Integrative Thinking, Mental Models and Improvable Ideas: A Meeting with Phil Frei

This week I spent a fascinating hour chatting with Phil Frei, one of the founders of Bridge International Academies. Phil has recently moved to Toronto and is  interested in learning about Ontario education. Bridge is a private sector business operating in the developing world. It's goal is to educate 10 million children whose families cannot currently afford quality basic education and provide that education at a cost of $5.00 per month. Bridge is opening a new school every 3 days and soon plans to be operating in four countries, opening one new school every day.

When I first looked at the Bridge model of education: kids in rows, scripted teacher-directed lessons and real time use of data to adjust curriculum, my reaction was negative - this is the antithesis of how I approach teaching and learning.  Integrative Thinking has taught me a great deal it seems. There are tensions here that need to be explored.

I remember Ellie Avishai describing her experience when first learning about Integrative Thinking. "I used to think all my friends were such open-minded people. Then I realized I was merely surrounding myself with people who agreed with me."  Integrative Thinking teaches us to look for tensions and conflict because that is where interesting new ideas emerge.   What Integrative Thinking has given me is a framework and a set of tools for effectively exploring and learning from that tension.  Where in the past I would have rejected this model of ed,  I can now use assertive inquiry to understand and find value in the Bridge model so that my own mental model improves. Integrative Thinking  provides tools for knowledge building and what Richard Messina from The Jackman Lab School  describes as "improvable ideas". I climbed back down my ladder of inference to the data pool .

My recent understanding of the role of constraints in creativity which began with Josie Fung from Rotman Ithink helped me quickly understand the nature of Phil's model of education. The constraints Bridge is placing on learning centre on mastery. The goal of Bridge education is to create basic math and literacy skills in a world where millions currently lack those skills and don't have access to quality education. Its goal is to move a population forward. Doing this through the private sector is interesting - while NGO's, for example, often  travel in chauffeured cars removing dollars from a development goal, Bridge must pay attention to the bottom line, its employees take the bus or train. Social enterprise is clearly creating interesting new models for development work.

Bridge, which includes the founder of ebay among its investors,  has spent a great deal of money on scaled curriculum. It has hired outstanding curriculum developers who can prototype, test and rapidly iterate curriculum - design thinking in action.  This is done using data. Bridge collects data in real time and can view the learning of the 85 000 students currently enrolled and immediately spot trends. If the data reveals that scores are low in only 1 class, energy can be focused on professional development for that teacher. If scores are low across a broad sector of students, energy can be focused on curriculum design. Bridge has leveraged technology for its entire management system so that time and dollars are not wasted reinventing the wheel. Bridge is in its early stage of development and has headaches and challenges like anyone else in education or business. It is not perfect, but it is growing.

Interestingly, parents in Bridge communities want students in rows and teacher-directed learning. They like the immediate results and ranking of students through tests and as soon as parents are unhappy, kids disappear from schools.  There are dozens of for profit small schools operating in developing countries and even public school systems.  The market is competitive. Parents are not stupid. They want quality. Their mental models include rows, tests and homework. They would not register their children in the activity-based kindergarten that Bridge had initially planned.  4 years old sit at desks.

As I drove home after our conversation many thoughts bounced around in my head.  I think we have a great deal to learn from Phil. There are things he understands about data and the use of aggregate data in education that could improve learning in Ontario. I don't think we currently do a very good job, for example,  of addressing the needs of low-scoring middle school students in the area of reading. Could aggregate real time data and responsive curriculum design be a solution to that problem? I don't know, but it is worth finding out.