If you could build a dream

school, what would you

do? What would the building look like? The methods? The teachers? Technology? The mission? …does it need to be a school, or should it be a bootcamp for designing futures… life… the perfect job?

MY DREAM SCHOOL

The organization abandons the word “school” — in reinventing education, it becomes a bootcamp for design where youth and collaborating community members apply their creativity toward innovative applications.

The traditional classroom is abandoned in favor of space that favors multidirectional collaboration. Moreover, building that houses the organization is designed to be more than just a box. Rather, it is designed to be easily transformed and reconfigured as quickly as our ideas regarding teaching and learning evolve and transform.

An infrastructure is created to support technologies, but the technologies themselves are not deeply embeded (because they will likely change by the time they’re institutionalized). Students are responsible for bringing in and supporting their own technology, perhaps by providing them with a technology grant/budget.

The school is not just a tool for youth, but is a resource for the entire community it serves: Provides co-working and incubator resources for people with ideas that want to involve youth, and facilitates innovative, non-formal, informal and “invisible” learning opportunities.

A new breed of teacher/facilitators are trained and recruited to do away with download-style pedagogy, and rather serve as curators of ideas and enablers of creativity and innovation.

THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

The school campus is located in the 12th century St Donat’s Castle on the dramatic South Wales coastline, overlooking the Bristol Channel.

THE SCHOOL FACILITIES

St Donat’s Castle houses classrooms, a performance hall, dining hall and a library collection of more than 25,000 volumes in a variety of languages. Also on campus are student residency houses, well-equipped science laboratories, computer facilities, music practice rooms, a theatre, a student social centre an independent arts centre and a pool.

THE CONCEPT OF THE SCHOOL

The concept of bringing together young people from around the world, to live, work and serve together in this dramatic setting is truly unique, and I know that the friendships that are forged here, and the opportunities to learn from each other, will resonate throughout the future lives of all our students. This wonderful opportunity, however, carries with it an enormous obligationto make a positive difference with our lives. This is no ordinary mission, but then, this is no ordinary place.

THE STUDENTS

In an ideal school there are no more than twenty students in each of the classes. Each students is provided with a single chair and a single desk, which are in quite good condition.

THE STAFF An ideal school is provided

with an ideal staff. The teachers of an ideal school are well qualified. They are greatly interested in learning and teaching. They do not have any mercenary motive. They take teacher ship as a mission in their life. They work in the school with a missionary spirit. They are the men of character and integrity. They work together with a team-spirit and with full co-operation and understanding among themselves.