Agile Education: Studentdriven knowledge production

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Agile Education Student-driven knowledge
production

• Sue De Vincentis
• Faculty of Education, Deakin University

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Current Policy Realities

• Non-alignment of educational purposes
• Equity and diversity v standardisation and
  accountability
• Impact on classroom practice

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The globalised world

• What knowledge and skills students will need
• Why?

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The Agile Edge

• Agile beginnings software development
• Purpose
• Agile classrooms, agile teachers, agile
  students..agile education

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The Agile Manifesto

• "We are uncovering better ways of developing
  software by doing it and by helping others do it.
  Through this effort we have come to value
• individuals and interactions over processes and
  tools,
• working software over comprehensive
  documentation,
• customer collaboration over contract negotiation,
  and
• responding to change over following a plan.
• While we value the items on the right in this
  list, we value the items on the left more."
• (Agile Alliance 2001 - lthttp//www.agilemanifesto.
  orggt)

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The Agile Education Manifesto

• We are uncovering better ways of developing
  education by doing it and by helping others do
  it. Through this effort we have come to value
• individuals and interactions over processes and
  tools,
• working education over comprehensive
  documentation,
• customer collaboration over contract negotiation,
  and
• responding to change over following a plan.
• While we value the items on the right in this
  list, we value the items on the left more.
• (De Vincentis 2007, based on The Agile Manifesto,
  Agile Alliance 2001)

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Knowledge Production

• Yes. School students can do it too!
• Same principles apply for same reasonsplus
  extras
• School and local community connections

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Knowledge Producing Schools

• Student-driven projects
• Projects based on need as defined by stakeholders
• For school and/or local community
• Quality
• Expertise
• Externally-valued outcome
• Focus is on relationships
• (Rowan Bigum 2005)

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A case study of student-driven knowledge
production

• A promotional DVD of the school for the school
  information pack
• Major stakeholder School principal
• 12 students, Yr 6 school leaders, middle-class
• Unfamiliar with KP projects
• Teachers role to support and advise

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Findings

• Team work
• Decision making
• Locating expertise
• Keeping track of responsibilities and progress
• Social skills
• Teacher practices

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Recommendations

• Social skills sessions
• Organisational skills sessions
• Opportunities to work collaboratively with adults
  
• Teachers focus on purpose
• Accept failure as a part of growing

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Agile education conclusion

• Supporting students to be agile
• Assisting teachers to be agile
• Aligning purpose with practice
• Question definitions of achievement, quality,
  knowledge
• ...rather than focusing on the out-dated plan,
  it is important to be dealing with the changing
  realities (Highsmith Cockburn 2001)

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Thanks for attending!

• spde_at_deakin.edu.au