Hands-On Learning

Progressive education differs from traditional education in a number of important ways, one of which is experiential learning: the emphasis that progressive schools place on learning through doing. Students learn more, they learn more deeply, and they are more likely to retain what they’ve learned when they engage in active, hands-on ways in the educational process—when they build their knowledge of the subject matter rather than being told what, how, or why by a teacher. So “teaching” at Summers-Knoll is actually more about creating rich experiences through which students understand something because they’ve done it - they've explored it, questioned it, designed it, measured it, cooked it, acted it, turned it inside out and back again. It’s both a more compelling and more challenging way to learn.

It makes sense that when we’ve actually done a thing, we have a stronger memory of it, and the learning is deeper (and more fun) than if we’d merely listened to someone talk about it. Experiential learning encourages more zest to "do", and our students become people who like to get out there and try things - and have developed the confidence to do so. Engagement with learning is strong because the kids are involved in it actively. They see the point of it. They are not jumping through hoops.

So what does this look like in practice? We set up situations in which answers to important questions are discovered by the students, not given by the teachers - such as the 5th and 6th grade Global village experience, or the 3rd/4th grade collaboration with the Buhr Park Food Forest. This leads to project-based learning experiences, in which students learn to set goals, develop plans, execute their plans, and reflect upon their developing skills. For example, in music our children learn not only by listening to music and learning to identify the elements of it, but also by composing their own songs and learning to play them on different instruments, mastering each different part and learning to understand the elements of music deeply by actually crafting it. In early childhood classrooms, children learn the importance of accurate measurement, careful execution, thoughtful choices, patience, and good manners by making their own classroom pillows, including field trips to buy the fabric, and learning how to use the sewing machine. This is echoed in 3rd and 4th grade with more challenging projects such as designing and building doors for classroom cubbies. Take a look at the different classroom blogs this week to see more (links to all of them are on the right sidebar of this blog).

Encouraging the students to transform the school environment is another aspect of hands-on learning, for example, taking over the school hallways to lay out a timeline of human history, or turning a classroom into a village. 8th grade legacy projects often involve leaving a lasting mark on the school building - check out the murals in the middle school area, the handprints of former graduates going up the stairs, and the play structure "SKeidelberg House," designed and built by a recent graduate inspired by the Heidelberg Project after his class partnered with Tyree Guyton and the HP, installing a structure of tires in the Heidelberg Project itself.  Watch out for the SKeidelberg House - it's going to be painted soon; current and alumni students will give it its first incarnation, and later it can be changed by future inspired young artists.

Experiential, hands-on learning has multiple, well-documented benefits. If you'd like to read more, you can find an article you might enjoy here.

Exploring the City

Last night, at the elementary school Curriculum Night, I talked briefly about the joys and challenges parents feel when they choose a progressive school with a responsive curriculum for their child, opting for an approach to designing the children's learning journey in which the students have an active and valuable voice in their own learning.

The rewards that potentially come from such an approach are many. Ownership, authentic learning, creativity, motivation - to quote the parent of a recent graduate, describing a triumph her daughter had achieved as she started her high school freshman year, "That creative initiative is exactly what I hoped Summers-Knoll would give her and it worked!" This is often what parents are drawn to as they consider Summers-Knoll.

The challenge is often the difference between what this kind of school looks like, versus the kind of education most of us experienced when we were at school. It can be a scary experience, it can be anxiety-producing, it can be frustrating. A parent can be drawn towards the clear and obvious joy that children here experience at school, and still be profoundly unsettled by the fact that sometimes it just doesn't look like what we have come to expect from a school. 

When the students are active participants in their learning, and have a voice in what and how things are done, the educational journey starts to look like an excursion through a city, where the travelers want to step out of the the traditional tourist circuit and see the "real" city behind the tourist trap. Not: "this is what everyone sees (ignoring everything that everyone does not see):, but "how do people really live here?" So they explore. The city has a structure, it has a flow, and it is also big - too big for everyone to see everything. Everybody will see some things - City Hall, the library, the art museum - and everyone will see other things that possibly no one else sees. One group may head down a side street and find a piece of public art that the guide books don't mention, and finding out about it will bring up threads of history and civic engagement and they will learn how it fits in with the culture of the city as a whole. Another group might come across a little Farmer's Market, and learn those same things through a different lens. They will run into local inhabitants, who will give them insights that they couldn't obtain any other way. Everyone will explore deeply, and the tour guides will start to feel rather irrelevant. 

We are not tour guide educators here. We are explorers of the world. We ask "why?" not just "what?", and that can lead to some unexpected places. It's part of the process, and it's worth it. 

Welcome to the New School Year!

A new school year, a new blog. I sit here on this beautiful evening, with school merely a day away, looking back over the summer and forward towards a year full of promise and expectation: every year for a child is a pivotal year; every student's journey is immense; every person will develop in important ways, many of which are hard to predict.

For a parent, it's exciting and often anxiety-provoking. How can I do the right thing for my child? What will be key to setting her up for success? What can I do to support him?

So I thought I would start with a few simple but crucial thoughts to consider:

• Be punctual. When your child is on time to class, everything starts in an unstressed, positive, confident way. Running late brings problems with it that might not occur to you in the heat of the moment: your child misses important information, feels wrong-footed entering the classroom, possibly feels embarrassed, may not be able to easily recover from this, may be confused as to what is happening, may not engage with the work, may find that the whole day feels off. Entering late is unfair to the teacher and the other students, but most of all it deprives your child of a solid start to the day. 
• Have a proper breakfast. All breakfasts are not created equal, and there is definitely food that helps your child through the morning in better ways than others. Here's an article that may be useful. (Remember, if you go with the peanut butter idea, make sure your child washes hands and brushes teeth afterwards. Peanut butter is sticky, it travels, and we want to keep all our children safe.)
• A good night's sleep. Good sleep habits are crucial to success in school. Here's an article that may be useful. 
• Plan vacations to coincide with school breaks. While sometimes an opportunity springs up that you just can't pass up, it is enormously disruptive to your child to miss an extended period of school. It is also enormously disruptive to the teaching staff. 
• Allow your child to be in charge of his or her school experience. This is a right and a responsibility for the child. They get to carry their own backpack, say goodbye with the dignity appropriate to their age, own their identity as a student in a school setting, take responsibility for whatever homework needs to be done. All this gives them power and confidence in their own ability to be masterly in their lives. 
• Be patient. Your child is learning, and must be allowed to experience that process. It looks different for everyone, and it looks different year by year. Breathe, and enjoy the journey.