I greatly enjoyed listening to Jeff Hopkins speak about the school he founded, the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII). I admire how he reacted to the need that he saw for an alternative way of teaching and learning. I am glad to hear that the goal of the school is for it to function like a public school and be accessible to all learners that could benefit from this style of education.
I have thought a lot about how to reach every student at their own personal Zone of Proximal development, and though I think that UDL helps to address that need, Inquiry based education and emergent curriculum is a very creative way to deal with the “issue” of student diversity. This model seems like such a great way to reach students who have struggled with traditional schooling in a multitude of ways. Increased learner agency and self-regulation is invaluable to offer for neurodivergent students, and I think that I would have benefitted from more options like this in my schooling experience.
Image from the PSII website: https://learningstorm.org/inquiry-tools/
I am excited to see a school that is so encouraging towards student questioning and creativity, and I can’t wait to see more schools like this gain popularity as the world continues to change. Inquiry skills are invaluable in the world of AI and in a world where skills like that can get you much further than a standardized test or even a university degree. To have students learn how to ask good questions and subsequently how to find good information to answer their questions (and to keep questioning after that) seems so beneficial to their lifelong learning. I am excited by the fact that I may get to teach in a school like this where my job is more about facilitating student creativity and inquiry rather than content teaching.