What’s in an Illusion?
It’s the second week of school and the air is filled with intrigue and excitement. King George School is immersed in the Beakerhead Ingenuity Challenge which is demanding of creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration in more ways than one can imagine. I couldn’t have dreamt of a better way to kick start my year as a new Assistant Principal.
How does a school rally together to collaborate in a unique process and build something that was totally unimaginable from the start? Design Thinking and Fertile Ground. I will first speak about the latter as the staff at King George are all-stars. They are a dedicated, willing, and responsive team who cares about each and every student every day. Maryse, our principal, had been working towards establishing the right conditions for successful learning and we were ready.
As for Design Thinking, there’s no better way to understand it than to live it. You can view our whole process at bit.ly/KGBeaker. The best way for me to sum it up is in this quote by Reggie, a grade 6 student:
“Whatever is happening may not be as it seems. The way we think, thought and trust cannot fit through the crust of this very scene.”
What came out of our intensive week was an affirmation in a process that shifts power over to students; an understanding that design thinking is a fair process; and a beautiful 3D Castle of Illusions that has taken its place in our Learning Commons and will be the seed from which our library will be transformed.
Shafina Dharamsi (@shafinad) is an Assistant Principal at King George School. She loves to dance and paint and read stories with her two girls.
It’s the second week of school and the air is filled with intrigue and excitement. King George School is immersed in the Beakerhead Ingenuity Challenge which is demanding of creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration in more ways than one can imagine. I couldn’t have dreamt of a better way to kick start my year as a new Assistant Principal.
How does a school rally together to collaborate in a unique process and build something that was totally unimaginable from the start? Design Thinking and Fertile Ground. I will first speak about the latter as the staff at King George are all-stars. They are a dedicated, willing, and responsive team who cares about each and every student every day. Maryse, our principal, had been working towards establishing the right conditions for successful learning and we were ready.
As for Design Thinking, there’s no better way to understand it than to live it. You can view our whole process at bit.ly/KGBeaker. The best way for me to sum it up is in this quote by Reggie, a grade 6 student:
“Whatever is happening may not be as it seems. The way we think, thought and trust cannot fit through the crust of this very scene.”
What came out of our intensive week was an affirmation in a process that shifts power over to students; an understanding that design thinking is a fair process; and a beautiful 3D Castle of Illusions that has taken its place in our Learning Commons and will be the seed from which our library will be transformed.
Shafina Dharamsi (@shafinad) is an Assistant Principal at King George School. She loves to dance and paint and read stories with her two girls.
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