Agility translated into the school system
As early as 2016, a lively exchange developed between Creaholic and the school management of the Wädenswil Upper School on how agile methodology can support schools with their further development.
Based on this, the first joint training sessions were held at schools. Since 2019, we have been holding training sessions for school management and teachers together with the Iqes team of consultants: The participants are introduced to agile basic values and ways of thinking as well as tools and methods to then begin to apply them. In this way, they experience how they can react to the challenges in the school system by constantly adapting to new situations and by means of conducting small experiments.
Agile at schools
Our trainings received rave reviews which inspired us to share our expertise with a wider audience. The card sets published by Beltz Verlag in 2021 have already become classics, and we introduced a new set in 2024. These sets include basic attitudes, agile rituals, and useful tools with plenty of examples for everyday use in school.
Our Developing Schools in an Agile Way card set is perfect for school administrators looking for innovative ways to improve their schools. No matter what level you teach, our Agile Learning in Schools card set is an invaluable resource for organising and planning your lessons. Change is good and it happens all around us – the newest card set, Changes? Count me in, has been created with a school context in mind but the input from the cards about handling change can be applied just as well if you’re an architect, banker, dentist or Professional Inventor. (The card sets have been published in German only.)
These resources are a useful companion for educators and students in everyday teaching.
We're thrilled to share that we were invited by the esteemed professional journal Pädagogik to write their cover article as well as complementary articles on Agile Methods for School and Teaching, published in April 2023. Check out the editorial here.
Get ready to revolutionise the way you approach education!
Talks & workshops at conferences
Besides having been invited to work on site at schools and with pedagogical institutions, we have been able to share our work multiple times at major business as well as educational conferences. For example, in 2022 we have been invited to the 2. Digitalkongress – Fachtag für digitale Bildung (Baden-Württemberg, Germany) or in 2021 at the Agile Leadership Day (Zurich, Switzerland).
Together with Frido Koch from Iqes Online, Christoph Frei shared experiences and insights on the transfer of agile working methods into the school environment.
Three takeaways from previous conference talks:
Agility and school development are a perfect match: complexity can be addressed, team collaboration strengthened and at the same time future working environments can be exemplified.
Agile mindset, methods and ceremonies should be used at all levels of a school environment to create a consistent application and common understanding and thus avoid agility islands.
In order to achieve rapid and sustainable success when using suitable elements of agile collaboration, these must always be translated and adapted to the respective existing school operation - in terms of language, content as well as context.
Agile Amped Podcast
The Agile Amped Podcast tells stories about bringing agility to the workplace - and beyond. In the episode Warum es mehr Agilität an Schulen braucht (Why schools need more agile ways of working) Christoph Frei discusses questions like:
What agile principles & methods are used in schools?
Why are agile ways of working adapted to the context of schools?
What can business learn from schools?
The entire conversation is available on Spotify, Soundcloud and other streaming services.
Additional interviews & reviews
In addition to other interviews focused on Developing Schools in an Agile Way and Agile Learning in Schools sets, we were particularly honoured to answer some questions from Agile for Collaboration, an EU-funded project committed to promoting agile learning as a collaborative approach to education in Europe.
The card sets have also been recognised or referenced in various publications, including Handbuch Lernen mit digitalen Medien, Kompass digitaler Wandel, and the Appcamps website. Notably, the University of Teacher Education Vienna and the Centre de Documentation pédagogique from Luxenburg have featured the project in its reading recommendations, highlighting the on-going relevance and impact of the card sets.
Are you looking for a method kit tailored to your field?
Write to us. We look forward to a joint exchange.
