utopia 2023 or another president

Teach Your Peers

One of the posts comes from another young mother. She says: "When in midst of the pandemic, the president decided to do something for children, parents and teachers, I thought his ideas were really weird and anything but helpful. For example this online network where children and youngsters get the opportunity to teach something online that they really know and understand very well. I thought: Come on guy! Is that a joke?

Then the second idea that parents who want or need to stay with their children get some basic training and the opportunity to provide day care for diverse children in the neighborhood. What? Really? Do you really think that's an appropriate government program?

But non the less, I need to work. So I looked for someone who could take care of my kids. They somehow managed to coordinate with their friends. So they are able to meet their friends on a daily basis. The day mother is a wonderful person and the government provided her with all the guidance and support that she needed to provide a safe space with new experiences, a lot of fun and playful learning. I still have her as a daytime caregiver. My children are happy and I'm no longer stressed.

They visit their day family where they join the online program 'Teach Your Peers', eat, discuss, play, do interesting things. One time a week, they meet online or offline with their teachers and discuss their learning experiences, their interests and needs, what courses to take, which exercises to make. With this guidance, they browse a vast amount of online materials. First I thought, this will result in perfect chaos. But amazingly the opposite is true. Learning has become an adventure. A scouting game. Even at home, they continue to learn.

'Look', says the older one, 'this guy or this girl has a great channel about geometry, geography, French etc and explains all the things that I didn't really understand.' - 'Oh yes, show me, says the younger one. I need that stuff.'

So, they watch together and then discuss. I sit there and watch with them and I'm just as excited and amazed. They watch things, figure out things, discuss things. They are more engaged, more self confident, know more and have more fun. This is why I think that caring is the right attribute for our president. He really cares about anyone of us."

Background:' Teach Your Peers' is a moderated online platform where students can choose from a catalogue of disciplines and topics either to attend or to offer courses. Teachers and university students provide additional background information and exercises or correct mistakes. 'Feel at Home' is a program where daytime caregivers provide safe spaces for children to meet, make new experiences and learn. And 'Calibrate' is a program where children can join online and offline courses for movement and coordination games. The aim of these projects is to meet the physical, mental and social needs of children and young people and reduce stress and strain for their caregivers and teachers. What children need most, are other children, movement and a safe and inspiring environment. They don't necessarily need school for the development of their intellectual capacities, but much more as a space for social experiences, as a structuring feature for their daily lives and as provider of a rule based order of behavior.

'Teach Your Peers' is free. You only need to sign up and make some exercises and tests to earn access to more content. 'Feel at Home' and 'Calibrate' are subsidised by the government if parents are not able to pay for the service.

Traditional teachers are offered guidance how to navigate the programs and how to help their students navigate them. If they have health issues and can't teach in person, they are able to provide online meetings as described above. Teachers who want to teach in person can do so. They provide this service to students without health issues where also the parents don't have health problems and would prefer their children to visit traditional school.