[RE]LEARN 2020 - The Learning Innovation Festival

How might an innovative approach to Learn Well help accelerate change in education and schooling?

It is increasingly becoming more and more obvious that the mission of childhood education can no longer be the generation of standardised test data, but learning powered by the physical, mental health and emotional competency and wellness of every student and every teacher. To equip today’s students to thrive in the workplace of 2030 and beyond, a whole new curriculum competency framework is needed: one that centres on foundational literacies (ways of knowing), capability skills (ways of thinking) and character attributes (ways of being).

During this global pandemic l have been personally inspired and encouraged by the actions of many individual educators and learning communities to rethink what education can be and should be in the future. In a School for tomorrow’s Continuous Learning Toolkit – Volume III | Wellness By Design® we highlighted that across all continuous learning models during COVID-19 those schools which have continued to thrive have operated effectively and compassionately at personal, relational and community levels. They have responded to adversity by promoting qualities of creativity, curiosity and challenge, complemented by a significant focus on the social and emotional resilience of all - students, staff, and families. People have really mattered, and systems needed to have been reshaped to meet the needs of people; we can’t tell you the number of times we have heard educators tell us that “wellness comes first”.

So, why shouldn’t that be the norm always? The pursuit of excellence, especially academic attainment really matters to us at a School for tomorrow. and we can’t help but wonder why we would ever have thought that wellness was something that was a binary opposite to high standards, or something of secondary importance, or an add-on, or somebody else’s business in education. A flourishing person understands that their wellness is the foundation on which their good character, competency, achievements and contributions are built. So, shouldn’t “being well” be part of a movement toward a better normal?

For learning communities, a positive sense of individual wellness supports a base for rich learning growth and achievement, that enables all learners to thrive throughout their time at school and beyond. Wellness and the full flourishing of the individual cannot be separated from learning. Therefore, it is imperative that any continuous learning competency framework for all school communities, needs to develop a learning ecosystem model that Equips the Learner, Empowers the Learner and Enables the Learner, positioning wellness at the heart of school life.
It is time to choose to allow our students to go on a personal journey of discovery that will give them the character, competency and wellness to be a generation of happier, healthier and more confident young people, who can truly thrive in the new tomorrow of their world. It is time to Learn Well, toward a better normal.