Big Picture Learning holds very high standards for our students. We have designed our educational program from the end-goal backwards – meaning, we have a clear vision of our graduates’ skills, knowledge, and personal qualities that will help lead them to success and fulfillment. However, we also know that to truly educate one student at a time, our goals for student learning must be flexible enough to accommodate the diversity of student needs and personal aspirations. Our assessment system is based around two sets of goals – five school-wide Learning Goals and each student’s own personal goals. Woven throughout all of the goals is the belief that learning should be authentic and meaningful, as well as a commitment that each student should become a life-long learner.
Big Picture Learning Goals are tools for problem solving and offer a framework for looking at the real-world knowledge and abilities necessary to being a successful, well-rounded person. They are not content-oriented curricula, nor are they completely distinct categories. Each goal focuses on an aspect of reasoning or community behavior. Students’ learning and project work will often incorporate many overlapping elements of the Learning Goals.
Great Ted talk on letting students choose what and how they learn, just like in a Big Picture Advisory.
Charles Leadbeater went looking for radical new forms of education in around the world and found Big Picture as a model for the future.