The current landscape of technology intrusion into every aspect of our lives, post a digitalization drive followed by an AI Driven technology shift, schools across the globe face challenges. Some key challenges from an Indian context are

• Shifting curriculum standards to increase digital education,
• Handling diverse learner needs owing to technology know how levels
• Increasing scrutiny, demand on teachers and administrators to be at the leading edge of tech

Traditional linear approaches to education management and lesson planning cannot handle these tectonic shifts that are pretty dynamic. Where to go, what to do in such a fast paced world ?

Welcome aboard the Agile methodology—a flexible, adaptive approach that was originally developed for software development to differentiate itself from the mechanized industrial approaches —can also offer a transformative solution for schools. We will be exploring this thought as a series of blogs (about 5 of them?).

Let’s get rolling to a simpler, easy to follow articulation here.

What Is Agile?

Agile is a mindset; a set of principles that emphasizes collaboration, iterative progress, responsiveness to change, and continuous improvement at its core. From a values standpoint, Agile values individuals and interactions, working solutions over excessive documentation, customer collaboration, and adaptability to evolving circumstances. From within the world of education, the need to personalize learning, and the need to operate efficiently within complex school environments align pretty well to these principles and values.

Now let’s peek into why Agile matters for Indian Schools.

Indian schools, particularly those in the urban areas, are increasingly becoming diverse, with students coming from different socio-economic backgrounds, languages, and learning styles. To boot it, Education boards at State and National levels have to frequently update curricula to match a fast pace of change the world is going through to stay abreast. This requires schools to get agile in curriculum delivery, without overwhelming teachers.

Classic Agile methodology encourages breaking down large tasks (like a full curriculum or school year plan) into smaller chunks or “sprints” that are to be at regular intervals need to be planned, executed, and reviewed. It should also allow adjustments based on feedback or educational outcomes. For example, a school in Bangalore recently adopted Agile methods for managing teacher teams by holding daily short meetings to discuss challenges and progress, aiming for faster resolution of student learning issues – The classic Daily Sprints in Agile. The outcome – Teachers reported better collaboration with peers, and lesser stress levels.

But, a key challenge, like in all adaptions of Agile techniques is – Building an Agile Mindset

I have seen Adopting Agile in organizations are not procedural alone, they are a lot more cultural than meets the eye. It stems from the philosophy of a growth mindset, where mistakes are learning opportunities, changes are not fretted upon but embraced, and collaboration is an ongoing activity than a one off.

Well, when you look at these aspects – these are the very qualities that help students and educators thrive amid uncertainties. And the way they are getting amplified by the technology sprawl, it is a great antidote for the 21st-century education system. Several progressive schools are starting pilot projects in Agile education, looking for the promising outcomes that the software industry has been able to achieve.

Let’s explore more on these in the coming episodes.  This series will look to explore how Agile can be applied to school management, lesson planning, and assessment processes, while providing actionable insights for all stakeholders of the education sector, to lead and to innovate.

The topic for our next episode is – Agile techniques applied to School Management. 

What are your thoughts on this? Share your insights and feedback to achyuth@beacon4minds.com / info@beacon4minds.com