We Are the People We’ve Been Waiting For

What it is: We Are the People We’ve Been Waiting For is an inspiring documentary film that explores education in the UK and challenges us to dream of something more.  Big names (Sir Richard Branson, Germaine Greer, Henry Winkler, Bill Bryson, and Sir Ken Robinson) share their experiences with education and offer new ideas for how education can be done.  If you are in the UK, take advantage of the free DVD offer and get the full documentary to share with your students.  Those of us not in the UK can enjoy clips of the film on the We Are the People We’ve Been Waiting For website.  There are several clips from the documentary and each of them will leave you inspired and thinking about how education can be transformed.  The site also features some excellent games for students to play.  The first game is called “The Test You Can’t Fail”.  This little quiz asks students a variety of questions and gives them creative career paths to consider based on their interests.  Many of these your students may not have considered and will give them insight into the places they shine.  The second game is called “Future Me”, it is a Bebo App that lets students predict their friends future.  

How to integrate We Are the People We’ve Been Waiting For into the classroom: If you can get the documentary for your classroom, do so.  Be inspired by the documentary as a teacher, but also share it with your students.  They need some inspiration for their education and future.  This film is sure to offer plenty.  If you aren’t in the UK, share the webisite clips with your students.  Challenge them to think differently about education.  At first, they may struggle with this task (the way my students did), they expect that there is one right answer.  This is a sad statement about what education has been up to this point, we have primed them to believe that there is only one right answer with a myraid of tests and worksheets that have told them it is so.  Have your students take “The Test You Can’t Fail” quiz, it leads them through a variety of questions and activities.  Students tell what their favorite subject is, swat or save a fly, order grocery items in order of price, connect a video game to the Internet and TV, choose what to do when they get lost, design a t-shirt, memorize a phone number, and arrange a computer desktop.  When students are finished they are given a list of things they are good at, some surprises (things students may not know about themselves), and thoughts about possible career paths.  It seems to work well, my results were education, computers and IT.  🙂 So I guess I am on the right track!  Talk with students about their results. Do they agree/disagree? Were their items on their list that they hadn’t considered?  It is good to dream with students, it gives them aspirations and goals for the future and lets them know that they aren’t the only ones dreaming.

Tips: In the “About the Film” Section, students can watch videos and read bios of the students that star in the documentary.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using the We Are The People We’ve Been Waiting For in your classroom.