Leading Societal Transformation: Learning Through the Eyes of the Young
Three U.lab-2x teams learn with children and young people in Argentina, Italy, and the Netherlands
In June 2019, the Presencing Institute concluded its first annual delivery of U.lab-S: Societal Transformation, a global initiative in which 300 teams from 35 countries simultaneously tackled social challenges using collective systems mapping and design processes.
In July, we shared headlines from five teams leading transformative work. From October-November, we have featured clusters of stories about teams working on the acupuncture points of climate and nature, leadership and governance, education and learning, and capital, technology and land.
This week, we explore the acupuncture point of “learning through the eyes of the young”, and spotlight teams that are working to transform early and K-12 education systems worldwide.
Team S di Firenze, Italy
In Brescello (RE), a team of eight families facilitated by Francesca Violi, like a member of Team S of Florence, joined U.lab-2x to develop the “SottoSopra” project in the same area. The team was a small and heterogeneous group of 10+ local community members, that met for six months to propose an alternative and innovative system of education by co-creating micro and macro shifts.
SottoSopra is a self-managed project that aims to put children and girls at the center of early education. The approach values children’s uniqueness, the skills their families bring, and relationships in the wider community. In early September, Sottosopra began a parental education program for families with girls and children between the ages of 3 and 11.
Through the journey, the team realized that learning does not end with time but “continues in the encounter, confrontation, reflection and questioning inside and outside of oneself.” Read more about Sottosopra on its Facebook page or on the page of ULab Hub Parma.
“In this journey we have gone deep, and it is still an open story…”
Team Aprenderaser, Argentina
A team of 20 students, teachers, assistants, and administrators moved through the u.lab-2x process with the intention of shifting early education institutions in Argentina.
Their first prototype was named “Humans in the Encounter” and called on teachers and parents to explore how they, as adults, could follow the leadership of kindergarten children aged 1–4, to design curricula that better addresses the children’s interest.
United World College, Netherlands
The U.lab-2x United World College project is a large-scale effort in all 18 UWC colleges and schools worldwide to shift the UWC curriculum to an “Education 4.0” model, with influence from the OECD Framework 2030 learning compass.
The team is now prototyping the transformation of their curriculum and diploma, and what that means in different contexts. So far, students, staff, alumni, and others have gathered in the Netherlands, India, and Canada to think about how Theory U could influence projects like the UWCx Sky School and UWC in Mahindra.
Many key learnings, including these, have emerged from UWC team members:
“Focus on the problem, not on the solution. Solutions often close people off and get them defensive. Take it back to the roots of the why and the bigger goal.”
“There is no doubt that change will happen in the education sector around the world: it’s happening rapidly. In order for that to happen safely for institutions, everybody has to be ready for that — presencing and sense it themselves.”
We invite you to join us for u.lab-2x, a capacity-building program that runs from February to May 2020 and is part of the larger annual cycle called Societal Transformation Lab. Together, we’re designing and building a global eco-system for profound societal and civilizational transformation.
As a first step, consider joining u.lab-1x, a massive open online course (MOOC) that runs from September to December 2019 and takes participants on a journey from sensing and connecting to deeper sources of knowing to generate powerful prototype ideas.
