Collaboratively designing an improved school system for Bermuda
What does it take to engage a nation in redesigning how, what and where its young people learn? Since 2020 we have supported the Bermudian Ministry of Education to find out.
Facing the challenge of a changing world
Bermuda is a proud and vibrant nation; a small island in an increasingly globalised and uncertain world. As the Bermudian government examined the local and global shifts in how we live and work and their impacts on the island’s population, it became clear that the way the country educates its young people needed to change. For young people - and for Bermuda - to survive and thrive in the 21st century, schools need to foster the skills, knowledge, attitudes and values that will enable them to access, and be the creators of the jobs of the future, to be active citizens and to tackle increasingly complex social, environmental and economic challenges.
Education policy in Bermuda, like many other places, has been traditionally shaped by politicians and technocrats, representing a missed opportunity for the voices of communities to guide its direction and grow ‘on the ground’ support for change. Given its ambition for a future of decolonisation and self-determination in Bermuda, the Government knew a fresh approach would be necessary to think about education in a different light – one that actively involves the community as collaborators in every step of the journey.
“Bermuda, this is the change you have been asking for. Learning that is personalised, flexible, relevant, future-focused, inspiring, and authentically Bermudian. This change has been built by us, for us.”
Ambitious, participatory school and system transformation
In 2020 the Government embarked on a programme to transform the Bermuda Public School System with the goal of enabling each and every young person to lead personally and professionally, compete locally, and contribute globally. Supported by ThirdStory (previously Innovation Unit Australia New Zealand), Learning First was born to redesign core elements of Bermuda’s public schools in partnership with the community, and co-develop a unifying vision that guides the design of teaching, learning and schooling.
The programme actively engages Bermudian citizens in the policy and school design process. Active engagement is driven by a process made up of large-scale community-led user research, participatory co-design workshops and extensive public prototyping and learning.
Since 2020 we have supported the opening of 3 senior Signature Schools offering Signature Learning Programmes. These programmes are aligned to growth areas of Bermuda’s economy such as STEM and Health and Social Care, so that more local young people can successfully enter the workforce or start their own businesses on-island rather than rely on international recruitment. Each Signature Learning Programme blends academics with real-world, project-based learning focused on technical and industry skills within and beyond school.
We have also worked in partnership with 4 Parish Primary Schools planned to open on the island, in which we collaborate with locals to transform primary schools into vibrant hubs of learning for the whole community.
To ensure these changes not only happen at a school, but also at the system and governance level, the Education Reform Unit (ERU) was established, composed of Bermudian educators and Department of Education members. It is responsible for spearheading the implementation of national system condition strategies and supporting school-specific design teams (School Transformation Teams) as they develop future-focused blueprints for their local contexts.
Three key elements for change
Three major elements of change have so far been vital in fostering a participatory approach to education reform in Bermuda.
Mobilising Energy
Communities are often reluctant to embrace changes to familiar structures, even when they are dissatisfied with their outcomes. We thought deliberately about how to engage and collaborate more deeply with different groups of people throughout the process, and address concerns through ongoing open dialogue. This included creating forums for sharing and learning such as town hall meetings, monthly e-newsletters, online capability building, radio shows and social media. We built coalitions of support among diverse stakeholders and enlisted champions for change, and co-created a unifying vision with members of the community, industry and school representatives to raise ambition and buy-in.
Designing New Solutions
We continued to engage communities as the work of redesigning schools and the education system began. School Transformation Teams were formed of teachers, school leaders, community members, industry representatives and students to collaborate on the redesign of their local schools. Scaffolded by ThirdStory and the Education Reform Unit, teams developed blueprints for their new schools and prototypes of new approaches, and sought broader feedback from their community and subject matter experts to prepare their school for transformation.
Building Capability
Design thinking and practice are not commonplace in education systems generally and this was certainly true in Bermuda. One-to-one and group coaching in the early stages of Learning First quickly grew into co-leadership between the ERU and ThirdStory team. There is also now increased leadership from a renewed Governance Committee confidently holding and making sense of complexity, using innovation methods to raise ambition, and engaging in stage gate reviews to quality assure the work and to make time and mission-critical decisions.
Are you working in a jurisdiction exploring or undergoing education reform, or want to learn more about our approach to school and system transformation? We’d love to connect with you.
Project team
Keren Caple Chief Executive
Martin James Director, Innovation and People
Emma Scott Senior Project Lead
Stacey Quince Senior Associate
David Albury Senior Associate
Tom Beresford Senior Associate
Julie Temperley, Senior Associate, Innovation Unit (UK)
Sarah Ward, Senior Innovation Consultant, Innovation Unit (UK)