Real World Experiences for our children..

I have just watched a really interesting TED video from Kiran Bir Sethi, which can be found here.  She talks about how learning could and should be embedded in a ‘real-world’ context. How blurring the boundaries between school and life empowers children and leads to a conviction that they can go out and bring change in the world. I, and the teachers have seen this happen with the students of this school. Firstly, with their involvement in Peace One Day, a UK organization (see our October Newsletter) – we watched a video from POD, so the children really understood their objective, then from the making of banners to arranging a morning peace walk in Santa Monica last month, the students felt a sense of accomplishment that was palpable throughout the whole  week. The ensuing conversations about peace – and what that word meant in different contexts – opened up a rich vein of discussion that is still continuing today.

The second ‘real-world’ initiative involved Sylvie Rokab and her amazing new documentary entitled ‘Love Thy Nature’ (see our November Newsletter). This visit from Sylvie opened up the world of documentary-making to the students, and they were really curious about what inspired her to create the documentary, and how she went about organizing this huge project. Sylvie interviewed the students and they had to really make an effort to deliver a concise message which expressed how they felt about the film. They were all really inspired by her visit and are in the process of helping to market the film in order to create extra funding to finish it by next year.

The message in the video from Kiran really resonates with all of the staff here as we have seen how these  types of ‘real-world’ experiences  can bring a fresh perspective for the students, creating a curiosity and enthusiasm for life which would otherwise be difficult to create.

Director’s Blog

It Used To Be Simpler….

As parents and teachers we always have one eye on the path children might look to take; we have hope for their future, that they will be successful and happy. It used to be simpler, at one time a decent life-time job could be secured by obtaining a college degree, but things have radically changed. A degree, even a PhD degree, does not guarantee a well paid interesting career. Many college students become disillusioned with their choice of study, and over half do not complete their degree, leaving them in debt from high tuition fees – not the start in life anyone would hope for.

College professors and employers often remark on the lack of basic skills many young people seem to possess, it seems as though the education leading up to college or employment has not equipped many of these young people with what they need to move out into the world.

Education has to be personalized. The traditional content-driven curriculum and the retention of certain pieces of knowledge will not provide the vital skills needed to secure a successful future. Children need to develop a sense of resourcefulness, flexibility, confidence and an inner strength to allow them to follow their chosen path.

If we can use this valuable time at school to explore areas of individual talent and passions and to develop these into tangible skills, we will have provided a strong framework on which the student can build an idea of what they would like to do – of who they would like to be.

We can then find the mentors, those people who have carved a career in the same field, whether it be music or drama or science or hat-making. This is the time to create opportunities and contacts, to spend time in workplaces watching and helping – like the apprenticeships of long ago. Armed with this information, an informed decision can be made and a plan put into place for extended education.