The Riverside School

Education for the 21st Century: How The Riverside School's I CAN pedagogy and FIDS programme have transformed education

The Riverside School, an independent international school in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, has gained worldwide recognition for its groundbreaking, student-centric approach to education, particularly through its I CAN pedagogical model and the introduction of the FEEL, IMAGINE, DO, and SHARE (FIDS) programme. By integrating an intentional value system of empathy, ethics, excellence, elevation, and evolution with the academic curriculum, the school has consistently ranked amongst the top 10 schools in India since 2004.

Inspired by the founder’s own son’s academic struggles, Riverside used Design Thinking to develop a school-wide teaching and learning culture of agency, engagement, and creativity. Today, FIDS is also an online training platform used by many schools worldwide and has inspired children worldwide to become changemakers. The platform has reached 2 million children through the Design for Change School, and Riverside has conducted state-wide, remote and in-person workshops to train over 1,000 government school teachers in the FIDS framework and its application in their contexts.

Riverside also has a research and training branch, Riverside Learning Center (RLC). RLC has codified tried and tested 20+ years of I CAN processes and practices to make design thinking in Education and use of FIDS mainstream. The I CAN Platform houses these processes and practices and uses the FIDS framework to explain the pedagogical model’s rationale and impact. It also provides multiple how-to's and videos to share what good practice looks like.

Overall, the Riverside School has had a significant impact on education through its student-centric approach, innovative pedagogical model, and the widespread dissemination of the FIDS programme. By cultivating empathy, creativity, and social responsibility in students, the school has enabled and empowered its pupils to become aware and active citizen leaders of the world.

If The Riverside School wins the World's Best School Prize for Innovation, it intends to use the prize to further the FIDS programme's reach by developing more digital learning content and supporting schools and educators worldwide with research and practice-based resources so that more children graduate with the I CAN Mindset, empowered with the skills to design a more equitable and humane world.