Most attend school, and despite different languages and different economic circumstances the schools are largely the same; desks in tidy rows, a teacher at the front of the class instructing students from a standardized curriculum created long ago and often completely detached from important issues that students care deeply about. However, my research has uncovered that there are bright spots in an otherwise traditional landscape. Schools, teachers, programs that inspire students using real world issues that they care about, impacting their towns, countries, even the world.
What does high school look like in Vietnam, Ethiopia, Peru, Istanbul?
What value do local communities place on secondary education? What role do public schools, international schools, play in the process of educating students? I will explore a range of issues that high school students care about: human rights, politics, war, poverty, the environment. pop culture, school lunches, and how kids around the globe spend their free time. I am searching for innovation, inspiration and, most importantly, joy. I have seen innovation used as the vehicle schools use to move forward into the future. Inspiration, the fuel that powers innovation.