Innovative Education

Sarah Karr reflects on MINE and talks with former Harvard education expert Tony Wagner.

By Sarah Karr

I never thought I would get credit for spending five days camping and backpacking in October 2019. Before joining the Miller Integrated Nature Experience (MINE), I was unaware that I was going to learn the lost skill of map reading or learn how to cook minimalist meals with whatever food we had packed. I had no idea that I could go without my phone for days and not worry about the lures of social media. I learned that there was more to myself and my interests than I ever knew.

There are certain things you can learn only through experience. Prior to joining MINE, schools had never provided me with a view from the top of the Painted Hills that rippled over themselves like a sheet of red and yellow layers. You cannot look out at the Cascades atop Smith Rock State Park, well, unless you’re there. You cannot learn the hard work of rock climbers until you witness them free climbing the side of a mountain, the wall littered with chalk prints of those who came before. I couldn’t begin to appreciate the support I have in my life until I witnessed two parents coaching and cheering on their child as they climbed further up the mountain.

I learned about the different struggles of 11 fellow adventurers and why they loved MINE so much. As I reflected on the five days of the trip, I realized that I was just like them, new to such an impactful learning experience. As we fanned the flames of the campfire with paper plates, I realized that the experience would stay with me forever. I will always remember the cry of coyotes in the night, how to keep those hungry flames alive, and how to reflect on myself and search for the perfect words to compose a journalistic story.

What I will not remember of high school are the countless hours spent in a classroom watching slideshows and taking detailed notes. I look back on my notes from ninth grade and realize that I was trying to look like an exceptional student. The truth is that I never studied for a test. I never saw the point. Instead, I spent my time studying tricks to temporary learning that would get me through the class. This blocked me from creating a method of learning that worked for me.

Retired Harvard education expert and best selling author Tony Wagner says, “I had to really figure out how best to create my own conscious learning opportunities and learning experiences,” referring to the fact that he hated school, dropped out of high school once, dropped out of college twice, and came back to become an expert in the field of education. Wagner now has a doctorate from Harvard, has published seven books on education, and has lectured at many conferences around the world on the ineffective schooling of young minds.

Despite having a spotty personal record in his public school education, Wagner later worked at the Harvard Innovation Lab, aiming to promote team-based learning experiences as well as entrepreneurial activities for students, faculty, and more. Wagner describes innovators as creative problem solvers and views these people as the people who will really change the world.

“We need young people to transform our world before it’s too late,” says Wagner. He believes in the principles of creativity, innovation, and passion, which aren’t always practiced in the common house of education. With his own past experiences in the American education system and working to become the teacher he never had, Wagner has spread his message of miseducation, focusing rather on innovation.

In my own experience, there were days when journalism advisor Ivan Miller took kids out on field trips, sat them in the dirt, and simply told them to write. I cannot explain why exactly he did this, but it allowed students to connect with themselves and think about different possibilities. This led my classmates and me to connect with our writing and when we shared our pieces with each other we formed a stronger team that would eventually produce meaningful magazines.

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Smart kids are never directly told that they’re smarter than everyone else, but they certainly get a little more than everyone else. In school, there is a hierarchy that ranks students based on academic achievement, and the higher you are the more privileges and chances you get. Amongst these model students are those that were smart enough to know how to climb the ranks of this pyramid scheme through tricks and shortcuts. Cheater, slacker, inadequate, and careless are some words used to describe the kids who do not have a spot at the top. Diversity in students is welcomed in the common house of education, however, the diversity of learning is not. One meaning of diversity is variety, which means that not every student will excel in math or English. So what is said about those students? Nothing is said but the letters D for disappointing, F for failing. The average graduation rate of Oregon high schools was 80.81% in the years 2018-2019, meaning about one in five students did not graduate, and the conditions are partially to blame.

Throughout his high school and college years, my grandpa earned C’s and D’s in every class. Many people would say this reflects a person who struggled in school or had no desire to learn. This, however, is not the case as he simply didn’t function well in a traditional classroom setting. He now spends hours in his studio studying art, history, and politics. He also uses his art background to care for his neighborhood-renowned garden. My grandpa discovered most of his passions after his formal education, and for 50 years he’s been happily learning the things he wants to learn and at his own pace.

Learning isn’t just a measure of life in a classroom, but a way to describe what happens when passion, creativity, and innovation mix.

Wagner says, “what I’ve come to understand is that the culture of schooling as we have continued to practice and perpetuate it is fundamentally and radically at odds with a culture of learning that develops the capabilities to innovate.”

One definition of innovation is to change something already built or established by using new techniques, concepts, and products. The second definition is to introduce something entirely new. In summary, innovation is the creation or further development of a product or idea. Leaving room for innovation provides room for creative thinkers to build their passions and skills while improving the overall craft. Instead of taking the time to plan and improve the learning experiences of thousands of students sitting at home due to COVID-19, the school systems simply fell into familiar, yet ineffective, patterns of learning.

“What if we educated them [the students] to be creative problem solvers and working to solve the major problems and challenges we all face around the world?” asked Wagner.

In MINE, what we learned and experienced in nature wasn’t graded or tested, and it gave us the opportunity to learn without pressure. I wasn’t actively trying to “survive” on field trips. I was actively learning and absorbing what obstacles and learning opportunities were handed to me and my classmates. The students are what made the MINE program so successful, and with our variety of skills, talents, and mindsets, we showcased our collective passions as a class, and as individuals. “Innovation is above all a team sport, there is no innovation without deep collaboration,” says Wagner.

MINE is a program that allows students to go on field trips weekly, to experience nature and the real world. Whether it’s planting trees, mulching them for winter, learning local history, or preparing for week-long backpacking trips, this hands-on learning experience is truly unique. While it is a journalism program, it offers a learning experience with the outside world and the problems created by modern society.

By creating a creative and collaborative atmosphere, students learned through experience. In his childhood, Wagner attended summer camps that taught him about nature, various outdoor skills, and the importance of trial and error without a grade. “I know I learned a reverence for nature, I learned to be at home and comfortable with myself in nature, and I think that helped give me a certain kind of perseverance or tenacity,” said Wagner.

Despite being stuck at home for 402 days during the COVID-19 pandemic, the MINE program stayed strong. The students that were given the opportunities to hike mountains, walk trails, plant trees, and camp in the middle of eastern Oregon continued to prosper. Although we’ve all been at home, we’ve successfully reached out to professionals to help tell stories and show our hard work. Through reflection and large doses of determination, MINE students didn’t let the pandemic stop them from writing, editing, designing, and producing a magazine. It’s because we were given the opportunities to go out, learn, and reflect on ourselves that we’ve come this far.

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Now that I have graduated high school (a semester early) and have moved to Utah for college, I’ve been given time to think and look at the education system from the outside. Time to think is honestly one of the things I was never given outside of MINE and seasonal school breaks. In high school, preparing for what you’ll be in the future is the focus, and while some students figure it out, others like me are left with questions.

Recently, I received a letter from the Dean of Humanities at the University of Utah. The dean explained that I will be taking innovative courses that will encourage my peers and me to think critically, creatively, ethically, and logically— and teach us to appreciate and understand cultural and historical contexts as well as how to communicate effectively to different audiences.

I should not receive a letter outlining all of the things I should have already learned. Luckily, I had MINE.

Every child has the right to an impactful and prosperous education no matter their background, interests, and social standing. The methods in which we learn and apply our knowledge should change every year and vary from person to person. The sooner schools and educators realize this and make accommodations for their students to effectively learn for themselves, the sooner our society can flourish.

I found this learning opportunity through MINE, as did many other kids I worked with to produce magazines and newspapers. I hiked mountains, climbed trees, and wrote for hours about the things I was learning about the world and myself. More kids deserve an education where they’re free to experience and learn, for there are certain things you can learn only through experience and reflection.