I woke up about 5:00 a.m. with the following thoughts pounding their way out of my mind and onto a piece of paper…
They are a mixture of things I have heard and observed that I believe are relevant and central to MVPS…
Rather than Design Principles, I consider them Learning Principles…
– To prepare learners for the real world, learning must reflect/be rooted in the real world.
– Experience is life’s best teacher. As life’s best lessons often come from failure/failing up, we must increase the frequency of risk-taking, shipping ideas, and launching initiatives. Then iterate them.
– Mindsets trump content. It is more important/valuable/necessary to master the mindsets and other skills such as resilience, adaptability, and resourcefulness than to memorize the periodic table or the 44 presidents.
– To expedite a greater quality, precision, and volume of learning, it helps to seek out experienced experts.
– Learners are most motivated by pursuing THEIR passions, interests, and burning questions.
– Learning happens everywhere, anytime. It is a natural phenomenon that begins when we are infants. School actually can be considered a huge disruption of this natural process. Learning is not confined to a building, classroom, renovated space, season, or 190 day block of time between 8 and 3.
– Learning is magnified by measurement, reflection, and sharing/showcasing with others.
– Whoever is doing the hard work is usually the one learning the most. Teaching something is one of the best ways to learn it.