Ed Innovation NOW: the Design Challenge model

Brick-and-mortar school reform seems to be the source of much pessimism or hypothetical whatiffery these days, so here’s highlighting a concrete solution you can practice or support TODAY?

“Teaching innovation” is on most schools’ radar, but meaningful implementation faces significant talent and resource hurdles. The #DesignChallenge, a powerful cross-sector approach to problem solving, is a proven method to move teachers and schools to a more student-centered, creative, practical, and FUN learning experience.?

The Construct team have been doing this work for years, as teacher delight expert Erin Bray details in this post. They're developing an “innovation as a service” model to equip schools with the full package of training, materials, perspective, support, and follow-up to evolve from participation to ownership of the innovation process– and all the energy and growth it unlocks.?

How does it work? First, Construct identifies a big relevant theme– i.e. the future of manufacturing or local agriculture– and finds industry partners with skin in the game, including local or state gov’t, utility providers, Google, food chain stakeholders, etc. Then they co-design a call to action with stakeholders, and create a specific challenge plan and calendar based on templates. The goal is to lower barriers to entry by helping schools identify the appropriate way to run it (teacher involvement, classroom time, curricular standards, etc) and by directly facilitating their first challenge. Along the way,? ? they train leaders and teachers via the challenge itself, rather than some abstract approach or slide deck. With each subsequent challenge touching a greater portion of the student body, schools identify a best practice and management structure that works for them. They “learn to fish,” adopting their own sustainable approach to real world learning and community engagement. This can come via robust challenges, or a series of activities or standalone projects extracted from the DC structure, from research to synthesis to the prototyping and presenting cycle.??

We've seen the DC format stimulate schools while providing students a lifeworthy toolkit. The focus is those “soft skills” that often fall through the cracks in traditional classes–creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration– but also includes project management and building social capital. Students learn by doing; regular reflection makes the process sticky and personalized. I’ve experienced this as a teacher at Avenues: The World School, as a leader with Breaker, and as an advisor to Construct’s work throughout Oregon. Notably, I’ve used similar structures and activities on the corporate innovation side at ?What If! Innovation. These skills are essential for professional success; the earlier and more deeply they're taught, the better.

Indeed, education can learn from innovation firms, since our big need now is scalability. That’s what excites me most about Construct’s approach: by focusing on capacity building over 2-3 years rather than outsourcing discrete experiences, they’re building a pathway to transform schools via innovation and community engagement. Given the challenges most schools face, and the ways "innovation" can intimidate teachers and leaders without formal training or informal experience, it won't be easy to turn around the supertanker. But that’s precisely what needs to be done to deliver the creative models our kids deserve and our economy needs.?

DCs should be a lynchpin in our school reform discussion. They can support both new and existing schools. New ones have the advantage of designing from scratch around ideal DC structures. For example, the holistic alternative higher ed model MYX is piloting Miami and Costa Rica embeds mini-challenges and life design into its hybrid approach, supported by a student portfolio that captures applied skills and experiences. In the K12 space, Portal Schools' dual enrollment, co-location model embeds schools directly into corporate campuses. Piloting now at Belkin International in LA, this is a breakthrough combining high school, college, and workforce development while disrupting archaic age and credential barriers. Imagine the ways DCs might function within a tighter collaborative environment between students, corporate employees, and even customers!

These eye-opening models point to the future of education. But the harder job lies with existing schools. Without thoughtful, medium-to-long term interventions here, reform will be glacial or ineffectual. In that regard, DCs offer another critical advantage: they are sexy, by education standards. The idea of students and adults, schools and companies and communities, collaborating to tackle meaningful problems is attention-worthy. And the notion that added talent and capacity might help SOLVE some of these issues, locally or globally, is exactly the kind of story and culture boost that education needs if we are to bring more resources and talent to the space– rather than complaining about what’s broken.???

Relatedly, I appreciate how the collaborative nature of DCs invites laypeople into education reform via the pursuit of common problems and shared interests. Educators speak incessantly about the need for students to gain industry skills and experience. We speak less often about the inspiration and impact industry professionals can gain by supporting schools and youth– via internships, real world projects, workshops, open innovation, or other creative collaborations. While addressing their internal needs around talent, diversity, or social impact, industry actors are vitally informing education reform!

This is our shared hybrid future: work is already integrating education into upskilling pathways; soon, secondary and higher ed will look a lot more like work– in a good way. The transition will be messy and exciting. Let’s hope, for the sake of our youth, that it’s also fast!

And this is where professionals and platforms like #LinkedIn can help. If the future of learning and work resonates with you, there are opportunities now. Start by learning more about the landscape for school-industry-community collaboration.?More concretely, the design challenge model can be explored today and Construct is always looking for partners and input.

Imagine your organization supporting a challenge – what would the problem be? The call to action? How could youth help unlock insights and possible solutions for your team? How might collaboration with schools provide an edge in the battle for talent? How could it be a boon to your brand? I hope this work can inspire action for my thoughtful friends on this platform!