What first attracted me to Acton more than 3 years ago were two simple things: self-paced learning and hands-on projects. That was what jumped out and caught my attention. But, now, after having been through nearly two academic years of running an Acton Academy in Taipei, I find that there is so much more to it than that. The technology and the projects are wonderful, but they are not the “magic sauce” that has propelled Acton Academy to launch more than 200 campuses worldwide. It’s actually something much simpler: the narrative of the Hero’s Journey. I have seen a radical transformation in my own daughter as she has re-framed herself as a Hero who is not afraid of doing hard things.
Lauren Quinn, another Acton owner, wrote this wonderful article that captures exactly what makes Acton so special and such a wonderful place for children to grow.
Lauren goes on to describe how the Hero’s Journey narrative that runs through everyday, every session, every year at Acton has changed her own son’s outlook and re-ignited that passion for learning she always knew was still there. She also describes how, more recently, the students at her Acton Academy have easily continued their learning during the pandemic without skipping a beat, not because of their familiarity with online learning, but because they are self-directed Heroes in charge of their own destinies.