Giving Compass' Take:

• The authors explain how project-based learning is essential for Generation Z to understand, value, and master to prepare for future challenges and to produce innovative solutions. 

• How will project-based learning change education for the next generation of learners? How can donors support the expansion of project-based learning across districts?

• Read about how to succeed with project-based learning. 

Meet Generation Z– the future pioneers of our increasingly global world, a world that is “careening ahead at great velocity.”   Perhaps what distinguishes Generation Z from previous generations, in part, is the expanse of alternate and progressive forms of education available today; Project-based learning is a popular pedagogy known to prepare students for the challenges awaiting them in the real world.

So how do we best prepare students for a future unforeseen? At THINK Global School, similar to many future-forward schools, we continually strive to prepare students for a future in flux through self-directed learning. Here are four principles, with inherently future-forward skills, any project-based learner can model through experimental project-based studies.

  1. Be Water
    “Be water, my friend.” -Bruce Lee -- Like Bruce Lee, in believing no limitation as limitation, project-based learning teaches us to be adaptable and flexible to meet the needs of an ever-changing society.
  2. Burn to Emerge
    “The phoenix must burn to emerge.” -This symbolizes the importance of renewal after we’ve risked failure. In failing during independent project-design, students are forced to be creative in their solutions to problems.
  3. Make Melodies
    “There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.” -Sun Tzu-- Sun Tzu established creative thinking by taking seemingly simple notes and repurposing them to make melodies that appeal to the farthest reaches of the imagination. Project-based learning is similar in that it requires a process-and-systems approach to designing, timelining and problem-solving in order to invent solutions for our dynamic and ever-changing world.
  4. Tie Down Lions
    “When spiders unite, they can tie down a lion.”  -Ethiopian Proverb-This proverb suggests that there is power in unity, as does PBL philosophy.

Read the full article about project-based learning by Breanna Reynolds and Nicholas Martino at Getting Smart.