Page 34 - Looking_after_school

Looking after school: a critical analysis of personalisation in education

“The mounting pressure to develop creative, innovative and critical skills
implies that traditional teaching approaches based on direct instruction
or lecturing are no longer adequate. They are being replaced by more
learner-focused models that are based on the learner’s active involve-
ment in the process of reflection and interpretation” (European Com-
mission, 2008, p. 4)

This perspective reproaches education for not offering enough oppor-
tunities for the development of creative potentials and problem-solv-
ing abilities, positioning children as ‘naturally’ out of the box thinkers.
This perspective advocates for the fundamental reform, or even the
total reinvention, of education, and the following principles continu-
ously recur: the importance of learning by doing (with a close inter-
twining of theory and practice), the active involvement of students,
teachers, and parents (through projects in which creativity and innova-
tion are brought together), and the orientation towards lifelong learn-
ing. What is considered problematic in the current educational system
is the lack of life-like or real-life situations, and most of all the use of
standardised curricula and testing. One of the biggest problems is
thus the manner of assessment. Creativity is hard to standardise and is
often associated with taking risks. This is why we need innovative ways
of providing feedback and assessments, and new forms of problem-
based learning. Grounded on the idea that living and learning will be
one and the same in a complex society, and that learning takes place
24/7, the traditional division of courses and subjects as well as the tra-
ditional difference between theory and application become problem-
atic. This perspective argues for learning activities that are structured
around meaningful projects (with real clients, such as care centres, cul-
tural and welfare organisations, companies, cities, and communities…)
and leisure activities which are closer to the ‘real’ world of tomorrow.
Such a project-driven learning environment expects students, accord-
ing to a report of the King Baudouin Foundation in Belgium, “to be
given every opportunity to make their own choices for their learning
pathways” (Bouwen et al., 2014, p. 17). This calls on facilitators, project
managers, and coaches to replace the former classroom organisation
via “learning families”.
This perspective on innovation and creativity challenges the current
educational system on two fronts: the overly academic orientation of

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