By the mid 1980s changes were afoot. The curriculum, stuck in a former age, was in need of re-examination. A National Curriculum was to be introduced. There was reluctance to change, a natural fear of the shift from the status quo, but there was also great optimism. Here was a chance to give all youngsters the opportunities already enjoyed by the fortunate. It was an exciting time to become a Head Teacher and I moved to Bury Grammar School to lead a Primary School (four to 11-year olds) of 350, and a Senior School of 800. Nearly 200 were in their final two years (16 to 18-year olds). Though an all-girls school, Bury had a brother school located just across the road so girls lived in a normal co-educational world outside the classroom. I was given the opportunity to create a learning environment, to lead the school through a time of change, and to give the girls a sound basis from which to continue to learn for the rest of their lives.

After 12 years of headship I retired at the end of August 1998. Bury Grammar School had made a mark amongst the best schools in the country. It was consistently ranked in the top 1 percent of all schools in the United Kingdom for GCSE exams at 16. Our pupils were sought-after and valued by Universities and Colleges. Bury was known to be a forward looking school, choosing what it did and how it taught by being prepared to look widely at practice from all over the country. Its curriculum was wide and the experiences of the girls at all ages were many and varied. No less important, Bury Grammar School was part of the community.

Bury is a small (80,000) industrial town just north of Manchester. It is a diverse community with areas of prosperity and poverty, estates with new businesses and many long established firms, decaying Victorian housing and fine modern residential suburbs. The community is mixed with strong Jewish and Muslim groups. The Grammar School works comfortably with the 14 state high schools in an atmosphere of co-operation.

I was proud of my school and its achievements. Yet all had been achieved despite the Department of Education whose best efforts frustrated and threatened us at every turn. Despite endless consultations, and I was one of a small number of Head Teachers who served on the teachers' panel of the Schools' Curriculum and Assessment Authority, the National Curriculum that finally emerged was highly prescriptive, tying study to tightly defined subject boxes. The need to raise standards ever higher, whatever the level of current performance or the background of the pupils, pushed teachers into teaching to the tests and stultified creativity. The frequent formal assessments took time away from learning. Ever more teacher time was taken up by the production of endless documents and policy statements. The preparation for the visit of an Inspection team detracted still more from the central purpose of a school - to create a learning environment where there is space and time to think and talk.

So, despite the obstacles, how did we achieve so much at Bury? First, a tradition of excellence meant expectations were high. Second, the entire staff was dedicated and able. Third, our governors were far-sighted and gave the headteacher their full confidence and support. But, the key piece that made the difference for Bury Grammar School was our commitment to the philosophy and ideas of Education 2000 (many of these are at the heart of the 21st Century Learning Initiative).

It was the local Member of Parliament, Alistair Burt, who introduced us to John Abbott, then the director of the Education 2000 Trust, in 1988. John challenged us to find better ways to prepare the children of Bury. The Local Authority was supportive, indeed keen, to become one of the projects testing the Education 2000 philosophy across a community. The philosophy was very simple - "effective learning required the integration of all the community resources, formal and informal, if children were to develop quality thinking."

Finding the funds for our efforts was a difficult task however, and by the end of 1989 it seemed we couldn't do it. Frank Bennett, the head teacher of a very successful high school in the town, and I were invited in 1991 to attend an Education 2000 summer conference, and after that things were never the same again. Both of us were used to running excellent schools, but as we listened to the reports from the Education 2000 projects we knew they were far ahead of us. We were inspired by a vision of learning communities striving to create shared goals for young people. We wanted to see people from all walks of life joining with schools to stimulate and to support learning.

We knew this co-operation would help motivate students to learn. Additionally, the idea of using Information Communication Technology as a tool to free both teacher and learners appealed to us as a way to better target learning strategies to the individual strengths and weaknesses of students. We felt we had to introduce such a vision of learning to Bury. The town became an Education 2000 project. It was introduced by the head teachers and received the backing of the Local Authority and other major figures in the community. There was never much extra money but I believe that made us focus more clearly upon our objectives and led to imaginative and creative schemes that brought benefit to every child in the borough.

This was not just another initiative. It was a better model of learning; one which would give young people confidence in their ability to stand up to change, because they knew how to manage their own learning. There were many local leaders from throughout the community willing to help us. They took part in discussions with teachers and together we identified our aims and goals. Together the high schools worked on curricular developments, striving to involve parents, employers, clubs and societies in the development of shared ideals and responsibilities. It was a joy to leave competition and survival of the fittest behind, and to work towards the creation of a learning community where support and shared goals were our keynote. We were "Giving substance to a Vision."

The courses, conferences and publications of Education 2000 spread the vision, and allowed us to share good experiences with those from other projects. The Trust, and John Abbott in particular, helped us to obtain modest financial support for our work. The Director of a Bury company (an American) donated office space for our co-ordinator, while others from the business community served as local trustees or on the management committee. Eventually, our base was established with the Training and Enterprise Council, and eight years later each high school in the town had an Education 2000 co-ordinator.

The year 1993 saw the beginnings of two projects, deceptively simple in themselves, which were to make a significant mark upon Bury. The first was inspired by the Swedish "work orientation" schemes that link young children with their parents and their communities. Each 11-year old spends time with a parent or friend in order to experience the world of work. The scheme is not part of our career programmes. Its purpose is wider than that. Young people see adults working, and get to observe the qualities and skills that lead to success in the real world. They talk to a wide range of adults, and learn that work is about co-operation and responsibility. Parents learn from the experience also and, after seven years of this programme, there are few Bury employers who have not taken part in the scheme. Community and schools are helping prepare young people for their futures, the students have an experience that builds upon their natural curiosity, improves their motivation to learn and raises their sense of responsibility and self esteem.

The preparation for the project is part of the curriculum for these youngsters, and they work directly with experts in the community to improve their work. The students enhanced their skills by using wordprocessors and other technologies to produce newspapers, films or slides for overhead presentations. During these projects the timetable is suspended, and teams of teachers and outside experts act as advisors to the young people as they spend a day or two planning, developing and delivering a public presentation. By the conclusion of the project the students understand better the importance of deadlines, and what it means to work as part of a team. They also understand their parents better. Their comments are revealing:

"I learned that my Mum has a very important job. People listen to her."

"I learned that problems can't always be avoided and the challenge is to overcome them."

"Now I know why my dad is so tired when he gets home!"

The second Bury project is the development of drop-in centres where parents and children can learn and use computers in schools after regular hours. In four schools this scheme flourishes, helping parents understand what their children do, and giving children a chance to watch their parents learn. This programme brings members of the community into the educational process and helps break down the barriers which so often exist between the generations. Learning is seen to be a life-long activity which is fun and extends beyond the classroom.

Such projects enhance learning so effectively that the teachers at Bury Grammar School willingly suspend the time table four times during the first three years of Senior School. The philosophy of Education 2000 has become part of all our thinking. We spend three days in the second year (12 to 13-year olds) introducing the girls to economic awareness. In teams they "start-up" their own Building Society - considering lay-out, staffing and equipment as well as launching a new financial service to attract young investors and devising an advertising campaign. Everything must be costed and they work to a tight budget. Once again there are advisors from the community, as well as teachers, and the follow up includes public presentations by the students.

For 13 and 14-year olds there are two cross-curricular experiences. In one they examine Health Related issues, benefiting from considering smoking or eating disorders, the decisions facing doctors or the growing numbers of old people, all in small groups and with experts in each of the fields, for an extended period of time uninterrupted by bells. Bury Grammar School girls know that teachers do not have all the answers, and that there are times when there are no right answers. In their final project the girls work with the schools Neighbourhood Engineers to solve a real world problem. Over the years we have designed a bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal, a theme park, and a new stadium for the millennium. They have to consider all aspects of design; use of materials, the environmental impact, cost, project management, operation and safety, and security

I believe that these four weeks provide the girls of Bury with something special. They learn from people outside of the school, they learn how to learn, and they learn about themselves. They see their teachers performing unfamiliar roles, they look beyond the narrow confines of the National Curriculum subject boxes, they work as team leaders and members, and they determine what to do and how. We believe the time taken from meeting targets and preparing for assessments is time well spent.

Yet teachers have to be bold to spend this time. They will only do so if they are operating in a secure, non-threatening environment. If they are overloaded with things to deliver, or are told all that matters are test results and performance related pay, then they will not take risks. Teachers are not afraid of change or of hard work, but they need to understand the goals of any efforts at change. They need to believe they are relevant to the development of their pupils and that they are achievable. The results of developing a curriculum and learning strategy which are in tune with the findings of the 21st Century Learning Initiative are quickly apparent. Teachers, students, parents and employers can see that the Vision follows their best experiences and are eager to be part of the movement.

Because Bury is an Independent School I was able to choose between the Government's Initiatives to some extent. I could at least select the speed and nature of their introduction. As the head teacher of a State School it would have been much more difficult to meet the requirements of steadily improving examination results and ever more documents to prove that we know what we are doing. In contrast, we in the Independent Sector could simply get on with it! I could create an environment in which there was space to be creative and to think. The Vision of the 21st Century Learning Initiative is one which all those who have worked with young people respond to with "of course---" or "that's what I used to try to do---" or "why didn't I think of that?---" and very frequently "when can we begin----?"

Retirement gave me the chance to go to the Initiative's office in Reston, Virginia, for almost a month. I spent a very full and busy time doing three things. First of all I read. The resources gathered by John Abbott and his researcher Terry Ryan are unique. More than 1500 books and at least as many article about how we learn from many disciplines, together with material from the Internet, provide a rich source of inspiration. I dipped into 76 books and more than 100 articles. There was material from my own subject area, from archaeology and economic geography. There were writings from disciplines I had not considered for many years; from sociology, psychology and philosophy, and there were studies from subject areas entirely new to me, such as cognitive science and neuro-biology.

Then there was thinking time. Challenge and excitement went hand in hand and led to many long discussions. The importance of the curriculum, which covered the five threads of the Initiative's vision, lies in its synthesis. The research links together and demands a rethinking of how we organise learning. It requires the reader to re-examine school structures and to look at learning before and after school, both in early years and beyond school age, and at home during free time. It challenges every adult to ask themselves what were their most significant learning experiences, and to realise how much they learned from their parents and from other adults in the community.

The world our young people will inherit will be vastly different to the one the present system of education was designed for. Today's young will be challenged by an alarming number of problems - from environmental issues to an ageing population. They will have to answer questions that we have largely ignored. What is needed is independent minded individuals who have the greatest possible stake in their own futures and who can perform to their full potential. The research of the last few years has provided us with the evidence that we were on the right track when we tried to create learning communities 10 years ago. Such proof surely places a burden of responsibility upon us. It cannot be ignored.

The many understandings emerging from the work of the Initiative must inform our thinking and demands of us a radical set of moves. You can not simply tinker at the edges of the present system and expect to succeed. This is a time to be bold. We all need to start taking time out to think about what the findings being outlined by the Initiative could mean for schools, community and most importantly the future of children.

The Initiative does not tell us what to do. It gives us a framework within which we are challenged to develop our own strategies for change. Each country, district, or community starts from a different place and faces a unique set of challenges. Yet the basic issues are universal. Voices calling for change come from a wide variety of experiences and countries. Education can no longer be seen in isolation, and despite its complex and expensive infrastructure it is part of the fundamental shifts currently rocking the rest of society. The choice for those of us who have dedicated our lives to education is whether we will lead or resist? Teachers understand the problems and respond with warmth to the arguments the Initiative has developed. There is a natural and sympathetic response from all those who work closely with children. It is the clash between the demands of the present system and the way children learn how to learn which frustrates teachers. Sharp boundaries between school and community lead to suspicion, misunderstanding, and lost opportunities.

It is not enough to listen and agree with a rush of excitement and then allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the scale of the changes needed. We have a unique opportunity to respond now. The Initiative has shown how some of the challenges can be met in its papers and presentations entitled "Upside Down and Inside Out: Why Good Schools Alone Will Never Be Good Enough to Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century." Now it is up to all those of us who care about the future of children. In its planned expansion in Dublin the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Learning and Community Development will create opportunities for educational innovators, graduate students, policy makers, and others to learn how it is that people learn and develop the skills necessary to function successful in rapidly changing environments. I have had the privilege of becoming the first such Fellow of the 21st Century Learning Initiative.

Each Fellow will be expected to interpret their new understandings within their own particular environment. I knew when I first listened to John Abbott in 1988 that what we were doing, even in good schools, was not enough. I quickly discovered that schools alone could never deliver the learning opportunities needed by all children. It is clear that learning and schooling are not synonymous. By now there are no excuses for delay in developing more inclusive models of learning. Scientific understanding has proved that we were right in moving learning beyond the classroom. The message of the Initiative's synthesis may not be popular amongst those who want quick and easily evaluated solutions to the problems of the preparation of the world's young people for the future, but teachers know instinctively that this is the way forward. I hope that there are some amongst the leaders and policy makers of the world who have the vision, courage and long term commitment to stop, listen, and act. Young people are not simply interested in short-term goals - they want to feel capable of facing the world in 2030, 2040 and beyond.

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21st Century Learning Initiative

http://www.21learn.org

mail@21learn.org