A friend sent me an article by Talia Herman she found in the FT last Friday about a new school called Brightworks that was set up in California to provide an education that is entirely pupil-driven. The concept is that what children are being taught in traditional schools no longer prepares them for the world in which they will operate when they grow up.
Parents are increasingly aware that their children are not taught to develop the creative intelligence they will need to thrive in the age of the so called "fourth industrial revolution", when the world economy will be driven by artificial intelligence, robotics and connectivity. Talia Herman quotes reports on the future of work from Deloitte and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) where they predict that people will increasingly need the “new skills” of creativity, emotional intelligence, innovation and self-determination to function as successful members of society.
Without wanting to revolutionise the entire education system, at Role Models we have been training children through summer camps and after school fun clubs, as well as through providing what we call “Creative Childcare” with exactly these same skills. We feel that perhaps there is still a role for a bit of history and some biology in the curriculum, just to give pupils a springboard of information that hopefully will ignite some curiosity to know more, but they will certainly be more able to access what they want to know if we develop their creative thinking processes and make them more confident about their abilities to work independently and within a team.
I can’t help but feel quite proud when I read these articles, as they vindicate what we have not only been preaching but also delivering to the thousands of children who are benefiting from the Creative Childcare and Life Skills Courses provided by our inspiring Role Models. One more reason to smile on this sunny day.
If you’d like to find out more about our Life Skills Courses, then please click here
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