Changing the Subject

What should students learn in the 21st century? Specific content does not matter. It is what students do with the content, how they respond to it, shape it and apply it, that matters, write educators Rob Riordan and Larry Rosenstock.

Riordan and Rosenstock, founders of High Tech High, argue that to be relevant, schools must change the way they educate and support students. The curriculum must ask students to address real problems and allow them to transform content according to their interests and lived experience. Through these processes, students gain skills and understandings, and the curriculum gains new life.

In order to ‘change the subject’ teachers must be free to design relevant learning experiences and be supported to work with other teachers and students. Schools need to build a model that supports collaboration and development so teachers can reflect on and refine their practice.

Discover how to transform the curriculum to respond to 21st century challenges and create real learning experiences for students.

This article was prepared for Horizon: Thought Leadership, a publication of the Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership, Department of Education and Training, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.