Abstract:

Industry 4.0 has challenged geopolitics, socio-economic, technico-ethics and environment sectors by its speed of evolution and scope of change. Over the past decades, the education system has drifted away from the realities of society, creating tensions some would call paradigm shifts. Five evolutions contribute to this gap: globalization, ICT, automation, environment and leadership. The socio-economic adaptation derived from the ICT revolution requires highly skilled workers who analyse digital information and identify trends. Automation creates new jobs, and existing ones requires new skills. This shift brings huge changes in terms of skills required in the workplace, which in turn pressures the education system. Arising major and complex societal issues awakens the need for greater collaboration requiring new types of working environments where adaptive leadership can take shape. This leadership comprises three interdependent components: mindset, connectivity and structure. A collaborative connected structure is essential in an environment where innovation is prioritized.

In response to this gap between society and the traditional education system, a small Canadian school district from Southern New-Brunswick (District scolaire francophone Sud) launched an initiative to redefine and redesign six pilot schools into open, flexible, and malleable learning environments as "Innovative Community Learning Centers" (ICLC). Initiated in 2019, this innovative project called Intr’appreneur (S’entr’Apprendre in french) enables innovation by transforming classroom design, leadership mindset, and collaborative culture. Simply put, all in the school system revisit their role to better align with the 21st century needs. By shifting culture from an ego system to an eco-community, this innovative project creates a platform where schools, community members, primary caregivers, business partners, and research institutions collaborate to establish an "Innovative Community Learning Network" (ICLN). School classrooms are transformed into "Learning Communities''. It emphasizes the need for malleable spaces where students and teachers actively engage as co-creators, extending the collaborative process beyond the classroom, involving parents and community as pedagogical partners. While students become active in creating, validating and sharing their new acquired knowledge and skills with their learning community, teachers guide, assist and coordinate the classroom affordances. How do school principal (SP) lead in such environments? Via the Intr’appreneur project’s personalized approach, experienced mentors enable School principal (SP) to embrace connections, modelling and adaptability through their leadership. They help SP gain confidence to support teachers transitioning to active pedagogy, to collaborate with the community and stakeholders and to manage a healthy, dynamic and inclusive collaborative culture within the staff and beyond. The personalized support model proposed facilitates school transformation by integrating mentoring and ongoing coaching via dialogue and modelling. Several online interviews were conducted with school leaders and the three district Directors of Education during winter of 2021. The initial data gathered underline the importance of the school district’s personalized support of SP by offering mentoring and coaching approach while building confidence for the future of education and school leadership.

Keywords:

Industry 4.0, Education 4.0, Leadership, leadership 4.0, education, innovation, community, school principal, school district.