***Applications for the 2023 Starter Program are now closed***
Flashback to Starter Program, 2022
We launched the first evolution to The Circle’s Starter Program in April of 2022, an event that coincided with the official public launch of the organisation. The initial module, spanning over five weeks, included a range of facilitators who are widely regarded as experts within their fields. That programming – repeated three times due to high demand - with went in-depth with more than 150 educators from more than twelve countries.
Here are some of the most salient statistics underlying participant feedback and experience:
97% of participants would recommend the program to their peers
92% of participants found the experiences and sessions highly engaging and well facilitated
91% of the participants found the content relevant to their immediate work
90% of participants are keen to start a school or after-school centre in the next 24 months
Vision for a New Starter
We envision the 2023 Starter Program to be centred in an arc that enables people to build and create iterative products along the way. We hope that participants, furthermore, create tools and ideas that can be immediately applied to their local contexts of communities and schools. At the end of the Starter, participants will pitch their ideas to a panel of experts and compete for potential funding.
Our participants will be tasked with building a more innovative school. They will, through
the programming, build a prototype for a micro-innovation to test out their design with children (i.e., in their school, after-school space, organisation’s program, or wider community). This innovation will serve as the starting point – the seeding idea – to launch a future school on. The winner will receive a grant to launch and build their idea.
The programming – workshops with experts coupled with async design time – intends to
help folks get their feet wet along the way and get closer to building their initial innovation.