The Most Important “Pivot” of 2017

Craig Vezina, Executive Director, zschool.org

As we rapidly approach the third decade of the new millennium, the true moonshot in American education is not a leap ahead in our STEM fields or a dramatic rise up OECD’s PISA rankings. The real achievement is to bring together two proud American traditions: a sense of community responsibility and a spirit of entrepreneurial empowerment.  The fulfillment of this simple paradigm shift would create a 10X advantage for our students, our schools and our communities. Students should believe (because it is true), that virtually all problems are solvable. There is no greater gift to a young person than to help them identify a problem and thoughtfully develop an effective solution.  Isn't that what the illusive concept of  "empowerment" looks like?There is no greater investment in our present or future - we will see exponential returns.

This is not a new idea. As visiting Alexis de Tocqueville observed in the 19th century, Americans have a remarkable ability, desire and aptitude to organize themselves apart from government to address the needs in their communities.  In the early 20th century, the forefather of modern education, John Dewey, laid out his vision that all students, regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, politics or economic status, should come together and find solutions to common problems.  For close to a century, American schools have arguably placed a greater emphasis on service learning than any national educational system on earth.    For our students, this has been further reinforced by the fact that universities prize a commitment to service in their admissions process.  Although there is little doubt that a sense of service has been a hallmark of American education for a long time, perhaps we have missed some important opportunities in the potential of "service learning"?

Even in the most distinguished schools, the status quo is often to have cookie-cutter service “clubs” that can, quite frankly, be scattershot.  These often entail weekly meetings, the election of officers and organization of fundraisers such as bake sales and raffles.  The end-game is oftentimes for the group to send a check to an organization or group of people they will rarely if ever really get to know on a personal level.  Though some students unquestionably have transformative experiences through such clubs, many students find themselves just ticking boxes, going through the motions or simply just staying on the sidelines.

A cynic may say that such students are superficial or lack empathy, but perhaps it the school's approach to service that has failed to connect? The great majority of teens I have known - whether Gen X, Gen Y or Millennials - are actually quite well-intentioned and optimistic by nature. Their optimism is crucial.  In order to take on any formidable challenge, we have to believe that progress is actually possible, but to preserve optimism we need to enable them to actually be a positive change-maker.  

What if we were to empower young people with the same tools of design and strategic thinking that have propelled successful businesses and organisations in the "real world"?  There has never been a more exciting or important time to teach these skills to young people, and the self-correcting, systems thinking value of this approach is critical. Young people see irritants and wrongs that they wish were better everyday in their schools, neighborhoods and towns.  We do not need to tell students the problems that need to be solved. We should give them license to identify the opportunities they themselves are observing, and test a possible solution by writing a one-page “Community Impact Plan” (akin to a business plan).

Employing a design thinking-like approach, we can teach the basics of how to write a community impact plan in less time than it takes to get through most math units; but this is a textbook example of how real learning must come from doing.   Some plans will be readily actionable and implemented, others may need to be retooled or resources may not yet available. The key, however, is that we focus on developing real, demonstrable and practical skills of strategic thinking that will serve students for a lifetime. If we are able to empower students in this way, it is easy to envision how the crowd-sourcing of problem-solving will rapidly become the only viable solution for future generations.  

There are already some incredible stories of young social innovators who are making a profound impact on their schools and communities in a multitude of innovative ways. These are stories worth telling. They offer hope and inspiration, valuable energy as we consider daunting challenges ahead.  Students want to hear these stories.

Today’s lower, middle and high school students will greatly re-shape the economic and cultural landscape in the not-so-distant future. They will need to create the jobs that don't yet exist and even replace many of the businesses and institutions of old.  Our problems,  big or small, are very real opportunities for students. Of course, motivations may be varied: students may want to improve people’s lives and/or experiences, to eventually launch a business or, in some cases, simply to stand out on university applications. Some motivations are better than others but, in any event, seeing problems as opportunities is a paradigm with incredible advantages.  If schools do not offer young people opportunities to create and innovate, who will?

We may often be divided by politics, religion or other deeply-held values, but a paradigm shift that celebrates entrepreneurial innovation to improve local communities is wonderfully agnostic of political or even educational beliefs. This approach is fundamentally in our DNA. Americans have been committed to service learning for as long as we have had schools.

But we can do better. We can  cultivate a generation of students who are not only engaged and empathetic, but also empowered in a very real, tangible way. Is there really any greater moonshot for us to aspire?