Want to know more about upcoming leadership events? Check out the OCDSB Website for updates. More to be posted here shortly!
http://www.ocdsb.ca/ab-ocdsb/LeadTheWay/li/Pages/default.aspx
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Administrator
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Administrator
After a couple of amazing leadership events this year it is time to reflect and think about moving forward with what we have learned! The main question posed to all participants throughout the event was “what are the conditions under which healthy and creative individuals and organizations flourish?” and we received a lot of responses! This is an ongoing research question so if you have additional answers please let us know! As we compile those answers and formulate our “next steps” we wanted to share an activity that we ran at one of the events. We asked participants to write down what words they thought of when they heard “creativity“. The responses we got were fantastic and helped to show everyone that creativity exists everywhere and in everything we do!
Below are the responses we received, made into a wordle!
Have your own words to add? Comment on this post and let us know what you think creativity is!
Wordle - What is Creativity?
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Lino DeGasperis
Peter Gamwell
National Creativity Network – Webinar – October 20, 2011 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. (EST)
The OCDSB is dedicated to fostering leadership in all levels of the District. We believe that leadership is embodied by people who are able to influence those around them in a positive way. Our vision is founded on three principles of inclusion and engagement:
- Each individual has unique capacities and ideas that need to be recognized. It is one of the driving forces behind our leadership initiative. It is our responsibility to reach out, to value, and tap into each of these capacities.
- By harnessing these individual capacities, our organization will be enriched and invigorated and,
- The intended result is to achieve a culture of engagement where people feel valued and supported in an environment that embraces and systematically promotes ongoing learning fostered through internal and external dialogue.
The culminating effect will be the fostering of a learning culture that will maximize our opportunity to reach and teach all of the children in our care.
As part of that culture of engagement the OCDSB has reached out to the community, beyond the walls of schools and administration, engaging people from all walks of life. Our goal is to continue expanding our initiatives and partnerships. To that end, we have now partnered with the National Creativity Network, who’s strategy is to engage thought leaders across North America to create a powerful network for
transformation.
As one of only two Canadian members of the prestigious National Creativity Network, the OCDSB is excited to invite you to participate in a webinar hosted by the NCN on Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 12:00 -1:00 pm. (EST)
The National Creativity Network believes that by fostering creativity in our society as a whole, and specifically with future generations, America can remain a leader in innovation and free enterprise. The very future of our communities and institutions depends on our ability to nurture and harness imagination to creatively solve problems. The opportunities that emerge to transform our nation are largely dependent upon the degree to which we are connected to each other. Our connection will become a catalyst.
To find out more about the NCN please visit http://nationalcreativitynetwork.org/
To register for the webinar please visit http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2287381620 - Participation is limited.
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Helen Jarvis
After an invigorating Fall Leadership Conference with Daniel Pink, and Lead the Way event with Sir Ken Robinson, I had the conversation with my staff at today’s PD Day around the big question: What are the conditions under which healthy and creative individuals and organizations flourish?
Here is a melange of the replies I received; sorry I can’t transcribe all the rich conversation that flowed around the room!encouragement
acceptance
communication; sharing ideas
free to take risks without fear of being criticized
open communication takes away power/hierarchy because information/knowledge is power
ability to be different or an individual
receive constructive feedback
elimination of “red pen”
acceptance of differences
comfort
security
support for change from administration
confidence
student-led
open-ended questions
new ideas
know kids well–passion-driver
BIG IDEAS
heroes
tie it in cross-curricularly
safe environment/non-judgemental
freedom
positivity
open to the idea that there is NO ONE WAY
feel safe to express yourself
opinions are heard and valued and encouraged
freedom of expression
exploration
open-mindedness
time for collaboration
culture of positive energy; morale boosters; team building
Administrator
Thank you to everyone who made last night’s event possible! We will be posting an overview of the event with some great video clips and pictures shortly! Please continue the conversation by commenting with your answer to the following question: “What are the conditions under which healthy and creative individuals and organizations thrive?”
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Nisha
What do we need for creativity to flourish? TIME.
Time is necessary to plan, collaborate and most importantly to reflect.
Much can happen when teachers take a day away from classes to form research or discussion groups. I participated in one such lead learner group last year and we came up with ways to promote open-ended problem solving in math classes, which we then implemented. More of the same would be very helpful!
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Laraine Laughland
What are the conditions under which healthy and creative individuals and organizations flourish?
Organizations that flourish treat their staff wIth care, including good benefits and employee activities. Build a happy staff and give staff room and opportunity to grow. Organizations are only as strong as they allow their staff to be. Staff need to feel a sense of belonging, a sense of being part of the solutions.
How often do you ask the grass roots people how you might facilitate their ability to do their jobs better or how to lay out their work area to be more comfortable or more conducive to getting the work done?
I have met a number of staff who have businesses on the side. They have learned to keep records, to order supplies, to deal with customers, to deal with accounting, to be visible, etc. Is there a way that their organization can use these skills in their day jobs? Does anyone bother to ask people what they can do, what other skills they might have acquired from hobbies or small businesses or what interests them in their personal lives that might be useful in their workplace.
I have experienced the state of “flow” both at work and while painting. I have never heard anyone mention that one of the needs to find that state is “quiet time”. You get into the flow state by becoming one with what you are working on. If you are constantly interrupted by the phone, by visitors, etc., then you can’t reach the state of flow because you can’t focus on the task at hand. While the work may be sitting there waiting to be done and while you may want to do the work, there are unintentional barriers to getting at the job. One of the worst is interruptions. We all need quiet space to be able to focus on what we are doing and that is something that we tend to get less and less and less of both in the workplace and in our busy home lives. Running about like a chicken with its head cut off is not conducive to getting into the state of flow. We are bombarded with telephones that ring and people that show up wanting this or wanting that – we need to find a way to give people quiet work time so that they can be focused on what they are doing. When we hear of accidents (sometimes fatal accidents) that are caused by “human error”, it isn’t exactly human error – it is the inability of people to focus on what they are doing due to too many distractions, whether that is driving the car or working at a computer or repairing a road. Maybe we need to somehow find ways to simplify what we do and give people the right circumstances in which to focus and do their work.
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Megan Egerton
I believe that to have a thriving school or a school in which others ‘flourish’ – develop, foster and appreciate creativity it must first start with the establishment of trust. Without trust, I believe, you will spend a good deal of time on conversations that don’t help you to develop the potential within our students, parents and staff.
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Greg
It is amazing what will happen to a group of people, small or large, when they can put aside roles and pressure to focus on common goals and understandings.
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Peter Gamwell
Our Commitment to Leadership
How time flies!! It seems such a short time ago that we had our spring leadership conference series, culminating in a wonderful evening at the Ottawa Conference Centre with Margaret Wheatley. In just three weeks our fall conference series will begin and we couldn’t be more excited!
On October 3, we will have the opportunity to hear Sir Ken Robinson speak at our “My Pathway, Our Story” event which will also feature a variety of student projects which showcase student creativity in our District. Then on October 13, our fall conference will feature New York Times best-selling author Daniel Pink. Both of these events will provide the opportunity for us to continue our dialogue around imagination, creativity and innovation – a conversation that is increasingly building interest across the province and around the globe.
As part of our commitment to fostering leadership at all levels in our District we have undertaken a system action research project. The project is framed around the question: “What are the conditions under which creative and innovative organizations thrive?” We believe that everyone has creative capacities – whether a tradesperson, a scientist, a plumber, a chef, a teacher or a student – creative ideas emerge from every member of an organization. The more clearly we can come to identify and understand the conditions in which people produce innovative ideas and techniques, the more successful we can be in strategizing systemic plans to help foster creativity in all areas of our organization.. Ultimately, this will help to maximize the opportunities for us to reach, teach and engage all our students in learning.
Please share your ideas with us on this blog, via Twitter, on Facebook, and most importantly, in person whenever possible. We need your input and help as we deepen our understanding of creativity and leadership.
Peter
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Lino DeGasperis
One of the conditions under which creativity and innovation must exist to thrive is a culture of optimism. I was inspired to write a letter to the Ottawa Citizen, called Optimism is the key after reading a recent column by Mark Sutcliffe, called Yes, follow your heart – but be ready to adapt.
Administrator
OCDSB participates in Imagination Conversation at the Lincoln Center in NYC
A conversation about how to enrich creativity and imagination in public education
The Lincoln Center argues that “Imagination, the ability to visualize new possibilities, is a prerequisite for success in the 21st-century global economy”. The Imagination Conversations, a project of Lincoln Center Institute features diverse groups of panelists with distinctive perspectives and draw a wide range of audience members from the public and private sectors.
The OCDSB was excited to participate in the conversation and took the following key ideas from the event:
• Imagination is a spark; creativity is a journey.
• Diversity enriches our thinking and inspires innovation.
• We cannot underestimate the power of experiential learning.
• There is both a civic and an economic argument for innovation and creativity.
• Imagination provides a map to the possibilities of the future.
• We need to teach all children to find the Gandhi within and “Be the change they want to see in the world”.
During the “Innovators at Work: Exemplary Narratives” presentation, representatives from the OCDSB had the opportunity to hear from four internationally recognized innovators, including Kiran Bir Sethi, Founder and Director Riverside School, India; Founder, Design for Change School Challenge.
Design for Change is “the largest global movement designed to give children an opportunity to express their own ideas for a better world and put them into action. Children and adults learn through the Design for Change Challenge that “I Can” are the two most powerful words a person can believe. Children who have discovered this are changing the world.”
The Design for Change Challenge encourages 4 steps to action:
FEEL IMAGINE DO SHARE
At the OCDSB, our challenge is to inspire learning in a way that creates a lifetime of imagination and possibility for our students. We look forward to continuing to work with our school communities to ensure that this is a reality for all of our students.
To learn more about what the OCDSB is doing to foster creativity and imagination in our schools and community please visit our website!
Administrator
Cedarview Middle School – International Day of Pink Flash Mob
On April 13th, the International Day of Pink, 680 students and staff of Cedarview Middle School performed a “surprise flash mob” to the song “Firework,” by Katy Perry. This was the school’s effort to promote an anti-bullying message against discrimination, bullying, and homophobia in our schools and community.
Congratulations to all who were involved in putting on this amazingly creative and powerful event!
Administrator
Hi all!
Here are some comments we have received since the conference in April that we wanted to share with you! More information about upcoming events will be posted throughout the summer. Please continue to post your comments and ask questions if you have any!
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Thank you so much for inviting me to last night’s event.
I commend your Board and the organizing ctt. for putting on such an outstanding event that I will certainly talk about for years to come as an ideal platform and program for a conference event. Wow!
I had the opportunity to connect with many of Ottawa’s leaders and voices, particularly with Aboriginal artists. We had useful discussions in ways to move reconciliation forward via the train tour of the film, 3rd World Canada. I am certain that the creative space created by your conference has also planted many seeds that will continue onwards in our community.
My other highlight was the opportunity to hear from your Board, principals such as yourself in how quickly reconciliation and Aboriginal pride is moving through your schools. I thought that was wonderful news!
I hope you are all very proud in the great strides your Board is taking on the matter of reconciliation and Aboriginal culture. It was wonderful to witness this last night. Kuddos!
Thanks to this event I was able to solidify partnership with other artists and advanced my work.
Andrée Cazabon, filmmaker, Third World Canada
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I loved the event on Tuesday and have been on a considerable and natural high since then. What a thrill to meet Margaret and to take part in the community dialogue.
I really hope that you get the community support that you need to keep moving forward.
Please let me know what I can do to help as I remain incredibly interested in being involved.
Warmly,
Rhonda St. Croix
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Just returned to Toronto and I’m still thinking about the day I spent yesterday at your wonderful event: Celebrating the Spirit of Youth: Show Me the Way.
The entire concept was for me so unique and so innovative. Margaret Wheatley was magnificent. I envy how she can speak so eloquently without notes. She said so many important things that have stayed with me.
The focus on aboriginal education/issues and the Arts is always topical and requiring our attention.
What was most fascinating to me was the late Tuesday afternoon format with all of the various stakeholders.
I enjoyed exchanging ideas and hearing from the Moms, the gentleman who worked for a wrecking company, students, etc.
The feedback for OCDSB should be rich and will no doubt inform future directions in your board.
Most of all, I enjoyed, as you yourself said, watching you on the big screen. I could have listened for hours!
Congratulations to you and your committees for what was a truly BRILLIANT event.
Tony Tumminieri
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Congratulations on the wildly successful “happening” that was obvious yesterday at the exciting new Convention Centre. The perfect-lift off for your vision and energy.
Margaret Wheatley was great.
To you and all involved – BRAVO!
Michael Wilson
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Lead the Way is an excellent initiative for leaders from public, private
and not-for-profit organizations to remove themselves from their
structured work environments and surround themselves with like-minded
individuals who wish to let their creativity flourish. This conference
nourishes new thinking and ultimately helps to inspire the innovations
that move our institutions forward.
Jay Paxton
Director of Communications
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Administrator
Conditions for Creativity to Flourish
1.Think of a time in your life when you were creative? What were the conditions that made it possible?
2. What do you want the children in your life to know about their potential?
3. What do you hope to see in the schools? What should be the focus to promote creativity?
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Holly
The Changing Education Paradigm
http://comment.rsablogs.org.uk/2010/10/14/rsa-animate-changing-education-paradigms/ -
Aaron Hawley
1.Think of a time in your life when you were creative? What were the conditions that made it possible?
As an OCDSB teacher, I am creative every day. I need to be in order to meet the needs of my students who are all diverse learners. My creativity leads to student engagement and, ultimately, student success. It’s easy to be creative at my school because my principal and vice principal have created a culture of trust where trying new things, collaborating with others, and shared leadership are celebrated.
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Nathalie
It’s great that you recognize that all students learn in different ways. In turn, your students are free to become more creative themselves!
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Ron Henry
What Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole Taught Me About Teaching.
When I think about educating our students, I think about “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. I know that sounds strange, but let me explain myself.
Educating students is an inherently creative process. In some ways it is like making music.
A musician is confronted, in the beginning, with an almost infinite jumble of possible raw sounds. She uses her skill, her instruments and guidance from a conductor, to choose, shape and organize these into music, through which the sounds gain the power to have a positive impact on the world.
For educators, our jumbled, raw sounds are the questions, understandings, misunderstandings, beliefs, feelings and needs of our students. Like a musician, we use our skills and instruments, and guidance from policy makers, to choose, shape and organize these into understanding, through which the ‘sounds’ of our students gain the power to have a positive impact on the world.
So what does this have to do with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”? In the 72 years since it was first sung by a young Judy Garland, a variety of conductors and band leaders have provided musicians with guidance, emphasizing specific elements or adjusting the balance of traditional instruments to enhance the potential of this music to have a positive impact on the world .That this song has been voted number one on the Recording Industry Association of America’s list of “Songs of the Century”, is a testament to the success of these efforts over a long period of time.
And then along came Israel Kamakawiwo’ole and his ukelele. Cynics snickered and lovers of the song rebelled at the thought of a man as different from iconic Judy as it is possible to be, accompanying himself on the ukelele and singing this beloved song. At best, it was suggested, it would be a parody and at worst a desecration of the meaning and power of this music. Then he played and sang……………….
No one who hears his version can be unmoved. The words are the same, the general theme of the music is unmistakeable, but he has rearranged the notes and used a very unusual instrument and has produced…magic. Filled with meaning and positive power, his version of the song exemplifies the value of creative innovation in making even more powerful the impact of music in our world.
Think of teaching within the structure of public education as those 72 years of versions of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. Educators, guided by policy makers, have used approaches and instruments designed to produce understanding in students and prepare them to be a positive force in the world. In general, this works very well and our songs, our students, have enriched the world.
And then, every once in a while, comes along an educator who, like Israel and his music, shakes up the approaches or uses a radically different instrument to create magic. Students with even deeper understandings, greater enthusiasm and curiosity, and a stronger sense of belonging and commitment to self and others often result. Through such educators and their creative innovations, our students become an even more powerful force and hope for our world.
So the question for those of us interested in the power and value of these creative initiatives really is… Do we have to simply wait for the historical accident of the educational equivalent of an Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, or can we discover ways in which we can create the circumstances, culture, and conditions under which these people and their creative initiatives are more likely to arise?
My hope is that, through this forum and the widest possible conversation among a diverse group of people who have created such initiatives or have been positively affected by the creative intiatives of others, we can come to better understand how circumstance, need, passion, expertise, willingness to take risk, joy, commitment to students, and support have come together to create…magic. In turn I hope we can use this understanding to create the conditions for creativity and truly become an organization evem more ‘enriched and invigorated’ by the ‘unique capacities and ideas’ of people who are ‘ valued and engaged’ in the ongoing learning of our students and ourselves.
In short, I believe we can achieve an organization in which the emergence of “Israels” is not an accident, but a happy certainty.
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Lorraine Smith
2. What do you want the children in your life to know about their potential?
As parents, we know each of our children is a unique individual – each one is full of surprises and amazing gifts. But sometimes we lack the skills and knowledge to help them realize how special they are and who they can become. Some of us rely on schools to help them “find their thing” in life – and end up worrying about them the rest of their lives. Are they happy? Are they fulfilled? Are they doing OK?
It can seem like our role as parent never ends because we are never sure if we did enough, loved them enough or helped them enough. We want to know in our hearts that they are happy beyond their wildest dreams.
It is a fact of life that children watch what their parents do, and pay more attention to actions than words. Children are more willing to follow in their parents footsteps if we revealed a successful trail for them to follow. Chances are more likely that our children will be inspired by our positive stories and curious enough to go searching for their own.
I want children in my life to know that if they are not getting the positive messages in life and find themselves struggling along the way, that ANYTIME is a good time to rewrite their story and create their own happily ever after. EVERY child can truly do absolutely anything that he/she chooses to do and they can also Lead The Way.
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Geoff Raymond
Creativity can occur anytime for me. I’ve often been wakened by an idea that cannot be lost and need write it down immediately especialy when i’m creating videos for the kids at the school. Allowing yourself to relax enough to let the natural flow to happen and when it does happen, for me anyway, it’s like a roller coaster of ideas that cascades one after the other untill its complete. Thats when I spend the next 100 hours putting the peices together recreating the paterns and transitions. But I don’t regret one second of time that goes into it, seeing the smile from the child or sometimes a tear from the parent I see the appreciation in their eyes. A tangible happy memory easily accessed anytime. It’s a memory like this that every child needs. Why comfort and happiness are so important to their development in education and on into adulthood. Like in Peter Pan think happy thoughts and you too can fly.
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Cam Gregg
Thx for the inspiring evening with Sir Ken. A few foundation elements from my experience.
1. Developing / encouraging dialogue vs. debate
2. Openness to multiple perspectives
3. Quieting our voice of judgement.
4. Embracing “fail early, fail often” and demonstrate your commitment to it daily vs. punish “failure”.Some things to consider ……
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Lino DeGasperis
Steve Jobs on Creativity
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.” – Steve Jobs, Wired, February, 1995
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Lino DeGasperis
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/search/Helping+your+team+work+effectively/5849866/story.html
The recent Ottawa Citizen article Helping your ad hoc team work effectively – Great things can be done when groups come together speaks of how great things can come from special projects that draw people together from cross-functional and cross-jurisdictional boundaries. I can think of the classroom, where cross-curricular initiatives always help students put their learning in a larger context.
I read in interesting article called “A failure to innovate”. In it, there is this quote in reference to the education sector: