THE FUTURE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
Dear students/parents/teachers/online learning programmers/and forward thinking pioneers,
Here is a simple invitation to change the future of education FOR EVER.
Oh wait, COVID- 19 just did that for us.
HERE IS A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION…
Marie-Thérèse Maurette led the International School of Geneva from 1925 to 1950. She is to thank for laying down the foundation of what was to become the International Baccalaureate (IB).
In 1948 (bearing in mind that World War II ended just a few years earlier in 1945), she published a booklet for the UNESCO entitled “Do Education Techniques for Peace Exist?”
Her groundbreaking paper wondered whether it was possible to propagate peace by putting young French, British, German, American and Japanese kids in the same classroom.
Not to inculcate them with any sense of patriotism nor teach them any history (and definitely not linger on the fact that their parents had just blown each other’s skulls to pieces). The proposal was rather to simply see what would happen, as kids tend to not hold resentment.
And… it worked!!!
A monumental achievement that even churches had failed to achieve up until then: to be accepting of all nationalities, regardless of race, color, religion, and beliefs, since these students would ultimately become childhood friends.
In the 21st century, there have been monumental leaps and breakthroughs in technology (iPhones), automobile industry (Tesla electric cars), housing and tourism sector (Airbnb), in transportation (Uber), but NONE in education.
We need radical disruption in the educational sector. Pronto!
Can we please go back to Marie-Thérèse’s brilliant initial vision?
A commitment to raising peaceful, open-minded, happy, and healthy young adults? And ultimately, how to be a good friend.
AGE OF AQUARIUS
Whether you believe in astrology or not, you’ve probably heard that we have been transitioning from the Age of Pisces into the Age of Aquarius.
The Piscean Age was dominated by vertical hierarchy and power (mostly religious and political): there wasn’t a need to know the secrets, only to follow leaders and guides who did.
Everything that we’ve learned from our parents, and they from their parents, going back 2000 years, has been colored by this Piscean frame of reference.
The Aquarian Age is ruled by horizontal networks, nothing is secret anymore. All information is readily available at our fingertips, opening the world up to true equality.
Looks like we are at a big turning point in history to teach our kids, their kids, and their grandkids how to live in the Aquarian Age for the next 2000 years.
VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION IN 3 PARTS
(*For the record, by International Education, especially part 3, I understand that I am addressing a certain demographic who have the financial freedom to be able to travel abroad.)
PART 1: EVERYONE HAS ACCESS TO THE SAME EDUCATION
Can we agree that education should be free and accessible for all kids? Like a big global public school?
Wait, it already exists?
Oh yeah, the INTERNET.
All children have the same access and rights to it, irrespective of their parents’ paycheck.
Virtual online learning can be free. No longer only for the privileged.*
(*Bearing in mind the privilege (or curse) of having access to gadgets and the internet, I secretly sometimes wish we could all live technology-free but that is realistically not happening anytime soon.)
So, all international students can study online. Separately and together.
A crazy vision a couple of weeks ago, totally possible today. Again, thanks COVID-19.
No need for fancy facilities, buildings, resources or overhead costs.
Thanks to the internet, knowledge is no longer scarce. As in, “is Google God?”
Hello Wikipedia and Siri, anything you want to learn, in seconds, for free.
So nowadays, it’s not WHAT we learn but HOW we learn it, WHERE we learn it from, and WHOM we learn it with.
Excellent teachers make all the difference! They always have and always will.
LET EXCELLENT TEACHERS EXCEL
Develop a standard online curriculum in which teachers can participate from anywhere.
Teach the basics: how to read and type and how to navigate the internet. That’s it, from there, kids can learn the rest.
And maybe partnering up with Masterclasses, Mindvalley, TED talks, Khan Academy on a micro level to spark the interest of younger generations on a variety of topics.
All educators can post their videos and teach the topics they are most passionate about.
Students can then proceed to vote and rank their favorite online classes and online teachers.
The best teachers get recognized directly by the students rather than through a subjective upper management interview, salary, and tenure contract.
This creates superstar teachers — voted in by merit, by the student body.
Making education vibrant again.
LET KIDS LEAD THEIR OWN WAY
Students can move at their own pace.
No competition.
No strict timelines.
They can finish the full school curriculum in 8 years or in 24 — it doesn’t matter.
Being accepting of the fact that there is no age limit to ignite the spark to learn.
Making education fun again.
PART 2: MEET UPS AND GATHERINGS TO LEARN TOGETHER
No matter how advanced technology becomes, we are social creatures that will ALWAYS need interaction, in real time, and in real life.
So, alternating a time of learning alone at home with activities with real-life kids and teachers.
Yes, village gatherings where we can connect eyeball to eyeball. Currently suffering from #zoomfatigue. Thanks again to COVID-19.
PART 3: SHORT- OR LONG-TERM FAMILY ADVENTURES
What does it mean to live a fulfilling family life?
To raise individuals ready to fully embrace this journey of life and the full spectrum of this human condition?
Fortunately, there are endless routes to fulfillment.
Kids will create and live their own lives, just as we have and will.
Marie-Thérèse Maurette asked in the UNESCO paper: “How can you widen the horizon of the mind beyond its’ familiar upbringing?”
What about real-life adventures?
This part would specifically be designed for families looking to travel while staying consistent with one curriculum.
From anywhere in the world.
Anywhere from 3 months to 12 years.
Geographically, anywhere from as close as the closest national park to as far as the moon.
Plus anywhere in between — from sailing around the world to working on a local permaculture farm.
Showing kids first-hand what living in different cultures can look like and ultimately what it means to be international.
What better adventure than that of cultivating curiosity, wonder and delight for this world — each family member individually, the family as a whole, and with other like-minded families.
Let’s create a platform where parents can get directives on suggested activities and can support each other (perhaps even house swap?).
To raise true citizens of the world, by which “going home” doesn’t mean just going to the country on a passport.
ANCIENT WISDOM IN A MODERN WORLD
How do we give the gift of living slowly and of appreciating the simple life, in a world getting increasingly faster and more stressful by the second?
Can we keep reminding them of the timeless truths of ancient wisdom traditions that mattered 5000 years ago, still now, and will forever?
Can we finally agree that the goal of education nowadays shouldn’t be to get into a good university (because let’s face it, universities will become defunct… yesterday) but instead to help them create their own path in life?
Can we teach them that grades are NEVER more important than their own internal interests? That pleasing oneself is more important than wanting to please others (including parents, teachers, university admission boards, and job interviewers).
Deeply valuing self-value over external value. (Ok within reason, #Trump)
Instead of helping students find a place at a university, let’s help them find their place in the universe instead.
GOING BACK TO NATURE
Can we aspire to raise unburdened kids, mentally, physically, emotionally and academically? And instead to pass on a sense of simplicity. An ease of being. Of freedom. Of having integrity.
We’ve all found that refuge… in nature.
All of this to say, that outside time should be the bulk of the curriculum.
It’s time to start living in alliance with nature, every day with every season. To do that, kids need to be deeply connected within themselves to listen to what is needed, placing more attention on the subtleties of life, and ultimately to the land that is nurturing them.
A closed mind, especially with attachment to certain ideals and beliefs is the root behind all wars and suffering.
KIDS ARE STUDYING US
If we aspire to raise kids who:
-know themselves
-have an inclusive outlook
-are respectful rebels
-are curious, open-minded, risk accepting, emotionally intelligent, resilient, creative, well-rounded, compassionate, independent, connected, adaptable, strong valued, collaborative, joyful, happy, kind, thoughtful, healthy, confident, conscious, flexible, passionate, self-accepting, self-motivated, self-actualized
-believe in sustainability over growth
-are a good friend
-and lead from the pit of their own intuition to ignite positive change in the world…
Then guess what?
We need to show them what that looks like first.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM ENROLLING MY KIDS IN A PROGRESSIVE-BASED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
We moved to Bali last year so that our kids could attend a school that we thought was the closest model to preparing them for that radically different future.
It was a wonderful experience to walk around a campus where kids, staff, and parents look radiantly happy, awake, and uniquely themselves; it’s hard to explain.
However, the absolute best part and the absolute worst part of the school was the founder.
He had the vision to build a beautiful campus that has attracted out-of-the-box-thinkers and the most incredible open-minded community that I’ve ever met.
However, over the years, he has repeatedly chosen to build a hierarchal dictatorship with questionable motives, resulting in massive family and staff exoduses every 3 years.
SO, WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THAT MOVING FORWARD?
How about letting a horizontal network of likeminded people be the founders instead?
Here is the invitation to become a part of a grand collective vision that will change the future of international education forever.
With the help of COVID-19, let’s be the pioneers to help the Aquarians to thrive, NOW!!!
So, WHAT IS NEXT?
- Gather an international community of students, parents, online learning programmers, and forward thinking pioneers ready to do this NOW
- Find a body of international forward thinking teachers
- Decide on and develop or partner up with a progressive online curriculum
- Contact and possibly partner up with Outschool, Udemy, Masterclasses, Mindvalley, TED talks, and Khan Academy on a micro level to spark the interest of younger generations
- Find open border countries accepting of international communities (to reside in on a tourist visa)
- Set up a non-top down legal structure
- Decide on a name and structure (international community/ association/alliance/ school) for this new international educational paradigm
- Lay the foundations. Together
