A Conversation with Matt Barnes, Co-Founder and Parent Coach The Education Game

Matt Barnes  Co-Founder and Parent Coach of The Education Game

Matt believes that “normal” is broken in traditionally structured schools and wants to make “weird” the new normal.

Over 25 years, Matt has distributed $500m in philanthropy, led an education reform nonprofit, served on nine educational boards from pre-K to university, and coached thousands of parents on education system navigation.

In 2020, Matt launched “The Education Game,” a platform that inspires parents to embrace a Future-Ready learning model that shamelessly deemphasizes grades and academic compliance while radically emphasizing learning, problem-solving, and student engagement.

He is the father of three amazing teens who were educated in traditional, hybrid, micro, and self-directed learning models.

COVID has exposed a hidden -- in my view foundational -- problem within education: a lack of self-directed learners. Having served on two college boards, multiple PreK-12 school boards, led an education reform nonprofit and coached thousands of parents over the years, there is no doubt that the system needs a reboot. The "old game" is top-down, standardized, emphasizes grades instead of learning, etc, etc, etc. Our work introduces a "new game" that places learners at the center, replace "teachers" with "facilitators/coaches," and embraces 21st-century tools. Our work focuses exclusively on the parent and learner side and coaches them on building 21st-century learning paths outside of traditional school. Learning has changed forever... it's time for parents and learners to realize this fact.

How to connect with Matt Barnes

www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcbarnes

https://theeducationgame.com/

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