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Principle 05 of 07 · Education Experience
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What learning looks like — how and where students do the work.
Resources, student projects, and member schools tagged with this principle.
Lesson designs, planning tools, readings, and templates shared by member schools.
OpenReal work from MLCN classrooms — defended in public, archived for the network.
OpenMinnesota schools doing the work — browse the directory and filter by location, grade band, or principle.
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