Our world is changing faster than ever before, and our children will live vastly different lives than the ones we know today. For our children to thrive and for human civilization to flourish in this new era, we urgently need to reimagine education.
How are you preparing your kids for a world where their playmates and future colleagues might be CRISPR-designed, or not even human?
We can’t entirely predict what the world of the future will look like. However, we can equip our children to be as prepared as possible for any version of the future world. To be resilient, lifelong learners who approach the world with curiosity and engaged empathy, who are as fluent in emotional intelligence as cognitive intelligence, and who can think independently and originally, and have the skills with which to architect this world ethically and compassionately.
Luminaria Educational Philosophy and Model
We are building an educational philosophy and model that’s built on 5 fundamental building blocks, and is scaffolded through a series of frameworks and tools:
- Building knowledge from first principles
- Whole child development across multiple axes: social, emotional, cognitive development and well being, capacity for design and making
- Multidisciplinary synthesis across SEL and STEM
- Delivering over 70% of learning in hands on design and making
- Ensuring that all learning has an authentic real world purpose and audience
Our entire philosophy and model are grounded on extensive, evidence based research across multiple disciplines. Here's a brief overview of some of our core foundational building blocks:
- By learning how to think from first principles, children become much more capable of genuinely inventing rather than merely iterating
- Additionally, learners are more capable of retaining and using knowledge effectively because they understand the fundamental building blocks and aren’t just memorizing content
- An understanding of system structures enables students to see the similarities between seemingly different systems. For example, understanding how contagious diseases spread across populations helps students understand how a rumor spreads, how fake news propagates, or how a fashion trend grows.
- When using systems thinking concepts and tools, many students show increased motivation, engagement, and self-esteem.
- Learning which is physically active, involves gathering information, thinking, problem solving and attaining knowledge by participating or contributing has a significant advantage over passive approaches.
- Cultivating a nurturing, supportive, and safe environment is a fundamental prerequisite for each child's learning success.
- We believe that the crucial capabilities of emotional resilience and commitment to personal growth are ones that develop learners to their full potential through patient and dedicated practice, supported by validating relationships.
- We believe that every child can become a self confident, self-starting learner in a consistent and nurturing environment, and we work with children individually to strengthen their own intrinsic motivation.
