20.1.2025 | Meghan Hammond |

38 Education Solutions Centring Learners in their Educational Journey

Early Childhood Flipped Classroom Inquiry-based Learning Motivation Personalised Learning Self-assessment Student-Led Wellbeing

HundrED and Montessori Global Education have partnered to answer the question: How can learner agency be placed at the forefront of every learning experience? This global call for child-centred education innovations is our joint effort to identify the fruitful work and scalability of such practices.

Our search for the most contextually innovative and scalable educational innovations in the field of child-centred learning attracted over 200 submissions from 53 countries. The research team has narrowed the submissions down to a shortlist of 38 amazing educational solutions, which are in the process of being reviewed by a global Advisory Board of experts. This Spotlight has highlighted the many ways that centring children in their own learning experiences is being adapted and contextualised across the world.

While innovators submitting to this Spotlight selected a total of 184 key words to describe the work of their innovations, the key themes that arose in our submission pool are highlighted in the diagram above.

What is child-centred learning?

Child-centred learning follows the interests and intrinsic motivation of the child in determining the path of their education. The adults in their environment serve as facilitators, designers and curators of the learning environment by providing resources, guidance, and support. This then empowers the child to lead through self-directed and autonomous learning - that is, learning at their own pace, following their interests and passions, and taking ownership of their learning journey.

Centring the learner shifts the dynamic from instruction- or teacher-centred practices toward an appreciation of the learner’s ability to shape their own engagement with their immediate environment. In our search for child-centred innovations, we were particularly interested in practices that support the child as an active learner, respecting their inner lives, and teach learners to trust their own inner motivation.

To be considered for the shortlist, the innovations must demonstrate how they provide freedom within limits while encouraging learners to engage their own inner discipline.

While many hear the word “Montessori” and think of wooden blocks at free-play preschools, the concept of child-centred learning is very much at the pedagogical core of the Montessori model.

"Montessori and Montessori-inspired pedagogies are ones in which educators and children co-create the experience of learning. During the shortlisting process, we found that many of the shortlisted innovations captured this aspect of co-creation so well, and with the resources at their disposal, filling the needs of their local contexts," said Mariah Voutilainen, HundrED's Research Team lead for the project.

Child-Centred Learning means letting the learner choose their own path from a broader approach to learning, allowing them to explore topics as lightly or in-depth as they wish.

In reviewing the submissions pool, we also noted the important distinction between child-centred learning and personalised learning. The latter can be found in apps where the learner can choose an avatar or select from a pre-defined set of options, but the former really means letting the learner choose their own path from a broader approach to learning, allowing them to explore topics as lightly or in-depth as they wish.

“It's truly inspiring to see such a diversity of innovative educational approaches from all over the world. From emerging work in the heart of local communities to established projects spanning a range of stakeholders - innovators prove that it's possible to make a difference with a child-centred approach in any learning environment," says Karen Chetwynd, CEO of Montessori Global Education.

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Students in the Destination Imagination Challenge Experience

How did we shortlist the innovations?

HundrED’s research team and Montessori Global Education reviewed each innovation thoroughly, selecting those that best fit with the goals of encouraging learners to thrive in their learning environments - in schools and beyond - by finding and trusting their own internal motivations, and fuelling their curiosity.

Mariah Voutilainen emphasises the diversity and depth of the solutions submitted: “We were very impressed by the nuanced approaches to child-centred innovative solutions, especially the re-adoption and adaptation of practices that have been forgotten for a period of time. Additionally, seeing the social justice aspect of child-centred pedagogies, especially in low-resourced communities, was very important to us.”

Ultimately, innovations were chosen for the shortlist because they demonstrated evidence of their impact on embracing children’s agency, have innovative approaches within their contexts, and show potential for scaling.

What happens next?

The Advisory Board for this Spotlight includes over 100 experts in child-centred learning. We look forward to further refining this shortlist to produce our report on the Spotlight on Child-Centred Learning in spring 2025, when we will announce the final selection of the Spotlight Collection.