I believe that passion has been ripped away from the vision of most schools around the world unintentionally. Of course we all want our children to succeed in life and have a good job, but how do we expect them to enjoy what they do for a living if they were taught to color inside the lines and follow the rubrics—where creativity is viewed as a burden. Why is it that our educational systems have been standardized? Was there no consideration for the future, or the minds of those who are learning. Autonomy is vital for a growing mind, it allows you to be independent and have better self control over what happens in your life. When autonomy is taken away from the system, so is the passion for learning. Students want to learn, but they want to learn through their interests. Would you enjoy sitting in a classroom of 30 students, learning about organic chemistry, or would you rather be learning about your passion. There are obviously some things we must learn, like the basics in science and math and history, but why dedicate ourselves to such specific areas, when it may not be of our best topic of interest. That is where the change in education steps in.
“Without change there is no innovation, creativity or incentive for improvement. those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable.” -William Pollard
We have to want to change for the better of our future. But how are we supposed to change when the society around us has a fixed mindset on what they think education should be. Anyone can lead the change in education, but you have to stick to your belief and make yourself be heard. Autonomy is something that has been taken away from us, and someone had to set it straight that without autonomy, there is no passion for learning. So, the Innovation Academy was created, giving students a choice and a different way of learning where they are given a voice and a say in everything they do.
I joined the IA because I believe there is more to education than just content and strictly structured learning. I see the value in creativity and expression, in the autonomy a student has to lead their own learning in their own benefit.
Autonomy means self discipline and dedication, but what happens when someone is unfaithful the the autonomy they are being given? We call that a culture slip; where our class culture is not being met, where the trust is broken for not meeting the overall standards we see us meeting as a group. I let my section of the culture in the IA slip by not coordinating myself properly with time; I have missed a few blogs over the summer. This is not the first time it has occurred, and thinking back onto my past years in high school I come to see the change I have gone through both academically and mentally. I can now see in what ways I’ve come to grow, and what ways I remain the same. Over the years I have become more independent and taken more responsibility for my actions and learning; but, at the same time, I still come to struggle with procrastination, especially over the summer, where time slips from my hands and specific days are blurs of an entire week. This is no excuse for missing work, but it’s happened times before, I have now figured ways to control my procrastination in ways that truly work for me.
Through experimentation I have come to find that an app called “self control” which blocks you from entering certain sites for a few hours to avoid any distractions. Also, while reading my summer book ‘The Decision Book’ on different ways to structure your life. There I further learned how to organize myself to make the best use of my time. I’ve always known the “eat the live frog first” but I now understand what that actually means through a model for strategic thinking created by President Dwight D, Eisenhower. He states that “the most urgent decisions are rarely the most important ones”. This is why I know know that my list of “to-do’s” must be organized not only by the most important things in the moment, but more towards the long term. Now that I have realized these things, and although it is a bit late in my high school years, it’s better late than never and I intend on making the best of my time in the short semester I have ahead of myself, and finish it the right way, the strong way.