WHY BIG PICTURE?
Because the education system desperately needs an upgrade. It was designed in the in the industrial age and is becoming increasingly outdated, ineffective and disconnected with the real world. Watch our short animated film that outlines 6 major problems with our education system.
BIG PICTURE IS THE SOLUTION
Here is a 2 hour video series by our founder explaining our philosophy in detail.
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“We’ll follow the example of places like the Met Center in Rhode Island (first Big Picture school) that give students that individual attention, while also preparing them through real-world, hands-on training for the possibility of succeeding in a career”
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In 2001, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that the Met (first Big Picture school) was its favorite high school in America, and that the U.S. needed more schools like it, providing Big Picture Learning with two large grants to replicate its design nationwide.
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"Big Picture Learning has redefined — indeed, revolutionized schooling. By bringing students and their interests to the forefront, it is a model of student-centered learning, which is key to intrinsically motivating students”
Harvard Business School Professor and Author of 'Disrupting Class'
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“Big Picture is the ‘iPhone’ of education to the ‘walkman’ of old. I’d be proud and eager to send my own kids to a Big Picture school"
Billionaire entrepreneur, fashion designer and philanthropist
REGULAR SCHOOLS VS. BIG PICTURE SCHOOLS
The Big Picture framework provides a comprehensive solution to the glaring problems in our education system by placing students at the centre of their own learning.
| REGULAR SCHOOL | BIG PICTURE SCHOOL |
|---|---|
| Top-Down Teaching | Student as the Centre of Learning |
| Large class size with teacher as centre, students as audience | Small class size with various personalised modes of learning |
| No room for passions and interests | Helps students pursue and develop their passions |
| Academic learning only | Academic as well as real world learning |
| Values obedience and compliance | Values 21st century skills like creativity, communication, collaboration |
| Learning through memorisation and knowledge retention | Deeper and more authentic learning through doing real work and projects |
| No room for differences in how children learn | Personalises learning for each child |
| Parents only occasionally involved | Parents an intimate part of the learning team |
| Inhibits motivation and curiosity | Increases motivation, unleashes curiosity |
| Affords very little autonomy, freedom and choice | Gives students a lot of autonomy, agency and choice |
| Works for many | Works for many more |
Big Picture helps students explore and develop their interests, do real work in the real world, develop critical 21st century skills and a lot more.