I tend to be a daydreamer, so the question, “If you were to start a school from scratch, what would it look like?” is one that has crossed my mind on more than a single occasion. However, it’s usually in the context of a post-secondary school, as opposed to an elementary, middle, or high school. I do believe in the importance of core subjects (math, science, etc.), but I’m also a strong advocate for the arts. My primary learning styles are visual, aural, and tactile, and I’d start a school that allowed for unfettered creativity from the students. Couros (2015) says,
“If we can create school cultures in which values such as originality, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge are the norm of our students, our teachers, and ourselves, other organizations will look to education as an industry that leads in innovation, rather than one that is trying to catch up to the rest of the world” (p.17).
My vision of a school that fosters innovation is one where students are given freedom to choose the topics they want to study, and where topics promote a mixture of traditional subjects to create something new.
An example of this that comes to mind takes me to a recent idea I had for starting a blog in my free time. I am fascinated by language. My time in New York City has only bolstered that fascination, as it’s not uncommon for me to hear more than five languages throughout the course of a single day. I’ve been trying to learn different languages since my freshman year of high school, but I can only say I know minimal amounts of Spanish, Swedish, and German, outside of what I consider to be a strong grasp of my native language (English). From reading I’ve done around the internet, I’ve discovered that the easiest way to learn a language is to immerse oneself in that language. Problematically, I don’t have the funds to allow me to travel to other countries to gain a high level of immersion. So, I got the idea to combine my love for other languages with one of my greatest interests: film. I plan on writing a blog to document the experience of learning languages through immersion while living at home in the United States, and combining language learning tools (such as Duolingo, Memrise, etc.) with my love for film.
I give that as an example of one of the types of courses I’d want to offer. Other ideas that cross my mind are documentary film-making and history, mathematical music theory, painting and geography, or programming and game design. One could even teach an industrial arts course through set design. The combination of history and theater in 2015’s Hamilton display the effectiveness of mixing a performing art with another of the core subjects. Hamilton is still going strong, and it makes me recall Couros’ Blockbuster example. While I don’t believe that Broadway theater is a dying medium, I think Hamilton is a great example of innovation that gave new life to Broadway, and gave many people a newfound love for theater (myself included), while also encouraging people to view history from a new and exciting angle. Couros (2015) says,
“Education cannot become the new Blockbuster where we refused to embrace the new in hopes that the old ways will suffice. In a world that constantly changes, if our focus is to only maintain what’s already been done, we are bound to become worse. The innovator’s mindset is necessary for all of us if schools are to move forward” (p. 32).
In conclusion, forming a school that focuses on teaching core subjects through creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration, I believe, would provide the ultimate tool for innovation. It would encourage young minds to let their imagination run wild while teaching skills that many people interested in fields of performing arts only learn later in life. It would open doors for students who believe they are no good at math or science, because it would allow them to view the subjects through a different lens. Lastly, it would give new purpose to all of the technology that many students are starting to get their hands on at younger and younger ages, and allow students to discover more uses beyond learning to type, write an essay in a text editing software, or edit a photo. If we have the technology available, why not give it new life?
TET 715 Reflective Blog 
The blockbuster reference was well executed in your post. It brings to the forefront the need for innovation in our schools, which I believe extends to higher education as well. The value of the content needs to be reinvented (another Couros term) so that we can make learning relevant. I think that’s what you have really captured in your post through an arts perspective. Something to think about is what other perspectives might students have that could be the basis for transforming schooling? What does that look like in higher education? Many of the same ills in K12 plague higher education as well.
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