The time of all young people spending years “learning in advance” are ending.
The time of REAL-WORLD ACCOMPLISHMENT by young people of all ages is here and growing fast!
EMPOWERMENT HUBS are a generic designation for a 21st century alternative to schools and classrooms that is based on real-world accomplishment rather than “learning in advance.” They are not a “brand” owned by anyone, but rather an alternative way of preparing young people for their future.
EMPOWERMENT HUBS are starting to appear, worldwide, in various forms, in response to new needs and capabilities. They exist on all continents.
YOU CAN CREATE AN EMPOWERMENT HUB—AS AN INDIVIDUAL, OR AS AN ORGANIZATION. In doing so, you will help young people move more quickly and successfully into their own and future world.
Today, “school” is outdated—but is the only alternative we have.
Parents and young people in the early 21st century have no real alternative to “school.” They may be able to choose among schools in some cases, or to choose “home-schooling.” But because what goes on in practically all the schools in the world is fundamentally the same — i.e., “learning in advance”— there is really no meaningful choice. Reformers seek not to change this, but only to tweak how or where it is done, such as online or with new content. The only real alternative to school, today, is dropping out. This is a huge problem.
In the 21st century, the concepts of “learning in advance” and “schooling” are outdated. School is no longer a good fit for most of today’s young people, with their “I can/we can” attitudes, and powerful new capabilities.
While school isn’t disappearing, a better alternative for young people is already here! It is REAL-WORLD ACCOMPLISHMENT in EMPOWERMENT HUBS.
Today we are creating new places where young people can experience the self-confidence and self-esteem that comes with real-world accomplishment—starting at any age. This alternative is called, generically, EMPOWERMENT HUBS. (You can watch kids already accomplishing in the real world when they are 3 years old here.)
Empowerment Hubs are a Better Alternative for Many
They are different from academic schools in many respects:
EMPOWERMENT HUBS are already beginning to exist alongside schools on every continent—mostly isolated and under a variety of different names and brands. They exist • as virtual programs in the Cloud, • as weekend or before-school or after-school programs, • inside 4H, scouts and community centers, • as a different kind of “home schooling,” and in some cases, • as a part of existing schools. Because they require no certification, you can create one without being a “certified” school or teacher yourself. And it is time to do so.
The Three Key Differences
Three important things make an EMPOWERMENT HUB different from a school:
SELF-DIRECTION—no pre-determined curriculum,
CONTINUOUS REAL-WORLD ACCOMPLISHMENT—not learning knowledge or skills in advance, but as needed for projects, and
ALWAYS MAKING A MEASURABLE POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE WORLD—and not just personally improving young people.
ALL of the two billion young people in the world are capable of doing those three things at some level.
In an EMPOWERMENT HUB those things are expressed through young people doing— exclusively and continuously— real-world projects that they choose and create. The projects are chosen by the doers, based on some combination of • their personal dreams, interests and passions, • the problems they care about and want to help fix, and • the people in the world they want to help. Projects are done, typically, in small teams of 5-6. Team members can be local in person, or else from anywhere using electronic connections. Teams use an established methodology to do the projects, such as the “FIDS” (Feel-Imagine-Do-Share) methodology created by Design For Change, now used in over 60 countries. Other methodologies, like hackathons and competition structures, can also be used. Team members choose and recruit their own project coaches, who are not limited to “certified teachers.”
The Key Goal: Measurable Positive Impact
The key requirement for every project, large or small, is that it have a Measurable Positive Impact on some aspect of the world beyond just on the team members who are doing it. For a project to be deemed completed, team members need to be able to point to something—anything— and say:
“See that? Before, it was bad (or didn't exist). Now, because of my team’s project, it is so much better—as you can see."
How YOU Can Start an Empowerment Hub
EMPOWERMENT HUBS can be started by individuals—parents, teachers, or young people—or by organizations, at small or large scales. What is needed is:
1. At least one small team of young people (or several) self-formed around a goal they are all equally passionate about. The choice of goal, team and project must be self-directed—in an Empowerment Hub no one is told what to do or what team to join.
2. An "I CAN / WE CAN" belief on the part of the team members.
3. An objective, i.e. an initial notion of the Measurable Positive Impact each team wants to, and thinks it can make, towards a goal of realizing a dream, fixing a problem, or helping some others.
4. Time, and a place to meet regularly (this can be online.)
5. A process to go through. The FIDS process (FEEL-IMAGINE-DO-SHARE) from Design for Change is a very successful one.
6. A coach—best selected by the team—mostly to provide outside resources and con nections.
Keep in mind that the team’s goal is to create Measurable Positive Impact and Create Value where it didn't exist before. That can be large or small, but no project is done until it is created.
Categories and Goals
General categories for projects are: • REALIZING DREAMS •FIXING PROBLEMS and • HELPING OTHER PEOPLE. Sub-categories might include:
• Positively changing a local physical community.
• Directly assisting peers or others.
• Building and repairing infrastructure.
• Helping the less fortunate.
• Preserving history and legacy.
• Assisting with government functions,and
• Adding to the world’s knowledge and databases.
A slightly different kind of Empowerment Hub can be created within companies—or even industries, via associations, by collecting all the projects lower down on their priority lists (i.e. projects that they’d like to see but haven’t the resources to do) and offering them to teams in their Empowerment Hub. Team members could either be children of employees or those who want to work there—it would be, effectively, “an internship with impact.” The US military already does some of this, using particular university classes as Hubs.
Getting Help in Starting—or growing—an Empowerment Hub
If you are interested in creating or growing an Empowerment Hub, we’ve created a not-for-profit organization, The Ministry of Empowerment, Accomplishment and Impact (ministry-of-eai.org) to assist any individual or group undertaking this process. Please contact marcprensky@ministry-of-eai.org. Thank you, on behalf of all of today’s young people yearning to be empowered!
Marc Prensky has authored 10 books and is the coiner of the terms “Digital Natives” and Digital Immigrants”, both now in the Oxford English Dictionary. He worked formerly at the Boston Consulting Group. His blog is THE PRENSKY PERSPECTIVE. His most recent book is EMPOWERED!: Re-framing ‘Growing Up’ for a New Age.