Agile Learning Centers

Ah, this was really good and refreshing to read. A nice cap on the lessons I learned at ALF summer.

You’re welcome, Tariq! Thanks for reading; I’m glad it was informative for you.

I am familiar with project-based learning, but I’ve never spent any time implementing it in any official way. I agree that its concepts are a step in the right direction, as it can support self-organization, self-direction and more open-ended “learning”. As a tool in a large arsenal of possible tools, I like it. As another methodology that is used to get adult-created and adult-directed curriculum to be more effective, then it falls short. In this case, it is simply another progressive education approach, but not a fundamental shift in the approach to education.

Our concept of learning and education are so incredibly narrow in our modern world; almost exclusively, discussions about learning and education are centered around young people learning content. In more complete approach to education and human development, we would recognize that there are a vast array of psycho-social needs that young people have that emerge and evolve over time. If the focus is simply on delivering content to them in a shiny and fun way, we are often overlooking the emotional intelligence and psychological health of the students.

And so, for me, “agile”, is ultimately about beginning with the students as whole people first and allowing all learning activity to emerge from there.

Hey @tomis, Somehow I missed this post when you wrote it. It’s really great, and we should steal some of it’s content as a guide for new ALCs understanding/navigating the network membranes.