "I'm going to find a job." what needs to be fostered? The response echoed Mr. Williamson's. Business is about seeing problems and finding solutions. Students need opportunities to solve problems.
Having the opportunity to learn from those so far outside the world of public school education brought home the significance of 'idea diversity' when attempting to find innovative solutions to problems in education. It left me wondering how this might happen on a more regular basis and what it could mean to learners and our institutions if educators were given time to learn from those outside our profession and if those outside our profession could learn from us.
Thank you, MindShare Learning for planning such an interesting event.
The day was interesting for many reasons but it was the nature of the audience that I found most intriguing.
We were:
Educators
Start-Up Companies
Executives
CEO's
Policy People
Marsians (Martians? What do you call the people at MaRS who foster innovation and entrepreneurship?)
Business Owners
Education Administrators
Researchers
Graduate Students
Event Organizers
This was the most diverse group of people that I have encountered at an event focused on education.
As I listened to presenters, observed start-ups pitch their companies, learned of fascinating research projects and participated in round table discussions, it struck me how much educators lose because we tend to engage in professional development conversations only with other educators. Perhaps the term "silo" has become somewhat cliche, but it is apt when it comes to how conversations in and about education happen. We talk amongst ourselves.
One person that I was able to converse with was Douglas Williamson, CEO of The Beacon Group. Mr Williamson hosted a conversation on "The Global Stage: Exporting Canada's Innovations." It was an eye opening experience, because it brought me into a world that I do not know, yet must prepare students for. Where else but at an event such as this would I have such an opportunity? Kudos to Robert Martellacci for thinking it important that this kind of relationship building begin.
From Mr Williamson I learned where opportunities lie for Canadian business. I learned what it is about how Canadians approach problem-solving and communication that is beneficial and what we do that creates barriers. I learned that the federal government has pretty much disappeared from assisting Canadian businesses develop trading relationships in other countries and what businesses must now do to counter that. I learned which countries are better for women who wish to grow their businesses internationally. What I wanted to find out from Mr. Williamson was what do I need to do to best prepare students for that world? His answer surprised me. I am paraphrasing, but it went something like this, "I don't need the specialist who has a very narrow focus and not much experience. I need the wind surfer who has traveled, knows opera and has a range of experiences that he or she can draw upon." He needs creative thinkers and problem solvers.
Another conversation I sat in on was "Ready, set, grow! How Do Education Start-Ups Scale Their Innovations?" with John Myers, President, Edsby and Joe Wilson, Education Advisor, MaRS. Again, it was fascinating and completely outside the realm of typical discussions that occur in elementary education - and yet, what I learned was invaluable and so relevant to my teaching practice. Once again, I posed a question related to how we educate students. If we are to graduate students who think in terms of, "I'm going to run my own company," rather than "I'm going to find a job." what needs to be fostered? The response echoed Mr. Williamson's. Business is about seeing problems and finding solutions. Students need opportunities to solve problems.
Having the opportunity to learn from those so far outside the world of public school education brought home the significance of 'idea diversity' when attempting to find innovative solutions to problems in education. It left me wondering how this might happen on a more regular basis and what it could mean to learners and our institutions if educators were given time to learn from those outside our profession and if those outside our profession could learn from us.
Thank you, MindShare Learning for planning such an interesting event.
Ms. Siwak,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Sarah Barnett. I am taking a class called EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I have been reading some of your posts, and they are fascinating. I really enjoyed this post. I loved that the event had a diverse group of people for an Education based meeting. In your post you pointed out that most educators tend to converse with other educators for advice and planning; however, you mentioned it was great to learn from other people such as: CEO's of companies, executives, grad students, etc. I would of never thought to get new ideas and advice outside of the teaching world but the advice you were given was awesome! I wish I would of learned to be a better problem solver when I was in grade school. I feel it would of helped me out better in the long run. So, by reading your post I gained an important piece of advice. That is to learn from other situations and from people not in my particular choice of employment. By listening to others; I can teach my future students what it will take to work in any situation they may face. Thank you for sharing! Please check out our class blog edm310.blogspot.com and my own blog barnettsarahedm310.blogspot.com