Is it possible to rethink schooling ?
Past few weeks I have been thinking about the topic of schooling.
How did we come to current system of schooling all over the world ?
Was it always like this ?
What are the pros and cons of any alternative approach to schooling ??
Writer and scientist Erik hoel shed some brilliant light on the topic some time back which I wrote about in this Parenting Palette essay.
Further reading on the topic led me to the writer Ivan Illich and following quote from his book Deschooling Society , published in 1972:
“School is the advertising agency which makes you believe you need the society as it is.”
To me above words written 50 years back ring true even today. This tumblr blog discusses his ideas in detail .
I was discussing this with my husband when he made me read a section in a book called Humankind : A Hopeful History (Amazon Link) by Dutch historian and writer Rutger Bregman .
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On reading that section , I found that there has been a successful experiment in rethinking schooling from the scratch in Netherlands.
Their artist and visionary who founded the school to explore one basic question : What if schools are not run on rigid schedules , fixed curriculum and endless tests and are instead based on what children love most : Play ?
"Agora is a school with no classes or classrooms. No homework or grades. No hierarchy of? principals and vice-principals – only teams of autonomous coaches.?", writes Bregman.
They don't even divide the kids in different classrooms by their age . They are all in the same level much like adults in real world.
Children are supposed to select areas they are interested in and their is a team of autonomous coaches that will guide them in making progress on the challenging goals they set together.
Sjef Drummen , the director and founder of Agora Schools, highlights a troubling truth: our schools have become nothing more than polished factories, governed by bells, rigid schedules, and endless tests.
It is very interesting that they have been running this school successfully since 2014 that doesn't believe in having a predetermined path for all kids but nurturing each child's individual potential.
Read for something new!
1 周Brilliant!
Open to new challenges in Business Improvement and Innovation.
4 个月Jaren geleden had ik de eer om met het DeLimes Netwerk te gast te mogen zijn bij Sjef Drummen op zijn Agora school. Nou heb ik het best naar mijn zin gehad op mijn middelbare school, maar Agora is toch echt een wereld van verschil. Wat mij betreft helemaal een stijl en fysieke omgeving die past en we nodig hebben in dit nieuwe millennium waarin de wereld steeds sneller en sterker veranderd.
Founder at Abstrabit | Digital Raksha | The Social Unlock | Incubated at IIM Bangalore | Book a 1:1 with me at topmate.io/shobhraj_shakdupia
4 个月This is a good and refreshing take on the traditional approach to schooling.
Onderwijskunstenaar, co-founder Agora Education
4 个月Now in 6 countries and more than 30 schools in the Netherlands in just 10 years!
M&A Strategy and Execution at EY Parthenon | Ex-Revolut
4 个月This is interesting Sonia Pegu. Really like the topics you have been writing about