Reinventing Education and the

Future of Start-Up NationSaul Singer

Co-author, Start-Up Nation Israel Edtech Summit Tel Aviv, June 8, 2016

The Evolution of Education

General Knowledge

General Knowledge

1930

The Evolution of Education

General Knowledge

1960

The Evolution of Education

General Knowledge

College: More General Knowledge

1990

The Evolution of Education

General Knowledge

College: More General Knowledge

Graduate Ed: Specialized Knowledge

Today

“The world economy no longer pays you for what you know; Google knows

everything. The world economy pays you for what you can do with

what you know.” — Andreas Schleicher, Head of

Education and Skills, OECD

jkjkjkj

Knowledge is Not Enough

General Knowledge

Leadership

TeamworkStrategic Thinking

Emotional Intelligence

Mission- orientation

Decision Making Cross Domain Thinking

Communications

Finding Knowledge

Beyond Knowledge

How can education systems start to deliver all the things that Israelis learn outside of school?

“If I had asked people what they wanted they would have told me ‘a

faster horse’” — Henry Ford

Every edtech company needs to ask itself: are we working on “a

faster horse” or part of the “car” of education?

Reform vs. Reinvention

jkjkjkj

Reform vs. Reinvention

General Knowledge

Leadership

TeamworkStrategic Thinking

Emotional Intelligence

Mission- orientation

Decision Making Cross Domain Thinking

Communications

Finding Knowledge

5 Reinvention Principles• Real : not made up problems

• Responsibility : what you are doing matters

• Rigorous : teacher’s job: always push for more than good enough

• Meaning : each student works on what moves them

• Broad and focused : go out of comfort zone, combine fields

1 Mega PrincipleEducation should be a constant discovery

process for every student’s human potential.

Human potential sweet spot = What you love + What you are good at

Sweet spot changes over time, education should let each student dive into what they

love and what they good at, while constantly exposing them to other things.

Mindset trumps tech

Changing mindset is key.

Technology that distracts from mindset change is useless; technology that helps

build a new mindset is helpful.

5 Big Subversive Ideas• 90% lecture >>> 10% lecture

• Turn 12th grade into a mechina

• Open most tests to the internet

• More play!

• Eliminate subjects

• More Project Weeks!

Education and Start-Up Nation• Start-Up Nation must grow substantially to remain #2

ecosystem in the world

• Obstacle to growth is not lack of big companies, it’s human capital

• Reinventing education is necessary increase human capital

• The countries that reinvent education first will be considered the most innovative countries in the world and will become magnets for talent

We can do this• We already have the IP for reinventing education,

that’s how we became Start-Up Nation.

• We know how to produce people who are mission-oriented, can lead, work in teams, and take responsibility. We know how to give young people the experience of succeeding with challenges that they could not dream of overcoming.

• Now we just have to figure out how to do this inside the education system and not just outside of it!

Thank You! @saulsinger