Written by Stuart White, NAE Regional Managing Director (China)
At Nord Anglia Education, we believe the best way to prepare students for the future is to connect them with the minds shaping it. That’s why we’ve partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - one of the world’s most pioneering universities - to bring a spirit of innovation, experimentation, and creativity into every Nord Anglia classroom.
Through this collaboration, students don’t just learn about science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) - they live it. They explore the power of ideas, the thrill of discovery, and the mindset that innovation is not about memorising facts, rather asking “what if?” and daring to find out.
Learning Beyond the Classroom: The Power of STEAM
From its founding, MIT has championed learning by doing - an approach that values curiosity, creativity, and real-world problem-solving. Together, Nord Anglia and MIT bring that philosophy to life in our schools, helping students understand that the world’s biggest challenges are solved not by one discipline alone, but through collaboration across many.
Through our STEAM Programme with MIT, learning becomes a dynamic, hands-on experience. Students design chain-reaction machines, build robots, and explore innovation in sustainable design and creative engineering. They learn to combine analytical thinking with artistic creativity - discovering that innovation lies at the intersection of logic and imagination.
These experiences develop essential, transferable skills: flexibility, critical thinking, teamwork, and communication. Most importantly, they nurture the confidence to experiment, the courage to fail, and the resilience to try again - traits that define tomorrow’s leaders.
Innovation in Action: The MIT STEAM Challenges
Every year, students across nearly 90 Nord Anglia schools participate in three global MIT STEAM Challenges, inspired by cutting-edge MIT research. These cross-curricular projects invite students to apply scientific inquiry and creative design to real-world issues - from sustainable architecture to kinetic motion and environmental technology.
Unlike traditional classroom exercises, these challenges don’t have a single “right answer.” Instead, they spark curiosity, perseverance, and collaboration, showing students that innovation often begins where certainty ends.
Each MIT Challenge reflects MIT’s distinctive learning culture, making world-class research accessible and relevant to every Nord Anglia student. In the process, students learn to see themselves not just as learners, but as problem-solvers and creators capable of shaping meaningful change.
Empowering Educators, Inspiring Students
Innovation begins with inspired teaching. Every year, Nord Anglia’s STEAM educators travel to MIT for intensive professional development workshops. There, they collaborate with MIT professors, scientists, and engineers, gaining firsthand insights into the latest breakthroughs in fields such as artificial intelligence, bioengineering, sustainability, and space exploration.
Our teachers then bring that knowledge back to their classrooms - co-creating lesson materials with MIT experts and developing new approaches that encourage curiosity and experimentation. This ensures that Nord Anglia classrooms remain vibrant ecosystems of discovery, constantly evolving with the world around them.
Experience MIT: Where Curiosity Becomes Capability
For some students, the partnership becomes even more tangible through the opportunity to visit MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Each year, selected Nord Anglia students immerse themselves in MIT’s culture of hands-on innovation - joining workshops, building robots, coding algorithms, and meeting the researchers and engineers redefining the future.
Students also attend the Cambridge Science Festival and visit both MIT and Harvard University, experiencing the energy of world-leading academic environments. These experiences ignite ambition, showing students what’s possible when curiosity meets opportunity - and helping them envision their own path as future innovators.
Creating Future Innovators
The Nord Anglia–MIT partnership transforms education from a process of memorisation into a journey of discovery. By questioning, exploring, and building, our students learn that knowledge is not static - it’s something they can shape, apply, and expand.
They graduate not only academically accomplished but also equipped with the mindset of innovators - curious, courageous, and compassionate individuals ready to lead change in a rapidly evolving world.
Why Innovation Matters More Than Ever
In today’s world of constant transformation - where technology evolves faster than any generation before - the ability to innovate has become one of the most valuable skills a young person can possess. Artificial intelligence, automation, and global connectivity are reshaping every aspect of society, demanding thinkers who can adapt, create, and solve problems that don’t yet exist.
At Nord Anglia, we believe that innovation is not only about inventing new technologies, but also about cultivating new ways of thinking. It’s about teaching students to see possibilities where others see limits - to approach complexity with curiosity, and to turn challenges into
opportunities. This mindset ensures that wherever their future takes them, our students will not only keep pace with change - they will help define it.
Discover our schools and book a visit to experience the MIT collaboration in action.
当世界顶尖教育者遇见改变世界的创新者
在 Nord Anglia Education教育集团，我们坚信，培养学生面向未来的最佳方式，就是让他们与正在塑造未来的思想者建立联系。正因如此，我们携手全球最具创新精神的大学之一——麻省理工学院（MIT），将创新、实验与创造力的素养与精神带入集团旗下的每一所学校。
通过这一合作，我们的学生不仅学习科学、技术、工程、艺术与数学（STEAM）领域的知识，更在实践中亲身体验这些学科的魅力。他们探索思想的力量，感受发现的乐趣，并理解到，创新的本质并非死记硬背事实，而是勇于提出“如果……会怎样？”的问题，并敢于去通过种种手段探究答案。
超越课堂的学习：STEAM 的力量
自创校以来，麻省理工学院始终倡导“在实践中学习”，这也是一种重视好奇心、创造力与现实问题解决能力的教育方式。Nord Anglia则与 MIT 携手将这一理念带入校园，帮助学生认识到：世界上最复杂的问题往往无法依靠单一学科解决，而是需要跨领域的协作与融合。
通过我们与MIT合作的STEAM项目，学习变得更加生动鲜活、富有实践性。学生设计连锁反应装置、制作机器人，并在可持续设计与创新工程中探索创意。他们学会将理性思维与艺术创造相结合，并从中认识到，创新正是逻辑与想象力交汇的地方。
这些体验帮助学生培养灵活性、批判性思维、团队协作与沟通能力等可迁移的关键技能。更重要的是，他们在过程中收获了实验的自信、面对失败的勇气，以及不断尝试的韧性。而这些，正是未来领袖所必备的品质。
创新进行时：MIT 全球挑战赛
每年，来自近90所Nord Anglia学校的学生，都会参与由 MIT 前沿研究启发的三项全球 STEAM 挑战赛。这些跨学科项目鼓励学生将科学探究与创意设计应用于现实问题，从可持续建筑到动力机制与环境科技，涵盖多个领域。
不同于传统的课堂练习，这些挑战没有所谓的唯一“正确答案”。它们旨在激发学生的好奇心、毅力与合作精神，并让学生明白——创新往往始于不确定的地方。
每一项挑战都体现了 MIT 独特的学习文化，使世界级的科研成果变得触手可及、贴近每一位Nord Anglia学生的学习体验。在此过程中，学生逐渐认识到自己不仅是学习者，更是能够推动有意义改变的探索者与创造者。
赋能教师，启迪学子
创新始于启发性的教学。每年，Nord Anglia的STEAM 教师都会前往 MIT，参加高强度的专业发展培训。在那里，他们与MIT的教授、科学家和工程师并肩学习，深入了解包括人工智能、生物工程、可持续发展与太空探索等领域的最新研究成果。
这些教师随后将新知带回课堂，与MIT专家共同开发教学资源，探索全新的教学方法，激发学生的好奇心与探索精神。也因此，Nord Anglia的课堂始终充满活力，成为持续创新与发现的学习生态系统，紧跟世界发展的步伐。
走进 MIT：让好奇心化为能力
对部分学生而言，这一合作以更具象、更真实的方式呈现——他们有机会亲自前往美国马萨诸塞州剑桥市的 MIT 参访。每年，我们都有学生沉浸在 MIT 的实践创新文化中，参加工作坊、制作机器人、编写算法，并与正在塑造未来的研究人员和工程师面对面交流。
学生们还会参加剑桥科学节（Cambridge Science Festival），并参观MIT与哈佛大学，亲身感受世界顶尖院校的学术氛围。这些经历点燃了他们的理想，展示了当好奇心遇见机遇时所能激发的无限可能，并帮助他们展望属于自己的创新之路。
培育未来的创新者
Nord Anglia 与 MIT 的合作，让教育从单纯的记忆过程，转变为一段充满探索与发现的旅程。通过不断提问、实验与创造，学生逐渐理解：知识并非静态的，而是一种可以被塑造、应用与延展的能力。
他们不仅在学业上取得优异成绩，更具备了创新者的思维方式——好奇、勇敢、富有同理心，并已准备好在瞬息万变的世界中引领变革。
创新为何比以往任何时候都重要
在当今这个快速变化的世界中，科技以前所未有的速度发展，创新能力已成为年轻人最宝贵的素质之一。人工智能、自动化与全球互联互通正在重塑社会的方方面面，这要求未来一代具备适应、创造以及解决尚未被定义的全新问题的能力。
在Nord Anglia，我们相信，创新不仅仅意味着发明新技术，更代表一种全新的思维方式。它让学生在他人看到限制的地方发现可能，在复杂多变的世界中保持好奇，并将每一次挑战化为成长的契机。这样的思维模式将确保他们无论走向何方，都不仅能跟上时代的脚步，更能成为引领未来的人
