4/30/13

"We have to reintroduce creativity to education because we need new projects and businesses"

Christer Windeløv-Lidzélius

< 1 min.

Christer Windel&oslash;v-Lidz&eacute;lius

What does the cooperation agreement that the UOC and KaosPilot are preparing involve?
We intend to explore new paths and do great things together. From our point of view, it's a positive arrangement because the UOC presents us with many opportunities. Firstly, you're renowned and have a firmly established reputation in terms of e-learning. We've done very little in that area in the past, but we're aware that if we want to have a major impact, we need to find out what we can do to achieve that. Another factor is that we love Barcelona.
What made you choose Barcelona to introduce KaosPilot to Spain?
Along with San Sebastián and Bilbao, you were the first to notice us. You could say that was a coincidence, as we were interested in you too, which gave you greater appeal. What's more, your mentality isn't all that different from ours; your way of thinking, of working... Yes, there are cultural differences, but I can think of other places in Latin countries where we would find it more difficult to work.
Spain is currently in crisis and the youth unemployment rate is very high. Is now the right time to create a new reality with new jobs?
Someone from one country should always be very careful what they say about the problems of others. However, my impression is that it's not just here that's affected but the whole of Europe. The thing is that as a country, you're having a tougher time than others, although not the toughest because there's Greece to consider. If we stop investing in ideas, in education, we won't be able to explore new paths, and that'll make the situation worse. We need people who are willing to get involved, who want to create things. This isn't the first time that what's happening at present has occurred. Nobody is promoting young people or a new spirit, and the result is reduced entrepreneurial initiative. The idea of a job for life in a large company is changing because there's less and less chance of finding such a job.
What can we do now?
Foster a culture of entrepreneurship. There's a tendency to view being an entrepreneur as something small, exceptional, isolated, when it's actually a career option. If I can't find a particular kind of consultancy, for example, why not create it myself? We need to change young people's perspective. We have to get to the point where their attitude is "I want to be an entrepreneur and I'll try it 20 times if needs be". We don't need more jobs of the kind that already exist.
That's what you do at KaosPilot. What's it like to learn there?
Our teaching revolves around case studies and 'learning by doing'. We aim to reflect reality in everything we do. 'Learning by doing' means that everything we do at the school is applied, it's practical.
Don't you have books?
We do, and texts as well, but we apply all the knowledge we obtain from them to projects that we establish as practical activities, anything from a music festival to a business involving working with monkeys in Africa. We're open to all kinds of ideas. That's when we apply texts, theory and methodology. Something else that sets us apart is our approach to learning. We carry out tutorials in which we discuss what we've done, how we've done it, what happened, what would have happened if we had done things differently, etc. We look at cases from different angles. There are many key points where teaching our students is concerned. It's like reading a book; you start at the beginning and work your way to the end. It's difficult to start on page 20 and continually jump from one chapter to another. Our approach makes it easier to understand the whole process. At the end of the day, it's an experience involving personal growth. In that sense, we can say that we educate our students for their professions, as future entrepreneurs, consultants or whatever they turn out to be, but we also educate the person inside them.
Do you work on leadership too?
Yes, on students being certain about what they want, on them feeling more secure about what they are, regardless of who they are, where they come from or where they want to go. We help them make their dreams come true. That's why we feel that at our school we deal with entire human beings, not just what's inside their heads.
Are you a revolutionary?
Yes, in all probability. I'm glad we're involved in seeking to cause a system to evolve.
Are you of the opinion that traditional education doesn't promote creativity or nurture our innate abilities?
Many people say that present-day education kills creativity, but they often don't tell us what the alternatives are. I think that one of the challenges in crises like the current one is ascertaining what effect education has. We could lay the blame on teachers, students, politicians, money, school policy, etc., but the new generations are suddenly realizing that we ought to appreciate all those things more, and we're trying to take up the challenge of determining how to do so. And yes, universities and schools aren't necessarily prepared to promote creativity.
Why is that the case? How have we reached this state of affairs?
Structure, methodology... That's all well and good, but what about practice, attitude and experience? We're not thinking about those things. Let's put it another way. If I'm going to take five years of your life, your best years, you'll want to be sure that you're investing them in the best way possible. What's more, you'll want your investment to start paying off as soon as possible, tomorrow maybe, rather than in 20 years, because you might not even be alive by then. That's the way people who come to study at our school think.
That's an emphatic yes then? Present-day education doesn't foster creativity?
Yes, schools kill creativity, as George Land and Beth Larman proved in a study in 1968. That's the most comprehensive research carried out to date, and it showed that creativity has been banished from classrooms. We can't just accept that. Our job is to reintroduce creativity to education because we need new projects and businesses.
And happy people too.
Yes, exactly. Creating things makes us happy, and we're not necessarily talking about big things. The idea is that we should bring out what's inside all of us. That's not to say that every child has to be the country's next president or the most famous architect. Someone will be, but not everyone. Schools have to create a community and students must feel that they belong to it. They should be able to look back and think that their school years were the best years of their life. Schools help students create their own future too. When ?or if, who knows?? the employment market picks up, schools will need to adapt to that new situation, as we can't have them training students to do jobs that might not exist a few years down the line.
Do innovation, collaboration and creation have to go hand in hand as far as education is concerned?
Yes, without a doubt. The most important decisions in terms of innovation often come from someone else, and that's why the idea of developing ties geared to collaboration is key. Innovation and creativity aren't only inside us, but also in the space we establish between one another.

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