There is no boxed-learning with a huge smiley face. There’s no place to pull up, place an order, and get it at the window in five minutes flat. It’s not quick. It’s not easy. And it’s not even something for sale.
It’s changing the shape of the restaurant, re-routing the delivery of the meal, and serving a variety of open ended, build your own experiences. It’s serving an idea, but having that idea be an ingredient in a whole new meal. It’s more about big questions than detailed plans. The question is more than the appetizer, it’s the meal. To chew, devour, munch, and enjoy. To share with a friend. To add your own toppings, mix things up, and try a variety of recipes.
Because that? It’s where the learning is. In the process. When we innovate in education, it’s in the design of the learning experience, not the finished product. A kit, a boxed experienced, a structured-textbook-lesson offers a bit of knowledge. But learning? It’s when we turn the chef’s hat over to the kids and see what they can cook up. The ingredients are the devices, questions, and resources. Combined with creativity, time, space, and support, and kids will create a meal that tastes better than we ever imagined. And you know what? They’ll want to keep coming back for more. And so will we.