On December 19th, 2011 the final session of the "School of Skolkovo" design concepts competition took place. At the session, the results of the second stage were announced for the best design for a “new generation” educational complex "School of Skolkovo". We remind readers that the competition opened on September 9th 2011 with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and Microsoft.
In total, 202 applications were received from 47 regions of Russia and 5 countries of the near and far abroad. At the first stage of competition, 33 applications selected for the second stage. Afterwards, several groups were merged together for 26 concepts that were put before an expert panel. Foreign experts from the USA, Belarus, Lithuania, Germany, and the United Kingdom were also involved in the development of the concepts.
The winning concept for the educational complex "School of Skolkovo" was designed and presented by an international group of authors, lead by Semenov Alexey Lvovich. The concept represents the result of cooperation between six collectives, uniting winners from the first stage of the competition in a combined effort:
The winning-concept represents both high quality work and complex solutions to the problems presented to developers. The application was highly praised by the expert panel. This concept will lay the foundations of the system of preschool and school education in Skolkovo.
The concept is only that, a concept, which was the purpose of the competition. However, to implement the idea, it is necessary to develop a detailed project. With this in mind, the Skolkovo Foundation, in partnership with Minobrnauka Russia and the company Microsoft, will form a team of developers, which on the basis of the winning concept will create the working project be realised in Skolkovo. Both creators of the winning-concept and international experts invited by Skolkovo Foundation will participate in the development of the project.
The competitive commission also recommended that the 12 runners-up should develop their concepts in other regions of the Russian Federation. The following concepts were runners-up:
It should be noted that the idea of creating a network of innovative Skolkovo schools has found broad support in regions of Russia. The competition’s commission received more than 40 letters expressing the readiness of regional and municipal authorities to participate in the realization of the project, "School of Skolkovo". The Skolkovo Foundation, the Ministry of Education and Sciences of the Russian Federation and the company Microsoft will support also creation of the network of innovative Skolkovo schools in regions of Russia.
This competition has shown that in Russia there is an understanding of how it is possible and even necessary to learn in the new conditions of an ever-changing world, that the pupil has the right to choice and is not obliged ”to be the part of the system”. On the contrary, the system should consider every child’s individual educational needs, and, in fact, other additional needs too. Education becomes tailored, stimulating and inspiring, promoting the development of creativity, initiative and responsibility. In order for the pupil to be able to work at his own pace, the education system should be flexible and innovative, be characterized by a high level of cooperation, use modern technologies and meet the needs of pupils. In the concepts presented to the competition, the importance of the pupils’ communication with the community, granting them the opportunities of experimental and practical activities in an urban environment focused on education. The importance of encouraging a healthy lifestyle is emphasized, including the informed food choices, increased levels of physical activity and the development of healthy interpersonal relations. Many of the concepts authors have paid close attention to the question how the school will develop and support the modern pupils’ competence and initiative, including technological literacy and enterprise. It is noted that for the most youngsters their technological competence is only the beginning. More work should be done in analysing the concepts and drawing out the most interesting ideas, which are found not only in the winning concept and runners-up, but in each and every concept presented. In fact, while the winning concept will form the basis of the project, the project’s developers will closely familiarize with all the 26 works that were considered at the second stage of the competition.
Meanwhile the results will be underlined by participants of the competition. On December 24th, at 12pm in the hotel “Zolotoe Kolco” (Smolenskaya str. 5), the “School of Skolkovo” awards ceremony will take place, for the winners, laureates and finalists of competition.
After the awards ceremony and the round table, the next stage will be the realization of concepts in the regions will be discussed. The developers of regional concepts will present the vision and plans for the realization of the concepts.