21st Century Skills - Teacher Murray Bulger shows students the way

Many parents and students over the years have echoed the challenge today's schools face in staying "current." How do we best prepare our kids for the brave new digital world? Not to mention most of us adults!

The dramatic global changes that technology has enabled have meant new careers, challenges and skill sets. This has trickled down into schools - computer labs, more business and computer courses - through the efforts of many dedicated teachers, administrators and parents.

Still, it takes a true innovator to create change in a more dramatic way. Meet Argyle Secondary teacher Murray Bulger, creator of the Digital Media Academy.

I had coffee recently with Murray to learn more about him, his experiences around innovation in education and how he navigated changing "the system."

Like many other institutions (health care) - the school system often embraces status quo as "safe" or "proven." Fortunately, visionaries like Murray, with enough charisma and determination do find a way.

I had seen an article on Murray in the North Shore News and given our shared interest in innovation, education and technology arranged to connect.

I later learned that Murray had also been awarded the Prime Minister's Teaching Excellence Award and that he had fought through adversity along the way. Read more about finding his calling when he found himself critically ill at the age of 40 at the UBC Faculty of Education site here where Murray himself got schooled.

So here's some rapid-fire nuggets from coffee with Murray:

• On his history: Three years in Japan and experience with a youth program for ICBC
• On philosophy: It's about the people and ideas not the technology
• On traditional school approaches: A key issue is the traditional seperation of left brain vs. right brain. For instance, distinct Art class vs. Science class. The DMA program brings them together.
• On his mandate: Give kids life skills for the 21st Century

Given the length of this post, look for more Rapid-Fire in a follow-up post on the DMA program, Murray's philosophy, lessons learned and a very cool student output called 44 magazine.

This thumbnail links to a very cool promotional video done by the students, of course, that shows their talent and overviews the program. A pure testament to the DMA impact is how many leaders in the Digital Media industry like EA and New Media BC are captured within embracing the program's innovation and real world value!

Here is a link to the application for students interested in the DMA which are being accepted until September.