The advent of COVID brought a myriad of problems to the fore in the world, including achievements difficult to swallow on the systems that surround, forge and often dictate human society. Education was among the systems affected by the global pandemic.
As students transferred their learning experiences from the classroom to their living rooms, it became apparent that the traditional educational system was not equipped to shape young minds in the midst of a pandemic. At the same time, however, the effect of the coronavirus on schools and learning has highlighted some problems that have been plaguing the education sector for some time.
Some parents, teachers and other learning advocates have spent the time that the pandemic has allowed us to try to address some of the fundamental issues that have arisen in traditional education systems around the world over the years, before COVID.
Synthesis School took a different path.
Led by Josh Dahn (Co-Founder and Creative Director), Chrisman Frank (Co-founder and CEO), and Ana fabrega (Chief Evangelist), the Synthesis School seems to get to the root of learning and education, teaching children and young adults fundamental problem solving skills through a medium that is natural for them: games.
“The synthesis school took the games that were played on the Ad Astra campus, at SpaceX’s laboratory school. We took these games and expanded them to offer to children all over the world. Their particular focus has to do with teaching bigger concepts like game theory, collaboration, network effect. What is it like to work in a team, strategy … ”, said Jessica Bogart, facilitator at Synthesis School Teslarati.
Bogart left the entertainment industry after two decades to join Synthesis School as a facilitator. She sat with Teslarati and explained the schemes of each class and how it helped enrich and cultivate the minds of young people to face the daily problems that life go throw at them.
The educational principles of Ad Astra’s Elon Musk – the SpaceX laboratory school he created for his children with the help of Josh Dahn – form the core of the School of Synthesis. Musk described the two basic principles of Ad Astra years ago as: 1) Abandon the assembly line model, with no graduation levels, and 2) Focus on the problem, not the tool.
At Synthesis, about 18-20 children are placed in groups called cohorts. Each group has a facilitator. Bogart explained that facilitators do not give lectures to their colleagues, as teachers do in a classroom.
A typical meeting begins with the cohorts entering one of the Synthesis School games and a call from Zoom. The facilitator does not give instructions about the game. Each cohort has time to explore and learn the game’s schemes on their own.
After exploring, the cohorts talk to each other to learn information that others may have discovered about the game. Then, the cohorts are divided into several groups and must navigate the game together to complete a certain objective.
“There are no wrong answers and there are no notes. It’s all about seeing how you think, ”said Bogart. She explained that the Synthesis did not teach children through mechanical memorization nor did it focus on grades and teaching for the exam. He focused more on critical thinking, problem solving and teaching children how to find or learn about the tools they need to solve complex issues.
“In the regular school, an example would be, here are 50 different screwdrivers and you will memorize the size, shape and handles and where they go on the board,” explained Bogart.
“The way [it was being taught at Ad Astra] at the time the engine was here that was broken and we need to repair it, but what do we do to remove the carcass? Well, we use a screwdriver. And now you have made that connection. ”
In Jessica Bogart’s cohort missions, she was able to teach her kids concepts like the Network Effect or the game theory Deer Hunting. Just before your interview with Teslarati, Bogart taught his cohorts offensive and defensive strategies based on The art of war by Sun Tzu.
Synthesis School already has cohorts from around the world, including Australia, England, India, Bahrain and the United States. The enrichment club offers weekly classes for $ 180 a month and plans to add more classes in the future.
It is a growing community dedicated to teaching children and young people the fundamental skills they need to learn and thrive in life through games like Constellation, developed and conceptualized by Josh Dahn and inspired by Elon Musk. In the words of Jessica Bogart, Synthesis School helps children to “embrace chaos”.
Given today’s global landscape, embracing the chaos of the world and being able to work with it may be just what the doctor ordered.
For more information on the Synthesis School, click here.
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