0:00:00.880,0:00:09.880
It's crazy that in a system that is meant to teach and help the youth,

0:00:09.900,0:00:12.900
there's no voice from the youth at all.

0:00:28.498,0:00:32.250
If students designed their own schools, what would school look like?

0:00:32.250,0:00:35.070
SANDY: Crime and Punishment is first and foremost a test.

0:00:35.070,0:00:36.359


0:00:36.359,0:00:40.789
Probably something like this: no quizzes, no grades, not even classes.

0:00:43.789,0:00:47.789
And most of the time, no teachers or any adults in the classroom.

0:00:48.109,0:00:54.100
Sandy: It's a completely alternative academic program. We have 9 kids in it.

0:00:54.100,0:01:00.100
We look at the 4 main bodies of learning: English, Math, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences.

0:01:03.100,0:01:07.780
This is a school within a public high school, designed by the students themselves.

0:01:07.780,0:01:11.560
The program, known as the Independent Project, runs for one semester

0:01:11.560,0:01:13.530
and is divided into three parts.

0:01:13.560,0:01:18.530
All follow the same basic rule: design your own learning.

0:01:18.530,0:01:23.349
Every monday, each students comes up with a question he or she is curious about.

0:01:23.349,0:01:26.548
It should be related to one of their core subjects.

0:01:27.000,0:01:30.459
Peter: The most important thing about your question is that you actually want to know the answer.

0:01:30.718,0:01:34.718
They spend the week doing research or experimentation.

0:01:37.700,0:01:41.960
And on Friday, they give a formal presentation to share what they've learned.

0:01:41.959,0:01:46.959
Peter: If the question is yours, the answer is going to feel great when you obtain it.

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Peter: My goal every presentation is to be as engaging as possible

0:01:53.000,0:02:02.299
and make my care for my subject as infectious as possible - try to make everyone catch it.

0:02:02.799,0:02:07.679
The week I visited, the questions touched on diverse topics that included...

0:02:07.679,0:02:11.280
unexplained mysteries, the novel Crime and Punishment,

0:02:11.280,0:02:17.860
the naturalist John Muir, a local music establishment called Music Inn,

0:02:18.110,0:02:20.000
and HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

0:02:20.110,0:02:24.600
Jake: For a week, I went out and took a flight lesson

0:02:24.979,0:02:27.000
and built myself a model airplane.

0:02:27.000,0:02:30.860
Each day, I wanted to know why a wing generates lift.

0:02:30.860,0:02:36.799
And it was that question that kept guiding me through all this research and it was fun research.

0:02:36.930,0:02:41.930
These weekly questions usually take up half of their time.

0:02:49.209,0:02:51.310
The other half is spent on their individual endeavor,

0:02:51.310,0:02:56.000
which is a much more ambitious project that they work on for the entire term.

0:02:56.000,0:03:03.968
Some learn to play an instrument for the very first time and put on a recital.

0:03:04.968,0:03:06.099
Sergio: In two short years, I've learned

0:03:06.289,0:03:10.000
to play the piano fairly well. I can play with other people.

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I'm in a band now. I can hold a beat.[br]I can play.

0:03:15.908,0:03:19.658
Others work on writing a book and a collection of poems.

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Matt: I try to write 2 to 4 hours a day.[br]A 1 hour day is really bad

0:03:27.658,0:03:30.658
and a 5 or 6 hour day is excellent.

0:03:30.919,0:03:37.718
Some choose to devote their time to researching topics such as education or the environment.

0:03:40.718,0:03:44.718
Again, it's whatever they decide, as long as it demonstrates effort, learning

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and a mastery of skills.

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Joe: The thing you center your semester around doesn't have to be academic.

0:03:51.209,0:03:55.628
It can be something that you can really develop a strong passion for.

0:03:55.759,0:04:01.000
Peter: This year my Individual Endeavor has been a complete blast.

0:04:03.699,0:04:07.699
I've been making a mockumentary of the kids in my school.

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It's been an organic process, a lot of improv. There's no script. I've been making it up as I go.

0:04:22.569,0:04:25.889
I think I've gotten better work from having it open ended.

0:04:25.889,0:04:29.710
Your friends can suddenly think of something and you build onto that and they build back onto that

0:04:29.709,0:04:36.709
and you have something that's 20 times funnier than you originally thought.

0:04:45.079,0:04:49.639
Aside from the weekly questions and the Individual Endeavor, students also spend the last three weeks

0:04:49.639,0:04:56.639
working on a group project, called the Collective Endeavor.

0:04:57.579,0:05:04.579
Here, they are starting to debate what they should do.

0:05:05.000,0:05:09.000
The goal of the Collective Endeavor is to produce social impact and to make a difference.

0:05:09.199,0:05:13.000
Peter: Just tell me why you're clearly not digging it and I want to know why.

0:05:17.079,0:05:21.079
But as you can see, it's also a chance for this group to practice collaboration skills

0:05:22.079,0:05:26.079
and to unite around a common cause.

0:05:34.550,0:05:38.740
Self-directed learning in small doses can be found at many schools

0:05:38.740,0:05:41.740
but few public schools have taken it to this extreme.

0:05:41.740,0:05:47.500
Giving students full control of their school day was a big gamble on the part of the principal,

0:05:47.500,0:05:51.788
Marianne Young: "My personal and professional investment

0:05:51.788,0:05:58.788
in these opportunities is to create a school and a way of educating young people

0:05:58.788,0:06:02.000
that allows them to be completely invested

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and to stop trying to move every kind of human being through the same gate."

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When the Independent Project was first proposed,

0:06:17.418,0:06:20.008
it was met with a lot of resistance from some of the teachers,

0:06:20.009,0:06:25.919
who felt there were too many unanswered questions.[br]"What's the role of the teacher?

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Who decides what's good work?[br]Who decides what earns credit

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and merits a diploma from this high school?

0:06:37.110,0:06:40.110
The project did find strong support from the guidance counselor

0:06:40.110,0:06:42.689
and a few teachers who became advisors.

0:06:42.689,0:06:46.689
So Principal Young agreed to pilot it not once but twice.

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This is the second pilot.

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Lisa Baldwin: It's a pretty good risk to[br]take on a student to allow them an opportunity

0:06:53.220,0:07:00.220
for this sort of independent freedom and thinking because it can't really fail.

0:07:05.050,0:07:08.050
I can't tell you how many times the question get me thinking

0:07:08.050,0:07:13.050
and then I go and try to learn or refresh.

0:07:14.110,0:07:19.110
Everyone has gained or will gain something positive.

0:07:23.158,0:07:26.560
After two trials, what tangible benefits do they see?

0:07:26.560,0:07:31.560
First the Independent Project seems to accommodate different types of learners:

0:07:31.560,0:07:35.000
both the straight A students and those who have been struggling academically.

0:07:35.000,0:07:40.000
Sergio: I have dyslexia so it's very hard reading and writing and doing those sorts of things.

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School has always been a big problem for me. If not for this program,

0:07:45.009,0:07:50.000
I don't know if I'd be graduating. I don't know where I would be right now.

0:07:50.000,0:07:55.329
So I think this has been my savior and got me through the last two years of high school.

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Free from assigned work and tests, they are able to focus on the one thing

0:07:59.000,0:08:03.089
that motivates everyone to learn:[br]their own passions.

0:08:03.089,0:08:09.089
Joe: I think I've stayed up at night doing work more times this semester

0:08:09.089,0:08:12.310
than in previous 3 years of high school.

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Sandy: I think every single person wants to learn about something.

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Even kids who are barely going to classes - they want to learn something

0:08:22.000,0:08:28.149
and whether that's auto mechanics or the physics of skateboarding

0:08:28.149,0:08:33.149
or how ice cream is made. Everybody's interested in something.

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And this gives you the room and space to really learn whatever you want.

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Another key benefit: learning becomes a group activity.

0:08:42.129,0:08:49.750
There's mutual support every step of the way, starting with the morning check in.

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Mike: It's called the Independent Project but I don't think it can be any more

0:08:58.000,0:09:00.860
dependent on a number of things.

0:09:00.860,0:09:03.879
This program is really dependent on people working together.

0:09:03.879,0:09:10.028
It's dependent on people pushing each other, giving constructive criticism, giving support,

0:09:10.028,0:09:13.019
giving praise. It's dependent on people using resources and finding resources.

0:09:13.019,0:09:18.250
It's dependent on being creative. It's dependent on learning how to ask a question.

0:09:18.470,0:09:23.240
Peter: Group dynamic is everything. That's like one of the most important concepts of

0:09:23.240,0:09:27.000
this program: You are not only doing it for yourself

0:09:27.000,0:09:29.600
but you're doing it for your group-mates. It's like a team.

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Sophie: I enjoy being with people as interested in what they're doing

0:09:37.000,0:09:42.179
as I am in what I'm doing even though we're not doing the same thing.

0:09:44.889,0:09:49.000
Peer support also means peer pressure to stay on track

0:09:49.000,0:09:50.929
and follow through on your commitments.

0:09:51.519,0:09:57.730
Annalena: If you blow off the independent project, you're letting 8

0:09:57.730,0:10:02.000
of your friends down and that feels a lot different than getting a D on a test.

0:10:02.000,0:10:10.549
It feels a lot worse so in that way, there's a lot more pressure to do well than in normal school

0:10:10.549,0:10:12.500
because in normal school you're letting down one person,

0:10:12.500,0:10:16.740
whereas here you're impacting a huge group of people really negatively.

0:10:16.740,0:10:26.000
Do you guys criticize each other?[br]Yes, period. Yes. That's definitely the hardest part.

0:10:26.339,0:10:31.000
The most visible benefit however is the ownership that students feel over their learning.

0:10:31.000,0:10:37.470
Sandy's presentation on Crime and Punishment sparked a lively discussion but didn't go as planned.

0:10:46.339,0:10:50.930
Although no one else noticed it, he felt he lost control of what he wanted to say.

0:10:50.929,0:10:56.799
SANDY: I just faltered and I couldn't get[br]the grasp on the book I wanted to grasp.

0:10:56.799,0:11:02.219
And what really frustrated me was that I wanted to give them a taste of what I have learned and

0:11:02.220,0:11:05.259
it felt like the taste I gave them was probably rancid.

0:11:05.259,0:11:08.259
I slipped up on that and that kind of made me upset.

0:11:08.259,0:11:11.629
For the following week, he assigned himself a five page essay

0:11:11.629,0:11:15.629
so he can present his thoughts more coherently.

0:11:22.169,0:11:27.049
During another presentation, Joe started to describe a logic problem he learned to solve.

0:11:31.049,0:11:35.049
Before he could present the answer and without any prompting from him,

0:11:35.759,0:11:38.319
the other students formed two small groups

0:11:38.759,0:11:42.319
and solved the problem themselves, using two different approaches.

0:11:42.320,0:11:48.680
Sandy: I like the way you guys did it. That's a much more innovative way to do it.

0:11:48.679,0:11:52.039
This is like, I don't have anything else, I'm just going to go for it.

0:11:52.039,0:11:56.819
Peter: The world we're coming into right now - we're going to really be on our own.

0:11:56.820,0:12:01.000
We're not going to be able to rely on our elders telling us what to do.

0:12:01.000,0:12:07.409
It's going to be us telling us what to do and responsible for the next generation trying to help them.

0:12:07.409,0:12:17.209
The only way we can learn lessons and be individuals and autonomous is if we do it by ourselves.

0:12:17.399,0:12:19.299
Are students capable of teaching themselves?

0:12:20.500,0:12:24.610
And is it enough for teachers to be mentors and coaches?

0:12:24.610,0:12:27.919
These are the tough questions being asked and tested

0:12:27.919,0:12:30.929
at the most innovative schools around the world.

0:12:30.929,0:12:33.929
Marianne Young: I think the more options we have in our schools

0:12:33.929,0:12:41.929
the more students we will help develop into the citizens we need.

0:12:42.528,0:12:46.649
And it's ok for you to need a little bit of a different approach from mine.

0:12:47.000,0:12:51.320
Mike Powell: The power of a young mind is pretty impressive. One, they're so resilient.

0:12:51.320,0:12:57.690
Two, they're extremely creative.[br]Three, they're fearless. They'll try anything.

0:12:57.690,0:13:02.899
So the qualities that many many teenagers have go very well with a program like this,

0:13:02.899,0:13:05.919
which makes sense… it was developed by a teenager.

0:13:05.919,0:13:09.860
The Independent Project itself continues to evolve...

0:13:09.860,0:13:13.980
but students are taking pride in the fact that dozens of schools around the world

0:13:13.980,0:13:16.000
have already expressed interest in their model

0:13:16.000,0:13:19.000
and may soon replicate their program elsewhere.

0:13:19.000,0:13:26.940
Sandy: It would mean the world to me if just one other school saw this video and said,

0:13:26.940,0:13:31.410
"Let's start an Independent Project."[br]That's all I want.

0:13:32.000,0:13:35.899
If that happens then more students will finally get to have

0:13:35.899,0:13:42.899
their say in how to reform education for the 21st century.