Scrum In School: Lessons By Michael Vizdos
Our current educational system — worldwide — is a relic of the Industrial Age where people (children and young adults) are still taught:
DO NOT think critically
DO NOT question authority
DO NOT learn the love of learning
DO NOT create or explore new ideas.
Scrum in School: 21st Century Skills
People talk about “21st Century Skills” for students like it’s something that is needed in the future.
Spoiler alert:
We are 20+ years into the 21st Century.
You are passionate about learning how to bring Scrum — and other Agile techniques — into schools anywhere around the world.
Less Talk. More Do.
ScrumInSchool.org is for parents, students, teachers, staff, and administrators to learn more about Implementing Scrum in School.
It’s an evolving resource for people to read case studies and learn how to Implement Scrum in school at the district, school, and classroom levels.
Let’s get started…
My name is Michael Vizdos and I am one of the early pioneers of Implementing Scrum and other agile methodologies over my the 30+ years of my professional experience.
My personal journey with Implementing Scrum in Schools (K-12 and Universities) began in 2012. We also home schooled our kids (now young adults) before they attended a public high school specialty center.
This journey – where I am so far today – did NOT happen overnight and it is still a work-in-process as we all learn more together and evolve. More information will be added in the future.
Here are some case studies I’ve been gathering by doing the work in my personal journey of Implementing Scrum in School:
Scrum in School: Case Studies and Timeline
-
I am a volunteer with both the students in The Center and as an Advisory Board Member.
The CIT (Center for Information Technology) is a specialty center at Deep Run High School in Henrico County, Virginia. This public high school specially center is an application driven cohort that starts with 50 students in the 9th grade (Freshman year). They continue as a group through their Senior Year.
Recently, they assembled all of the students (200+ in their yearly cohorts) for their first “conference experience.” You can view the “GRIT Conference agenda here.
A case study is in development to be shared in the future.
-
I started as a volunteer and moved into a part time role with Blueprint Education (at the District level) beginning in 2020.
Hope High School (in Phoenix, Arizona) is a blueprint for Agile In Education to be used around the world for both physical and online schools.
I continue working part time with students, teachers, coaches, support staff, and administrators from the schools and the district.
You can watch a video here (warning: have some tissues handy).
A case study is in development to be shared in the future.
-
I volunteered with a local middle school team in Implementing Scrum with a team of 8-13 year old people on their “First Lego League” (or FLL) team projects.
During our third — and final year [2017] — for that team, the students advanced to the State level competition (and had a blast!).
-
In April (2016) I volunteered as co-facilitator for group of educators — from around the world — in creating our version of an “Agile Manifesto” (and we intentionally did not call it another manifesto).
It is called, “The Agile in Education Compass.”
This was the main outcome our three days together in Orlando, Florida:
The Agile In Education Compass
Together, we are discoverers of the world and ourselves.
The world is no longer predictable and learning needs to be more adaptive, connected, and interdependent. Education can respond to this constantly changing landscape with agility.
Through our journey, new paths unfold to reveal learning authentic to us.
You can learn more at AgileInEducation.org.
-
Toward the end of 2016, I volunteered (with a paid facilitaror) at this school to begin “flipping the classroom” with a three day workshop [awesome again!!].
We continue to work with them as they transition to a new way of working together as students, teachers and administrators.
You can view a video about the experience here.
-
I work part time with the VCU da Vinci Center with their Master of Product Innovation program — and other colleges within the Virginia Commonwealth University system — in helping to shape the future of higher education as a model to replicated worldwide.
-
I was invited to volunteer (with a paid facilitator) during the Summer of 2017 to help facilitate another Agile Classrooms workshop.
This was for teachers and administrators at this concept school called Iowa Big and other people interested in bringing this to their schools from the midwest areas.
Wow. I was totally blown away of what the team of people in Cedar Rapids (and surrounding areas), Iowa are DOING.
Take “project-based learning” and combine it with the framework of Scrum and BOOM. No kidding.
The possibilities here are enormous and I want others to understand what what is not only possible but is HAPPENING today.
-
I am the part time Agile Coach for the Blueprint Education School District in Phoenix, Arizona.
As a member of the Impact Team (School District Leadership), I have a seat at the table in helping guide the District, Schools, Classrooms, and Students in Implementing Agile and Scrum in the real world with them!
A case study is in development to be shared in the future.
You can learn more at BlueprintEducation.org.
-
After years of volunteering together, a subset of the original creators from the Agile In Education Compass published and released an incredible Creative Commons resource for teachers (around the world) to use.
The Agile Educators Guide was created and published.
More information will be shared in the future.
-
The pilot program of the “CAL-K12” certification has been shut down by the Scrum Alliance.
As one of the co-creators of this program, I am sad to see it go but also know that the work is carried on at the Blueprint Education School District and others around the world.
-
Facilitated an in-person event in Phoenix Arizona to connect Blueprint Education, local agilists in the Phoenix community, and the Agile Alliance (the AgileDemics) Initiative.
Learn more at bpe_aug14.mvizdos.com
Scrum in School: Ready to Join Me?
There is more information coming soon to help parents, students, teachers, staff, and administrators when Implementing Scrum In School at the district, school, and classroom levels.
Take a look around. Learn more.
Contact me if you’d like to talk about ways we could collaborate.