Why are we transforming?
A one-size-fits-all approach to learning made sense when the U.S. public education system was created in the 19th century. Back then, educators assumed the best way to prepare people for factory jobs that valued memorizing tasks was to create an education system that valued memorizing facts and testing how well students remembered those facts on exams.
Thanks to technology and human innovation, the world is changing more rapidly now than at any other time in history. Public education needs to change, too, in order to prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s workforce.
The jobs gaining steam now value creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration. It makes sense that the best way to prepare students for those jobs is to educate them in a way that also values those skills. The District 51 Learning Model will still teach students “the basics” and more, just in a way that better suits the era in which they’re growing up. That means engaging students in their education by tailoring lessons and projects to meet their learning style preferences; equipping them with the skills and tools necessary to succeed; and empowering students to own their education, believe they can learn anything with enough time and effort, and persist if they don’t succeed on the first try.