August 15th, The Guardian published an article in response to Rutger Bregman’s latest book, Humankind: A Hopeful History. Bregman describes his experiences after visiting Agora in Roermond (NL):
‘Can schools operate on a wholly different view of human nature? What if we give children much more freedom to play and learn on their own? The thing that moved me the most while I was researching my latest book was visiting such a school in the Netherlands. This school, Agora, relies on the intrinsic motivation of the children. There are no classes or classrooms, no homework or grades, no tests, no timetables. There is almost no hierarchy within the staff. Often, there is no hierarchy at all – the students are the ones in charge. ‘
Agora appears in The Guardian as 1 of the 21 brilliant ideas to remake the world.
I’m a little proud of that!