Agile at school

Schools are faced with an increasing number of changes. Teaching methods are changing, laws and regulations are being adjusted, courses are growing and shrinking and new technology is making its way into education.

All these changes require adaptability from educational institutions and teachers. Teaching methods will have to be continuously evaluated, renewed and sharpened in order to respond to the changing environment.

Applying Agile principles helps educational institutions to respond to these changes. It ensures that the collaboration between teacher and student continuously improves,

Practical example of a school

A school has chosen to use Agile principles. The aim of the educational institution was to:

1. make changes to the curriculum

2. introduce new (online) teaching methods and

3. have teachers to work closely with each other to achieve these goals.

To achieve this, a new curriculum was first developed and teams of teachers were put together. Each separate team is responsible for a cluster of substantive related courses.

The university of applied sciences has opted for a Scrum approach. Product Owners and Scrum Masters have been appointed for the teams of teachers. A wish list (Product Backlog) has been drawn up. The teachers then refined the wish list and created a scrum board, and got started.

During a period of 2 months, the teams of teachers were coached in drawing up a wish list, the use of a Scrum board, the different roles and responsibilities, sprint reviews and holding retrospectives.

Integrated education and better collaboration

The arrangement, together with the Agile Scrum way of working, has ultimately led to better integrated courses, more overview in activities and more efficient collaboration.

Want to know more?

AgileInFocus.nl offers various training courses that provide practical tools and tips to successfully use Scrum in your project.