“There is a lot of research focused on best practice, but I focus on Next Practice. Next Practice by definition has three problems: firstly it is future-oriented; secondly, no single institution or company is an exemplar of everything that you think will happen; and third, next practice is about amplifying weak signals, connecting the dots. Next Practice is disciplined imagination.”
CK Prahalad,

I spent the day with a group of colleagues looking at ‘Next Practice in Radical Pedagogy’ at the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. The Foundation, with the Innovation Unit, have supported the Musical Futures initiative in Leeds, Nottingham and Hertfordshire and were asking the question what have we learned and what next.

The day was facilitated and supported by Tony Mackay and Valerie Hannon from the Innovation Unit, Estelle Morris and Denies Barrows from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and David Price who leads the Musical Futures initiative.

A good or best practice approach asks what is working. A next practice approach asks what could work better or more powerfully.

The Musical Futures approach has identified three key non-music themes:
Students as co-designers and co-leaders of learning;
Authenticity & Relevance of Learning Experiences;
Connections between Formal and Informal Learning Processes.

It was a really stimulating day with some brilliant colleagues.
Chris