LUMINARIA

What is Luminaria?

The Luminaria Educational Philosophy recognises and develops children as truly whole human beings – cultivating a balance of character strengths, a robust and inquisitive mind, and the fluency to work collaboratively to transform ideas into impact.

The Luminaria model also helps the children build empathy, ethical grounding, and critical thinking - all imbued with authentic purpose and meaning. It prepares children to understand, contribute to, and become courageous architects— rather than mere participants in — a future world.

This was the brainchild of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Susan Wu, 44. Ms Wu has been hailed as one of the most influential women in technology, and has advised many influential companies such as Twitter and Reddit.

The Luminaria model claims to balance hard S.T.E.M. subjects, like computer programing, with soft skills like emotional intelligence and teamwork that are increasingly sought by employers. Ms. Wu said the model was based on a concept in physics known as first principles, in which ideas are reduced to their purest form, unencumbered by assumptions, analogies or biases

How is this model being used?

It is based on 5 fundamental building blocks – building knowledge from first principles, cultivating systems thinking orientation and holistic synthesis on Social Emotional Learning and STEM, by ensuring that 70% of learning happens via hands on maker projects, with authentic world purpose and meaning.

This means Luminaria equips children to use and develop tools, as well as make effective tool choices, across a variety of disciplines: reasoning, executive functioning, effective decision making, navigating interpersonal relationships, collaborating productively in teams, developing fluency in metacognition, and much more.

What has been done?

In Williamestown, Australia, Ms Wu and her team have opened a school Lumineer Academy. Ms Wu said she and her co-founders, Ms Sophie Fenton and Ms Amanda Tawhai, pack a one-two punch that combines her business acumen with their knowledge of education.

At Lumineer Academy, there is no homework, classrooms, uniforms or traditional grades. Instead, there are “creator spaces,” “blue-sky thinking” sessions and “pitch decks.” Rooms are furnished with wide whiteboards, bean bags and tables to stand at while working. Classrooms are called “studios” and students are encouraged to build their own wardrobes within a prescribed palette.

Ms Susan Wu, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur

photo: ny times

There are 130 students enrolled and tuition costs around 10,000 Australian dollars, or $10,245.

Walking in allows you to see students creating “pitch decks” — tech jargon for a PowerPoint presentation — aimed at persuading the group to collaborate with them on a project, while visiting “creator spaces”, will allow you to see students working on their projects.

There is evidence of tech-world thinking throughout the school. The students outline their thoughts using a multistep design process that can be lifted straight from a start-up’s business plan: blue-sky thinking (thinking outside the box), scope (the work and resources required), MVP (minimum viable product), delivery and launch. (Sounds like a marketing school, right?)

What do others say?

• Glenn Savage, an Australian education policy expert, said that it was difficult for the school’s lofty goals to fit within Australia’s “very structured” education system

• Critic say that students are shielded from emotional adversity in their early years and may struggle to cope when they reach high school, where traditional teaching methods await

• Though similar ventures by tech entrepreneurs have failed, Ms. Wu’s Silicon Valley peers said she was uniquely suited to founding a successful school.

• “When I saw the job advertised, I thought, ‘This can’t be true,’” said Kim Staples, a 31-year-old teacher Ms. Staples said she would have stopped teaching if she hadn’t joined Ms. Wu’s school. “I felt like I was too restricted,” she said.

• Critics see this as another attempt by Silicon Valley to churn out successful children the same way used to churn out successful apps

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/world/australia/school-tech-lumineer-academy-susan-wu.html

www.lumineer.edu.au