Why did you create this innovation?

Around the world, there is a call for learning to be authentic, collaborative, and connected to 21st-century goals. Unfortunately, most schools built in the 20th-century (and some still today) use a Cells-and-Bells model marked by isolated classrooms separated by non-learning corridors. We created Pathfinders to show how schools can pilot transformational learning environments on a limited budget.

How does your innovation work in practice?

Pathfinders address the problem of outdated facilities by converting Cells-and-Bells spaces into connected learning communities. These connected learning communities use a diversity of spaces to accommodate the needs and goals that are specific to each school's context - often there's a healthy mix of active learning studios for whole class activities, cave space for individual work & reflection, and small group collaborative areas. With the simplicity of taking a single hallway in a single school, there is a physical transformation that takes the environment from being a barrier of 21st-century learning to become a catalyst of it. Because Pathfinders can be done in small phases, it has a low entry cost with a high impact ceiling.

How has it been spreading?

Pathfinders are spreading rapidly, especially within schools and districts that try one to see their impact. At Singapore American School, one Pathfinder led to another, which led to another, and then another - the effects became so profound that the connected learning community model overhauled their entire campus serving 4,000 learners. In the Cranston Public School District in Rhode Island, Pathfinders led to the transformation the district's oldest elementary school with amazing outcomes. At North Junior High in Hopkins, MN, starting small meant creating a school-within-a-school with very limited resources; by simply activating hallway space with agile furniture, they could begin the transformation immediately on a small budget.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

Contact Nathan Strenge
+1 (320) 248-1135
nathan.strenge@fieldingintl.com
USA Country Lead at HundrED