Jump in here to explore eduScrum framework - innovative way of working with students. I explain in this post what is the foundation of the framework and how it relates to roles, events and artifacts.

What is eduScrum?

##Introduction

You will learn today about **[eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/)** - a framework that I fell in love with and I would like to spread knowledge about it everywhere in the world. 

Initially I was planning to write just a post about [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) basics, but then I realized that before explaining **WHAT** is [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) I need to tell you more about **WHY**. 

Why do we need it in Education? Why could you even think about using that framework? Why do I like this framework so much?

## The origins of eduScrum

To fully understand [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) you need to know its origins.  That’s how it is described by the founder of [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) - **Willy Wijnands**:

> It starts with a bottle of beer and a barbeque in the summer (June) of 2011 with Mark Reijn. Mark just finished a Scrum course given by Jeff Sutherland at the company Schuberg Philis in Amsterdam, where Mark works as a software engineer. Mark was very enthusiastic about Scrum, inspired by Jeff and he explained Scrum to me on one single paper.  > >He was the sparkle who put me on fire. In August 2011 I started one class using Scrum to try-out if it works in the classroom. In the beginning I was surprised that it was working. So, I began to use Scrum in all my classes with success. And so the name eduScrum was born.

When I read this story I can feel a huge inspiration and I am grateful that Willy discovered what Scrum is and implemented it in the classroom. 

## Why did I fall in love with eduScrum?

I am sure that behind Willy's story there are problems that teachers experience in their life every day. He was talking with Mark , because he was looking for inspiration. He really wanted to help his students to collaborate better and to use their potential in the learning process.

I personally believe that the heart of [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) is **care for students and discovering what can help them to thrive**. That’s my **WHY**, the reason why I like [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) so much.  I am inspired by this framework, because the main mission in my life is to help people to discover their potential and thrive. 

If you ever plan to implement [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) in your classroom or project, remember - the purpose is not to give you another technique. [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) is not a silver bullet and it will work only if you will care about your students and give them the wings to fly.

![fly](img/fly.jpg)

## eduScrum & Scrum

As you could find out in Willy's story, he created [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) after discovering what **Scrum** is. 

If you are reading this post and it’s the first time when you’ve heard term Scrum, feel free to check out my previous posts: 
* [First steps to learn Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/) 
* [Relationship between Scrum and Agile](/blog/relationship-between-scrum-and-agile/)

[eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) & Scrum have a lot in common, but I will explain it in the following posts.  Today I would like to fully focus on **WHY**.

## Why do we need eduScrum in Education, what are the benefits?

I’ve done some analysis below and explained **3 WHY’s** to show you the reason why we need change like [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) in Education and what are the benefits.

### Education now vs 100 years ago - linear teaching transformation

Initially, when I started writing this part of the post I wanted to mention that education didn’t change too much over the last 100 years. I will not do that, because I would be lying. 

Let’s take a trip down the memory lane- **what changed over the last 100 years?**
* 100 years ago education was available to limited number of people. Currently that’s the case only in some underdeveloped countries. As women we are in much better position now, because in the past we wouldn't have access to education.
* Schools are not using corporal punishment anymore. It is not legal in most of the countries in the world while it was a common approach in the past. 
* Technology is much more advanced - schools use active boards, computers, tablets. 
* In the past the teacher "was always right" even if that wasn’t the truth. Nowadays, there is more space for mistakes and teachers can make them too, because they are human beings, not robots.

**What didn’t change?**

I found a great picture on https://educationrickshaw.com/ that explains it well. 

![Teaching vs learning](img/direction.png "Teaching vs learning")

I wish I could tell you: the left hand side represents education 100 years ago, while the right hand side represents education now.  Unfortunately that wouldn’t be true, because we still teach the way represented on the left hand side. Of course, there are some adjustments like rearranged desks, but one thing still didn’t change:

**The direction of the arrow - it points from the teacher to the student.**

T - represents **teacher**, S represents **student** and arrow shows the **direction of teaching**. As you can see in the picture on the left hand side, the arrow is going from the teacher to students.

**What does it mean in reality?**
* Teacher is the source of truth 
* The role of teacher is to create creative, enjoyable lessons and make sure that students will remember  what they are taught 
* Students job is to remember the lessons

There are few aspects in that approach that **don’t really work:** 
* Teachers can be great people but they they shouldn’t be the only source of truth & knowledge for students
* Responsibility for the learning process shouldn’t be only on teachers shoulders 
* In this approach student is passive and only "receive knowledge", while in reality that’s not the way how we learn

### 1. WHY: change of direction, students empowerment

Based on the analysis of the past and current approach, we can see that something doesn’t really work and that’s how we discover our first **WHY**:

**To change the direction of the arrow. Let's turn it all around and allow students to drive their own learning process.**

Following the [eduScrum guide](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BX4IbmTgcbo0LlupOlHCDUlLpZ0YO0aD/view?usp=sharing):

> eduScrum is a co-creative process in which students are no longer held responsible, but feel responsible for their own work and learning process.

![student](img/student.jpg "student")

**The benefits of that approach:**
* Changing the responsibility for the learning process from teachers to students 
* Teacher’s role is to inspire, support & guide - Students are more motivated, because they have autonomy and they can make their own decisions. 
* It’s easier to recognize when individuals have troubles and more space to help them 
* Students can teach each other & spread their knowledge instead of being only receivers- double benefit, because they can also learn by teaching 
* Teacher can have more time for supporting and guiding students

### 2. WHY:  21st Century skills

In 2015, the World Economic Forum published a report titled ["New Vision for Education: unlocking the Potential of Technology"](http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEFUSA_NewVisionforEducation_Report2015.pdf). 

The report describes 16 crucial skills for education in the  21st century: 

* Foundational Literacies 
* Competencies 
* Character Qualities

![21st century skills](img/21stcentury.PNG "21st century skills")

As they mention in the report:

> To thrive in a rapidly evolving, technology-mediated world, students must not only possess strong skills in areas such as language arts, mathematics and science, but they must also be adept at skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, persistence, collaboration and curiosity. (...)  in today’s innovation-driven economy workers need a different mix of skills than in the past.

**Do we currently develop all those skills at school?**

I am afraid that in the traditional linear way of teaching, we focus mostly on Foundational Literacies, while Competencies & Character Qualities are left behind. 

That’s where we found our second **WHY:**

**To help students develop 21st century skills that are required in our rapidly-changing world.**

That's exactly the purpose of [eduScrum](https://www.eduscrum.nl/img/The_eduScrum_guide_English_2.pdf):

> In eduScrum learning is central: learning smarter, learning to collaborate better and getting to know yourself better. In addition, this way of working provides more responsibility, pleasure and energy, resulting in better results and shorter lead times.
>
> ![Agile learning compass](img/compass.jpeg "Agile learning compass")

Source: https://www.eduscrum.nl/resources

**The benefits:**
* We create better future & society members who will be able to adapt to changes. Students can learn how to collaborate. They will need that skill in their future work, relationship and family.  
* We shape human beings who are not only receivers, but they can think critically, have their own opinion and are able to decide what is the best solution. Their persistence, creativity & curiosity will help in solving problems in our society.  
* What is more, they can critically observe their own actions and improve themselves. 
* Communication skills will help students to express their needs, but also to be mindful about others, listen to them & develop empathy.

### 3. WHY: motivation & results

Some of you can think - "Wait a second, it sounds like a beautiful story, but we still need to prepare students to pass exams, we still need to help them to have the best results".
That’s the moment when part of myself is sad, because I know how much we are driven by results and I know that during that process of achieving more and more it is easy to forget about **people**. 

But, don’t worry! [eduScrum](https://www.eduscrum.nl/img/The_eduScrum_guide_English_2.pdf): has it all covered:

> eduScrum is a framework within which teachers and pupils tackle complex, challenging problems and pursue learning goals of the highest possible value in a productive and creative manner.

Teachers are frequently struggling with students’ lack of motivation.  That’s the reason for our third **WHY**:

**To motivate students intrinsically by giving them autonomy what leads to improving academic results.**

**The benefits:**
* Initially it will require more effort to change the approach, but once students discover their strengths, they will get motivated and their results will become better. 
* Students will not be learning only to get better results, but they will become more curious.  
* Teachers don't need to explain how students need to achieve learning objectives, they determine only why and what.  
* At some point, students will not be learning only based on Curriculum, but they will be discovering more out of curiosity. 

## What is your WHY?

I know that this post is long and I didn’t really explain exactly what [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) is, but don’t worry, I will explain it in the following posts. I wanted to start by analysing our world’s needs in education first, so that you can use it later as a reference.

I could explain more and more reasons why I believe that we need a framework like [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) in Education, but I will leave some space for your personal reflection. 

**Why do you think we need some change in Education? Have you ever experienced difficulties at school either as a teacher or as a student? Is there anything that you could make better in education if you could?**

Please let me know if you find this topic interesting and what parts you would like to explore more. If you would like to learn more about eduScrum, I invite you to my eduScrum Basic Training.

This post is dedicated to everyone who cares about Education and who would like to discover some innovative ideas on how to help students to grow.

eduScrum - why do we need it in Education?

## Introduction

Today I would like to share with you my personal experience that changed my life - journey from Education to Scrum and back.  All my previous posts were mostly informative, but this time will be different - you will find out what I dream about and what is the role of Education and Scrum in my life.

## How did I start my Education journey?

Long time ago, when I was in junior high school (it is called Gymnasium in Poland) I had a **dream to become a teacher**. I was inspired by my Polish teacher (from secondary school) who was a wonderful woman and who taught me how to believe in myself. I will never forget how much she helped me **to become a person who I am now**. 

To achieve my dreams, I started working with children voluntarily by organizing Christian and music classes next to my church.  I was religious back then, but that’s not a point.  The most important thing for me was time when I could organize activities for children and **enjoy it**! I was playing with them, organizing events for all church celebrations, teaching at summer camps etc. 

I could see how **children were growing**! And I don’t mean the religious part, but their confidence. I remember many of them who were shy, didn’t believe in themselves, but after a few weeks of activities organized by me and my friends they started changing. They were more confident, full of ideas and they started collaborate with other children.

**Seeing how people grow and use their potential is an amazing experience!**

![growing](img/children.jpg)

## Working at school

After high school I decided to study **Early Childhood Education**. It was such an interesting time for me. I’ve met so many inspiring people and learned a lot about children - they mind, behaviour, teaching ways and more.

In my last years of studying I was working as an intern in private kindergarten and private school. It was a great experience, because both places were focused on **children's creativity** and teachers were full of amazing ideas. 

Then, I had my last internship - in Polish public school. I must admit that the difference between private and public school was enormous.  First of all, the number of students in  a class was 3 x bigger than in private school. I know that you can say, it is a normal thing, but I was wondering how easy it will be to **not notice someone's needs** if class is so huge.

Another thing that I noticed, was killing students’ creativity. They had to follow rules, write or read something in their coursebooks, but there was **no space at all for their own thinking process**. 

![school](img/school.jpg)

I believe that **the role of a teacher is important** and **it can change students lives for better or worse**.  As a teacher I wanted to **help children to grow**, to **discover their potential**, not to kill it...

Maybe I was a coward, but I was devastated by the education system and how it was used in public schools and I decided that I don’t want to be part of a system that doesn’t focus on students' needs. 

When I was organizing after school activities for children I experienced how **creative** they are. It was amazing to observe how many **ideas** they can have and how quickly they can find solutions if you **give them freedom**. Unfortunately I didn't see too much space for that in school.  I was also afraid that I could have a negative impact on an individual's life if I simply do not notice them in the class of more than 30 students.

I know, if you are a teacher you probably think that these are things that you can work around and they shouldn't stop me from continuing my career as a teacher.  Maybe you are right, but that was the **first lesson about myself** - I found out what **my values** are and how I want or don't want to **impact someone's life**.

## New direction - Economics and Finances

After graduating I moved in a totally different direction - I started studying **Managerial Economics** and working in a financial company as a fund accountant.  It was still time when **I was looking for the best path for myself**.

My fund accounting career took almost 4 years and it was time when I learned a lot about myself. I discovered how **I love problem solving and collaboration with people**.  In my last position - supervisor, I had a chance to be a leader and do what I liked the most - help people to discover their potential and to grow.  After solving a lot of issues, creating some structures in the team I started feeling that I need more challenges and I need to be passionate about my job.

![direction](img/direction_.jpg)

## Discovering Scrum

That was the moment when I discovered **[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)**. My boyfriend, who is a developer, was using it daily in his workplace and told me about the framework.  As soon as he explained to me some rules and values, I started reading about it and became more and more curious.

**Collaboration** with the team and stakeholders, **adapting to changes** and discussing **how the work can be improved** were exactly what I would imagine in every workplace.  I was trying to use **[Scrum and Agile values](https://letsscrumit.com/the-importance-of-scrum-values/)** in my fund accounting job, but I knew it wasn’t possible to implement the whole  framework there, because we didn’t work on projects. 

![Scrum](img/scrum.jpg)

I knew from my boyfriend that **[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)** was the most popular in IT companies, so I started looking for a new job in an IT company. I wanted to learn as much as possible about project work and I started dreaming about **becoming a [Scrum Master](https://letsscrumit.com/scrum-roles-3-scrum-master/) in the future**.

That was the moment when I started working as a Project Management Officer. It was such a great experience, because I could see how project work looks like. I’ve met many wonderful people and I learned a lot from them.  It wasn't a long period, because I got an opportunity to study **IT Project Management in Australia**. 

## First steps in Australia

Even if I felt wonderful in Polish IT company and I didn’t really want to leave, I knew that the **opportunity to study and live abroad may not happen again**.  That’s why I decided to move to **Australia** with my boyfriend and discover what is waiting for me on the other side of the globe. 

As I already mentioned I started from studying **IT Project Management** in the afternoon and during the day doing everything that was possible without a full time working visa (I had student visa) - cleaning, working in a restaurant and cafe.  It helped me to appreciate all professions and understand how hard it can be to work in hospitality.  In the meantime my boyfriend got a job in an IT company and we both received full time working visas.

![Australia](img/australia_map.jpg)

## Project Managment & Scrum

Once I finished my course I started looking for an IT job in **Project Management**.  I found a role in the IT consulting company and I started in the IT Infrastructure project in Project Management team. 

In the meantime I discovered that there is a Information Solution (software development team) in the company and they were using **"Scrumish"** in their projects.  As soon as my first project was finished I got an opportunity to join that team and help them in one of their projects. 

It was an amazing moment, because **I could finally use Scrum on a daily basis**. What is more I could finally reuse my **teaching and facilitating skills**. 

Of course, after consulting with the team I discovered that their **"Scrumish"** was far away from **[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)**. So I decided to help them to discover what Scrum and Agile are.  I believe that it helped the team and our clients a lot to **create great products and collaborate** better.  I am so proud of the team, their work and journey from **"Scrumish"** to proper **[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)**!

Since that time, I have been working on multiple projects: software development with **[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)** or IT Infrastructure projects with Waterfall.  **Every day is a new lesson** for me about people, their way of working and thinking. 

## Back to Education

Now you know what was my journey from Education to **[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)**, so let’s talk about the last piece of this post - **How did I get back to Education?**

This story started around 1 or 1,5 year ago when I read an interesting book called **"Scrum. The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time"** written by Jedd Sutherland who is co-creator of **[Scrum](https://letsscrumit.com/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)**.  I can definitely recommend this book to everyone. It was full of real life examples describing implementation of **[Scrum](https://letsscrumit.com/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)**. 

![The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time](img/scrum_book.jpg)

Somewhere at the end of the book, I discovered one example of using **[Scrum](https://letsscrumit.com/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)** that I believe **changed my life**, but it can also change the lives of many people in the world. 

The example that I am talking about was **eduScrum** - the way of using **Scrum in Education, at school**. 

You cannot imagine how happy I was when I realized that someone is already using the framework that I love at school. What is more, it is **changing the way of teaching** and **helps students to take ownership of their own learning process**.  It means that there is a space for creativity, critical thinking and a lot more at school.

## eduScrum - what happened next?

Once I discovered **eduScrum**, I started reading about it. I've done a lot of research to fully understand how it can be used in **education** and how original **[Scrum](https://letsscrumit.com/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)** has been adjusted. 

Few months ago I participated in online eduScrum training with lovely women - **Paulina Orbitowska-Fernandez and Marta Orbitowska** who are certified **eduScrum trainers** in Poland ([eduScrum Polska](https://eduscrum.info/)).  It was a great experience, because I could not only learn more about **eduScrum**, but also discover **amazing Polish teachers** who were passionate and full of enthusiasm. 

That was also a moment when I realized that **eduScrum** is not a popular framework in Australia and I started having a new dream to **promote it** and to **create a community** of people who are **interested in Education**, who would like to **help students** to discover their potential. 

![eduScrum](img/edu_scrum.jpg)

#### https://www.eduscrum.nl/resources

It’s of course easy to say something like this, but much more difficult to implement it.  So I did my first step and contacted **Willy Wijnands** who is the creator of **eduScrum**. I asked him for advice and he recommended training that was conducted by him and **Kristina Fritsch** (eduScrum trainer in Germany). 

Attending the training was a great experience. I received a lot of **practical examples** from Willy and Kristina and my knowledge about **eduScrum** became even deeper and more extensive.  Training was divided into multiple online sessions and as at the end we had homework to **create our own project with eduScrum**.  I joined the team of 2 inspiring ladies - Marija & Carina and we are preparing the workshop for Marija’s students about Learning how to learn. 

This post is really long and I appreciate it if you are still reading it! :) It’s **almost the end** - I promise. 

## Innovative Education & eduScrum in Australia

Now I am on my way to becoming an official **eduScrum trainer** and I created my vision of how I can make a positive impact on Education in Australia and overall in the world.
One of my first steps is creating a group **"Innovative Education in Australia"** that can gather all people who are interested in developing innovative solutions that can make Education better. 

If you are a **teacher, parent, coach, facilitator** or someone who would like to help students to adapt to the fast changing world feel free to join the meetup group [Innovative Education in Australia](https://www.meetup.com/sydney-teachers-meetup-group/). I will be organizing our first meetup soon, so stay tuned!

![Innovative_Education](img/innovative_education.png)

## Next steps...

As you can see from this post, my **journey from Education to Scrum and back** was long and full of changes. Thank you so much for reading my story! I really wanted to show you who I am so that you can know me better. 

I would like to continue my **eduScrum** adventure and help you to discover this topic better.  In the upcoming weeks you can expect more posts about it. 

I hope to see you soon at one of my meetups! 

What was my first dream job? How did it happen that I decided to be a Scrum Master? What is the connection between Scrum and Education? Answers for all these questions are waiting for you in this post.

3 posts tagged with #education