Principle 05 of 07 · Education Experience
Real-World Relevant.
Problems worth solving, sourced from the places students actually live.
Students solve real-world problems and learn skills they will use in their own lives.
What it asks of a school
Learning grounded in problems the community is actually facing. Audiences beyond the teacher. Products that live past the gradebook.
Real-world relevant doesn't mean every assignment is an internship. It means students can answer, in their own words, what this work is for and who else cares about it.
What it looks like
Projects with external partners — businesses, nonprofits, neighborhood associations, scientists. Public demonstrations and exhibitions, not just paper-graded assessments. Internships that count for credit.
Curriculum that connects across disciplines because the problem in the world doesn't politely stay inside one subject area.
Why it matters
Schools that get this right become hubs, not islands. Students learn that what they make travels — to a city council meeting, a community garden, an essay published in the local paper. That kind of audience changes what a student is willing to invest.
Resources for going deeper.
A curated set of research, articles, books, videos, and talks the MLCN network leans on for this principle. External links — opens in a new tab.
Student Learning for Success in the Real World | NGLC
PBL: What Does It Take for a Project to Be ‘Authentic’? | Edutopia
Empowering Kids to Be Part of the Solution
Community Educators: A Resource for Educating and Developing Our Youth
Kindergarteners as Experts on Vimeo
Nurturing Student Creativity and Passion
"What is relevant education?": Emanuel Souvairan at TEDxUNIGE
New Harmony High
Equity in Student Centered Learning Guide
The Education Experience cluster.
What learning looks like — how and where students do the work.
Explore further.
Resources, student projects, and member schools tagged with this principle.
Resources tagged with this principle
Lesson designs, planning tools, readings, and templates shared by member schools.
OpenProjects in this principle
Real work from MLCN classrooms — defended in public, archived for the network.
OpenMember schools
Minnesota schools doing the work — browse the directory and filter by location, grade band, or principle.
Open