Позитивные изменения. Образование. Школа будущего (Тематический выпуск, 2022)/Positive changes. Education. The school of the future (Special issue, 2

Speaking of the possibilities that such an educational environment «extended» to the local community can provide, we can list a large number of positive effects, which, for example, characterize the Scandinavian educational model. This includes developing soft skills, systems thinking, understanding the context of phenomena, developing an entrepreneurial mindset, and many others. One cannot ignore the vast possibilities of forming a so-called "social portfolio", which has long been part of many educational programs at various levels (from IB to the Stelify program at the University of Manchester[23]). It is also worth mentioning the great potential of active development of the area with such community consolidation as an additional impact effect.

Of course, the implementation of this approach will require the solution of many issues, from the adaptation of the environment to the requirements of legal rules applicable to children to safety issues, seemingly difficult to overcome. However, the experience of other countries that have succeeded in creating a School open to community interaction gives hope for the viability of such a concept in Russia as well.

BUILDING THE SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE TOGETHER

As we noted earlier, it seems that one of the fundamental principles of an effective impact investment strategy in schooling is collaboration and openness to engagement. This manifests itself at the level of tactical decisions — the activities of the "academic council" (the coordinating, project center for the opening of the Schools of the Future). It brings together leading experts who translate best practices in school education and are able to adapt it to the changing reality, not only keeping up with the times, but also being ahead of them. Or in the implementation of the principle of the School’s openness to the local community, combining the resources of all members of this community.

But the principle of cooperation and openness is also important for creating positive change at the level of social impact, that is, at the level of communities, areas, society, and the country as a whole. And this requires consolidation of the efforts and strategies of all parties interested in such changes. It is quite possible to build one School, but when there are many such Schools, when it is not necessary to move to another country or even another district to study in them, when the quality education of the future is available to every child, we can really talk about systemic change and meaningful impact.

In conclusion, we must say that the Positive Change Factory is ready to take on the role of a unifying methodological center for creating systemic changes[24]. Our standard of activity involves planning and evaluating projects in the field of impact investments based on the evidence-based approach, openness of the data obtained and, most importantly, interest in systemic and significant changes of the living standards of the society.