Digging the School Garden
Composting the past to cultivate the future: is UK education ready for the Two Loops shift?
Whilst surfing t’internet the other day in search of a suitable way of describing our thoughts on how the current UK education system might transform in the way many people are calling for it to do, we came across a thing called the Berkana Institute’s Two Loops model. It looks something like this…
Image: Great Transition Stories
…and it got us thinking: what if we stopped considering “old systems” as something we just throw away? After all, that just wouldn’t happen, would it—an entire generation of educators and policymakers just tossing everything we know out the window to make way for some bright, shiny new system? It would be chaos, and our young people have had enough of that over the last few years already.
But maybe we don’t have to go full Marie Kondo on UK education. Maybe we just need to start composting.
That’s what Two Loops suggests, anyway. We found ourselves imagining it as a kind of organic transformation, where the old doesn’t get trashed; it gets turned into rich compost, nourishing the roots of the new. In this model, we don’t kill the outdated. We let it nobly decompose, taking what’s useful to enrich new growth. And right now, many argue that UK education—especially technical and vocational training—is well overdue a soil upgrade.
At this point, let’s be honest—the gardening metaphor wasn’t really our idea. We got it from some of the funky representations of Two Loops that we found out there; like this one we rather liked from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia…
Image: SFU
Applying Two Loops to the education system—in England, at least—looks like this. Right now, the dominant system is with DfE. It’s the old guard, peaking in influence. That part of the loop has been hanging out for yonks: fixed qualifications, classrooms with desks in a row, exams that define a whole year’s work (or perhaps even more) in one gruelling afternoon. But then, somewhere down the line, this old system starts to wither. Resources get stretched thin, relevance dwindles, and people—students, teachers, even employers—start asking, “Is this really working?”
Meanwhile, out on the fringes, something new is taking root. That’s the second loop. Innovators and pioneers are creating a different kind of education system: flexible, digital, responsive. The model suggests these two loops operate at the same time, with the new quietly building its roots while the old gradually declines. Eventually, the new system can begin to take over, if it’s nurtured right.
Image: Yolanda Díaz Tarragó
So, what does it mean to compost the old parts of England’s education? First, let’s be clear—there are plenty of things worth keeping. We’re not talking about burning the textbooks or abandoning classrooms entirely. Instead, composting means deciding what’s still valuable and letting the rest go back to the earth.
For example, face-to-face mentorship, skill-building workshops, and hands-on apprenticeships can all nourish the new. In-person guidance and practical experience aren’t relics to be thrown away; they’re the good stuff, the organic matter that’ll make the next system thrive. But rigid exams, tramlined learning paths, one-size-fits-all curricula? These are looking a bit wilted. They’re overdue for the compost pile, waiting to break down and feed a more adaptable, sustainable system.
And what about the new growth? Well, we’re already witnessing the emergence of the innovators and pioneers, and we’ve written or talked about a few of them on The Green Edge: Dyson Institute, Black Mountains College, London Interdisciplinary School (LIS), New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE) and others. Many of these newcomers are seeding a new vision of education that’s tuned in to the needs of a green economy. They’re flexible, personalised, forward-looking and often embedded in older, established—and mostly higher—educational institutions.
Moreover, these pioneers are developing more adaptive education models, emphasising digital skills, green technology, and sustainable practices that prepare students for the real world. Importantly, too, they’re becoming parts of larger networks, creating communities of practice that exchange knowledge, scale new methods, and embed resilience into the new educational model.
Image: TGE
So, with all these changes happening, is English education ready to make this shift? There are signs that we’re close, but fully embracing the new requires letting go of outdated practices—a challenging prospect in an education system rooted in tradition. While some pioneering institutions are leading the way, the broader system still faces cultural resistance, structural rigidity, and a tendency to prioritise “how it’s always been done.”
Yet the need for change is undeniable. The world is calling for a workforce (not to mention citizens in general) equipped with digital fluency, sustainability knowledge, systems thinking, and adaptability—skills that the current system struggles to provide at scale. The education system must be willing to act as the bridge between the old and the new, composting what doesn’t serve the future and carefully nurturing what does.
This shift won’t happen overnight, and it won’t be easy. But for the educators, policymakers, and industry leaders shaping UK education, there’s a unique opportunity to become “composters” of change, supporting the transition to a more resilient, sustainable model.
As we rethink UK education, it seems to use that the Two Loops model offers a way forward. It’s not about discarding the old wholesale; it’s about transforming it. Just as compost enriches the soil, elements of traditional education—like mentorship, hands-on learning, and established technical skills—can help create the foundation for a new, adaptable system that meets the needs of today’s students and industries alike1.
The question isn’t whether the UK education system should change; it’s how prepared we are to shape that change. And while that involves tough choices, it also means cultivating a model that can thrive in the long run, nurturing the new without losing the best parts of the old.
So, where do we go from here? Whether as pioneers, connectors, or nurturers, everyone involved in UK education and training has a role in shaping this shift. And together, by composting the past and cultivating the future, we can create an education system ready to flourish in a greener, more sustainable world.
A big point here is the rise of interdisciplinarity in existing and new education and training organisations—a need driven by the complex problems that society, all the way down to individual job holders, are having to tackle.