Most Likely to Succeed

“Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era” is a book by Tony Wagner, Expert In Residence at Harvard University’s new Innovation Lab and Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute, and Ted Dintersmith, a leading venture capitalist passionate about innovation. In the book they argue that the only way to ensure any kind of future security for our children is to totally upend the education system and rethink what school is for. The book was made into a documentary directed by Greg Whiteley and produced by Dintersmith. Starting from the premise that nowadays more than half of America's new college graduates are unable to find employment, Whiteley locates the source of the problem not in the economy but in US educational system, which was developed at the dawn of the Industrial Age to train obedient workers and has changed little since, despite radical changes in the marketplace wrought by technology and the outsourcing of labor. With a world of information available a click away, and the modern workplace valuing skills like collaboration and critical thinking, the current rote-based system of learning has become outdated and ineffective. Charter schools like San Diego's High Tech High, which replaces standardized tests and compartmentalized subjects with project-based learning and a student-focused curriculum, may offer an alternative. The film follows students, teachers, and parents to see if this different model can reawaken the love of learning and offer the potential for a paradigmatic shift in education (source here)
-- Watch Tony Wagner introduction to "Most Likely to Succeed"
-- Watch Tony Wagner presentation "When knowledge is a free commodity, we need to innovate"
-- Read book review on The New York Times
-- Read "Most Likely To Succeed: A Film About What School Could Be" on Education Week