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We’ve taken our six kids out of private school to put them into a state school. That’s a big deal for me because I’ve always despised the public school system. I’ve seen it as little more than a system for statist indoctrination.

My view has been confirmed over the last few years, as both the United States and Australia have taken steps toward greater centralised control over curriculum.

Even when educational control doesn’t come from the government, I believe that forcing a standardised curriculum upon a child’s mind is detrimental to his or her future, and damaging to our society long-term.

A Standardised Curriculum is a Dumb Idea

The western world’s current prevailing education model, both public and private, is marked by rows of kids in classrooms all forced to absorb the same monotonous lessons. There is no concern for whether the child is intellectually engaged or interested in what is being taught.

This view of learning is a carry-over from the Industrial Revolution when our economies flourished on a steady influx of robotic, cookie-cutter humans who would willingly subject themselves to mindless, routine, and laborious tasks. Industries needed humanity’s left-brain and manual labour contributions to thrive.

Today is different. We are rapidly learning how to automate left-brain and monotonous tasks through robotics and artificial intelligence. The vast majority of jobs that exist today will not be around when my six children finish school. As their dad, it’s my responsibility to make sure they’re prepared for that reality.

Why Would I Subject My Children to a Government Education?

Well, my children’s new school isn’t just any public school. It’s a school with a radical new approach to learning. It’s called Templestowe College, and the principle, Peter Hutton, gave a talk at the TedX conference in Melbourne two years ago.

FYI, for my American friends, a college in Australia is a high school.

Here’s the principal from my kids’ new school giving a Ted Talk:

In this brief talk, Peter talks about the biggest problems he sees in education today and casts a vision for the future, using Templestowe College (TC) as a model for what’s possible.

TC also stands for “take control.” The school’s aim is to empower kids to take control of their own learning, according to their own interests and parents’ guidance. The staff’s primary responsibility is to create and maintain an environment that supports this student-empowered vision.

One of the school mottos is,

“If you wait to be offered control, you’ll be waiting a long time.”

Templestowe College was Featured on 60 Minutes

A few months ago, 60 Minutes in Australia featured TC as an example of alternative education. Click on the image below to go watch the video. Unfortunately, the embed code wouldn't work.

If you’re interested, just watch the first few minutes. You’ll get a good picture of what the school is all about.

https://www.9now.com.au/60-minutes/2017/clip-ciysgoiiy002q0hrhwo7rcfmx

As word has spread, other schools in Australia have been sending representatives to come and learn from Templestowe College. One of the assistant principals moved all the way from Ireland to take a job with TC. She had heard about the school's innovative approach all the way from the UK.

Here are six things that make Templestowe College very different from other schools:

1. The students determine what they learn, with the support of their parents.

There is almost no standardised curriculum at TC.

The first year at TC, traditionally called grade 7, is called Entry Class. This first year does include some compulsory literacy, numeracy, and science classes, but beyond that, there is very little that's standard. Even in this first year, the students choose one-third of what they study from a list of twenty different electives.

After Entry Class, the students move into what's called the Flexible Learning Environment. They choose at least four electives per semester and are encouraged to try different classes to find what they enjoy learning.

Here’s a list of some the 120 electives currently being offered:

• Architecture
• Art
• Computer Gaming Design
• Computer Programming
• Dance
• Design & Technology
• Drama
• Entrepreneurship
• Fashion Textiles
• Food Studies and Catering
• Geek Studies (robotics)
• Music Performance
• Permaculture and Gardening
• Personal Fitness
• Photography
• Team Sports
• Team Management and Coaching
• Self Defence
• Farm and Outdoor Construction
• Visual Communication & Design
• Working with Animals ‐ Reptiles
• Working with Animals ‐ Feathers and Fur
• Media – Writing & Creating Content
• Languages ‐ European
• English and Humanities
• Health
• Philosophy
• Forensic Science
• How Stuff Works
• The Physics of Warfare ‐ Machines, Motion & Energy
• Freshwater and Marine Ecology

For parents looking for an even more hands-on approach to learning, Templestowe College also runs a Montessori program.

2. The answer is always “yes.”

If what the student wants to study is not in the list of electives, then they can devise their own path of learning. Literally, the options are endless.

“Yes” is the default answer. If a student or parent wants something, the answer must be yes, unless it will take too much time, too much money, or it will impact negatively upon someone else.

During our family trip to Seaworld last year, my daughter fell in love with dolphins. Her new vision for her future is to move to the Gold Coast and train dolphins. TC will happily encourage her to organise her entire curriculum to that end if that’s what she decides to do.

Currently, she is in the Feathers and Fur elective and will be transitioning into Freshwater and Marine Ecology.

3. There are no bells and kids can start and end school when they choose.

Since there are no bells in real life, why have them at school? TC’s goal is for students to develop independence and take responsibility for monitoring their own time and skills development. The aim is to help the students develop into self-governing learners.

There is also an early start and a late start option. Some electives begin at 7:30 am and the kids can finish their school day at 1:30 pm. Others start at 10:30 am and end at 4:30 pm. It’s up to the student.

4. There are no year levels.

Rather than grouping students together by age, they instead group them together by interest, which is much more in line with real life. It’s common for 14-year-olds and 17-year-olds to be learning side-by-side.

5. Students design their own “home learning.” There is no “homework.”

The students must record ten hours of home learning per week, but they get to decide themselves what that will look like. It could include learning a language, learning a musical instrument, cooking a meal for the family, working on a science project or any myriad of possibilities.

6. The goal in every learning department is entrepreneurship.

The teachers at Templestowe College understand that the world will look very different in 10 and 20 years. Their conviction is that the greatest chance they can give kids to succeed is to teach them how to think like entrepreneurs, to take control of their own financial destiny.

So every teacher turns their learning department into a means for starting a business.

In the art classes, they encourage the students to display their work and sell it at local shows and markets.

One girl at the school wanted to learn how to be a barista as an elective. The only stipulation was that she had to open a coffee cart on the campus and run it as her own business. She even hires other students to help her.

Kids in the music department are encouraged to busk on campus, to make money and add ambience to the school environment.

Every month they have a market set up on campus where the students can sell whatever they want. My daughter made cupcakes and other sweet treats with a friend to sell at the market. They each made a $75 profit from this little venture.

The guy who runs the woodworking department is particularly gifted at making guitars. So, he teaches his students how to build guitars and they sell them locally.

They often employ students to do what staff would typically do – whether that’s working in the IT department or in food service. The aim is to teach them the economic benefit of learning and work.

My son is focusing on the entrepreneurship and media electives. He’s decided he wants to start blogging on Steemit and learning more about crypto-currencies and options trading as part of his school work.

He’s also taking self-defence and music performance.

Imagine if playing the guitar, training jiu-jitsu, and building crypto-wealth on Steemit could have been your homework when you were in high school.

That's the way I wish I could have learned and I'm thankful to be able to provide that for my kids. I'll keep you posted on how they go.

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Have you heard of any schools in your area that are breaking away from the traditional models of schooling?