This excerpt is from the final post in a series on CBL written by Sandra Moumoutjis, Building 21’s Executive Director of the Learning Innovation Network, for The Aurora Institute.
While attending a recent education conference focused on innovation, I could not help but notice a pattern across many presentations and discussions. Panelists and attendees were talking about different experiences students were having outside of the school day—in after-school programs, work and internship experiences, community service, place-based learning—and how they wished there was a way for students to receive “credit” for these experiences. Sentences that started with, “If only there was a way…” or, “No one has come up with a way yet…”
Well, I hope that my recent series of blog posts demonstrates clearly that THERE IS A WAY. Across eight blog posts, I have outlined the necessary shifts that I believe need to occur in mindsets, teaching and learning, structures, and systems in order to successfully transition to a more personalized and competency-based model. And yet, sitting in the audience at this conference, I could not help but wonder…how do we better communicate the power and the possibilities that competency-based education (CBE) holds for unbundling learning from the traditional structures of school and allowing all learning experiences both in and out of school to “count” for students?
Keep reading here on Aurora’s website to learn more about our approach to scheduling.
