an hour of invention every week

1. The Invention Hour – Franklin Time ‘Genius without education is like silver in the mine.’ Ben Franklin

2. Invention is the fuel of our economy. Without developing it today in America, tomorrow’s Ben Franklins, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerbergs will come from somewhere else.

3. Children are natural inventors and collaborators. Think back to when you were young – remember the den you made from sofa cushions or the shop you opened from some discarded cardboard boxes? Look at any playground and notice the groups forming around hopscotch and jump rope. Cowboys and Indians. Doctors and Nurses…

4. We propose taking these natural inclinations and developing them in an hour of invention lessons that every child in every school does every week. Think of this hour as a platform - a platform that will stimulate inventiveness and develop the whole brain thinking that our economy needs to continue to be competitive.

5. So, how is going to work?

6. One hour of every child’s curriculum per week will be dedicated to invention. In this class children will work in small groups to invent and build ‘something’. The ‘something’ will range from things like ‘invent a new dance move’ to ‘ideas that increase recycling in our community’ and will be chosen by a National Invention Curriculum Committee composed of educators, teachers, parents and people from creative industries like Dean Kamen, David Droga, Beck, Marissa Meyer and Lady Gaga. A significant proportion of the invention projects must relate to the community around the school.

7. Each invention project (we’re envisaging two per semester) will be captured digitally and stored in a socialized archive that other schools and teachers can see for inspiration, local residents and businesses can view for community ideas and further education institutes and employees can use for evaluating whole brain thinking. Think of this as a complimentary right brain record of a child’s life to go along with the left brain standardized test results. A digital creative DNA strand, if you will. As the children get older, the invention platform can open up to brands as partners to help funding. Why wouldn’t Lego, Hasbro, Google or Ford want kids thinking about ways to help invent the future?

8. Dedicating time in schools to invention is brave and sends a really strong signal that the education system is acknowledging the country’s need for the innovation and collaboration needed to meet future economic success. Ben Franklin would be proud.