The Science of Fun

I admit to being a Shark Tank, and the original Dragon's Den junkie. When you listen to experts speak, you pick up, or in academia terms, "appropriate" the language of the talk. In the case of these popular American and Canadian programs, you become assimilated into the culture of business. As an educator who in the past decade has been elbows deep into designing and opening new schools, I often wonder what it would be like to pitch the school in front of the various experts on these panels. What resonates for me from the language of business is the need for original ideas that are difficult to duplicate, substantiated by reliable trials, have a proof of concept, and can be scaled for the purposes of accelerating profits. My latest project involves setting up Headwaters Academy (www,headwatersacademy.ca), a deliberately small school - with a highly original curriculum that merges the experience of entrepreneurship within and about the outdoors. Prior to the school opening in September 2017, we are opening the doors to the public for a free taste of our unique school experience in our upcoming "Science of Fun" event (https://headwatersacademy.ca/science-fun-kimbercote-farm-february-12th/) that we are partnering to organize with a local highly respected local non-profit, Elephant Thoughts (https://www.elephantthoughts.com/). This trial will provide potential families with an opportunity to see our teachers and program in action.

The proof of concept with evolve over the first two or three years. What will be the short-term feedback from parents, students and staff? What will be the return rates? What will be the length of the wait list?

Where the rub comes is when you are successful in the small footprint and then plan to scale the program. When you expand a deliberately small school, you risk quality control and reduce the benefits of a community where "everyone knows your name". The research is clear, small schools promote better learning and enhance the confidence of learners. The challenge, therefore, might be to look at school, like a franchise, and look at satellite programming. The temptation to keep costs down by expanding existing infrastructure sounds good on paper, but rarely is it an advantage to build a small school beyond the definition of a small school (300 students). The "science of fun" is lost when a school becomes that place where few people know each other. The schools that put thousands of kids into a space, where it is impossible for the school leader to know all their names, typically become failure factories for many students. The business plan for ideal schools, therefore, must deviate from the standard 'how to do business', to how to make schools into exceptional spaces for learning. Over half a century ago, Disney decided to change the face of amusement parks from dirty, but fun carnivals, to a more cleaner family experience where clients are referred to as 'guests', and staff are considered "cast members". Imagine what schools could be like if they changed the way the school community members engage in teaching and learning?

Many educators believe it is wrong to speak of profits in education. But, for those who are accountable for using money wisely, it is important for school leaders to consider the question - "How much does a great school cost?" The notion of profits, therefore, can be viewed from the perspective of who gains from the distribution of valuable resources. The budget reflects a school value system. If a school is going to operate in a different way, it will not fit into the box of an existing budget. It may require more; however, it can require less, to be that new vision. The science of schooling can be fun when decision-makers are willing to learn beyond defined edges of what schools should be. All governors or school trustees should make it a habit to know about the fringes, the learning spaces where people are genuinely engaged in learning, and be willing to put the hard work into to generating budgets that embrace a better way of doing school.