The importance of Sketching – a lost skill in schools?

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There has been a lot of emphasis placed upon the use of CAD within schools.  (Computer Aided Design).  Given the way that we have embraced technology in our lives it is only right that we should embrace its use. But it often comes at a cost in creative school curriculums.

I feel that we have embraced CAD at the expense of teaching youngsters the vitally important skill of sketching.

It is important to understand that the modern Design (and Technology) department is not simply about manufacture. Sure, it is an important component BUT it is simply the much-needed icing on a very big cake.

The embodiment of an idea, teaching our young to think creatively (not divergently necessarily) and enabling them to convey their ideas on paper with a pencil in sketched and noted form are absolute pre-requisites if we are to help nurture a better future.

A quick sketch has no linguistic or cultural boundaries; it can convey a physical attribute, an aesthetic detail, a human resource structure, and so on. 

The pencil sketch is, without doubt, the single most important design skill any student can have if we are to nurture creativity in our schools. 

What subjects to include in a modern curriculum?

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I recently replied to another blog regarding subject development and inclusion for a possible home schooling curriculum i.e what subjects should be included in the provision?

The blog is an interesting read, focusing on homeschooling, with many good points and comments added to help fuel the debate. Core subject areas such as Science, Maths, History, Geography, English and others were included but others were not. This did raise alarm bells and highlighted some issues close to my heart, notably suggesting a curriculum that seemed to have an absence of any core activity relating to learning another Modern Language or anything to do with Design (and Technology) or manufacture.

Design as an academic (yes, academic…) and creative discipline spread across all areas of manufacture (not simply ‘woodwork’ for less able kids as it is was 25 years ago in the UK) has to be included if you are to nurture and develop youngsters who can deal with a world that is changing quicker than anyone can really understand.

Design education at its core is about problem solving, prototyping, discovering, sketching, innovating, making mistakes, taking risks and communicating on paper, on a computer and/or in a range of materials. Teaching youngsters how to think creatively, divergently and appropriately to help solve a problem is key. Manufacture using smart materials, composites, textiles, metals, woods and so on with a mix of current technologies (3D printing, cnc machining…) and basic hands-on manual skills related manufacture is crucial.

Some of these skills, notably the thinking and problem solving skills, are a pre-requisite if you are to maintain a curriculum that can support wealth creation and provide genuine capability that will serve your future bankers, doctors, lawyers, politicians etcetera. Nurturing creativity is a basic subtext of education. Any proposed curriculum must not stifle it.

I also strongly feel that mastering at least one additional modern (and maybe other?) language is vital in todays world. Both my daughters (aged 9 and 17) are almost tri-lingual (English, French, Spanish) and the eldest is looking to start studying Mandarin. I am English, my wife is French – and you can probably argue that we have a slight head start here.

I am still amazed that many kids are still only taught to ‘Google’ in English – throwing in a French or Spanish word/phrase during your search will open up another third of the Internet for you allowing greater breadth and depth to your study, allowing access across different cultures and ideals. If you can really show off then throw Mandarin into the mix – the world is definitely your oyster in a few years time irrespective of academic discipline! Modern Languages are crucial to a youngsters development in this world which is becoming quite a small place to live in.

We are very naive if we think that our kids are not going to grow up and move into professions that will at least require them to communicate via email, talk on the phone or Skype to folk in another country at some point, let alone travel to another country with work (and quite possibly work abroad at some juncture in their careers). In 27 years I have either taught in a school, or worked as a consultant, in England, France, Hong Kong, Australia and Portugal. There will be more places to go as my work, or that of my wife’s, takes me there – of that I am sure. I reiterate; the world is a small place.

Of course there are a myriad of other subjects that need to be looked at, considered and either discarded or new ones thrown in to the mix but at this late hour I think I’ll stop there.

For now 😉

 

The ’3 R’s’ alone are no longer enough.

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I published on my blog earlier today a very good video (What most Schools Don’t Teach…) that highlights one of the plights of modern education today – that is, what, exactly should global economies be including in their education provision and curriculums to help prepare youngsters for the world of work tomorrow and beyond?

The video highlights what I consider to be a black hole that exists throughout education around the globe. The basic fundamentals of the technologies that help shape our world are simply not being addressed within curriculums worldwide despite being ‘mainstream’ for some 30 years.  This is not simply about ‘code’, but the use and teaching of information and communication technology in general.

We all use computers in one form or another (from the digital watch on our wrists through using our Macs, PC’s, tablets, mobiles, vehicles we drive and the countless technologies that control our homes and lives in many other ways) but the massive deficit of skilled workforce to feed our demands in this area, it would seem, is significant.

Schools need to embed coding (no pun intended) and other basic Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into regular, routine educational provision from an early age. And I don’t mean simply providing ‘a lesson a week’ to the cause. All subject teachers need to include this in their work irrespective of subject discipline.

There’s no blame culture here, just a realisation that Schools, Governments, Teacher Training Agencies and Curriculum Providers must work together to help in preparing our youngsters accordingly.  

I was lucky enough to be part of a team of pioneering teachers that kick-started a brand new International School in Toulouse, France back in 1998. Every child aged 4-18 had a laptop. There were no dedicated ‘ICT’ rooms or labs. All classrooms were equipped to handle class sets of laptops with appropriate printing and projection capability and, more importantly, all teachers (irrespective of subject) were trained on how to use the technology everyday.  More importantly, teachers and pupils were given insight into how basic code could be used in their work for customisation.  The move towards a ‘hypertext’ curriculum was the ideal. Within a couple of years many KS3 (pupils aged 12/13) had websites that were virtual portfolios of their work that were constantly evolving and organic. And they updated them as part of their curriculum.

Three things helped us make this work:

  • Firstly, all teachers and support staff were involved, and trained, to deliver computer-based education. This was not the domain of a single ‘ICT’ guy or girl. Everyone contributed to the cause and this was seen as an integral part of their skill set delivery regardless of subject discipline.
  • Secondly, all supported the philosophy from the Head and senior management, governors, sponsors, teachers and parents through to the pupils. There was a common desire to succeed. This was important.
  • Thirdly, you had to be open-minded and divergent in your approach as a school; as a teacher. There are risks (there always are) but the benefits far outweighed them. Safety was key (providing initial training to parents and pupils prior to having the laptops so they were aware of the possible pitfalls associated with technology use – security protection, ergonomic issues, the laws relating to ICT use and so forth).

It is interesting to note that in the UK, the so-called ‘3 ‘R’s’ phrase (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic) was coined in around 1825 by Sir William Curtis MP in a toast given during Parliament. It referred to the foundations of a basic skills centred education within schools.

It is clear to see that in 2013, almost two hundred years later, that these ’3 R’s’ alone are, quite simply, no longer enough.

What most schools don’t teach….sadly.

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Although American based, this video highlights a real black hole that exists throughout education around the globe. The basic fundamentals of communication technologies that have been with us for 30 years are not being addressed within curriculums worldwide. We all use computers. But the massive deficit of skilled workforce to feed our demands is simply mind blowing. Governments, schools and Curriculum Providers…WAKE UP! Schools need to embed coding and other basic ICT skills into regular routine educational provision from an early age. See my blog for more on this.

Design Thinking…

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Design Thinking in Schools: Anthropology is more important than Technology

 

I often see an over emphasis on the use of Technology in Design teaching in schools. What should be happening is a greater focus on Anthropology – human kind.

Design is an Intellectually Challenging and Creative Activity.

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I do get really flustered when I field questions from parents about whether or not Design can be studied as a post 16 level subject (A-Level or IB).  The truth is, A-Level Design & Technology has been in existence longer than A-Level economics…

In fact, the subject of Design has existed in many forms as a mainstream subject since the curriculum began. When the term the ‘3R’s’ was coined in Parliament in 1840, Hansard recorded that it stood for Reading, Wroughting and Arithmetic. Wroughting as in ‘I have wrought a wonderful design’.

It has been said that, “all that is not nature is art.” Well, Richard Seymour (from Seymourpowell) went on to elucidate that you can go one step further suggesting that, “all that is not nature, is, in fact, design.” I totally agree.

If a product is not from nature itself (grown out of the ground, dropped from a tree or indeed popped out of an egg or womb) then someone has had to sit down and sketch/pen a solution for it – an answer to the problem – a creative and practical solution.

“A well designed product radiates an almost physical sense of purpose. It’s the battle of the first 35 nanoseconds – between reflex and intellectual determinism lies the battleground – that’s the domain that we must capture as designers.” Dick Powell (SeymourPowell)

Designing and manufacture is a truly creative and intellectually challenging activity. It is entirely compatible with high levels of numeracy and literacy – the design process itself draws on areas such as History, Languages, Math’s, Science, Technology, Communication and Art; developing divergent and creative abilities is a basic function of education.

One of our main aims as teachers and educators must be to inspire and empower our future designers and engineers and to excite passion in our teaching so that they can develop products they love with sensitivity to an ever-changing world market and clientele.

So let’s not stifle it. Please.

Creative Thinkers in School – Play and Experimentation over Rigour and Focus

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For many of us, as we mature in years our ways of thinking freeze a little, and we start making decisions based on what we know works.  However, if we are to stay at the top of our game and provide real momentum and development to the work we are doing we need to think creatively. It has been said many times before: don’t ask ‘why’? Ask ‘why not’?

John Maeda (President, Rhode Island School of Design) highlighted in a talk some years ago that Creative folk are the great exception to this ‘brain freeze’; they have:

“…the unique ability to live with ambiguity and to live with mistakes. Without a certain comfort level with ambiguity – an uncertain outcome – we would never experiment. If we never experimented, we would never make mistakes. And if we never made mistakes, we would never learn anything”.

The creative process of inventor and entrepreneur James Dyson is a wonderful example. Although Dyson is now one of the wealthiest men in Britain, it took him 15 long years and thousands upon thousands of failed prototypes to arrive at his first success.  In an interview with ‘Fast Company’, Dyson explains:

“I made 5,127 prototypes of my vacuum before I got it right. There were 5,126 failures. But I learned from each one. That’s how I came up with a solution. So I don’t mind failure. I’ve always thought that schoolchildren should be marked by the number of failures they’ve had. The child who tries strange things and experiences lots of failures to get there is probably more creative.”

As Dyson acutely observes, from an early age much of our school training encourages us to be ‘risk-averse’ by rewarding those who deliver exactly what’s expected – rather than those who try something new and dare to look foolish (take the risk). We are taught to uphold rigour and focus over play and experimentation.

However, it is these same qualities, playfulness, wonder, an element of risk and a lack of inhibition, that have fostered the greatest creative breakthroughs.

Teachers and educational leaders take note.

Sir Ken Robinson – Changing Paradigms

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My favourite video currently – a summary of the TED talk given by Sir Ken Robinson regarding creativity and education ‘shifting paradigms’

Timeline of Honda Engineering Excellence and Innovation

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A wonderful timeline journey of Honda – through all it’s design and engineering excellence over the years.

All this talk of (Royal) baby names…its not easy choosing.

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I don’t think there is a worse profession to be in than teaching when it comes to naming a new born child.

I remember the trials and tribulations that we experienced with the birth of our first child (unknown as to whether it was a boy or girl then – our choice). At the time we were both teaching. My wife is French which adds a certain puissant to proceedings too. Trying to find a name that a) sounds good in both English and French b) Pleases both sets of grand parents c) does not remind you of some little snot nosed toe rag that you remember teaching many moons ago…is not easy. The list was endless plus you must not forget the constant stream of advice from friends, colleagues and family. A veritable nightmare!

In the end, our gorgeous (first) daughter popped out and we named her based on the names my wife and I had shortlisted based simply on the fact that we liked them. No family ties, no deep rooted heritage dragged into the equation…just nice sounding (to us at least) names that we felt suited our darling little girl. I should add that we also chose names that we felt could be ‘shortened’ later in life without losing anything (or getting stupid school-based nicknames entering the mix).  So, Alexia Jayne was born (later to become AJ or ‘Lexi’ to her mates – something we had not considered despite our best attempts to think through every possible outcome).

So, to dear Wills and Kate. If at the time of this blog entry a name has not been decided upon for your little chap, may I suggest the following? A name of strength, value, integrity, charm and devilish good looks. You will not be disappointed.