Reflection on The Documentary Most Likely to Succeed

While watching the documentary Most Likely to Succeed. I learned about High Tech High and it was quite interesting, I knew that there were schools like this around the world, but I had never looked into what that kind of education system actually entailed, and it was so far from the way I was educated growing up. One of the things that stood out to me was the emphasis on project-based learning, student choice and collaboration. Instead of students simply completing assignments for a teacher, they are given opportunities to explore and create something that has a purpose and meaning beyond just receiving a grade.

I found the idea of giving students more ownership over their learning especially interesting. Students in High Tech High are encouraged to follow their interests and make decisions about their projects. This made me think about how much more invested students become when they have a personal connection to what they are learning. When I was able to have choice in my projects throughout my schooling, I was definitely more engaged in what I was doing. It also changes the role of the teacher. Rather than being the person who provides all the information and gives direct instruction, the teacher becomes more of a facilitator who supports students as they discover, create, make mistakes, and adapt their ideas.

High Tech High also made me reflect on the importance of allowing students to fail, change things and keep going. Learning does not always happen on the first time. Students have opportunities to try something, receive feedback, make changes, and try again, that mistakes can become part of the process rather than something students should be afraid of. I think this is an important part of learning and something that is incorporated into the B.C curriculum https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/ and has really been highlighted as being part of the EKTEP program.

I can also empathize with the parents of these students’ hesitation towards High Tech High with their kids experiencing vastly different education then they have been exposed too. The founders of this school do say that they are diving deeper into topics but that also comes with covering less content. With that decrease in variety of information it would make me apprehensive too as a parent, because the overarching education system in America is based on curriculum testing not on specialization and depth of understanding. I think High Tech High is helping kids build skills for careers and the real world, but I think in some ways lacks preparing them to navigate the system that many have to go through to achieve those careers through post secondary.

Overall, High Tech High made me think differently about what a classroom can be. I like the idea of creating a learning environment where students have more choice, where their interests are valued. As a future teacher, I would like to incorporate some of these ideas into my own teaching while still providing students with the structure and support they need. High Tech High showed me that learning can come in many different ways. Students can learn by creating, collaborating, questioning, and doing meaningful work.