- The Driven Learner
- Posts
- What's Acton Academy's "Learner Driven" Learning Design?
What's Acton Academy's "Learner Driven" Learning Design?
"Oh, so it's like Montessori?" (1,151 words)
Joshua Blatman
October 25, 2024
It happens — someone asks, “Oh, you’re opening a school! What’s ’its thing’?”
Maybe they’re expecting a label like “STEM-focused” or “Waldorf school”, but the real answer—the truth—is far more beautiful.
Acton Academy doesn’t play by traditional rules.
Serial entrepreneurs and Acton Academy co-founders, Laura and Jeff Sandefer, started Acton with the intention of creating the best school possible for their kids.
They weren’t sure if they were going to homeschool, but Laura had been a teacher for small children (preschool or elementary, I don’t exactly remember—you’ll have to read, “Courage to Grow” for all the details), Jeff had been Harvard’s youngest ever MBA professor, and the vision expanded when friends of theirs wanted them to teach their kids too.
The first Acton Academy started in 2009 in Austin, Texas, with just 6 children, a year or two after starting Acton’s Children’s Business Fair. (Get on the waitlist for our Cincinnati Children’s Business Fair here!)
What private school starts with only 6 children?
It doesn’t take a big group to build a tribe.
The more interesting truth is that virtually all of nearly 400 Acton Academies double or triple their student body year over year until they reach capacity.
Why do you think that is?
Because satisfied families at Acton tell unsatisfied families in traditional schools.
Hold that thought and let’s get back to Learner Driven education.
On top of Laura’s teaching background and Jeff’s business and teaching experience, they studied every method they could find to build a school that developed agency, mastery, and resilience. They wanted children to learn how to think, instead of what to think.
They wanted their children to work hard, have fun, and learn to love learning and growing, simply for the sake of learning and growing.
After all, they both knew that the adult who loves learning and growing is the adult who:
Doesn’t take things personally,
Learns for mastery (real life) instead of proficiency (standardized testing), and
Fails forward instead of fails into a fixed mindset becomes the adult who changes the world.
That’s part of the origin story for Acton’s slogan: “Find a calling; change the world.”
Instead of learning how to take tests in silence and isolation and calling it “socialization”, they built their new Acton Academy so children not only “learned to know” information like they do in traditional schools, children at Acton learn by first “learning to learn” (how to enjoy solving problems) and by “learning to be” (Presence, both individually and as a group).
“Learning to do” is a natural byproduct of becoming, just like real life.
At this point, people often say, “Oh so it’s like Montessori?” and maybe they think it’s a fun afterschool program for kids who can’t cut it in traditional schools.
What a gross misunderstanding!
“Acton Academy is a Boutique, Off-the-grid, Learner Driven private school network with a proprietary learning design that fosters empowerment, engagement, and inspiration.”
Acton is BOLD!
I’m so excited to be publishing this post because this is the only place where I’m going to give you the more complete answer in writing:
Influences on Acton Academy’s “Learner Driven” education model.
Acton Academy is sometimes described as “Montessori meets the 21st century”, but in reality, it's about empowering students to take charge of their learning, and so much more.
It’s the opposite of the traditional education, which, “promotes mindless conformity and conveniently ignores the fact that we are all unique individuals with different talents, inclinations, and aspirations.”
It’s true that Jeff and Laura sent their children to a Montessori preschool, but they built Acton Academy by learning from everyone.
As Jeff says in this interview about the origins of Acton Academy, “We just continued to double down on the Learner Driven part and continued to ask ourselves, “how can we continue to hand over more responsibility to 6, 7, and 8 year olds?”
What a revolutionary idea!
Here’s an exciting podcast with Jeff Sandefer about it.
Some of Acton Academy’s influences are:
Montessori
Waldorf
Emilia Reggio
Space Camp
Entrepreneurship Camp
and a number of educational psychologists
Aspects of Maria Montessori’s approach to education that inspire the Acton Academy learning design include:
Self-directed learning: Students direct their own learning and work at their own pace.
Mixed-age classrooms: Students learn alongside peers of different ages.
Hands-on learning: Students use Montessori manipulatives and other manipulative online programs to master content.
Freedom of movement: Students are not tied to their desks and are allowed to move freely.
Learning through discovery: Students learn through real-world projects and experiential learning.
The role of the guide: Adults provide a prepared space and resources, present challenges, and step back. Acton takes this a step forward with “Socratic Guiding”.
Acton Academy is also inspired by Waldorf education, another famous school model, in the following ways:
Loose-parts play: Acton Academy's Spark Studio (Acton preschool) incorporates a loose-parts play design, inspired by Waldorf education.
Outdoor time: Acton Academy tries to get outside regularly, regardless of the weather. At AANC, we have plans for regular visits at a nearby agri-community farm with animals and crops for children to interact with and learn from.
Arts and creativity: Acton Academy places a strong emphasis on arts and creativity, and STEM projects often include an artistic component.
Acton’s learning design is also influenced by the Reggio Emilia education model, which includes:
Hands-on learning: Acton Academy's model provides students with loose parts to use in hands-on projects and quests.
Mixed-age classrooms: Acton Academy has mixed-age classrooms, which are popular around the world and can lead to academic success, improved social skills, and a stronger sense of community.
Empowering students: The Reggio Emilia approach empowers students by creating conditions for them to express their thinking and celebrate their learning.
Integrating students' interests: The Reggio Emilia approach integrates students' interests into the curriculum, which can make each classroom look different.
Encouraging collaboration and communication: The Reggio Emilia approach emphasizes collaboration and communication between students and teachers.
Encouraging self-expression: The Reggio Emilia approach encourages students to express themselves through a variety of media, such as drawing, painting, sculpture, and writing.
Acton Academy is also influenced by Entrepreneurship Camp and Space Camp through its emphasis on practical experiences, real-world applications of skills (“mastery as its own proof”), self-directed learning, Innovation, creativity, Leadership development, "Hero's Journey" framework, Socratic Method, and entrepreneurial projects.
One of my favorite parts is that Acton doesn’t call children ‘students’. They’re learners on a Hero’s Journey. They’re heroes in training, learning to make heroic choices at any age and in any context.
Don’t just take my word for it.
Watch Jordan Peterson get excited learning how the Acton model works from Wonder School owner, Zach Lahn, here.
Learn more about our school at ActonCincyNorth.com and Start Your Audition (application process) today.
Talk soon,