If I ask you to imagine a school, what do you see?

IF I ASK YOU TO IMAGINE A SCHOOL, do you see a set of classrooms in which students of about the same age are taught subjects, such as mathematics or literature, by teachers? Are these subjects organized in a weekly timetable and fit in general pre-defined curriculum? And do students receive grades for each of these subjects?

This traditional model has been used for generations, but there are other alternatives!

HOW CAN WE DISSOLVE TRADITIONAL SCHOOL BOUNDARIES AND MINDSETS?

 

Oxford dictionary defines a school as “a place where children go to be educated” - this comes with a whole set of structuring boundaries that have been around since schools for everyone were invented during the industrial revolution, such as:

- aged-based cohorts

- standard curriculum and subjects, fragmented schedule

- fixed classrooms

- standard grading systems

 

HOW FAR CAN WE GO TRANSFORMING SCHOOLS WITHOUT CHANGING THE SYSTEM?

 

Many educators want move towards a more learner-centred paradigm, but understandably, they feel hampered or even blocked by multiple regulations and constraints of the formal education system. However, as many courageous school teams even of public schools show, there are actually lots of margins of manoeuvre to design a new learning paradigm without breaking the law…Actually, their initiatives are followed with increasing interest by the policy makers…will it eventually make the system change, too?



IS THE BIGGEST BARRIER THE MINDSET?

 

Probably, the biggest barrier to change is the mindsets of generations of educators that have been trained to operate in the traditional paradigms, and of parents who have known no other definition of school. After all, the current structures provide an orientation, something to hold on to. When you suddenly take away class structures, subjects, timetables or grades, it can be quite overwhelming for teachers (“What is my role now”), parents (“So how is my kid doing?”) and even for learners themselves (“What am I supposed to do now?”).

 

HOW CAN WE LEARN FROM EACH OTHER HOW TO PUSH THE BOUNDARIES?



In a given country, the debate about school reforms tends to circle around the same topics, non-negotiables and supposed “miracle answers” - such as throwing money at digital equipment without a proper strategy how to leverage it for a new learning paradigm. 



So, let’s share experiences about pushing the boundaries and transforming mindsets on an international level, drawing inspiration from how others are doing school…

 

➡️without walls

➡️without fixed classes, age groups, subjects or schedules

➡️without grades as we know them

➡️with teachers becoming learning facilitators

➡️with your “big idea” here…

 

JOIN US at the (re)School Sprint 2022 in May, where school innovators - school teams, coaches and thought leaders - from all over the world come together to imagine and prototype innovative solutions for their school of the future. 

 

For more infos and to join an intro workshop: https://innovationhub.school/reschool-sprint/