338 THE PROB LEMS OF EDUCATION ARE NOT GE NE TICcommunicate their work (and thus, perhaps, to think about it more
clearly and explic itly).
Such students, so far, are a fortunate few. Th is is no doubt because such
real learning proj ects are subversive to the other aims of education. But
they need not be so special—if only we could drop the ideology of innate
potential and the exam factory model of schooling.
In such real- life prob lems, all the aims and objectives of any accept-
able school curriculum could be worked out. Th e above experiments need
to be extended to workplaces and institutions of all kinds. Association
with such meaningful contexts would not only develop abstract concepts in
a grounded way, but also engender economic sense, a sense of worthwhile-
ness about activities in schools, as well as civic identity and responsibility.
Such ideas are now being explored around the world as radical solutions
to the current dismal state of education. For example, the Innovation Unit
in London is working with schools on some experimental approaches.
On their website, they refer to research from the United States showing
that “Learning Th rough REAL Proj ects” (REAL being an acronym for Rig-
orous, Engaging, Au then tic Learning) has signifi cant impact on pupil
development and engagement. “REAL Proj ects allow teachers to formulate
lessons and activities around a single complex enquiry, and require students
to produce high quality outputs with real- world application... students
acquire subject knowledge systematically as part of the pro cess of producing
outputs, and are assessed for the quality of the work produced.”^32
In another document, they say that prescription for a twenty- fi rst-
century education system must include the following ingredients:
Students learn through “meaningful proj ects... of genuine value (to
themselves, to the community, or to a client).”
School is a “base camp” for enquiry not merely “the place you go to
acquire knowledge” but also “for enquiries that will take students
into their communities, and online.”
Learners collaborate in their learning, rather than “consuming” it.
Education takes advantage of digital technologies and helps students
become both digitally literate and digitally adept.^33I see no reason why these goals could not be achieved in vari ous ways
involving local communities. Plenty of genuine prob lems are available
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