Establishing a vision for the school of the future is challenging educators around the world. The critical mix of curriculum, technology and accommodation supported by various knowledgeable adults is stretching the minds of educators, architects and designers and governments around the world appear to be searching for the elusive mix.
Maybe there isn't a mix as such and different 'mixes' will be needed for different types of learners - true personalisation.
The Big Picture Company is an organisation aiming to fundamentally change the nature of learning. The Met School (mentioned elsewhere in this blog) is a Big Picture school and has got about as close as you can get to a personalised curriculum. The adage 'One Student at a Time' is taken very very seriously.
The photograph below shows the timetable - not a list of subject sessions one after the other but a series of advisory sessions to support learners with their personalised programmes. Subject knowledge does feature in the study programmes but they are shaped to apply to the particular requirements. Where a number of students are following programmes that require the same knowledge base then they are taught as a group.
Self study is a key component as is reporting their progress to their peers and adult observers in the advisory sessions. These presentations, far from being easy, are demanding and do put the student under pressure.
The MET is one of the Big Picture Company schools and they have achieved retention rates that are the envy of the state. The students I met were self confident, articulate and had a world view that was very impressive. If this is personalised learning then the Big Picture Schools have the sort of ideas and experience that it would be worth any budding 21st Century schools to hear about.
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