Recently, I’ve been contemplating what the next generation of school would look like. What capacities are needed to live and thrive in our world today? What should be standardised and what should be spontaneous? How can we truly build a school from the ground up which can truly meet the needs of the 21st Century?
And what of the teachers? What capacity development do they need to have gone through in order to teach the next level of complexity? It is clear, not so much that our thinking needs to complexify, but more that we need a shift in our thinking to match the complexity we face. Can teachers from our current generation meet these demands?
Thirdly, with our communities experiencing such fragmentation, what relationship needs to be built between such a school and the surrounding community? Do we need to take charge to build the community or simply provide space into which new potentials can flourish?
Does such a school teach in the inner city or out in nature where we can begin to rekindle our connection to the earth and to the Spirit of Nature?
And what to teach? How can we ensure that we teach the right philosophy to students? Do we focus on our strengths or do we provide a broader curriculum for students to give them a fuller sense of grounded integral education?
