Schools urgently need a redesign. Here's how - Aylon Samouha

You're listening to ted talks daily where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, elise Hugh. It's probably safe to say most of us want our children to get a good education. But what does a good education actually look like in a rapidly changing world? Is the schooling my daughters get preparing them in the ways they need? In today's talk education innovator aon Samoa takes us on a journey from Brooklyn to Washington, D C to rural north Dakota, giving us a glimpse of a movement that's rethinking every aspect of learning through community based design, transforming classrooms into places where all young people feel seen, engaged and ready to build the world ahead.

欢迎收听TED每日演讲，我们每天为您带来激发好奇心的新想法。我是主持人埃莉斯·休。可以这么说，我们大多数人都希望自己的孩子能接受良好的教育。但是，在一个快速变化的世界里，良好的教育究竟是什么样的？我女儿们接受的学校教育，是否在以她们需要的方式为她们做好准备？在今天的演讲中，教育创新者埃隆·萨摩亚将带领我们踏上一段从布鲁克林到华盛顿特区，再到北达科他州乡村的旅程，让我们一窥一场正在通过基于社区的设计，重新思考学习方方面面的运动——这场运动正在将教室转变为所有年轻人都感到被看见、被关注并准备好建设未来世界的地方。

You're never seen a school like this. In the middle of the Brooklyn navy yard, surrounded by cranes, startups, design Studios, young people aren't just. Sitting in classrooms, they're creating digital marketing campaigns for small businesses, wiring real houses. Down the hall, a student named natalia is hacking websites safely with the guidance of cybersecurity pros. These students are part of the Brooklyn steam center, a public high school that looks and feels more like an engineering studio than a traditional classroom.

你从未见过这样的学校。在布鲁克林海军造船厂的中心，被起重机、初创公司、设计工作室环绕，年轻人并非只是坐在教室里。他们正在为小企业创建数字营销活动，为真实的房屋布线。在大厅那头，一位名叫娜塔莉亚的学生正在网络安全专家的指导下安全地进行网站渗透测试。这些学生是布鲁克林STEAM中心的一部分，这是一所公立高中，它的外观和氛围更像一个工程工作室，而非传统的教室。

They're earning college ready diplomas and industry credentials. They're building professional networks while discovering what they're good at in the real world. And none of it happened by accident. I lead a school design organization called transcend, and when we began working with the Brooklyn community, our first step wasn't to bring in a program. It was to listen. Students, families, educators, local employers all told us the same thing. We want learning that actually connects to the world. Kids are growing into so with the school's founders, we stitch together decades of practice and research, career connected learning, project based learning, purpose development.

他们正在获得大学预备文凭和行业证书。他们在建立专业人脉的同时，也发现了自己在现实世界中擅长什么。这一切都不是偶然发生的。我领导着一个名为“超越”（Transcend）的学校设计组织。当我们开始与布鲁克林社区合作时，我们的第一步并非引进一个项目，而是倾听。学生、家庭、教育工作者、本地雇主都告诉我们同样的事情：我们想要真正与世界相连的学习。因此，我们与学校创始人一起，整合了数十年的实践与研究——职业连通式学习、项目式学习、目标培养。

The result? A learning experience that's rigorous, relevant and engaging, not about regurgitating content. But about solving real problems? Not what do I need to know for the test? But what can I build that matters? And when you see it, it feels obvious. Of course, schools should be like this. But if it's so obvious, why am I on the stage telling you about it? And what does it cost us when most students never get to learn this way?

结果呢？是一种严谨、相关且引人入胜的学习体验，重点不在于复述内容，而在于解决真实问题。不是问“考试需要我知道什么？”，而是问“我能创造什么有价值的东西？”。当你看到它时，会觉得理所当然。学校当然应该是这样。但如果这么明显，我为何还要站在这里告诉大家？当大多数学生从未有机会以这种方式学习时，我们付出了什么代价？

Transcend recently surveyed70,000 students across the US. Less than half said they love school. Two thirds said it's boring. Less than4% said they get a chance to explore and be in charge of their own learning. And the older students get, the worse it gets. Nearly three quarters of third graders say they love school. But by high school? Barely a quarter say they do. And the data is just telling us what every parent already knows, you ask. How was school today? And you hear one word, fine. But fine isn't fine. It's the sound of potential quietly fading.

“超越”组织近期在全美调查了7万名学生。不到一半的学生说他们热爱学校。三分之二的学生说学校很无聊。不到4%的学生说他们有机会探索并主导自己的学习。而且学生年纪越大，情况越糟。近四分之三的三年级学生说他们热爱学校。但到了高中呢？只有不到四分之一的学生这么说。数据只是说出了每个家长心知肚明的事实：你问“今天学校怎么样？”，得到的回答只有一个词：“还行。”但“还行”并不好。那是潜力悄然消退的声音。

Here's the truth most of us don't say out loud. School isn't broken. It's doing exactly what it was designed to do over a century ago. It was built for the factory age. To standardize, sort and prepare young people for predictable jobs. It worked. For the time literacy Rose, the middle class grew. But today, our graduates aren't heading to assembly lines. They're stepping into a world being reshaped by AI. We thriving depends on knowing who you are, discerning fact from fiction. Knowing how to keep learning, creating, collaborating and indeed coexisting with others.

这是我们大多数人不愿大声说出的真相：学校并没有“坏掉”。它正在精准地执行一个多世纪前为它设定的任务。它是为工厂时代而建的，旨在标准化、分类年轻人，并为他们从事可预测的工作做准备。它曾经是成功的。在那个时代，识字率上升，中产阶级壮大。但今天，我们的毕业生并非走向流水线。他们正步入一个被人工智能重塑的世界。我们的蓬勃发展取决于认识自我、辨别真伪、懂得如何持续学习、创造、协作并与他人共存。

That's why I believe our task isn't merely to improve schools, it's to redesign them for a new purpose. A purpose worthy of the15,000 hours every young person spends in k twelve schooling. A purpose that shapes our very dem*cracy because. As my mentor puts it, what happens in classrooms today? Is what will happen in society tomorrow. But realizing this vision has never been easy. For decades, we've been trapped between two extremes, top down reforms that can ignore local realities or bottom up efforts that often depend on heroic and exhausted educators.

这就是为什么我相信我们的任务不仅仅是改进学校，而是为了一个全新的目的来重新设计它们。一个配得上每个年轻人在K-12教育中花费的15000小时的目的。一个塑造我们民*本身的目的，因为正如我的导师所说：“今天教室里发生的事，就是明天社会将要发生的事。”但实现这一愿景绝非易事。几十年来，我们一直陷于两个极端之间：可能忽视地方实际的自上而下的改革，或是常常依赖英雄式但已精疲力竭的教育工作者的自下而上的努力。

But there's a third way. Community based design. Community based design takes the best of both approaches. It brings together the wisdom of lived experience with the wisdom of research. The assets of communities with the assets of proven tools and practices to make change that's both human and enduring. It's the best of design thinking, r and d and community participation applied to the life of a school.

但还有第三条路：基于社区的设计。它汲取了两种路径的优点，将生活经验的智慧与研究的智慧相结合，将社区的资产与经过验证的工具和实践资产融合，从而创造出既人性化又持久的变革。这是将设计思维、研发和社区参与应用于学校生命的最佳实践。

That's how Brooklyn steam came to be. It's also how Van ness elementary in Washington, dc. Redesign school around a simple idea. Kids learn best when they feel seen. We brought together families, educators, district leaders. To imagine school that truly centered the whole child. Nurturing mind, body and relationships while confronting the real trauma that many students carried into school. So we integrated effective practices from other settings. Morning circles replaced roll call mindfulness breaks alongside rigorous lessons. Measures on student belonging that matter as much as test scores do.

布鲁克林STEAM中心就是这样诞生的。华盛顿特区的范内斯小学也是如此，它围绕一个简单的理念重新设计了学校：当孩子们感到被看见时，他们学得最好。我们汇集了家庭、教育工作者、学区领导者，共同构想一所真正以孩子全面发展为中心的学校，在滋养心智、身体和人际关系的同时，直面许多学生带入学校的真实创伤。因此，我们整合了其他环境中的有效实践：晨间圆圈取代点名；正念休息与严谨课程并存；衡量学生归属感的标准与考试成绩同等重要。

After months of piloting and iterating. These pieces came together into a coherent model where every student feels safe connected. And ready to learn when I visited, I saw a seven year old named j Lisa who had an emotional outburst in the classroom. Her friend amara gently guided her to a calming space. Where they practiced breathing together within minutes, ja was back on track. No tension, no punishment. Just learning for both of them. That's why, even as other dc schools issue dozens or more suspensions each year. Vanas issued none and exceeded district averages in reading and math.

经过数月的试点和迭代，这些碎片拼凑成了一个连贯的模型，让每个学生都感到安全、被连接并准备好学习。当我参观时，我看到一个名叫J丽莎的七岁女孩在教室里情绪爆发。她的朋友阿玛拉温柔地引导她到一个*静空间，她们一起练习呼吸，几分钟内J丽莎就回到了正轨。没有紧张，没有惩罚。只是两个人都在学习。这就是为什么，即使华盛顿特区其他学校每年发出数十次或更多的停学处分，范内斯小学却一次也没有，并且在阅读和数学方面超过了学区*均水*。

Today, one in four dc elementary schools is adopting this approach, and it's spreading to more than100 schools across the country. Yeah, and community based design works in places that couldn't be more different. It's how Matthew, a high school senior in rural north Dakota, went from dozing through class to forging his own path. In every sense of the word, after discovering blacksmithing, his school was ready because it had been redesigned around real world learning. He had the structure and freedom to turn his curiosity into craft, applying math, science and design to building a small business of his own.

如今，华盛顿特区四分之一的小学正在采用这种方法，并且它正在向全美100多所学校推广。是的，基于社区的设计在截然不同的地方也同样有效。正是通过这种方式，北达科他州农村的高中生马修，从在课堂上打瞌睡到锻造了自己的道路。在发现铁匠工艺后，他的学校已经准备好——因为它已围绕现实世界学习重新设计。他拥有将好奇心转化为手艺的结构和自由，运用数学、科学和设计来建立自己的小生意。

Now imagine pairing community based design with today's technology. AI can help us accelerate learning and facilitate immersive experiences that spark every student's passion. So that thousands more Matthews can find their purpose if we design on purpose. From Brooklyn to dc to north Dakota in500 schools across the country, we've seen what happens when communities design, learning around how young people actually learn and live when you put student experience, engagement, motivation in the center.

现在，想象一下将基于社区的设计与当今的技术相结合。人工智能可以帮助我们加速学习，并提供能点燃每个学生热情的沉浸式体验。这样，如果我们有目的地去设计，成千上万像马修一样的学生就能找到他们的目标。从布鲁克林到华盛顿特区，再到北达科他州，在全国500所学校中，我们目睹了当社区围绕年轻人如何实际学习和生活进行设计，当你将学生的体验、参与度和动力置于中心时所发生的一切。

Not as a bonus, but as a driving principle, everything changes. The data backs it up. Students who experience engaging, high quality learning have higher grades, stronger attendance, fewer behavior issues. But the magic isn't in the numbers. It's in the spark. You see, when a student realizes I belong here. I can do this. I'm learning with purpose. I can make something that matters. I know. I want that for my own kids.

不是作为附加项，而是作为驱动原则，一切都会改变。数据支持这一点。体验过引人入胜、高质量学习的学生成绩更高、出勤率更强、行为问题更少。但魔力不在于数字，而在于那闪烁的火花。你看，当一个学生意识到“我属于这里。我能做到。我有目的地学习。我能创造有价值的东西。”我知道。我希望我自己的孩子也能拥有这些。

And of course, I'm not alone. Every parent, educator, every community wants schools that keep growing with the world around them. School cannot be something we redesign once a century. We need community based design as a muscle. Not a program or an initiative. Something built in, not bolted on. A continuous way of evolving how we do school together. So when we ask. And how are the children? Let's make sure the answer isn't fine. Let it be, they're engaged. They're thriving. And they're transforming the world. Thank you.

当然，我并不孤单。每位家长、教育工作者、每个社区都希望学校能与其周围的世界共同成长。学校不能成为我们一个世纪才重新设计一次的东西。我们需要将基于社区的设计作为一种能力，而非一个项目或倡议。是内嵌的，而非附加的。是一种我们共同推动学校持续进化的方式。所以，当我们问“孩子们怎么样了？”时，让我们确保答案不是“还行”。让我们能够回答：他们全心投入、茁壮成长，并且正在改变世界。谢谢。

That was Elon Samoa speaking at tedne2025. Thisambitious idea is part of the audacious project ted's initiative to inspire and fund global change. Learn more at audaciousproject dot org.

以上是埃隆·萨摩亚在TED2025上的演讲。这个雄心勃勃的想法是TED的“大胆计划”倡议的一部分，旨在激励和资助全球变革。了解更多请访问 audaciousproject.org。