- School as Base Camp (not just a location)
- School as Learning Commons (with all users sharing access to and responsibility for its resources)
- Enquiry Based Learning (by seeking out and evaluating information)
- Extended Learning Relationships (i.e. reciprocal between adults and young people and supporting learning)
One of the recurring themes that have came out of the LF collaborative events that Mark Lovatt, Darren and I have attended is the need to inject academic rigour into any LF interventions, and the perceived inherent difficulty of assurance of quality in Enquiry Based Learning. Drawing upon the experience of the LF team, High Tech High were upheld as the prime example of the LF principles writ large through the use of project based learning. Project based learning* is similar to Enquiry based, however part of the outcome is a tangible product, and at HTH, they judge the success of their teaching on the quality of their students' projects and products.
As such an opportunity arose for a representative team from LF to visit HTH and enquire into the enabling structural and pedagogical conditions that result in such high quality work. In addition to this, upon learning that Darren and I would be able to make this fantastic opportunity we were charged with looking at the practice of HTH through a pragmatic lens, to glean what parts of their methodology we would be able to use in our own setting. Specifically this was do done through our responsibility to plan the pedagogy and structure of the upcoming experience weeks based upon Sustainability and Arts week for Darren and I respectively.
During our time in San Diego we were struck by the quality of the students' work and their willingness to share their learning in a manner that was without fail articulate and enthusiastic. For example students at HTH are published authors, exhibit in local galleries and complete internships in major multinationals in California and beyond.
From our short stay we were able to discern that there are a number of factors that contribute to the success of students at HTH.
It is worth pointing out that HTH have a higher proportion of students with special educational needs than the local average, yet they send 100% of students to college with a high four-year retention rate. They are an elective school however, so whilst they do not choose their students, there are four applicants for every place and so their school is populated by students from families with an interest in their education, who have actively applied for a place for their child. Success for applicants is determined by a postcode lottery to ensure a representative socio-economic mix.
The school also makes no attempt to differentiate between vocational and academic learning, and this is expressed as an integration of the hand and head, to which Rob Riordan (The Emperor of
Rigour) attributes much of their success.
The day is structured very differently to ours. A teacher will see 50 students in a semester. 25 for two hours in the morning, and 25 more for two hours in the afternoon, this is the same Monday to Friday for a whole semester. This is aligned to staff developed collaborative cross curricular projects. So for example the Art teacher might team up with the Physics teacher to develop and publish a book of watercolour paintings that demonstrate various physical formulae. As a result the students work on each project for 20 hours per week, and for 16 weeks in a semester.
Some key design principles that we brought back and are integrating into our upcoming projects are:
Do the project first - so that you understand the process and can backwards plan for your students, using your findings as a model for them.
Plan time for Critique - so that students can look at, evaluate and learn from each others work in progress. This leads to redrafts or rethinks which are key to developing intrinsic and habitual quality assurance from the students.
Project Tuning - present your ideas for a project to a panel of colleagues with some key issues that you are grappling with.
Staff autonomy - whilst High Tech High follow SAT testing they do not judge themselves by traditional standardised measures. This is difficult for us in our exam and targets based culture however the freedom within experience weeks gives us opportunity to allow teachers to teach to their passions. There is a counter argument that this will inhibit personalisation from the perspective of the students which is valid, so it must be thought through carefully that where possible there is choice within projects.
Trans-disciplinary thinking - all staff have an awareness of what each other are doing through the constant sharing of ideas and practice. This is a strength of our school also but we have asked staff to collaborate with staff outside of their department and/or to try including elements of content that are not securely their trained specialism.
Ensure Academic Rigour - in planning the projects make sure that you will deliver solid content as well as 'soft' skills. This can be done either by looking at standards and planning projects that give students opportunity to touch the required content, or by imagining an exciting/engaging/authentic product and backwards planning, looking at the knowledge/skills/attributes that the students will need to develop and master.
*Project based learning or pbl is often associated with the following criteria known as the 6As developed by Adria Steinberg:
Authenticity
• Does the project stem from a problem or question that is meaningful to the student?
• Is the project similar to one undertaken by an adult in the community or workplace?
• Does the project give the student the opportunity to produce something that has value or meaning to the student beyond the school setting?
Academic Rigor
• Does the project enable the student to acquire and apply knowledge central to one or more discipline
areas?
• Does the project challenge the student to use methods of inquiry from one or more disciplines (e.g., to think like a scientist)?
• Does the student develop higher-order thinking skills (e.g., searching for evidence, using different
perspectives)?
Applied Learning
• Does the student solve a problem that is grounded in real life and/or work (e.g., design a project,
organize an event)?
• Does the student need to acquire and use skills expected in high-performance work environments
(e.g., teamwork, problem solving, communication, or technology)?
• Does the project require the student to develop organizational and self-management skills?
Active Exploration
• Does the student spend significant amounts of time doing work in the field, outside school?
• Does the project require the student to engage in real investigative work, using a variety of methods,
media, and sources?
• Is the student expected to explain what he or she learned through a presentation or performance?
Adult Relationships
• Does the student meet and observe adults with relevant experience and expertise?
• Is the student able to work closely with at least one adult?
• Do adults and the student collaborate on the design and assessment of the project?
Assessment Practices
• Does the student reflect regularly on his or her learning, using clear project criteria that he or she
has helped to set?
• Do adults from outside the community help the student develop a sense of the real world standards
from this type of work?
• Is the student’s work regularly assessed through a variety of methods, including portfolios and
exhibitions?
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