The widow of Steve jobs organized an educational explosion in the United States

For six months now, America has been undergoing a unique, total and smart educational reform. Who organized it? You will be surprised, but not the government, scientists, deputies or directors. Steve Jobs' widow is Laurene Powell Jobs. Apparently, out of desperation for the whole country, the conservativeness of this industry and the complete hopelessness of the government, as well as in memory of her husband, she took the initiative in her own hands.

And in September last year, she announced an XQ competition with a $50 million prize to the person who will present America with the best project of the “new Super School”. She was very “tricky” (and right!) when she said there would be no individual projects!



Because even if one person wins, how do you replicate this school across the country? After all, reforming the education system requires scale to involve millions of people in the process of change, and quickly and permanently. And she organized a whole national movement!

How did she do that? She broke the contest into stages. To prolong the pleasure and to constantly escalate the intrigue.

Applications for participation were accepted until November 15, 2015. Then sketches until February 11. Invitation to participate - until April 4. Selection of finalists until May 23 and announcement of winners in August 2016. Another “cunning” is that $50 million will get really the best 5 projects, but ... not immediately, but 2 million a year for 5 years. At first I thought it was a sham - why not give the prizes right away? And the idea was great: keep the fire of reform alive for five years. So they don't fade away.

And so there was an avalanche of 70,000 people who started building the first teams and designating their leaders. And over 2,000 of all the states have been formed by such teams. And immediately began brainstorming! Mass, with PR, with incredible support of the whole country.

To avoid chaos, the project was properly structured into such sections:

1. Research and prediction. Here we had to describe what and how students of the 21st century need to learn today in order to become someone and something tomorrow.

2. Design. What is the mission of the school? What do you want to build? What is the most effective education today and tomorrow? How do you engage students in self-motivating learning? What should teachers be like?

3. Development. How do you make yourself a talent? How to reorganize management and evaluation? How to break the rules about what to teach, how and where. What should be “time-space-technology”? And how should your boss run your school?

Last but not least:Are you ready to build your dream school with all the challenges ahead?

As the XQ competition progressed, many people did not wait for the deadline to announce the winners. They have already begun to completely rebuild their school processes. Because there was a crazy drive all over the country.

We found out what the students wanted:

• Learn through case studies and projects, not through tedious lectures or tests.
• Work in teams and quests or in quiet rooms, not in noisy classrooms where it costs 100 decibels.
• Classrooms should be well equipped so that something can be done with your hands.
• Let teachers be advisors, not teachers, and be willing to listen and hear, not to be frightened by assessments.
• More space for sports and exercise.
• Open spaces, not closed spaces

And now all over America, money is already being sought and found for this, and large. Everyone got excited. And no one is bashing their foreheads against laws and regulations. No one is hysterical – oh, how bad it is, no one understands, no one hears.

Interestingly, all the local administrators and editors say that even if they do not win the prize, they will not remain the same as before, but will change greatly. Because in the whole country there was a very different aura.

And now in the semifinals came the best 50 winners.

How do I know all this?

Because I was the only foreigner. And our team is one of those 50! I submitted my project for a 5***** star school (which radically changes the entire education system). Although there were restrictions for foreigners, I was allowed to join one of the groups.

Our group made it to this semifinal, which Lauren Jobs announced on all major American TV channels. If the XQ project becomes a springboard for a broader movement, Americans hope the archaic school will swap for a brand new one. If not, America will be overtaken by other countries. I forgot to mention that the whole project is called the XQ Super School Project.





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The only thing I can decipher is the name XQ. They thought for a long time how to label the brand of the competition. The first thing that came to mind was to use the acronym IQ. But then I realized that education was already using EQ. And here we are faced with the fact that the new “coefficient” is unknown to anyone. That’s why they designated it with the letter X. It turned out XQ.







Source: makataka.ru/life/3547-vdova-stiva-dzhobsa-organizovala-v-ssha-obrazovatelnyy-vzryv.html