We show children and adults how to develop their emotional self-reliance so that they can jump from group to group ... connect to people who think differently ... think on their feet ... learn in the moment and enjoy the uncertainty of it all. To live above people who exclude others who think differently to them. To mine the knowledge held within the internet. To succeed in the social chitter-chatter of todays connected social world. All without losing their sense of self ... of who they are and what they stand for.
Most schools primary focus is to get children to consume information they need to pass exams. We teach children to succeed in today's digital social world. We feel children need a mix of both. If you would like to know why we do this ... click the benefit tab. How we do it ... is below
Our goal
Our goal is to give employers a choice between employing people with the two options below ... as well as some people with a bit of both...
A method thinker who can follow a curriculum ... follow orders ... in a planned ... sequential ... methodical way. Who enjoy's predictable and stable environments ... based on an understanding that knowledge is scarce and is a stable set of predictable works ... that they need to acquire for success.
A social thinker can organise their own learning. Are good at dealing with ambiguity ... contradictions and uncertainty. They can acquire knowledge they need ... in the moment of need ... by socialising with a diverse range of people to gather personal experiences from experts ... but also "ordinary people" so that they can form their own plan, execute their own plan, learn, re-plan, re-execute, re-learn and so on ... all in the moment of need. This enables them to build a sequence of good choices ... where each choice brings more positive outcomes than the ones before it ... based on an understanding that knowledge is not scarce ... nor is it a set of works. It is an infrastructure of uncertain ... unstable ... often temporary ... social connection
Our goal is to give people a certificate ... that is recognised by employers and universities ... that means they are a good social thinker ... who is connected ... humble ... honest ... self-disciplined ... totally committed to improve themselves in everything they do. They respect themselves and can exchange respect with everyone. If they also have traditional qualifications ... it is becuase they want them.
We measure performance by observing a persons ability to socialise using the 9 GOOD traits and the avoid the 5 BAD traits as they work in self organising teams.
The core method of teaching
The core method of teaching is based around self organising learning environments ... or sole.
A sole ... is a space where children socialise (on and off line) as they use the digital world to learn what they want to do ... and then do it. Exams are not the goal ... they are seen as hoops to jump through to achieve what they want to do. If no exams are required to do what they want to do eg helping the local community by say writing a book, making a film, build an application ... then no exams are required.
Each sole has adults to ensure the children socialise using the 9 GOOD traits and avoid 5 BAD traits. Adults do this by getting the children to think about themselves ... understand their motives ... see they have choices where they once thought they had none.
In a sole ... children learn to socialise ... to think for themselves ... to take ownership of finding their passion ... and to act on their passion ... with or without a curriculum. In a sole ... children self organise what they learn and adults manage how the children socialise.
Any leader can turn their group into a sole. This includes groups of home schooled children or groups within or between schools or groups like Scouts, sport clubs, etc. In fact families are turning themselves into soles.
The video below introduces the idea of soles ... but please note ... we use our social traits to add more structure into how the children socialise around computers.
