Want to know what Chinese takeout, drug runners, and violins have to do with educational innovation? Watch the video.

We’ve written about innovation in the face of hardship before (like with last summer’s protests in Iran and war spurring telemedicine). This time, we’re looking at education. In a recent TED talk, Charles Leadbeater, a financial journalist turned innovation consultant, said that instead of spending all our time studying the best examples of educational models (like Finland’s or New Zealand’s, which studies rate the highest), we could be learning from the countries with the worst school systems. And not because they’re cautionary tales.

These are the places where there’s a huge need, unmet demand, and not enough resources for traditional solutions to work. So, he says, they’re the places where the most innovation occurs. And because these innovations aren’t working within existing systems, they might actually be easier to transplant than, say, the tenants of Scandinavian social democracy that lead to good schooling. They’re also inexpensive.

Favelas in Brazil and slums in Kenya are turning education on its head. Instead of “pushing” education onto students (like with exams, memorization, homework, etc), they’re pulling students in. Laptops, games, and projects not only draw children off the street, but also deliver the practical skills and knowledge they can’t wait 10 years to acquire through a traditional education. He highlights some fascinating learning technologies and makes some interesting points. (Transcript here)

Interested in some of the programs he mentioned?

El Sistema (FESNOJIV) in Venezuela is a youth orchestra program where children receive free music lessons. It has improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of underprivileged children and produced internationally-renowned musicians like Gustavo Dudamel.

The Pratham preschools, started by Madhav Chavan, have more than 200,000 volunteers and serve millions of children.

Sugata Mitra started “hole-in-the-wall education” by putting a free computer workstation in the wall of a poor New Dehli neighborhood, showing that children can teach themselves.

Rodrigo Baggio started CDI in Brazil to bridge the digital divide.

In Brazil, Sebastiao Rocha, at the Popular Centre for Culture and Development (CPCD), invented over 200 educational games for experiential learning. The center also uses the pedagogia da roda (Learning Circle) approach.

The Door Step School in Pune, India works with building site managers to set up temporary schools on-site.

The Big Picture Learning Company is reinventing schools in the US and Australia with the belief that children learn better when they’re doing something they love.

Djarragun serves the isolated indigenous community in Queensland and focuses on real world problem-solving.

The Harlem Children’s Zone has a holistic system of education, social services, and community building programs.

Italy’s Reggio Emilia approach also has an emphasis on community and its exploration-based learning model has spread internationally.

Kunskapsskolan (The Knowledge School) in Sweden has unique learning spaces. Instead of classrooms, there are editorial rooms and cafes and they’re inside re-purposed factory buildings.

You can find even more examples in this white paper, “Learning from the Extremes,” by Charles Leadbeater and Annika Wong.

For an example of educational innovation Acton-style, read about the Acton Academy.

Photo courtesy of Dude School.

Tags: Innovation, TED

Posted in Children, Education, Learning Technology