WELCOME TO THE TIDES PROGRAM

The TIDES program is probably going to be a little bit different than many of your other courses across all the Learning Areas.

TIDES is built on the principles of CRITICAL PEDAGOGY.

First up, it’s not the same as STEM but does have many connections.

The vision is to connect deep and meaningful learning with actual immediate and generative impacts on a positive future.

TIDES emphasises interdisciplinary, cross-curricular, collaborative, and community-linked learning experiences to foster increased learner engagement, development, and autonomy through the frames of Technology Innovation Design Enterprise Sustainability.

Now that’s a lot of big words to say that TIDES is about you, your connection to learning, other people, the world, and the future.  One of the first things we’ll do is go through what it all means and how it will all work.

Technology: involves using a range of tools for practical purposes.  This can include digital technology, machines, new systems and methods to apply to getting something done.  In TIDES the T refers to fact you’ll use a range of technologies (computers, coding, applications, machines) to help you achieve your goals; you might also find that you create new forms of technology as part of your project work.

Innovation:  is about finding new ways to do things.  It can be about creating new systems, or new ways of thinking, it can be about using technology and knowledge in new ways.  It has a strong link to Creativity, which is about thinking up and designing new things.

Design:  Design Mindsets are the frames we use to be more creative, more focussed on problem-solving, and more adaptable and agile.  Design Thinking is a skill set that helps you organise your creative processes.  Design is the skill and the process of turning an idea into something we can use.  Human-centred Design is based on a philosophy that empowers an individual or team to design products, services, systems, and experiences that address the core needs of those who experience a problem. (https://medium.com/dc-design/what-is-human-centered-design-6711c09e2779)

Enterprise: has many meanings and they all overlap.  Enterprise can be a company or a business, but it is more about doing something that creates  value.  Entrepreneurship is part of the enterprise process. Entrepreneurs are people who make something happen and take carefully considered risks in the process.  To be an entrepreneur means a willingness to learn from setbacks. Social entrepreneurs want to make a difference and create enterprises that directly tackle social problems.

Sustainability: “comes from the 1987 Brundtland Commission report for the United Nations. It defines the concept as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sustainability.asp).  In TIDES you’ll also discover a lot more about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

WAYS OF WORKING

TIDES IS COLLABORATIVE

In the TIDES program, you’ll work with others to develop solutions to a range of challenges.  This means finding effective ways to work in teams, and dealing with processes that make teams work –

• sharing information,
• listening carefully,
• speaking honestly,
• individual and group responsibility,
• planning (time, tasks, resources, etc),
• organisation

TIDES IS MAKING AND CREATING

The TIDES program will expect you to make stuff – that might be a 3D printed model, a microprocessor-driven device, a LEGO EV3 robot solution, a game, a machine, a website, a business, an app, or a virtual reality experience.  It might be something completely different but it will be created as part of solving a problem and will be able to be used and experienced by other people.

TIDES SOLVES PROBLEMS

In TIDES, a big difference in your learning will be the fact that the problems you find to work on will not have any easy answers.  The challenges will be what we call “wicked problems” – they are

• messy,
• hard to define,
• have never been fully solved,
• have real meaning to people,
• have many possible solutions,
• mixed up with other problems,
• unique,
• have no right or wrong answers,
• change depending on the perspective applied,
• will probably return in a different form.

TIDES IS ABOUT ATTITUDE

TIDES will introduce a range of personal challenges to the way you think about yourself in the world:

• VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) vs. VUCA PRIME (Vision, Understanding, Clarity/Communication, Agility)
• COMPLEX SYSTEMS AFFECT ALL THINGS
• FIXED vs GROWTH vs BENEFIT MINDSET
• CURIOSITY
• BIAS
• SUCCESS IS NOT A DESTINATION
• FAILURE AND SETBACKS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR GROWTH
• FUN IS A BY-PRODUCT OF ENGAGEMENT
• THE QUESTIONS YOU ASK DEFINES YOUR REALITY
• LEADERSHIP IS EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY
• LEARNING NEVER ENDS
• SCHOOL IS NOT A PREPARATION FOR LIFE – YOU ARE ALREADY LIVING YOUR LIFE – SCHOOL OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES TO SHAPE YOUR LIFE

Personal responsibility is the key expectation – you will need to be considerate, understanding, proactive, and respectful in every TIDES class and program.   In return, the personal opportunities will grow and your place in the world will become more and more connected.