School innovation is a great challenge for the twenty-first century as more and more people realize that there is a need to make changes in our approach to education. There is broad agreement that our system is outdated and is not working for many students, as evidenced by declining test scores and graduation rates.  We need to find Education 2.0.
    But what changes are needed?  To start, we might let go of the idea that education is something to be instilled into children. Rather than learning facts, a better aim of education may be to cultivate children’s desire to learn. We need to take a fundamentally respectful approach to the responsibility and opportunity that education represents.  The goals of education must be to fulfill the developmental needs of children, prepare them to identify and achieve their desires and have them “light up” about education. 
    What might a school look like that fulfills that goal? The first change could be to do away with punishment and incentives for learning. Children are naturally interested in learning. Our schools should provide hands-on, individualized, collaborative and challenging work. 
    In mixed-age classrooms, younger children aspire to the work the older children are doing, and the older children take pride in their accomplishments and enjoy sharing their knowledge with younger children. Instead of competition there is a sense of sharing and collaboration. It provides children the opportunity to learn from others and to lead as well. Collaborative work encourages cultivating good relations with others. 
    Creativity and innovation can be fostered by allowing children to follow their interests in subjects that forward their true, deep understanding of values that are important, with no upper limits on what they can learn and accomplish. Long periods of time without interruption in a calm, peaceful setting allows the deep level of concentration required. 
    Children are capable of taking responsibility for their own education.  Teachers can provide guidance and direction. Rather than lecturing to an entire class, they can provide key information and lessons to individuals and small groups. Instead of grades identifying rank, children can benefit from positive and individual evaluation.  Carefully developed, hands-on materials could be available in a pleasant, beautiful space designed to fit children. The natural result will be responsibility, independence, initiative, self-discipline, leadership, strong academics and a lifelong love of learning.
    Visit a Montessori classroom and you will see all of these changes beautifully implemented. Maria Montessori, working at the beginning of the twentieth century, anticipated many of the recent discoveries about cognitive functioning. Her method of education represents a profound departure from traditional ideas about education, and has a proven track record of more than 100 years of continual practice around the world. 
    Innovation and the ability to solve big problems are becoming increasingly important due to population growth, climate change and shifting economic opportunities. Children in school right now are the adults of the future.  If we make the necessary adjustments so that schools work for them, they will welcome challenges and be equipped to handle them. Children understand that knowledge, leadership, collaboration and self-discipline are the natural resources for finding a way forward.  Let’s empower them!