On the eve of the men's World Cup in soccer, I suggest K-12 educators look to the leading clubs' youth academies as models for learning design and holistic youth development: Arsenal, Manchester United (starting with the "Busby Babes" in the 1950s), FC Barcelona's La Masia, the "Settore Giovanile" at Juventus, Bayern Munich's junior team (created in 1902), and, above all, Ajax  (especially under Rinus Michels, whose creation of the dynamic, fluid style of play called "Total Football" changed the sport...and arguably foreshadowed the Information Economy and the rise of the Knowledge Worker).

These teams -- at the apex of global soccer, having sustained success for generations (the closest equivalent in the USA would be the Yankees in baseball) -- cultivate talent and foster learning by:

• Putting the young people at the center of the program
• Scaffolding their curriculum so that learners move at their own pace, with frequent feedback and a portfolio approach to displaying what one has learned (what Ajax calls the player's "passport")
• Emphasizing demonstrated mastery of skill over time-on-task-- and recognizing mastery with widely understood markers (earning the jersey or cap, i.e., analogs to badges and other forms of alternative certification in the American youth development sector)
• Focusing on tightly defined and clearly articulated core values and skills, so that players own a tool-kit and the understanding of how and when to use which tools in response to constantly shifting circumstances (soccer, like life, has few set pieces but an infinite array of aleatory and ambiguous possibilities)
• Stressing the importance of creativity, collaboration, grit, motivation, passion and mind-set

Coaches and athletes would recognize their philosophies in the work of -- among others -- Gardner,  Duckworth, Cushman and Dweck. Fostering an acceptance of failure as a key element of ultimate success, with visualization, iteration, flexibility, prototyping, action and critical feedback all part of the process -- a parallel to design scrums and sprints, which terms (come to think of it) point back to the pitch.

Daniel Rabuzzi is Executive Director at Mouse.