Around the world, there is a growing number of teachers who are starting a silent revolution by innovating what education should be. This revolution gets past the rigid system and standardized exams allowing students to design their own learning and taking over their lives.
Fernando Reimers, director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative at Harvard University, said that educators around the world have a growing agreement to "educate the whole child." He further added that if children were given the right skills, they would grow to become productive and enlightened citizens.
These enlightened citizens would then be equipped and empowered to rule themselves using reason and science to make the lives of the people in their community better. Thus, in doing so, they alleviate human suffering.
Rebecca Winthrop, head of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, echoes Reimers but added that the skills people need are not just the ones they need in order to get employed but skills that make them strong citizens.
The skills that Reimers and Winthrop mean include the ability to design the way they learn, to empathize with others, and to appreciate the world and its diverse viewpoints.
This is what a handful of educators are doing around the world despite the rigidity of the traditional system. In Singapore, the government, along with some citizens, are now focusing on self-worth and effort rather than on test scores. In Denmark, on the other hand, they teach empathy.
Winthrop said that they have looked at 102 countries all over the world and said that countries all over the world is now putting premium on communication and creativity along with problem solving and critical thinking. However, she said that they don't have the exact figure how many want to move into that direction but one thing is for certain, there is change and it is moving.
