From Prose to Poetry and Back Again

We Are Educators

By: Christy Wilson 7/25/13

We are Educators.
We are conflict.
We are growth.
We ponder priorities.
We form measurable outcomes from mission statements. 
We nourish passion.
We are growth.
We are conflict.
We are Educators.

We are changing.
The world is changing. 
We ask why a lot.
We ask why not even more.
We have wings.  
We are airplanes with precious cargo.
When we land, we do not stay grounded.
We seek another destination.
We are brave. 

We are Educators.
We are pilots.
We take off.
We empower.
We are passengers.

This attempt at poetry was inspired by our class discussions as well as from the book:

Creating Innovators by: Tony Wagner--Here is a summary of key concepts and quotes:

p. 7. “In the midst of the growing demand for more innovative people, studies tell us that our children’s creativity is on the decline.” 7/2010 Newsweek Title--”The Creativity Crisis”

p. 8. Defining Innovation--Sir Andrew Likierman--”I don’t define it technically because it’s a term of art. It’s about the process by which...new things take place.”

Wagner's 7 Survival Skills:

    1. Critical thinking and problem solving

    2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence

    3. Agility and adaptability

    4. Initiative and entrepreneurship

    5. Accessing and analyzing information

    6. Effective oral and written communication

    7. Curiosity and imagination

Be Curious

”Questioning allows innovators to break out of the status quo and consider new possibilities.”

Qualities of Design Thinkers--According to Tim Brown:

Empathy--Imagining the world from multiple perspectives

Integrative Thinking--Ability to see all aspects of a problem and breakthrough solutions

Optimism--Assuming that no matter how challenging the problem, a solution can be found

Experimentalism--Willing to embrace the process of trial and error

Innovators and divine thinkers listen, observe, ask good questions and make associations.

Innovators are collaborators. Innovation comes in many forms.

Innovators have expertise (technical, procedural, and intellectual knowledge).

p. 24. “You cannot innovate from nothing.”

Innovators have passion--an intrinsic motivation for doing things. They:

Explore

Learn

Understand deeply

Master what is difficult.

Lessons from Drive: Daniel Pink-Autonomy. Mastery. Purpose.= Essential human motivations

He distrusts the word "passion" suggesting it is emotion-driven, fleeting, and as positive as it is negative. 

p. 29--"Pure passion, by itself, is not enough to sustain the motivation to do difficult things and to persevere--in love or in work...passions evolve through learning and exploration into something far deeper, more sustainable, and trustworthy--purpose."

Lessons from a high school drop out who helped develop the first IPhone--Kirk Phelps:

p. 32--"What you study is not that important. Knowing how to find those things you are interested in is way, way more important."

Innovative Culture Qualities:

Teamwork

Interdisciplinary problem-solving

Intrinsic incentives

Exploration--Experimentation--Unafraid to try new things

Play--Consider how...and what

Empowerment

--Ed Carryer--Director of the Smart Product Design Lab--Empowerment.

p. 50. “To me, empowerment means students can go out and apply what they’ve learned to the problems that they’ve never seen before with parts they’ve never used before.”

p. 239. Annmarie Neal--Cisco Systems--

”Another important element...is teaching executives how to be reflective. If you are going to develop yourself as an executive, some of that is about learning more, but much of it is also about reflecting on who you are as a human being.

p. 250--Olin College Professor--

“I want my students really to learn only one thing from me and that is how to teach themselves.”

Learning to learn was the theme of each interview. “They are unafraid to fail because they see it as just a step in the process of learning.”

Closing Quote:

p. 251. “What makes this generation of innovators unique, and what ultimately gives me faith about their future, is that no matter what they encounter in life, they will find a way to figure it out.”