“If the experience of “doing school” destroys children’s spirit to learn, their sense of wonder, their curiosity about the world, and their willingness to care for the human condition, have we succeeded as educators, no matter how well our students do on standardized tests?” – Steven Wolk
Kiran Bir Sethi, founder of the global non-profit Design for Change says that “schools are designed to resist change”. Because everyone has an opinion on how to run a school, there is fatigue that comes with implementing change in schools – how much can an institution change or be nimble? And so, schools push back and look for stability and the most convenient way is to focus on academic excellence. And as schools continue to assess success in academic terms, they resist any program that does not directly work on improving students’ academic results.
And yet, the present times demand a different set of skills, mindsets and capabilities from children. 21st-century skills like “communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and flexibility” are becoming more and more important for upcoming generations. Can schools be transformed to empower children with 21st-century skills needed in a rapidly changing global society? And can we scale effective education programs with a bottom-up approach?
Brainz Learning Lab:
For continuous improvement to happen, we need to develop schools to become learning organizations and for educators to become lifelong learners. It is also important to understand the need to innovate and improve from the point of view of the different stakeholders in schools.
