Introduction

In Terms 2 & 3, students choose a problem or challenge that they want to explore in more depth. They work on this personalised project for part of Friday and are guided by a number of teacher and community experts.

The project aims to develop the ‘soft skills’ that employers and universities require; to focus students' learning on a chosen strength, interest or passion; and to teach students to use a structured learning process that requires them to take an active role in their learning.

A highlight and motivator is the exhibition evening, at which students share what they've achieved with peers, families and community.

Why project learning is crucial to students' success

"We cannot continue on the current path of education if we want to prepare our children for their future. Our children will not live in the world that we grew up in. We need to prepare them to be flexible, critical thinking problem solvers. They need to get beyond the limitations of their teachers and parents. Our kids are not empty vessels to be filled with content in order to pass a standardised test. Each day, as technology moves faster, the fact is driven home with more emphasis. Will we ever be able to claim that we are effectively preparing kids for life?" (Tom Whitby, 2012. In The Rhetoric and the Reality, David Hood, 2015).

In the Industrial Age, schools reflected the mass production methods of factories and taught punctuality, discipline, repetition and the 3 Rs. The ticket up the economic ladder was content mastery of 4 or 5 school subjects. Critical thinking and creativity were discouraged.

In the Information Age, students must think critically, solve problems, communicate, collaborate, use technology and be globally competent. Absorbing a 'fixed store of knowledge' is not enough. They must learn how to manage fast changing information, technology and situations.

Traditional schooling reflects the 'paradigm of one'; one teacher, teaching one subject to one class of one age, using one curriculum at one pace, in one classroom, for one hour. It suggests that there is one method to find the one solution or answer.

Interdisciplinary, project-based learning in which students work collaboratively in teams, connect with a range of passionate, expert adults, and are assessed using a broad range of methods both develops the required C21st skills and reflects decades of learning research.

Project work is relevant, authentic and meaningful. It is personalised and develops a range of abilities, in addition to a range of subject knowledge and skills. The aim is that the system adapts to the interests, strengths, needs of the child, rather than the child having to conform to the system.

The race is on for New Zealand, as economic success depends on the skills of our young human capital. Hong Kong, China and Singapore have all introduced widespread changes to their education systems in order to develop creativity and to move away from standardised testing.

Developing dispositions of a Mountains Whanau Learner

'Soft skills' (attributes / dispositions) that students develop in Mountains Whanau are summarised in the diagram below . They reflect:

• NZ Curriculum Key Competencies: Thinking; Relate to others; Understand symbols & text; Manage Self; Participate & contribute.

• "A curriculum for the 21st Century" by David Hood in Education Review, 2001.

• "The 4 Cs" described by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

• "Key Competencies for the Future"; a book by Hipkins et al.

• "Critical Competencies" by NZ Employers Federation, 1990

• "Assessment & Teaching of 21st Century Skills"; a report by OECD, 2009.