Using The 12 Agile Principles In Education

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The Agile software development method was created in the early 2000s when software developers combined their intelligence, creativity, and knack for simplicity to create a lean framework that would allow project managers and developers to create usable software quickly and efficiently while producing the best product. At that beginning meeting, 12 Agile Principles were made with three core values.

These principles and values are the backbones of how many in the tech industry now function. In fact, agile is so successful at opening transparency, easing communication, and getting work done that several other enterprises outside of tech have adopted the framework. 

4 Agile Principles that can be used in Education for Supporting Students

Agile was my solution when I struggled with teacher burnout during the endless virtual learning days of early 2020. Teachers without experience with virtual learning were given a weekend to figure it out.

Students sat lonely and disconnected as their teacher’s face filled the screen with endless lectures, and work did not get done because no one in education knew how to work in teams, never mind virtually. When the 12 Principles of Agile found their way into my life, it was clear that this was the future of education. 

In education, Agile is based on students creating their teams based on their personal strengths.To

Learning is navigated through these teams operating a Kanban Board. This is a visual system in which large projects are broken into smaller stand-alone tasks that can be physically moved across to board to show what stage of work they are in. 

A significant part of Agile is a team’s ability to work together. Many of the direct benefits to students involve the scaffolding and practice of “soft skills,” or as I like to call them, AI-Proof skills that are essential in navigating a more complex world. 

Below are the principles that most align with education and how to integrate them immediately to engage students better and reignite the teacher’s passion in the classroom. 

Agile Principle # 10

Simplicity – the art of maximizing the work not done – is essential.

When teachers get their first job, they are handed a scope and sequence and told to teach it all. Not long into the education journey, reasonable teachers realize you cannot teach all the material, and kids will not LEARN. This is the full realization of the 10th principle. Simplify content. Simplify skills.

What is necessary that students must understand? What connections must be made? Pick one of two big ideas that students must know and plan from there. Make these big ideas the center of your wide-open question, an open-ended question not tied to content but to the real world.   Students then launch off on their learning journey by pulling the essential information provided by the teacher. 

As they learn the basics, they cannot solve the problem with the bare minimum knowledge and will begin to pull more ability as needed. You can’t teach everything, but real learning can happen when students are set in the right direction and determine what they must know to answer the questions.

Agile Principle #8

Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

The days are long, but the years are short. That’s how most teachers and students will describe a regular school year. Content and skills must be taught and evaluated consistently, not breakneck racing through content. 

The teacher must model time management to students so they can break content and skill development at a consistent pace. This can be done by modeling, asking probing questions, or working on the Kanban board.

The teacher’s role switches from “sage on a stage” to a true facilitator, allowing students to work at their pace and teachers to enjoy the time spent with each student group. Both groups win, and intrinsic learning returns. 

Agile Principle # 4

Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.

I am a non-tradition teacher who does not push information on my students, and people assume I am not teaching. After implementing Agile in my classroom, each team works independently using their Kanban board to organize their work and communicate their needs.

I meet with each team and do more small-group instruction than my entire career. I work daily with all students in person and virtually to help guide, explain complex concepts, brainstorm, and coach. I have built stronger relationships with all my students and ensure every student gets my undivided attention daily. That quality education cannot be replicated any other way.

Agile Principle # 7

Working software is the primary measure of progress.

Learning is messy when done right. The goal is real learning, not decorations. In Agile, when software is successful, if it is working, it is for learning. Learning is successful when it drives further inquiry.

Authentic learning is when students can build connections and apply their knowledge. When 40 groups work on a problem, 40 individual solutions are given, all solving the proposed trial. That shows real innovation, creativity, and deep learning has occurred.