It’s become almost cliché to claim that education in the Internet age is a challenge. Pace of change, globalization, so-called knowledge economies, new demands on the workforce, climate change, shifting populations and more, create an environment that is both bewilderingly complex and yet offers fertile ground for innovation and bold ways of thinking.

What is obvious to most, is that schools as we knew them will soon be relics of a time gone by. But in this transition to a new paradigm, there is no blueprint for what the new school will or should look like. That’s why leaders in education are faced with the momentous challenge and opportunity to shape something brand new. It takes vision to imagine a world that doesn’t quite exist yet, and enormous courage to move towards it.

BSS Head Deryn Lavell is sitting at the apex of that movement. Overseeing one of the most respected and dynamic schools in North America, she has the opportunity to harness that foundation to make BSS a leader in innovation and among the first to truly align itself with the oncoming demands of a new age in education.

SG: The first days in office, as it were, can be harrowing, but can also provide perhaps the best chance to see the landscape most clearly before becoming too immersed in the busy day-to-day pace that is typical of BSS. What are you seeing as you step into this role?

DL: It’s interesting because even though I’ve had plenty of time at BSS in my previous roles, (as Junior School Principal and Assistant Head, Institutional Advancement) this is a whole new way of seeing the School and the perspective is quite fresh and exciting from this vantage point. And I do want to seize upon this window of opportunity to stay fresh and keep my eyes on the bigger picture.

I’m seeing first, that BSS is clearly on the right track. The work of talented former Heads like Natalie Little and Kim Gordon, and the support of our Boards of Governors and Trustees, have brought this school to the right place at the right time. That is not only a relief to me, but also very exciting, because it means that we’re not in a position of having to do remedial work to bring us to a place where great advances can be made. We’re standing on the precipice right now.

As I look down that path ahead, I am looking first, outside the School, and outside of education altogether. I’m looking at the most innovative areas of the economy, the emerging work force and the needs of a troubled world, to see what kind of leader will be in demand. We’re seeing it everywhere now, the impact of technology being one of the most significant drivers, that people who can harness both hemispheres of the brain—who can think critically and creatively at the same time, as well as employing and trusting instinct—these are the leaders of the future.

We’re seeing what it takes to imagine a YouTube or a Facebook. We’re seeing what the economy’s leaders are looking for and it isn’t what it used to be. It’s all about creating value and not just making money. It’s about being able to work collaboratively across cultures and across the planet. It’s about understanding one’s role as a contributor to great ideas and an innovator as opposed to a taskmaster. It’s about being able to invent your way out of trouble, whether that trouble is climate change or rampant disease or poverty. Invention, original thinking, transformations—these are the watchwords. Traditional notions of success, things like climbing ladders, getting ahead, making money, hierarchies and corner offices, these are becoming outmoded. Of course we want our students to have the right tools to be successful in their careers, but it’s not just about making money. It’s about making a contribution. We are not as self-focused and I think that’s a great thing.

SG: How does that impact BSS? How must the School change to empower its students this way?

DL: Well, it’s no simple task, for BSS or any school. We have to decide what works from the traditional way of doing things and keep and enhance those; and we have to know what is no longer in the girls’ best interests and have the courage to let that go. It’s never as easy taking things off the table as it is putting them on.

We are fortunate to be where we are already, with the Reggio inspired approach in the Junior School, which is ideally aligned with the needs of the world I’ve described. The Reggio approach is all about sparking young minds to harness their imaginations, creativity and intelligence to learn and discover. This is how we move from the obvious to the deeper, more nuanced level of inquiry.

The Senior School and Middle School are also poised to deepen learning this way with an emphasis on cross-discipline learning and the dismantling of structures that imposed artificial borders among subject areas. We’ve globalized ourselves in a sense. We’re also pursuing this idea of T-shaped learning where the learner can stretch across many disciplines and areas of discovery that can feed into the
vertical line of learning where one goes deeper in a specific aspect. This is a crucial way of learning because it is, in fact, the kind of thinking that engenders creation and invention. You need the depth of knowledge and understanding, but also the ability and discipline to continue investigation across a broad spectrum of inquiry.

So the stage is set in a way. Now the job is to truly realize what we’ve started. We have to map out what these strategies will look like in the next few years and build that structure. The goal is to create opportunities through a student’s experience here that will empower her imagination and deepen her learning to a level that goes beyond the formed thought, and digs right into her values, her biases, her emotional responses.

SG: It seems the possibilities are endless. How does all this work in actual fact? I mean, with the realities of budgets, a tough economy, and as we all know, the fact that BSS is a very busy place and the job of the Head of School is no walk in the park—how do you find the time and resources to strategize a new vision and plan to keep it all moving forward?

DL: I’m so excited by the possibilities that I just can’t stop thinking about it. I believe that developing a vision for the future is only possible if you throw off the restraints and let your imagination fly. I want everyone around me to contribute to that process. To get the best result, our team and our community will be called upon to really examine the possibilities and imagine a future for BSS that will take us all to the next level. We are rooted in a great tradition and must continue seeking the best ways to deliver on our promise to the girls, that their experience here will give them all the tools they need to achieve their dreams and goals. That kind of creative energy is infectious and people will make the time to engage in something like this.

Of course in the end, what we need is a real, tangible, workable plan. When we start forming these free wheeling thoughts into ideas that can manifest, we start matching them against the realities of our school to see where the opportunities and gaps are. Only after we’ve gone through this exercise, can we make a cohesive plan of action.

But you can’t realistically get to the finish line without first unleashing our brains to imagine the possibilities, without constraints and the ‘yes, but’ temptation we all have to point out why something can’t work. Let’s imagine it can for a moment…then see where that takes us.

SG: How will you go about the process of investigation for some of these ideas?

DL: What I’d like to do is put together what I call ‘BSS R&D’, a research and development group whose focus is to go out and explore the ideas and check them against a test of feasibility. Their task would be to find out why something can work, not why it can’t. After we’ve investigated and researched, we will begin the architecture of a plan of action.

We have another year to go to implement the current Strategic Plan and we will have a lot to celebrate. We’ve accomplished so much as a consequence of having this plan and that’s what has set the stage for the tremendous opportunities that lay ahead. The restructuring of the Senior School to really allow for all the benefits of cross-discipline learning and the evolution of the Middle School program are shining examples that have us poised to do amazing things in the future. At the same time, since nothing stands still and waits its sequential turn, we have to be building on this success and creating a new vision and a way of moving forward. That’s my job this year.

SG: That sounds like an incredibly fascinating job and you seem to be virtually erupting with energy and ideas. Is this what you’d hoped your career would be about?

DL: I came into the teaching world with a desire to engage young learners and also, to be a learner myself for the rest of my life. I’ve never enjoyed or wanted anything more than the opportunity to use my mind and continue to explore new ideas. The career I’ve had, and this position is without question, its pinnacle so far, has given me the life I’d dreamed of. I couldn’t be happier or more fulfilled than walking through those doors in the morning and looking around the noisy, busy halls of BSS, bursting with the energy of the girls.

SG: So we’ll be hearing a lot more on this from Ms. Lavell in the coming months I expect?

DL: Oh yes. A lot more indeed!

Posted April 21, 2010 at 12:48am

• What it takes to be a BSS Board member
• All Unnecessary Etceteras
• Profile - Student: Outstanding Boarder? Olympic Bound? Or Both?
• Spotlight - Old Girl: Meet Caitlin CRONENBERG '02
• Feature Story - When Life Serves You Lemons... Just Hop The Fence.