The honeymoon effect is starting to wear off at my new school, although it’s still better than any other I’ve worked in. Now that I’m used to the way the school works, colleagues and students I’m started to get frustrated again with the whole system. In what follows I’m going to try and set out what I think school should be like in the 21st century and, as a result, what a teacher’s role would be in such a system… :D

At present, at least in England, we have a hodge-podge system where students are given an element of choice but where walls are still firmly in place between subjects:

…whereas I envisage something more like this:

The need to break down, classify and taxonomize knowledge no longer seems a relevant pursuit. Knowledge is a commodity nowadays – readily available (especially via the Internet), free, and overwhelming. Gone are the days of having to go to experts in which knowledge resided in refined form. Nowadays we all need to make sense of the torrent of data with which we are deluged. The way to do this is to get yourself wet – i.e. step into that river of information and start making sense of it! Teachers, on this model, are like lifeguards: they are familiar with the waters and can rescue students if they get stranded:

This, of course, would have massive implications for schools. Instead of making token gestures towards ‘student-centred learning’ this would actually be student-centred learning. It would necessitate a collaborative approach to teaching and would make constant professional development an absolute must. There would have to be standard courses which could be adapted but the ball would be firmly in the student’s court: like real-world projects, their projects may start off with one focus but end up as something quite different.

This type of learning would be most beneficial to those aged 13+ as I think below this age most students need some a more rigid kind of organization imposed by teachers, schools and curricula. Above this age, provided the student does not have learning, emotional or behavioural difficulties, I see no reason why they cannot make a real success of such a system.

So long as objectives and certain standards are met I cannot see why the majority of students would need to spend all of their time within schools. The resources they need or the workspace conducive to learning may well be in places other than schools. Just as adults are using the power of the Internet to work from home, so students should be empowered to learn from home – or other designated places. The classroom then truly becomes ‘flat’… :)

Any thoughts or comments on the likely success or feasibility of such a system?