Student-Led Learning
The most meaningful and innovative element of the Acton curriculum is in my opinion the fact that the Eagles lead their own learning.
What does that actually mean? This element is expressed in several ways:
First, the Eagles are responsible for setting their own learning goals. At the beginning of every day and of every week, they define the goals they want to achieve. Nobody sets it for them. They can decide that it’s more important for them to progress in reading than in writing, or more in math than in reading. They set their own pace and they make sure to follow the goals. No adult tells them that they are not good enough at math, or that they don’t meet the expectations in reading. There is no adult that gets disappointed or one that needs to be satisfied. The Eagles have their own inner voice, their own favorite thing and their own interests.
Second, the Eagles are the ones who run the studio. They define the rules, and they define what’s more and what’s less important. In addition, they hold each other accountable for those rules. No adult tells them what to do and no adult makes sure that they do what they’re allowed to. Just imagine how much independence the Eagles have on the one hand and how much responsibility on the other hand. We are so used to adults enforcing the rules (even in democratic schools, for example!), that it might sound almost a fiction to most of us, but at Acton it actually happens.
Third, no adult in the studio teaches the Eagles anything. The guides are in the studio only to coach, to pose challenging questions and design projects, to set the guardrails. There is no time when the Eagles sit in front of a lecturer who teaches them facts. Even during launches, the guides will only raise questions for discussion, but will never try to teach certain topics or reach a specific conclusion. Generally, as the year progresses, the guide is supposed to become less involved in the studio. The goal is that, in time the Eagles will also lead the launches themselves and so, in fact, make the presence of the guide less necessary (by the way, think about the complexity of this situation for adults who got used to “teaching”, which is actually most of us teachers. It’s really not simple to give up the position of the knowing/teaching/understanding person. It’s really just not obvious).
What do the Eagles get from it?
It opens a whole world of opportunities for them. By having the responsibility for learning in their hands, they are given the option to experience and specialize in such a wide variety of skills: They learn to work in teams, they learn how to give feedback, they learn how to receive feedback, they learn how to take responsibility, they learn how to lead, they learn how to fail and get up to try again, they learn a lot about friendship and relationships, they learn how to stand in front of an audience, they learn how to be on time, they learn how to lead a discussion, they learn how to put a stake in the ground, they learn reading, they learn writing, they learn math and more. It sounds very radical, I know, but the deeper I go in the Acton pedagogy the more I feel that this is all very achievable. It is possible to get to the point where the Eagles lead the learning, it is possible to trust the Eagles to do it as well as adults would and maybe even better. This, more than anything, gives the Eagles actually useful tools for life in the 21st century. It will allow them to lead full and rich lives and fulfill their potential. As you may have noticed, I didn’t say a word about the knowledge they acquire on the way. That knowledge is merely a by-product of the meaningful learning in Acton. Doesn’t it feel like Acton is just turning the education world upside down?