What is the Genius Hour trend in international schools?

Once upon a time, a hugely successful US tech company decided to start a practice called 20% Time. The idea was to allow employees to spend 20% of their work hours on projects arising from imagination and whatever they found interesting. It led to some of the most innovative products at the company. The name of the company was Google, and the products included Gmail and Google Maps.  

This started off the trend of the Genius Hour at schools. Though educators were trying to implement it through 2013 – 2018, it started catching on in 2019, and became a trend during the lockdowns.  

What is the Genius Hour in schools?  
Genius Hour gives students the opportunity to explore their passions, hobbies and interests in a classroom setting. Teachers set aside time for students every week to work on a research or practical project of their choice. Unlike the syllabus bound classes, this is the student’s opportunity to go beyond and look at ways to find their calling. After all, students will choose only what they really want to do, and in the process, they will discover and showcase their strengths to teachers and peer group.  

How does the Genius Hour work?  
There is no fixed formula or syllabus for implementing genius hour in the classroom, and that is exactly what it aims to be. Teachers are tweaking the concept to fit their grade level, subject, and students’ needs. So, a first or second standard child may want to spend an hour colouring with crayons, a standard five or six kid will want to make their own crayons, and a high school teen might end up coding an app that creates crayon effects while editing photos. In some cases, teachers are grading the research methodology. Some schools, especially in the USA, are asking kids to use the hour to make projects on topics from the syllabus, but making it as innovative / analytical as possible, and then grading the project. Teachers and students love Genius Hour because it allows kids to do things that traditional schooling doesn’t.