Different Wants, Different Needs

After writing the other day about the idea of the ‘ideal learning experience,’ I kept thinking about something that cannot be ignored when thinking about and planning for a school design. It’s something fundamental to the way we live in 2025, and the more I think about it, the more I wonder if how schools currently exist could ever serve this reality → we live in a continuously individualized/personalized/fragmented society. More than ever, we have the freedom and flexibility to choose how we shop, how we travel, how we dine, how we consume entertainment, etc. 

It often works to take a notion like this and compartmentalize it out by saying something like “yeah, that’s life as an adult, but it’s different for our kids.” Here’s the thing though…our kids are living their lives and experiencing their realities in the same way. Kids watch shows, movies, and even sports on their phones as much as on a TV (probably more). YouTube might be one of their largest educational providers. I’ve known kids as young as 10 or 11 ordering DoorDash for a meal. They learn about new music via TikTok, not the Radio/MTV/etc. On top of all those things, we know more and more about how students learn in different ways, may have different strengths, weaknesses, and preferences, and come from a wider array of backgrounds and experiences than ever before. 

So when I think about all of that, and then also think about a concept like “The Ideal Learning Experience," I wonder just how to make those two things come together. Can it work? Is it possible? Does the type of school/district/system exist out there that serves all students and meets all their different needs while also lifting everyone up by providing that “Ideal” experience? This is what I would like to explore. If there are examples out there to learn from then it’s important to learn from those instances. 

I am also left with larger questions worthy of exploring and chewing on…

*Does school need to look/feel/exist the same for everyone?

*What aspects of this is how we’ve always done it need to stay around? Go by the wayside? Be updated?

*What other things can/should schools offer students?

*If the saying “Don’t let schooling get in the way of your education” is true, how can we instead make schools the primary conduit or instigating factor in a child’s true education? 

This journey may take a while, and may lack a lot of rhyme and reason along the way. In fact, I’m not even sure what it will look like, but I think it will be interesting.