On Friday we had a visit from Jeff Hopkins, founder of PSII, the Pacific School Innovation & Inquiry, who I had first seen speak in his compelling TedTalk at the beginning of the semester. Jeff seems like an extremely easygoing and personable kind of guy, though I can tell he’s driven by a passion to see education reformed to cater to students’ genuine interests in the world. It seems he’s definitely doing a good job of that at PSII.

His programs sound like they have essentially tossed out the old-school, industrial revolution style of assembly-line education, which we still largely use to this day, with our scheduled bells and blocks of time. It also sounds like his students are far more motivated to complete the projects they want to work on; he claims many of his students have already published novels, others are starting businesses, and some are even working on a particle accelerator!? Another aspect of his school that’s appealing is the complete disregard for age, which I think is a totally arbitrary means of organizing students. After all, people have different abilities, interests, and speeds of physical and brain development. What a fantastic idea to allow students to congregate with their peers based on common interest and not the year they happened to born.

I suppose my only concerns at this point are about what happens to students after they “finish” their studies at PSII, whenever that may be. Jeff did state that a number of his courses or programs link with school districts or universities, but it doesn’t sound as though everything offered does. I’m sure there are some ways within his system to meet certain competencies that post-secondary institutions expect students to meet.

Either way, it’s hard not to find his passion for changing the shape of education inspiring. He has a clear goal of what education should and can be, and he’s doing everything in his power to make it happen. Whoever he brings along for the ride will be considered educational trailblazers.