End Teacher Inservice and start Genius Hour for Teachers

In the school district in which I teach, we have 5 days of inservice before the school year starts and about one Wednesday each month where students get out of school about 50 minutes early so teachers can go to professional development sessions.

There is an ongoing feeling among teachers which has filtered into the community, that time spent on inservice days and professional development would just be better spent with students. There is such a strong feeling in the community because many people go to meetings for their job and nothing ever happens at meetings. 

While I am no expert at marketing,  new terminology must be used when referring to these teacher meetings. They should be called "Genius Hour."  Genius Hour has been enthusiastically implemented at businesses all over the world and has exploded into education for students. Why not for teachers as well?

The use of "Genius Hour" for teacher inservice has advantages on multiple fronts--community (including parents), students along with the principals and teachers. The new moniker will be effective because of the huge contribution which hundreds of professionals can use the expertise gained to benefit parents, students and the community.  

Genius Hour is not just another name for the same old way of doing things. It is a time for people to connect their partially or fully formed education related ideas with others with a group they choose.  The idea is to do something awesome with a topic about which group members are passionate. It is a Google-type Innovation Time. Individuals’ ideas can be connected to make the whole better than the sum of the parts. These connections may come from people in the same school or from elsewhere in the district.  The goal is to combine ideas to create an innovative education version of revolutionary designs like the engineers at Google do. and make the world better. Through the ability to follow their passions and truly work collaboratively to celebrate their expertise and reveal their creativity during Genius Hour, people will be driven to make themselves into the greatest administrators, teachers, counselors, deans, or paraprofessionals they can be. All while being staunchly supported by the public. Some outcomes of a Genius Hour collaboration are:  stronger relationships between students, adults, the community and the world. The greatest part of it may be that teachers will create time for students to do their own Genius Hour. Through Genius Hour, students and teachers will become more inspired learners and leaders. Both teachers and students will become more community minded and become more skilled at asking questions and researching their answers and using their work to benefit the world, which is the definition of Compassion Based Learning.

It is really “Genius Hour” meets "Compassion Based Learning ."

Many people continually hear about "failing" or "declining" schools on TV and in other news outlets. When people hear the term "genius," the first person they think of is Albert Einstein.  Associating principals and teachers with Einstein would be a way to change negative perception of schools, principals and teachers in the community, especially among people who don't currently have children in school.  It will also elevate the stature of education professionals in the eyes of children and their parents when they see the positive changes teachers and school personnel have in the community. 

One of the most powerful means which create people’s beliefs is reading. As far back as the 1670’s, philosopher Benedict Baruch Spinoza  opined that people believe whatever they encounter. More recently, in 1993, Daniel Gilbert and his colleagues tested Spinoza’s idea in a series of experiments and found that people believe concepts seconds after reading them. In a world where positive public relations cannot be taken for granted, reading "Genius Hour"  on the signs in front of schools will resonate with people and is an idea born out by Gilbert's data, so when they think of the teachers in our district, they will think of genius.

Just like "No Child Left Behind," who could complain about occasionally taking some time from the school day to enable "geniuses" to work together to develop something ingenious which will directly benefit their children? 

For principals and teachers, it would boost morale to know they are viewed as geniuses. With the change to more organic staff development, "genius" also emboldens principals and the teachers at their school to organize, plan and act on something awesome for their community. 

   

Why Genius Hour?  It is about encouraging people to follow their passions 

Daniel Pink, an authority on motivation and creativity, comments on the use of Genius Hour in business and education in his blog. 

"Genius Hour" reminds people of Einstein.  "Compassion Based Education" will remind people of Mother Teresa.

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