Peter Guttmacher of the District of Learning on Experiential Learning and the Whole Student

Through the Noise # 227

Peter Guttmacher // Director of Programming and Curriculum Development // District of Learning (an initiative of Fair Chance)

Hating school is a time-honored tradition by nearly all students who are forced to attend schools for much of childhood into becoming an adult but today we’re sitting down with someone who is working to change the face of education to present a more rounded and useful world view. Peter Guttmacher is the Director of Programming and Curriculum Development for the District of Learning which is an initiative of Fair Chance, the organization we recently had on Through the Noise. Employing recent technological advances in the classroom, students are able to work towards a broader type of education grounded in the real world. Students earn digital badges to illustrate their success in a variety of different areas and are are able to demonstrate their various skills and talents via these badges You might even wish you could go back to school if it could be more like this.

Peter Guttmacher is the author of eleven books for young people and adults. He has spent more than 20 years working in the field of youth development with a focus on the intersection between formal and informal education. The DC Trust for Youth is the District’s hub for supporting and developing Out-of-School Time programming and has served as an anchor for the District of Learning. The District of Learning is a citywide ecosystem of anywhere/anytime learning that uses “digital badging” as a mechanism for breaking down silos and increasing young people’s ownership of their own development.