In my book, The Design Thinking Classroom, I argue that schools exist to launch the lives of young people. That mission extends far beyond preparing them for a job, college, or career. It’s about opening the door to something greater - helping students discover who they are, what they value, and how they want to shape the world they’re stepping into. From the book:
“While these elements are timeless, the ways in which students experience them at school cannot be. A world in perpetual beta declares this to be true and demands a new context for the development of the requisite knowledge, skills, and dispositions that will contribute to a life worth living. It is likely that this new context for a learning experience will need to be broader and extend beyond the physical brick-and-mortar experience of the school. This suggests that the experience of school will potentially be more connective and employ the community as well as the world as a landscape for learning. Given that, there is an opportunity to help learners develop and explore hyperindividualized pathways for learning (beyond what is now labeled as personalized learning) that help them negotiate this landscape—while at the same time enabling them to explore a wide range of experiences, passions, and interests— and, in the process, find the launch point for their lives.”
That can begin by designing experiences that shape the individual by equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of an educated person. There are, of course, many ways to achieve this, including what we might call a traditional school experience and the structures that support it. But there are also more creative, engaging, and impactful approaches that balance the essential elements of a school-based education with the power of student agency, giving learners not just a stronger voice but genuine ownership over the pathways that lead to their growth and success.
To support this concept, I’ve developed a prototype model, called the Cone of the School Experience, that provides a plausible organizing construct to support this type of experience. I’m applying this to a high school setting. The model illustrates a school experience that is a shared effort, where both the school and the student contribute to the path that leads to the launch of student lives. This is about pairing the core strengths of school with the power of student agency.
The model presents a school experience that begins with a singular entry point for students, and then widens over time to represent an increasing breadth of experience, as students' learning capacities grow. The cone is bounded on one side by timeless, school-based elements that shape Designed Experiences, those intentionally created and provided by schools, and on the other side by student-centered elements that shape Discovered Experiences, driven by passions, choice, ownership of learning, and exploration of the world.
The model acknowledges that both school and students can, and should, shape experiential pathways. The various colored lines that fluctuate in the cone represent the variable path of individual learners (think hyperpersonalized pathways) and the progression of students over time. These pathways shift toward either side of the cone in response to ongoing assessments of student progress, needs, and interests as they move through their school experience. The paths of all students then become a braided timeline of experiences that enrich the lives of all, recognizing that interaction and collaboration are essential even to the individualized experience. Although the starting point is initially the same, the multiple colored dots at the end represent that the school experience has served to uniquely shape each student according to their interests, strengths, and aspirations, resulting in graduates who share common foundations but embody diverse identities, skills, and futures.
A core premise of the model emphasizes creating the conditions for students to shape components of their own school experience. Given the size and scale of most high schools, this would be difficult to accomplish through human effort alone. It most likely requires a partnership between human analysis and, potentially, AI technologies to assess achievement and progress. However, I have yet to see an AI tool designed specifically for this purpose. More importantly, it also means having students self-assess and serve as the principal evaluator of their progress.
Many models have been created to represent the potential of education and school. This is mine, and it's an initial prototype, and that means it's still a work in progress. I’m still thinking this through, and my attempt at fixing my ideas into a tangible format, such as a model, is based on the evolution of my thinking as an educator designer. At the heart of this is the belief that even within the formal structures and entrenched culture of schools, there lies the potential to significantly redefine the role of the student in their learning. Such a shift also challenges schools to revisit and renew their core purpose by focusing on curriculum that is meaningful and relevant, designing instructional settings that are active and participatory, and employing more powerful and valuable assessments that go beyond the limited measures most schools rely on today.
Most educators would agree that schools help students launch their lives. Yet in my 39 years in and around education, I’ve never heard anyone state this outright. I’m not interested in your Portrait of a Graduate or any other document that reduces the purpose of school to a set of bullet points with cool icons. What I care about is a belief and a conviction that school exists for a more noble and profound reason, one rooted in the heart and soul of a community’s commitment to its young people. It’s about shaping a school experience where students co-create their future in partnership with dedicated educators who inspire and prepare them to live lives of meaning and purpose. That, to me, is the true promise of how schools provide an education.
Get a copy of The Design Thinking Classroom.