16 October 2013

The school year is certainly in full swing! You know it when the leaves start piling the streets and back-to-school nights have all completed. However, the leaves and weather are not the only things that are beginning to change. Those 11 million campers that spent the summer being creative, learning confidence, working in teams, facing fears, problem solving in natural settings and gaining social skills are beginning to change too. They were recently thrust back into an atmosphere that tends to strip away these vital skills, the American school system. Don't get me wrong, I understand that there are school systems, administrators and teachers that work very hard to make these skills accessible in their classrooms. However the model of our schools are not designed to support such natural ways of learning.

For this post, I have taken to visuals to help make my point.


Assigned seating goes from this...


To this.


Conquering this fear...


Turns into preparing for this fear.


Working together...


Becomes learning independently.


Community spirit...


Becomes a disruption.


Uninhibited creativity...


Has no place here.
 

The point I intend to make is this. In a time when progressive companies are breaking down the walls of offices and board rooms, we should begin to think about our classrooms in the same way. Break the norms and open up the learning to the group. Let collaboration and discussion be the driving force behind forming new ideas, ways of learning and preparing for tomorrow's world. We all know the old saying- "Many hands...makes for light work."

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