Awesome ideas, wicked problems and epic mistakes
I just got finished with running a summer camp centered around building learning confidence in kids through design thinking. Three of my colleagues and I from the RCA Service Design programme along with two industry professionals have been working on this service proposition for the last 3-4 months. The week-long summer programme for 8-12 year olds seeks to instill Fearless Learning in kids to shift their mindset by championing epic mistakes and embracing wicked questions. The programme is called Project 42.
There are a few immediate reflections I'd like to share:
1. Summer camp is where kids can expend their energy, ideas and identities. It's a weird place to be for kids because it's a temporary experience. So, how does the positive impact of a summer camp carry on into school? Will the kids' learnings, findings and inspirations extend into their mindset at school?
If the programme can be scaled and be accessible and benefitted by a large number of communities, how might we ensure that the Fearless Learning mindset is maintained throughout the school years and beyond?
2. Kids want your undivided attention, and when you give it to them, they build their confidence on that attention. That's why I realised how important it is to have a balanced ratio between adults and kids. We had 8 adults to 14 kids, and the relationships we made in the short five days were very strong because we learned about each kid's growth over time. This informed us of the potential in observing and capturing impact beyond numbers and figures.
3. Being a teacher seems to encompass a number of qualities. Based on my observations and thoughts, it needs to be about inspiration, constructive criticism and inquisitive conversations. The reason why kids don't like going to school is because they are bored, or have encountered difficult situations they don't know how to handle (whether that's socially, academically, emotionally, etc). How might we reimagine what it's like to be in school from 8:30 to 3PM? Imagine if there were several teachers in a classroom and they weren't called 'teachers,' but rather coach or something of that sort. This might help turn the tables, and empower kids to take more leadership in their learning.
4. When you unleash potential and confidence in a kid, it's one of the most fulfilling and inspiring hybrid of emotions. And that transcends age, culture, religion, style, etc- unleashing potential is a fundamental human condition that needs more support to address future challenges of human life on this world of ours.