resourcefulness that IOP and the teachers
behind the Quest model hope to inspire.
It could result in the sort of encouraging
outcomes Richard Arum is seeing on the
college readiness assessments. Ann Meals
put it like this: “Kids get tired of being told
what to do all the time. Through games,
they’re having conversations with each other.
They’re coming up with the ideas themselves,
in a way that they enjoy. And that makes all
the difference.”
This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news website focused on inequality and innovation in education. http://hechingerreport.org/content/quest-different-learning-model-playinggames-school_18465/
I was very excited when I was presented
with the opportunity to become principal
at Quest to Learn, partly because of my
own experience in school when I was
growing up. I had a traditional education,
involving a lot of memorisation, and I was
bored in school.
When I became a teacher, I began to
think creatively about what my approach
to curriculum would be and how alternative
ideas and structures could engage students
in meaningful work beyond reliance on
testing and memorisation. I always
believed that students would learn
more on a deeper level if they were
more active participants in school.
One of our primary goals for our students
is that by the time they graduate from
Quest to Learn they will be true systems
thinkers and designers, understanding that
the important challenges in the world can’t
be solved in simple, traditional ways, and
must be approached from many different
perspectives. As a result of advancements
in technology, our world has become highly
interconnected, with integrated systems.
As Thomas Friedman has said, “The world is
flat.” At Quest to Learn, students experience
iteration, they take on problems and create
solutions, design prototypes, and learn that
failing is an inherent aspect of problem
solving.
Our graduates will not be intimidated by
challenges, and as a result they will have
the skills required to be successful and
make a difference in the world, whatever
path they choose.
Message taken from the website of Quest to Learn:
http://www.q2l.org/about/leadership/
Message from the Principal
of Quest to Learn - Jennifer Rygalski
13