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Zen and the art of teachingBy Steve Voisey “The pencil is mightier than the pen.” ― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values The purpose of this article is to show how an important industrial tool can be useful in the classroom. It’s my sincere belief that teaching is an art. The interactions with students are personal and genuine. Students are the centre of what we do. I guess you might call me “a gardener.” I am in good company, as most teachers hold a similar opinion. What I’m hinting at is this: There are two models of education: the factory, and the garden. This article will illustrate how an industrial tool can be useful in your garden. I want to write about an industrial tool, but I’m not an industrialist educator. What was broken in industry?During the 1990s software development was in crisis. ICT Projects were always late and over budget. It took about 3 years for changes to be made to software. Developers were weighed down with documentation requirements and project plans. What changed?A group of engineers wrote the following statement in 2001:
That is to say, the items on the left are valued more than the items on the right. One of the key elements of this philosophy is the Sprint. A Sprint is a short period of time for people to create something that works. In industry, this is typically 1 – 4 weeks. In the classroom, this is typically 5 – 20 minutes. What does the Sprint fix?Students (or engineers) that work in a sprint have a bite-sized task, with clear goals and limited resources. They know that at the end of the sprint they will show their work to others and be accountable. If they have strayed off course, only a short amount of time has been lost and then can make amends in the next sprint. What is broken in the classroom?Students spend large amounts of time working on projects that don’t amount to much. They don’t have enough direction and they get stuck in details. How does this work day-to-day?
I use this methodology with new entrants through to year 13s. The main variable is the sprint length. 5 minutes for new entrants, closer to 30 minutes for year 13s. Is there anything else of value in Agile Methodology?
“It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top.” |