Today a teacher and I got sidetracked onto a conversation about innovation and change within the structure of education. We were speaking about a private elementary school grappling with the challenges of extending the program into secondary school. Two major roadblocks have been hindering them:
This teacher set before me the situation of Elon Musk who, through creative innovation and sideways thinking was able to come up with a way to launch a rocket into space for a mere fraction of the cost for NASA. The challenge is then how can we innovate the concept of secondary school while still preparing students for post-secondary institutions, convince parents to take the leap of faith to enrol, and provide high quality education at a fraction of the cost? The gears in my mind went into overdrive. This is exactly the sort of challenge I love most. And not at all surprising, this is exactly the way a good project or inquiry begin: with a challenge or a question. True to the brainstorming cycle, I started tossing ideas into the ring to be batted around, turned over and inside out. The answer, it seems to me, must be in retooling the way we think high school needs to look like. In considering the financial challenges, it seems to me that looking for ways to raise the money would put the school and parents in an endless cycle of trying to come up with the necessary amounts. But what if instead of bringing the materials to us, we took the students to the materials? Would senior internships be possible? What about a co-op, where parents contribute to the education as experts in their fields? Are there recycling options? Local stores that get rid of materials that are no longer in season? Contractors with leftover paint and wood? Reassuring the parents might be the tougher task, since the consequences of failure are personal. Flying solo into brand new territory is scary for anyone; the answer then might lie in a temporary partnership with a more seasoned player. Could the school initially sign up as a satellite for an already established school? Is there a model already working someone could bring in and implement? Could the school start with a grade 9 and 10 model only, leaving the grades that “count” to an established school? It seems to me that the first question in all this is what is the drive of the school? Parents choosing a small, faith-based school such as this one are not necessarily after big programs. My own son will choose a high school next year, and he has four different schools he can choose from. There isn’t one that has everything and others that have nothing. Each school offers something different, and my son must decide which of the offerings means the most to him and how he sees secondary school unfolding. But as I mull over the challenge of redesigning school, the notion struck me that true innovation needs to allow for the possibility of going completely sideways with something. We need to boil down our education goals to the basic elements and skim off all the habits that are “because it’s always been that way” (or at least has been for the last 100 years). Education has evolved through the ages to meet the demands of society, culture and business. Quality education in Ancient Greece or Rome looked different from the modern classroom. Do we have the courage to innovate again? Project based learning is also an attempt at innovation. I often get the question "is this the epitome of the education model? Is it the "best" way to teach?" I'm not sure the answer to that is yes. But what I do feel is that the current climate is changing. The education model is due for reform. I can't say that project based learning is what school will look like in 50 years, but I do think it's a step in the direction we need to take for change. If it isn't the end, it's certainly going to get us there.
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Terri-AnnPersonal reflections on project-based learning. Archives
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