Tomorrow's Classrooms

Imagine a classroom that not only looks different but acts different. Not just open plan learning spaces, new learning principles. With National Standards gone, what can be done to transform what and how we teach to prepare students for life in a very different future.

I recently found an excellent film called Most Likely to Succeed that perfectly put into words the change I want to see. It is a must see for educators and talks about the need for real change in the education system.

What happens when computers and robots replace humans in the workplace? Are we preparing future generations for this change or are we still teaching the same way we did 100 years ago? As Tony Wagner from Harvard Innovation Lab says, "the world does not care how much our kids know, what the world cares about is what they can do with what they know which is a completely different education problem."

With knowledge and information available and constantly changing online it is not how much they can remember, recite, repeat but how they can adapt and use that knowledge to make change, to innovate and be creative. It is learning how to use information in a real world context that is useful, that brings about better processes and outcomes. This kind of learning engages students by having them buy into their education journey, they are the drivers of their learning which means their participation is 100 times greater than those spoon fed information.

Teaching those skills is something new and to some scary. You can't take a test, tick a box and say you have achieved this skill at the end. What will that look like?

Excellent resources can be found on the Most Likely to Succeed website which opens discussion on how changes can be made and what those might look like.