Christina Luzi is a passionate, skilled educator and teacher. As the head of school at St John XXIII Catholic College in Sydney’s Stanhope Gardens, she has 15 years of experience in her profession.
But undertaking the TD School’s Creative Intelligence and Strategic Innovation program (CISI) led her to view it all in a completely different light:
‘It helped me see that I was subconsciously subscribing to a set way of doing things and making decisions. The course taught me to ask questions and explore different possibilities. I learnt to understand patterns of behaviour and come up with changes in order to improve what we do as educators.’
This was one of many lightbulb moments for Christina who was part of the inaugural cohort of students who enrolled in the CISI program in 2020.
It’s designed for professionals in the public, private and community sector who are interested in helping their workplaces transition away from the old ways of doing things.
Learners from the Creative Intelligence and Strategic Innovation program. Source: Maja Baska
Course Director, Dr Barbara Doran says we need to recognise that how we learn is mostly based on an education system that was built for yesterday’s world:
‘We need a more balanced and diverse approach to learning to shape the way we think and respond to challenges. If we want to change the future then we need to change the kind of thinking that got us here. To do that, we need a dynamic and connected way of thinking and that’s the transdisciplinary approach.’
Christina has taken what she has learnt back to her school community; and teachers, parents and students are beginning to embrace the new ideas.
The school community worked together in a collaborative process to co-design the school’s vision statement.
Christina says it’s now centred around autonomy and agency and giving students the tools and the language to navigate learning for themselves:
It’s about preparing our students for a world where there is no one answer and no one way to solve a problem – we are giving them meaningful tools and almost a bespoke path to the knowledge they need to approach problems and reach solutions.
The school no longer has just one year co-ordinator, but instead, each year group has four ‘growth co-ordinators’ with different skills. The idea is to look at the individual abilities of students and work with them in a proactive, supportive and collaborative way.
There are changes in the classroom too. For example, in Christina’s English class, students might be told that they need to understand an area of study within two weeks. They are then encouraged to decide how they will work towards this goal through group collaboration and consultation. The focus is on flexibility in classroom learning to create the grounds to work together and thrive.
This kind of flexibility is built into the CISI program itself.
Barbara Doran says learners can choose from a range of subject options and can decide on different entry points through the calendar year depending on their time and work commitments:
‘They also have the opportunity to work with people from a variety of organisations and sectors which offers unique collaborative experiences and insights. Our students find this a very valuable feature of the program.’
The course is offered as a combination of online and hybrid learning.
The CISI program is described as ‘a life-changing experience that transforms your vocation’.
For Christina Luzi, that’s exactly what it did:
‘I now see the world in patterns and constructs and I have the ability to ask questions, explore possibilities and co-create solutions. This course hasn’t just changed the way I view my profession, it’s changed the way I view the world and given me the tools to work towards meaningful change.’