I know it has a somewhat bad stigma, but I learnt a lot of these core values in the boy scouts when I was a kid. Every troop isn't created equally though. At the time in Canada the new slogan for the boy scouts was "bring on the adventure", and we took that to heart. We spent a lot of time planning and experiencing camping expeditions in all four seasons. This helped us learn so many skills, in not only how to survive in the wilderness, but how to plan, budget, cook, cooperate, and so much more. What if school was like the scouts? Badge system. Learn what you want with defined criteria around when you have achieved a acceptable level of mastery. With rewards set up to encourage a wide range of learning. It would encourage exploration of a wide range of topics, yet still have somewhat of a defined system of achievement.