There’s been a lot of talk for years about the need to teach all students to identify and solve problems in efficient ways, while at the same time developing their own personal skills.

Quit eoften such work is related to the ideal of encouraging students – especially those with special needs - to work in teams, develop self-confidence, learn from mistakes without losing that confidence, and soon.

This is exactly what MTa PASS does. Because each task the students are given can be structured in different ways, to suite the abilities and personalities of students, the tasks can be used to encourage the creation of innovative solutions and ideas without causing the students concern about their ability to handle the project

Further, teams can be put together in different ways for each topic, so that team skills and respect for others are generated within whatever time frame is allocated toeach task.

Through such tasks self confidence develops and the students learn that they can work with others to solve problems that might look intractable at first.

If students are going to learn how to work together and how to co-operate in order to get tasks done, they need real activities to engage in, and real problems to solve. Indeed as far as possible, they need activities that are similar to those faced in life outside the school.

Such problems will need to have multiple possible solutions so that the students can experience both efficient and inefficient ways of working while at the same time developing their own personal skills, so that the team works as effectively as possible.

In this way the notion of the citizen who balances his/her own enlightened self-interest with a willingness to work with others gains self-confidence, learns from the mistakes of the team, and develops as an individual within a group.

This is the very basis of MTaPASS does. Because each task the students are given can be structured in different ways to suite the abilities and personalities ofstudents, the tasks can be used to encourage the creation of innovative solutions. Different approaches can be used as the students come to terms with a world in which there can be multiple answers.

Further, teams can be put together indifferent ways for each topic, so that team skills and respect for others aregenerated within whatever time frame is allocated to each task. Through such tasks self-confidence develops and the students learn that they can work with others to solve problems that might look intractable at first.