44 CAIS school leaders, nominated by their Heads, applied to participate in The 2051 Project. The Advisory Board selected 22 academic leaders and 22 business leaders to participate in a strategic conference held at St. Margaret’s School in Victoria, BC, on July 4-6, 2015 (Appendix A).
Liz Falco and Paul Bennett conducted a global scan of schools currently meeting the dual challenge of designing innovative academic programs while managing their business innovation and cost per student. These 22 international schoolswere selected as the focus of the participants’ pre-work. A pre-work exercise paired our 44 school leaders – one academic leader and one business leader – with one of these 22 international schools. Six comprehensive questions were designed to drive the research on the assigned school
Three months prior to the Victoria meeting, the participants’ preparation began. They were assigned a list of articles and videos from experts and leaders in design thinking, innovation, and independent school trends (Appendix D).
The pre-work questions served to facilitate a deep dive into the international schools. Participants were asked to identify how the academic innovations were defined in terms of time and space, professional growth, curriculum and program, technology, and community partnerships.
Similarly, participants defined how the business innovation addressed fee and revenue creation, cost reduction, human capital, time, place and space, partnerships and sponsorships, and communications, branding, and marketing.
Participants were also asked to answer or address the connections between academic and business innovation; what challenges the international schools faced while implementing their innovations; and how could these innovations affect Canadian schools to enhance their competitive advantage.