Education Means Breaking Free

Yikes – what a week this has been. Busy is an understatement!

If you’ve been following along with my blog from the beginning then you might remember my first blog post (if not, you can find it here). It was a discussion about Greg Whitely’s documentary Most Likely to Succeed and Jeff Hopkins’ “Education as if People Mattered TEDxTalk” regarding assembly line structure that today’s educational system is in. In search of inquiry-based learning, Jeff Hopkins created Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry for high schoolers looking for more personalized and self-directed learning. So cool, right? As an inquiry-based school, there is essentially no schedule based on subjects, but rather a curriculum that is based on meeting competencies. Students work on projects of their choosing, which will draw from all areas of learning. Hopkins is a strong advocate of the concept that learning should be learner centred, so rather than typical school subjects organizing students’ learning, human attributes will instead shape the learning. There is no standing in line with same-age students in regimented instruction periods, no strict curriculum – they determine their own focus all the while acquiring knowledge in the required subjects. A place of meaningful learning, PSII is dedicated to teaching the students what they want to learn by departing from the traditional educational system and all of its… flaws?

Education is not about degree and diploma, it is all about knowledge and wisdom.