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Last week Big Picture Education CEO Viv White presented at the 2015 ACE National Conference in Brisbane alongside other leading Australian education thinkers and practitioners.
Hosted by the Australian College of Educators and titled “Educators on the Edge: Big ideas for change and innovation,” the conference focused on cutting edge, creative and innovative educational practices, both nationally and internationally.
In her workshop, Big Picture Learning: why this, why now?, White explained how the Big Picture Learning design engages students, with evidence from 10 years of practice in Australian high schools and 20 years in American high schools.
"For students who have given up on learning, Big Picture Education is an authentic and successful breakthrough strategy. Students pursue their passions and interests, are connected with the community through internships, are immersed in real, complex and engaging learning, are focused on their futures - and are succeeding."
White acknowledged that broadscale change in educational practice is fraught with difficulty. "Those at the edge of innovation have an uncomfortable existence; they are challenging the years and even decades of misdirected reform. Much of what passes as school reform represents distraction and avoidance of intractable problems."
Despite these difficulties, White asserted that reform and change in education is vital - "because business as usual will put us out of business."
"Big Picture Learning is not just an idea. For thousands of students in Australia - and across the globe - it’s a reality. We’ve done the research, we know it works, and we are impacting lives - one student at a time."
