Giving Compass' Take:

• Students need to be seen as more than just students in order to unlock their full potential as creators, designers, and explorers.

• How does your school system view students? Do they provide outside opportunities in arts, design, entrepreneurship? What are ways you can foster creative growth in your child's education?

• Sone schools have started to introduce entrepreneurship classes into their curriculum in the hopes of letting students understand creativity, innovation, and prepare them for the jobs of the future. 

SXSW EDU, a precursor to the slightly more star-studded and well-known SXSW, is a conference that brings together innovators and entrepreneurs from across the education ecosystem.

To simply call a student a “student” feels inadequate. Students are explorers, designers, creators, and, most importantly, humans. Schools that recognize and nurture these aspects of students told their stories at SXSW EDU, and I’m grateful to have had the chance to learn from and share their good work.

  • Students as explorers. Students are called on to investigate the world around them and engage with what they find.
  • Students as designers. According to Evin Shutt, COO at 72andSunny, the second fastest-growing job class is the creative sector, outpaced only by the service sector. One-third of all jobs today live in the creative sector and yet represent 50% of income and 75% of discretionary spending in the United States.
  • Students as creators. Children see the world as a playground of new possibilities, so their capacity for creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship should come as no surprise.
  • Students as humans. Every child comes to school with their own story: they have passions that they can’t get enough of, experiences that shaped them to be this way or that way, hopes for what the future holds, and fears and limitations that sometimes get in their way.

If we want to expect more from our students, then we ought to view them as more than “just” students. These four paradigms can serve as a foundation for making this cultural shift a reality in your school or district.

Read the full article on rightly seeing students by Ashley Bryan Flores at Getting Smart.