Einstein is supposed to have remarked that “education is what remains when one has forgotten everything they learned at school”. - David Franklin

An American student, well-versed in U.S. politics, puts his hand up. He says he had been following Nate Silver’s ‘Five Thirty-Eight’ website, which had said that Trump only had about a 30% chance of winning the election.

There is also something powerful in the concept of an ‘airport idea’. On the surface, it links with Dan’s plea for what students should do if they meet him in an airport in five years’ time. But there are hidden suggestions too: the airport carries an association of being high-level, and fits in with the course’s aim of empowering the students with the tools they need to effect change. Once the course is over, they will disperse to airports across the world and put these ideas into practice in their home countries.

Maximising enjoyment All students want to enjoy their classes. This simple truth means that teachers who can make learning fun will, other things equal, be more successful. If the only way students can enjoy themselves is to ignore the class and play on their phones, then student enjoyment is a headwind that slows the boat’s progress. By making learning fun, teachers can adjust the sails to take advantage of the wind and speed the boat up. The progress it makes may not be directly towards our destination, but we can use the sails nonetheless to pick up speed and get closer to it than we would otherwise have done.