What we know as a traditional school in the US follows the Industrial Model of Education, also called the Factory Model.
In the late 18th century, the US moved from an agricultural economy to an industrialized one. As a society, we needed to industrialize education. Factories needed an interchangeable workforce with the same basic reading, writing, and math skills to follow instructions and do repetitive tasks. We needed interchangeable, obedient workers to keep our industrialized society humming along.
Industrialization was the latest and greatest. It was creating wealth and modernizing the country. Mass production and efficiency were inspiring everything at the time. But you don't have to work with children to know all children are different. If you have more than one child, you know all kids are different. Chances are you adjust your parenting and communication style for your different children. You do not think of them as interchangeable widgets.
To send a person somewhere where they are treated like a widget, no different from the other widgets, how does that make sense in today's world? At the time the Industrial Model, while not the most exciting education model for anyone who loves learning, did fill a need in society. However, our world has changed. Fewer and fewer jobs are in factories or operate in a factory-style fashion.
Today, schools are changing to move away from a factory model. They must do so to be relevant in a post-industrial economy. Think about that: we are living in a post-industrial economy. So then why continue an industrial education model? Most schools don't want to retain a factory model. But it's difficult to significantly shift from the model after being entrenched in the large bureaucracy and hierarchical structure that has existed and defined the Industrial Model for over 200 years.
While we often call the factory model "traditional education," remember it has never been used exclusively worldwide. Nor was it the original model for education.
One example of a different model, there are many, is the Montessori Method. In the late 19th century, a woman named Maria Montessori started to develop a method of education. She was a scientist who created her method mainly through observation and careful use of the scientific method. She was inspired by the idea that every person has an inner teacher and that their inner teacher can be cultivated. Her method leans on inquiry-based learning. After living through two world wars, she also had a dream that education could be a way to cultivate peace in the world.
Her inspiration was not to create a workforce to feed industry, it was the idea of the child as a genius and to make the world more welcoming for all people.
Aspire Savannah does not follow the Industrial Model of Education. We're new enough and small enough not to be saddled with a preexisting bureaucratic authority to slow innovation. We have the luxury of picking our own inspirations. We follow an inquiry-based model, not an industrial model. We are inspired by the Montessori Method, Joseph Renzulli's Three Ring Concept of Giftedness, The Autonomous Learner Model of Gifted Education and other innovators in the realm of inquiry-based learning. We are inspired by the idea of our learners finding their genius through personalized inquiry to become their best selves, for their own inner joy and ultimatly to share with the world. After all, someday they will be the stewards of our world.
Inspiration matters, it shapes everything that happens downline. What has inspired the learning model you most connect with? Is it an "alternative" to the Industrial Model?
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