| For five years my friend Donna and I volunteered as the co-Directors of the Entrepreneurial Education Program at the Girls Middle School, teaching 7th grade girls how to start and run businesses.
We assigned students into teams, each with an adult mentor from the community. In the year-long class, each team wrote a business plan, pitched their idea for funding, created and sold products, and managed their business. In class they learned about marketing, sales, and financing. Working together the girls discovered innovation, leadership, teamwork, accountability, navigating conflict, and cultivating confidence. This was brain-based learning in action: learning through the experiences, emotions, and information obtained when in contact with others. The brain is naturally social – we crave contact with others. We imitate the behaviors we see in others, and we find meaning in our interactions. Simply by allowing people to discuss and explore ideas, people can learn in new ways. In a recent Chief Learning Officer article, Deborah Laurel argues that teams and organizations will transform only when we encourage people to learn and think together. Her 3 strategies for teams and organizations: Here’s what we can do to unleash the power of peers in our own teams:
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. ~ African Proverb |