Learning From IKEA

Sometimes learning organizations can improve when they pay attention to what is happening in other places. Take for example what the Swedish company IKEA has learned about what people need to enjoy a “better life at home.” The BIG Questions Institute (BQI) recently published IKEA’s eight needs for a living a better life in your home but applied those eight to a life of learning. BQI writes,

“For the past decade or so, IKEA has been doing deep surveying of people around the world to get a better sense of what they need to get a better sense of what they need to enjoy a ‘better life at home.’ The full report on their work is worth a scan (if not a full read,) but what really resonates is how what people identify what they need from where they live can be a guide when thinking about the ‘irresistible schools’ we’ve been focusing more of our work around.”

“IKEA identifies eight of these needs. Read these through a lens of schooling and education.”

“The Everyday Essentials:

• Control – Having agency over our environment, what goes into it and how it is used
• Comfort – Making sure our environment allows us to feel content and at ease
• Security – Protecting what we care about so that we feel secure and resilient to the changes of the world around us”

“Our Regular Connections:

• Nurturing – Connecting with ourselves and taking care of our mental and physical wellbeing
• Belonging – Feeling we are accepted for who we are by the people that we live amongst and in places that reflect us”

“Our Meaningful Moments:

• Enjoyment – Uplifting moments of joy that gives us warmth and happiness
• Accomplishment – Feeling a sense of pride and progress by achieving our goals and improving our abilities

“Our Future Plans:

• Aspirations – Feeling positive and prepared for our futures

“Imagine a school where all of these are at the core of the work, where kids and adults feel these things on a daily basis. Imagine the learning that would happen there. Imagine the resilience and commitment of a school community to work through hardships and make the world a better place if these were the starting points.”

“The reality is that too few of these core needs are met in schools. Ask yourself, how much agency and control do children and adults feel over their experience at your school? Does the environment make them feel comfortable and at ease? Does everyone have a sense of belonging? And how does your school community feel about the future in light of the many challenges we face?”

“Since each of these questions revolves around a basic need, they are all important. It can feel overwhelming to try to consider them all in one sitting, and different people will gravitate to different themes. You might offer one theme as the focus of each of eight (or more) diverse stakeholder groups thinking about the strategic future of your school. With each team or committee focusing on one area, connections to such important ideas as ‘nurturing’ and ‘belonging’ can be deeper, more personal, more creative, and more relevant to the reality on the ground in your community.”

“Deep and powerful learning flourishes in conditions where these eight elements are present. Especially now when traditional systems and thinking about schooling are beginning to break down, this is as good a list as any to reflect upon and help us remember what is central to our work. School and home should both be places people want to be.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. As much as I like some of the work coming from the BIG Questions Institute, I just don’t see how traditional schools with traditional systems (and that’s most of them) will be able to execute on something like the “IKEA Eight.”

Control in the traditional school doesn’t start with the learner. It starts with a legislature, state board of education, and a local school board.

Comfort too often focuses on what is right for the adults in and around the school.

Security isn’t defined as individual well-being. Too often it involves security guards and guns.

Nurturing is seen as mostly an elementary school activity. Secondary schools are still built to separate and select.

Belonging is focused more on extracurricular activities than academic pursuits, with some kids being left out all together.

Enjoyment for most young learners has been replaced with high stakes standardized testing.

Accomplishments is reserved for the few.

And aspirations are too often judged and ridiculed by the adult leadership hired to support those aspirations.

No, I’m afraid these “eight” might be wasted on the traditional school system, but I do think the list would be a good start to someone who wants to start a kickass microschool.

Til tomorrow. SVB