Embracing Disruption – Overcoming the Essentiality Dilemma in Education

“I think you should do what you are expected to do” – the voice was loud, the message was clear, and the directive was powerful. Yes, the year was 1978. This message was given to me, when I was a principal, by one of the senior members of the school management who I respected a lot for his wisdom, clarity, and pragmatic approach. The issue was that I had approached him with a request to start the subject of computer science in the school. His fears were well justified because there was no school known anywhere had the subject on computers. There was no such subject in the curriculum of the Board also at that time. As such except a few senior institutions of learning in higher education, even the degree course in computer science was unknown. The desktop I had got to know was one which had 256 Kb memory and 128 cpm printer! That was the market. I stood disappointed with the reply I got. But efforts never fail. The chairman of the school committee who gave an interview to me asked “Please tell me what you want to do.” I explained. “Sir, I am thinking of what could happen after ten years. We need to get ready.” He smiled and said, “Disruptive Thinking.” He supported me in every viable way with only one advice, “Don’t come back to me and say I have failed because I didn’t have adequate money or support. Learn to win.”  Though I was a chemistry teacher, I went out to study computer science – Basic language, Fortran, Cobol, Unix, and C. (Sorry, I am still a nursery child in this field). The history is forgotten.

Every time I engaged with a change – a disruption – I met challenges, and most of them vehemently. I can list many such situations. I always asked a question ‘why not?’

1. Disruption brings restlessness and disorder to the system.
2. Disruption is a threat to current security and safety of the system.
3. Disruption may shake the belief system and trust of the stakeholders.
4. Disruption is an open challenge to the culture of the organization.
5. Disruption could result whose impact may be unpredictable and invisible.

1. Disruption could function as a catalyst to mobilise the latent energy of the organization to a better goal and purpose.
2. Disruption could lead the organizations to pinnacles of excellence through pursuit of knowledge and skills not yet unravelled.
3. Disruption could lead to “Aha” experiences as one engages with unfathomed oceans of knowledge and skills.
4. Disruption could pump more dopamine into the system to reinvigorate the collective energy.
5. Disruption helps the individual and the organization to move from the comfort zone to curiosity zones.

It is said that “disruption brings about a change in the existential dynamics including thought, style, approach, objective, target or the outcome of a system.” Disruption, often, helps you to move from “where one” is to “where one should be.”

Disruption is not used to make changes in the physical or infrastructural environments. It calls for a change in the mindset. It challenges ‘the pattern making behaviour” of the mind and compel for alternative pathways.

A disruptive mind is.

a.   Structured on rational thinking.
b.   ready to engage with newer possibilities.
c.   Willing to seek newer meanings.
d.   Curious to raise questions, doubts and re-examine and validate.
e.   Open to critical evaluation and resetting.

Given the current dynamics in lifestyles, thought architectures and social concerns based on speed, skills and sensitivities, the current education system is poised for disruption, sooner than later. Disruptions could be smooth, natural, and fluid. They also could be challenging, threatening, and disturbing. To avoid crisis and chaos on a later date consequent to large scale disruptions impacting the learning behaviour, which appears imminent, the education system needs to respond meaningfully and adequately to them.

1. The system has become a victim to linearity and monotony, thereby distancing effective learning from schooling.
2. An organic change is required in the current education system to move away from the colonial mindset that has focused on developing followers than leaders.
3. The quality of learning has become a victim as against the quantum of learning, thereby making learners often questioning their own competencies, self-worth, and self-esteem. There is a dire need for value enrichment.
4. The idea of creativity and innovation has become alien to the current focus on examination and certification, thereby disturbing several faculties of mind.
5. The pursuit of disciplines has threatened integrated approach to knowledge synthesis, inclusivity, and experience.

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it,” said Alan Kay. Disruption always leads to some amount of uncertainty. But such uncertainties are to be faced, engaged with and turned to a futuristic investment or advantage. The schools need to refocus their attention from landscapes to mindscapes. They need to look at their existing ‘learning culture’ and ‘institutional culture’ and be willing to get it critically evaluated and audited to suit their exclusive needs. This indeed needs to move away from ‘competitive mindset’ in school management to ‘creative mindset.’ The schools need to invest on their own talents, competencies, capabilities and resources and work with a ‘growth mindset’ than suffer from their inadequacies from comparison with unequal both contextually and conceptually. A purposeful, sensitive, and sensible engagement with their own socio-cultural environments would be necessary.

Schools need to move away from the ‘failure mindset.’ Such a mindset is born out of the arrogance of an erstwhile wisdom leading to judge every other person on our own competencies. This negates the possibility of growth and shuns excellence. The belief that every human being is bestowed with some competence, some talent, some capability is to be acknowledged, developed and celebrated. The learners need to be trained to convert failures into success as a learning experience. The very definition of success must be revisited as in the pathway to ‘excellence,’ ‘success’ is just yet another event. In the pursuit of disruption, rewards are just incidental.

1. Do the current titles of school leaders reflect their engagement with ‘learning’?
2. Are the current educators willing to accept that they have become ‘co-learners’ in an emerging knowledge capital?
3. Do we need to facilitate ‘self-learning’ and ‘self-directed learning’ as the only future possibilities of learning?
4. How do we integrate experiences and skills as fundamentals to any learning content and context?
5. Can schools move towards sourcing and resourcing learning than the top-down ‘teaching’ engagements?
6. How often do teachers need to refabricate their knowledge and skill to stay relevant?
7. How much do we integrate ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ learning opportunities to facilitate acquisition of mastery in any domain of knowledge?
8. Do schools need “Teacher Resource Centres” to facilitate them to be staying on their learning curve on a continuous basis?”

Says Erik Pevernagle, the Belgian artist and author, “Let our brain intuit what feelings are craving to express. If our mind catalyses an uplifting bond with our emotions, both become brothers at arms, and build a realm of common sense. ("Disruption")”

Is Disruption in education a choice anymore?