Crisitunity

How to Turn a School a Crisis into a Learning Opportunity

If you watch The Simpsons, you might know what a "Crisitunity" is. For those who don't, Lisa once explained that the Chinese use the same word for "crisis" and "opportunity." Homer, in his wisdom, combined them: Crisitunity! 

While crises are never a good time, they often spark innovation and force us to rethink what we’ve been doing. The only failure in a crisis is to do nothing and learn nothing from it. If that’s the case, you’re doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. 

When the Laundry Burned Down

I was running a nine-week residential program for 65 people. For years, we had sent our laundry off-site, and it would magically reappear clean and folded. However, on the first weekend of this program, the town laundry burned to the ground. Suddenly, we had a mountain of dirty clothes and no magical fairies. 

This was a major problem. Rather than trying to find another laundry in a rural area, the clear way forward was to create a laundry roster and teach the students many of whom had never washed a single item of clothing in their lives how to do it themselves. 

There were a few hiccups, of course. Some students learned that new red clothes don’t mix with whites, and others discovered that dripping wet clothes don’t fare well in a dryer. But before long, the weekly washing became a normal part of everyone’s week. Without the laundry burning down, we never would have changed a 20-year-old process and turned it into such a powerful learning opportunity. 

From Crisis to System: How to Respond Effectively

Seeing the opportunity in a crisis requires lateral thinking and a willingness to adapt. This is a core skill taught in risk management training for teachers. When a crisis hits your sports team, camp, or activity, communication is key. School excursion risk assessment software like Xcursion Planner provides a central communication hub to ensuring your entire school excursion risk management system is agile. It may not come up with ideas such as buying washing machines, but its emergency response plan functions helps staff take proactive steps to address the issue no matter what it is.

When you’re next faced with a crisis, what are you going to do? Will you put your head in your hands and declare it’s not your job? Or are you going to look at the problem laterally and find a way to make the most of the crisitunity at hand?