30 strategies for education innovation
TRANSCRIPT
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Strategies for Education InnovationStrategies for Education InnovationDesignShare.ComDesignShare.Com
Prakash NairPrakash Nair
3030
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Early Praise for30 Strategies for Education InnovationBy Prakash Nair
Prakash Nair has synthesized key learning theories and current practices into 30 strategies thatstress how the learning environment needs to be humane and attentive to individual children'sneeds. Considering that billions of dollars are needed for renovation and construction of newschools, this publication proposes an educational outlook that challenges traditional practice, whileoffering important insights about the promise of schools for the future.
Henry SanoffProfessor of Architecture, North Carolina State University
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Prakash Nair has certainly put forward some challenging ideas. I think it will also be a valuable
guide for facility planners particularly as it highlights many of the issues to be debated, discussedand deliberated in developing educational specifications.Jeff PhilipsPrincipal Consultant, Research & Development, Department of Education & Training, Western Australia
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I found the manuscript 30 Strategies for Education Innovationan excellent document in thecontext of school improvement.
Tim Sandercock
General Manager, Educational services, Delfin Limited, South Australia________________________________________________________________________________________________
This manuscript contains a wealth of good ideas that are presented in an invitational, easily-accessed manner. Kudos to you for this effort.
Thomas R. Hoerr, Ph.D.Head of School, New City School, St. Louis, MO
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As a career educator I congratulate and applaud Prakash Nair on the development of thisimportant guidebook for education. He has successfully taken many vital strategies and moldedthem into an easy to understand guidebook. This guidebook will be a valuable tool for all thoseinvolved in educating children. Bravo!Ben SenderChief Executive Officer
TechKNOW Associates Corporation, NJ________________________________________________________________________________________________
I have been a classroom teacher, director of a middle school in East Harlem (one of the schools ofchoice with a student body of 250 - an example of your item 3) and Director of InstructionalTechnology responsible for all aspects of Technology integration in East Harlem. I just finished
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reading the manuscript 30 Strategies for Education Innovation. Prakash Nair never ceases toamaze me. As I was reading it through, I kept shaking my head in agreement. I taught in a middleschool with 1500 students. Never mind learning the names of the students...it was difficult toknow all the teachers. Nair's point on isolation was right on the money. At the small middle schoolin East Harlem, everyone knew everyone, which made it not only an effective model, but a safeone. I recognized many of the strategies in this manuscript that my colleagues and I atTechKNOW have found and continue to find extremely effective as educational tools. Nair hasmanaged to distill all of these strategies and more in a clear and easy to read guide thateducators, parents and the community at large will find both thought provoking and valuable.John Ferro,President, TechKnow Associates Corporation, NJ
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"Prakash Nair has produced a very valuable and readable booklet around the current issues to dowith school design. It is impossible to read this publication without coming to the conclusion thatthere is radical work to be done in many of our schools to bring them into the 21st century.Paradigms need to be broken. This booklet is a welcome addition to the literature on school
building design change."Andrew Bunting
Director, Architectus, Victoria, Australia________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Nair's Strategies successfully and responsibly bridges the issues, trends and leading edge thoughtof a rather pluralistic educational reform movement with the latest school design concepts whilesimultaneously offering a very practical and reasonable approach to analyzing any given localcondition and making it better for real and meaningful learning."
Jeff LackneyAssistant Professor of Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prakash Nair is an exceptional visionary and leader who is effectively driving change in educationpractice internationally. His document, '30 Strategies for Educational Innovation' comprises acollation of key strategic, contemporary, and effective teaching and learning practices which canbe used as a blue print to guide today's leading educators as they strive for best practice andongoing improvement in curriculum and pedagogy.
Tim GourlayManager, Facility Services Section, Department of Education, Tasmania, Australia
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Prakash Nair's 30 strategies provide an excellent scaffold; relevant and important reference pointsto inform debate around current educational improvement efforts.. They provide an easy, readilyaccessible source of theory underpinning best practice that challenges our thinking about how wedo things
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in school. As we become more involved in our planning for our redevelopment and theimplementation of a new curriculum framework, I find myself coming back to the strategies againand again!
Judy Bennett, PrincipalOgilvie High School, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
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"This guidebook will help educators and lay people alike identify ways in which they can begin torethink and change schools to meet 21st century needs. Prakash mirrors what the "clients"(students) are trying to tell adults. Here is a guidebook which will help adult leaders and reformerslisten and change educational practices that no longer work."
Anne Taylor, Ph.D., Hon. AIAProfessor and Director, The Institute for Environmental Education, University of New Mexico
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A framework for positive change! Prakash Nair provides a thoughtful guide for dialogue andprioritization in creating successful schools.
Jim Brady
Council of Educational Facilities Planning International, Planner of the Year, 2003
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STRATEGIES FOR
EDUCATION INNOVATIONBy Prakash Nair
Preface - Why This
Guidebook and How to
Use It?
his Guidebook is written to help
close some big gaps in
education - the gap betweenresearch and action, between statedgoals and policy and betweenperception and reality.
Few will argue that these gaps existwhen it comes to the way educationis delivered in this country. In whatother industry would the majority ofproven research be discarded in
favor of an overused, discreditedmodel? In education, the researchunequivocally supports a student-centered model but schools andschool systems overwhelmingly favor
the older mass-production model ofschooling. Where else is there sucha gaping chasm between the stated
goals of an organization and thepolicies that are adopted toaccomplish those goals? Ineducation, there is widespreadsupport for the idea that everystudent is important and yet, inpractice, systems are set up to favor
a few at the expense of the many.As for the gap between perceptionand reality, the perception amongmost parents, communities andpolicy makers is that failing schoolscan be "fixed" by doing more of whathas failed. The reality is that failing
schools need a completely newapproach that engages students and
co-opts them into the learning
process. And what about thesuccessful schools, those whosestudents rank high on standardized
tests and go on to college inimpressive numbers? These have aneven lesser incentive to change eventhough they are better at selectingtalent than at nurturing it.
Why do these gross disconnectsexist? Mainly, the problem lies in theentrenched nature of bureaucracies.Systems designed for a different timeand for a different set of needs have
since become fragmented and deeplycompartmentalized. Even wherethere is commonality of purpose, the"systems" themselves remainhopelessly gridlocked. Communities
need to bypass the system and focusinstead on making a set of specificstrategies happen. Systemic
roadblocks can be more easilyidentified and overcome when theyprevent some specific strategy from
being implemented. This approachis more practical than wholesalesystemic improvement which isnearly impossible to implementexcept in the most desperate ofcircumstances.
Another attractiveness of thismethod of instituting change throughthe implementation of specificstrategies, is that it is very flexible
and can be tailored to the needs ofany given community. It permitsdistricts with modest goals to begin
with small victories and use them toleverage more widespread change.For those with more ambitiousexpectations, change efforts can befocused on specific strategies. Even
widespread change is more easilymanaged when broken up into easilymeasured chunks.
By providing a simple and commonvocabulary that all school
constituents can use, this Guidebookbridges the gap between laypersonsand experts. It can thus help diverseschool constituents to work togethertoward realizing shared expectations.
The following sections show how
various school constituents canmobilize support for their goals usingthis Guidebook as a resource.
30In education, there is widespread support for the
idea that every student is important and yet, inpractice, systems are set up to favor a few at the
expense of the many.
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If you are a districtsuperintendent, school boardmember or businessadministrator
Use this Guidebook to take stock ofwhere your district is relative to your
own vision statement. There is avery good chance that almost any
vision statement that you havecrafted will be better served via the
adoption of some or all of the 30strategies. If you are redefining yourvision or creating a new strategicplan for your district, consider howyou can incorporate these ideas tothe extent that they capture theessence of what you are trying toaccomplish in your community. Justas important, use this list todetermine what resources you willneed to allocate to accomplish yourgoals. You should also discuss thelist with your school principals and
ask them what you can do to supportthe actual implementation of these
ideas at the school level. Have yourprincipals complete the attachedsurvey so that you have a sense of
their priorities relative to those of thedistrict at large.
If you are a school principal
Use the 30 strategies as a tool tobrainstorm with your teachers and
staff. Use the attached survey togauge their preferences and also geta quick sense of their readiness for
change. Match staff developmentprograms with specific strategies as
needed before implementation.Discuss those strategies that are
favored by your school communitywith the district establishment inorder to align expectations andgarner district support and anyresources they can offer.
If you are a parent or ParentOrganization member
If you are looking at alternativeschools for your child, discuss the 30strategies with your child, prioritizethose that are most important to
your family and use your prioritizedlist to "rank" the schools according to
how many and how well thestrategies are practiced there.
If you are a member or executive ofthe parent organization, call a
meeting to discuss each item on thelist relative to their applicability inyour own school setting. Strategies
that seem to fit the philosophicalmodel of your own school can thenbe prioritized and recommendationsfor the implementation of those notyet adopted can be made to the
school establishment.
You can also use the ideas slated for
implementation as the basis toobtain supplemental funding and/orresources from the businesscommunity and other entities such aslocal higher education establishmentsand philanthropic organizations.
If you are a teacher
Selectively apply strategies that youfeel will result in greater studentengagement and participation - butonly after you discuss them with
your students. If you favor somestrategies, but are unsure how toapply them in your classroom, use
the research sources provided in thisGuidebook and the Internet to learnmore. You should also talk to your
principal about suitable staffdevelopment to reinforce skills thatyou will need to introduce your
selected strategies into theclassroom.
If you are a student or student
government representative
Study the 30 strategies and talk toyour fellow students and teachersabout implementing those that youare able to build consensus around.If necessary, prepare a "petition"
signed by your fellow students topresent to your school principal andthe parent organization requesting
the adoption of strategies that youfavor.
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Introduction
ll around the world, a new kindof educational model is takingtentative steps toward the
mainstream. This model is far bettersuited to provide the knowledge and
skills that students will need tosucceed in a new global economythan the traditional model stillpracticed in most schools.
The new model embodies manyideas which are not new but are onlynow being seen as a real alternative
to traditional schools. The reasonswhy these ideas are taking root haveto do with the simple fact that the
old mass-production model ofeducation simply doesnt work for
most, if not all, students. The oldmodel was designed to weed out the
smart students destined for college
from those who would work in non-academic vocations. But that kind ofdistinction is no longer valid.
Today, meaningful, usefuleducationis something allstudents need
regardless of the career choices theywill eventually make. Schools need todo more than just select students
according to their cognitive abilities.They need to become places where
diverse talents are recognized andnurtured, where every student ismade to feel special, has an
opportunity to realize his or her fullpotential and succeed on his or herown terms - in other words, theyneed to become "New Paradigm"schools.
The pressures for change ineducation are building fast. These
include:
Demands by parents that
education work for allchildren; The increased push for
accountability from education
officials; The information and
communications revolution;
New research and greater
understanding of the way welearn as children and adults;
Changing employment patternsin a global economy.
The 30 strategies for innovationdiscussed in this Guidebook, takentogether, represent a new,alternative, education model. It ishighly unlikely that any one schoolcan or will utilize all 30 ideas.
Additionally, some strategies aremore relevant to younger students,
while others apply only to olderstudents. However, a true NewParadigm school will embrace a vast
majority of these strategies.
Overarching Principles
There are some overarchingprinciples that cut across many of
the strategies discussed here. Infact some of the strategiesthemselves can be viewed as
overarching. For example, ideaslike personalization and project
based learning cut across manyother strategies.
Beyond this obvious overlap, thereare other overarching principles thatunderpin the philosophy of New
Paradigm schooling they includeleadership, lifelong learning andcultural diversity.
Leadership
Few innovation strategies cansucceed without real leadership.
However, in the world of education,good leadership at the top alone isnot enough to improve student
achievement. This is particularly truewith the larger school systems likeNew York City and Los Angeleswhere the leaders of the system are
many layers removed from the
teacher in the classroom. We needto redefine leadership to include allthe elements within a school system
from the superintendent to theprincipal to teachers, students,parents and community
representatives. This kind ofdistributed leadership provides thebest opportunity to effectuate real
change and is advocated by leadingreform efforts including Breaking
Ranks Changing an AmericanInstitution, the landmark publicationabout reforming the American HighSchool. Peter Senge in his book,Schools That Learnprovides manyuseful ideas for educators, parentsand other school constituents toexercise leadership while workingtogether.1
Lifelong Learning
In the world of education, LifelongLearning is a popular, if somewhat
misunderstood, idea. From theperspective of educational change,there are really two distinct parts tothe idea of lifelong learning thatneed to be addressed. The first ideais to think about a childs learning inschool becoming the foundationalphase of a life of learning. In thisscheme, the emphasis of educationshifts from teaching disconnectedcontent to teaching learning skills
because it is the ability to learn thatwill keep both relevant content andlife-skills current as the child grows
up and takes his or her place as aresponsible, contributing adult in
society. Many of the strategies
1Schools that Learn. A Fifth
Discipline Fieldbook for Educators,Parents and Everyone Who caresAbout Education, by Peter Senge,2000.
A
Cultural diversity is an important strength in todaysincreasingly global society. It may even be the
answer to one of the most pressing problems facingthe world today that of cultural polarization.
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discussed in this Guidebook such asinter-disciplinary curricula,cooperative learning and projectbased learning emphasize life-skillsover mastery of content. But there
is a second, and often neglected,aspect to the idea of lifelong learningand this is the opportunity that
schools should afford to adults tocontinue their education. Accordingto the OECD, which has identifiedsome obvious reasons why adultsneed to keep learning:
From a purely economic viewpoint,competencies of individuals are seenas important because they contributeto 1) boosting productivity andmarket competitiveness; 2)
minimizing unemployment throughdeveloping an adaptive and qualified
labor force; and 3) creating anenvironment for innovation in aworld dominated by globalcompetition.
From a broader social perspective,knowledge, skills, and competenciesare important because of theircontributions outside the domain of
economics and work. Theycontribute to 1) increasing individualparticipation in democratic
institutions; 2) social cohesion and
justice; and 3) strengthening humanrights and autonomy as
counterweights to increasing globalinequality of opportunities and
increasing individualmarginalization.2
All schools, but particularly thehundreds of new schools that areconstructed and renovated everyyear must provide times, programsand methods for community access
to education something that rarelyhappens today. Not too many adultswill feel comfortable or welcome in a
traditional school setting and thatmust change. These settings must
2Lifelong Learning and Sectors of
Education. Organisation forEconomic Cooperation andDevelopment. Building Partnershipsfor Progress.
become welcoming, comfortable andenjoyable places for adults tocongregate and if they do, they willautomatically become better placesfor younger students to learn as well.
Once the question of where hasbeen dealt with, schools also need to
address the issue of by whom inother words, a good communityschool that provides opportunities forlifelong learning will break down thebarriers that prevent the coordinateddelivery of education and services bya bevy of government, private andnon-profit organizations that exist inmost communities. An effectivestrategy to accommodate lifelonglearning is also an effective way tobreak down the isolation thatstudents and teachers of traditional
schools feel and to make educationitself both during the school dayand beyond real and meaningful.
Cultural Diversity
It is readily apparent that, for mostorganizations, cultural diversity is animportant strength in todays
increasingly global society. It mayeven be the answer to one of themost pressing problems facing theworld today that of cultural
polarization. Schools are animportant place to begin a culturallyrich life experience. There are fewthings about the world into whichour children will graduate that ismore certain than the notion that itwill be more culturally diverse than it
is today. Students who experienceand learn to value diverseperspectives from an early age are
more likely to become well adjustedmembers of the global society theywill inherit.
While a culturally diverse school
population should be an importantpolicy goal, it is easier said thandone in locations whose populationsthemselves lack diversity.Understanding the importance ofcreating culturally diverse schoolcommunities, districts are resortingto the use of magnet programs and
specialized schools and academies toattract a diverse population to areasthat may otherwise not be able to doso. For example, the InterdistrictDowntown School in Minneapolis
attracts students from 10surrounding districts and is thus ableto create the rich diversity that many
inner city schools lack. In theabsence of a diverse studentpopulation, it becomes even moreimportant for schools to usetechnology to make local, nationaland global connections that exposestudents to people and opportunitiesthey miss by virtue of their culturalisolation.
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The 30 Strategies
The following chart shows all 30 innovation strategies (listed in no particular order). Each strategy is linked to one or
more of three categories - pedagogy, organization and non-academic. Pedagogy refers to any strategy that requiresteachers to adopt teaching methods or practices in order to implement it. Organization refers to the need forsupport from the school administration, educational establishment or other governmental or constituent group toimplement the strategy and Non-Academic refers to any strategy that has non-academic benefits (many proponentsof New Paradigm schools believe that these benefits are just as important, if not more important, than the academic
benefits of school). This chart begins to explain why New Paradigm schools are not easy to develop. Many of thesestrategies require extensive preparation by teachers, the "blessings" of, and significant organizational effort by, theeducational establishment and, in many cases, outside sources of support and funds. However, by organizing themin a manner that clearly shows why they are important and how they can benefit schools, there is a greater chancethat they will begin to be more widely adopted by communities everywhere.
Number Innovation Strategy Pedagogy Organization Non-Academic
1 Personalization X X
2 Multi-age Classes X X X
3 Small Learning Communities X X
4 Student Advisories X X
5 Small Learning Communities withAcademies
X X
6Multidisciplinary Curricula withBlock Scheduling
X X
7 Cooperative Learning X X
8 Project-Based Learning X X
9 Peer Tutoring X X
10 Peer Instruction X
11 Team Teaching X X
12 Community Service Learning X X X
13 Looping X
14Business Partnerships for
Assessment, Resources and
Funding
X X
15 Global Connections X X X
16 Internships X X X
17 The Resurgence of Art X X
18Laptops and Wireless Technologyfor Anytime, Anywhere Learning
X X X
19 Parent Involvement X X
20 Student-Led Performances X X
21 Non-Academic Life Skills Curricula X X
22 Meaningful Career Counseling X
23 Social/Emotional Counseling X
24Physical Fitness Programs -
Beyond Sports
X
25 Outdoor Learning X
26Student-Run IndependentNewspaper
X X
27Relevant Staff Development and
Adequate Staff Preparation TimeX
28 Portfolio-Based Assessment X X
29 New Paradigm School Buildings X
30After School Programs andCommunity Use of Schools
X X
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Personalization
Personalization of learning isan important underpinning of
the whole New Paradigm model ofeducation. It starts with the ideathat learners are not products that
can be mass-produced by schools. Ifone accepts the undeniable truththat no two children are exactlyalike, then it must logically follow
that no one system of education canwork for all students. From thisfollows the notion that a goodeducational model will "personalize"each student's learning experience.
The idea that each student has an"Individualized Education Program" isnot new to those who specialize ineducating children with learning
disabilities. Now, the idea of an"IEP" for allstudents is gainingcurrency. Personalization includesnot only what will be learned inschool, but also howit will belearned.
While it is possible and perhaps evendesirable to postulate certain"standards" which define the kind of
skills and knowledge that constitutesrobust learning in any givendiscipline, each student must have
adequate and individualizedpreparation to master thesestandards. Further, a school thatpromotes personalized learning willmake every effort to deliver
education using a variety of meansand methods in an attempt toinvolve all students. Personalizedlearning is therefore compatible withthe idea of Howard Gardner's"Multiple Intelligences Theory which
identifies eight different intelligences
whose development is essential forsuccess in a variety of today'sprofessions.3 Being "clever" or
3 Howard Gardner's MultipleIntelligences Theory identifies the
following nine "intelligences" that allhuman beings possess:Cognitive/Analytical,Bodily/Kinesthetic, Spatial, Musical,
"smart" in the traditional sensemeant having a high IQ, but weknow today that this kind ofcognitive intelligence alone is no
guarantee that students will beprepared to face life's challenges.Personalized learning environmentsdevelop not only an individual'scognitive and analytical skills, but arealso concerned with the developmentof their other intelligences andcreating responsible citizens.
Multi-Age Classes
Author Daniel Pink once
asked, When was the lasttime you spent any significant timewith a group of individuals who wereall the same age as you? Age-basedgroupings dont make sense in thereal world and make no sense inschool either. While there arecertainly some developmental stagesthat are more or less age-specific,even these milestones are not exact.That means, it makes eminent sense
to group students in ways that offerthem the best opportunity to get a
rich learning experience and not onthe basis of their age. Accordingly,multi-age groupings (in and outside
classrooms) are a more suitableway in which to organize a givenstudent population.
At the Quinns Beach Primary Schoolin Western Australia, multi-ageclassrooms are commonplace. Farfrom creating a chaotic atmosphere,multi-age groupings at this schooland many others across the worldare unusually self-directed, withstudents appearing to be far moreengaged in their work than intraditional teacher-centered, single-
age classrooms.
Interpersonal, Intrapersonal,Naturalist and Existential.
3
When it comes to schools, there isample evidence that smaller isbetter. But smallness is not a virtueunto itself. It is a means to an end,
and the end is to have each studentfeel that he or she is part of anintimate community where (to
borrow a line from the popular TVshow Cheers,) everybody knows
your name. That means it is notenough to simply break up a large
school into houses or pods forthe purpose of creating smallness.Students need to identifyclearly withtheir smaller community and feel a
sense of belonging, common purposeand loyalty to the smaller unit.
As to how big this unit should be,there are various theories. Someinsist that the small learningcommunity should be no larger than100 students, yet others say that itcan work well up to 150 students.
However, there is general agreementthat the smaller this unit, the more
likely it is to provide the sense ofsecurity and belonging that studentsneed.
Student
Advisories
It is almost impossible to think about
a school and not see the "classroom"as its basic building block. And, yet,
as this report on New Paradigmschools illustrates, there is absolutelyno logical or educationally compellingreason for classrooms in schools - atleast not classrooms in the traditionalsense. With personalization, multi-age classes, project-based learningand team teaching, schools have anopportunity to organize themselves
differently than they have done in
1
2
3
4
Personalization includes not only what will belearned in school, but also howit will be learned.
Small Learning
Communities
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the past. One such organizationalstructure is the "advisory".While small learning communitiesremove the anonymity associatedwith large institutional settings,
advisories carry the idea of studentbelonging one step further.
Advisories team up a certain number
of students (no more than 15 forpurposes of manageability) with anadult mentor and try to keep thiscore group together for as long aspossible.
In the case of the Met School inRhode Island, perhaps the mostsuccessful national example of howsuccessful advisories can work4,advisories remain in placethroughout a students high schoolyears. Students are thus able to
develop positive, long-termrelationships with peers and withcaring adults. In order for them to
work well, it is important foradvisories to meet as a group often.
At the Met School, daily meetings are
the norm.
Small Learning
Communities with
Academies
In the case of middle and highschools (grades 6 and higher), there
is evidence that developing smalllearning communities around somecommon themes is the most
effective strategy to improve studentengagement and a sense of
belonging. Academies can run thegamut from computer technology toveterinary science. But the key to
their success in not so much thatthey prepare students for any
particular career, but that theydevelop essential life skills associatedwith the world and workplace outsideschool.
4One Student at a Time: A DeeplyPersonalized Public High Schoolby
Elliot Washor and Dennis Littky, NewHorizons for Learning.http://www.newhorizons.org/lifelong
/adolescence/washor.htm
The move is gaining momentum tobreak up larger, comprehensive high
schools all across America intothemed academies. The Bill andMelinda Gates Foundation has setaside tens of millions of dollarstoward this cause. There are nationaland statewide networks that assistschools in setting up academies. Thelargest such organization is the New
York City-based National AcademyFoundation with over 1,000 memberacademies around the country. NAF
defines its mission thus, Themission of the National AcademyFoundation (NAF) is to sustain anational network of careeracademies to support the
development of America's youthtoward personal and professionalsuccess--in high school, in higher
education, and throughout theircareers.5 In California, the Career
Academy Support Network is housedwithin the Graduate School ofEducation at UC Berkeley. Itspurpose is to support the growingnumber of career academiesdeveloping around the country,
5 National Academy Foundation,http://naf.org/
fostering their growth andimprovement.6
Multi-disciplinary
Curricula with Block
Scheduling
It is true that nothing that is worthlearning can be taught or learned in
the traditional 45 - or 50-minuteblock that most schools employ.Block scheduling is an alternativeway to break up the school day intolarger time segments that permit
students to enjoy a richer learningexperience. Another disadvantage tothe traditional school day is that itdivides up time according to subjectclassifications like language arts,mathematics, social studies, scienceand art in ways that isolate these
subjects from each other and fromtheir natural richness as they areencountered in real life. In thissense, the word multidisciplinary is
just a fancy way of saying real.
6 Career Academy Support Network,http://casn.berkeley.edu
5 6
At the Met School in Rhode Island, advisories remain
in place throughout a students high school years.
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Cooperative
Learning
Education Week defines cooperative
learning as, A method of instructionthat encourages students to work insmall groups, learning material, then
presenting what they have learned toother small groups. In doing so, theytake responsibility for their ownlearning as well as their
classmates.7 In other words,
cooperative learning is a system inwhich students become bothmotivated and motivators. Byshifting responsibility for learningfrom teachers to students,cooperative learning takes away the
us vs. them mentality that the
typical school organization naturallytends to encourage and creates in itsplace a new dynamic where studentsfeel empowered and eager to
succeed on their own terms and notonly to please their teacher.
Project Based
Learning
This strategy is implicit in variousothers described here. PBL is a way
to make learning meaningful andreal. Instead of learning materialout of textbooks, students work inteams to tackle real-world problems.Often, students will collaborate with
peers across the world on globalprojects, forge meaningfulrelationships and build virtualcommunities of learners in theprocess. There are manyadvantages to PBL as a way to
promote learning. Among them:
Develops collaboration skills; Deals with real-world problems
so students can make importantconnections between what they
7 Education Week Glossary on theweb. 2003 but updated regularlyhttp://www.edweek.org/context/glossary
learn in school and its relevanceto the world outside school;
Results in a deeper and moreholistic understanding of thesubject being studied;
Provides the means to integrateskills in various disciplines in
much the same way thatproblems in the real world needa multi-faceted approach tosolving them;
Provides a good vehicle for
delivering multidisciplinarycurricula.
Peer Tutoring
There is a saying that the
best way to learn somethingis to teach it. In schools across the
world, students become betterlearners as they take on the role ofteachers and mentors to younger
children. Peer tutoring is alsovaluable because students can oftenforge stronger bonds with other
students than with adults and aremore easily able to develop interestand motivation in the youngerlearner. While there are someproblems with this approachincluding the fact that not allstudents are good teachers and also
that the quality of instruction maynot be as high as desired, there aremany advantages to peer tutoring asset forth by University of Western
Australia below:8
Involves students directly in the
teaching and learning process;
The act of teaching othersenhances student's ownlearning;
Encourages collaboration
between learners; Enriches learning environment; Shares responsibility for teaching
between teacher and learners; Uses expertise in the learning
group;
Can be viewed as a strategy fordealing with individualdifferences in the classroom.
Peer
Instruction
While peer instruction is not a new
concept (it is what happens when
8 Issues of Teaching and Learning,
Vol. 3, No. 3, April 1997, theUniversity of Western Australia.http://www.csd.uwa.edu.au/altmodes/to_delivery/peer_teaching.html
7
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9
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two friends study together), it israrely practiced in the classroom.The problem lies with two questions
how best to implement peerinstruction in class, and what kind of
role does it entail for the teacher?There are also questions regardingthe quality of the instruction and the
resulting quality of learning thattakes place using this system.Beyond that, there are the obviousconcerns regarding the organizationof the classroom itself and how peerinstruction may be disruptive, noisyand chaotic within the confines ofsmall spaces.
Eric Mazur at Harvard has addressedthese concerns and has used amethod of peer instruction that canwork successfully even when it is
applied to groups as large as 250students.
Mazurs technique involves theteacher posing a question to thewhole class. First, each student is
given a moment to think about thequestion and formulate his or herown answer. Then, the teacher asks
students to discuss their answerswith whoever is sitting next to them,after which each student is asked togive his or her answer to the
question once again. Invariably,Mazur finds, a vast majority ofstudents are able to get the rightanswer after only about a minutesdiscussion with another student evenif only a few of them had the correctanswer prior to the peer-to-peer
discussion. Another benefit of thepeer-teaching technique that Mazurdiscovered is that it gives students a
greater sense of confidence in thecorrectness of their responses afterdiscussing the topic with a peer than
they had when formulatingresponses in their own minds.
Peer instruction in practice confirmswhat many of us know intuitively.That we sharpen our knowledge andunderstanding of most subjectswhen we get a chance to discussthem with our colleagues andfriends.
While the exact form of peerinstruction may vary from class toclass, there seems little doubt thatwhen students talk to other students,they do become engaged in ways
they never would have if they werepassively listening to a lecture.While this is not an argument to do
away with the lecture format, itcertainly suggests that teachersshould supplement lectures withopportunities for classroomdiscussions between the studentsthemselves.
Team
Teaching
Strategies like Project Based
Learning can work in isolated
classrooms with a good teacher, butthey are most effective whenteachers of various interests andabilities work together as a team todeliver a multidisciplinary programfor the students. Team teaching isalso beneficial because it makesteaching a less lonely profession thanit has traditionally been. By workingclosely with their peers, teachers
themselves gain the benefits ofcooperative learning. Studentsbenefit from team teaching curricula,
not hampered by a teachersweakness in any given area becausethat might be a strength another
teacher in the group possesses.Team teaching also facilitates the
use of block scheduling that wasdiscussed earlier.
Community
Service
Learning
Community service learning is now
becoming an integral part of mosthigh school programs. Many schoolsare requiring students to compile a
certain number of hours ofcommunity service for graduation.
But like all good ideas, this one isalso only as good as itsimplementation. Community service
programs work best when students
are matched up by the school andcommunity organizations inaccordance with their uniquestrengths and interests. In thisscenario, community service also
becomes a vehicle to deliver qualityprograms to the recipientcommunities. As for the students,
they gain an important lesson ingiving, are better prepared for thechallenges of college, and sharpenand strengthen the social andtechnical skills they will utilize in thereal world after college.
Looping
Most students willconfirm what we
already know that teachers areamong the most important people in
their lives. However, the extent towhich a teacher can really know astudent diminishes sharply as the
number of students that teacher hasto teach on a daily basis increases.How many parents have attendedparent/teacher conferences in alarge school where the teacher hasto shuffle through her papers to see
how a student has performed ontests and homework assignmentsbefore she can even comment on
how the child is faring in her class?Dont blame the teacher for this it
is hard for anybody to keep detailedtrack of 150 students who flit in andout of the classroom. Looping allows
students to return year after year tothe same teacher.
John Strachan, writing for New YorkTeacher,9 notes, The strategy has a
huge upside, according to loopingproponents like Brehaut and Rappolt,who heads the Port Byron TeachersAssociation:
Having the same teacher and
classmates for two or more yearsprovides stability for students,
9Maximizing learning through
looping: Sticking with one class hasadvantages, teachers say. New YorkTeacher, October 25, 2000.http://www.nysut.org/newyorkteacher
/2000-2001/001025looping.html
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reduces anxiety and increasestheir confidence.
Teachers and students don'tneed to learn new names and
personalities every year, soactual learning time increases inthe second year.
Classroom discipline problemsdecline, while parental supportand involvement increase,
because the longer time framemotivates parents, students andteachers to resolve problemsthat might otherwise betolerated.
Business
Partnerships for
Assessment,
Resources and Funding
It is one thing for students to do
good work to please a teacher andsomething else altogether for themto understand how the work isviewed by professionals in theindustry. In Eeva Reeders geometry
class at Mountlake Terrace HighSchool in Seattle, students completea six-week architectural assignmentthat involves the design of a schoolfor the year 205010. This project isonly possible because thearchitectural firm of Wise/Miller isactively engaged with guidingstudents in class and also doing anactual assessment of student workbased on team presentations in the
firms office. This kind of realconnection to the world of workoutside school makes learning the
theory more meaningful for students.
Other kinds of partnerships with the
business community can also be very
helpful to schools. Businessinvolvement in schools runs thegamut from sponsoring studentprojects and trips to donatingspecialty equipment and furniture.
10Schools for the Year 2050.
Edutopia, George Lucas EducationalFoundationhttp://www.glef.org/reeder/open.html
For example, Dave Master, an artteacher in California, built a world-
renowned animation program in hisLos Angeles high school bypartnering with the major Hollywoodstudios. The studios suppliedspecialty equipment as well as expert
assistance to the school to supportthe students. Sometimes wholeschools are created with businesssupport. For example, CART (theCenter for Advanced Research and
Technology in Clovis, CA) is a publichigh-tech school largely sponsoredby leading corporations.
Global
Connections
Not all schools will be able to take
advantage of the proximity of relatedindustries as Dave Master was ableto in Los Angeles. However, with the
advent of distance learning, it is now
possible to reach experts whereverthey might be. Schools are
increasingly using the distancelearning capacities they are installingas part of their technologyinfrastructure to reach national andinternational experts. Such globalnetworks are good not only becausethey bring expertise to schools theymight not otherwise be able to get,
but also because they forgerelationships between studentsthroughout the world based oncommon goals and aspirations. DaveMaster himself is now developing aninternational network of animatorswho volunteer their time to work
with students from around the worldvia distance learning technology.This program also permits studentsspread across six continents tocommunicate and work with each
other.
Heres how the local newspaperreported the formal opening of aschool in Tasmania, Australia by theState's Premier, Jim Bacon. Mr.
Bacon addressed a large audience inthe schools assembly hall, where hegave a spectacular demonstration of
the schools technological capability.Mr. Bacon was joined on stage byeducation architect Prakash Nair,who appeared on a giant screen viathe Internet from his office in New
York.11 My talk with the Premierwas not only seen by the invitedaudience of 500 attendees, but alsoshared with the entire schoolcommunity via monitors distributedthroughout the school. One of the
11The Advocate, Tasmania,
Australia March 26, 2003.
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first things I said to the Premier was,When you build a school like this,you build a thousand bridges. Youare no longer an isolatedcommunity. While particularly true
for Tasmania, which is an islandcommunity with few ties to themainland, the problem of isolation is
hardly unique to Tasmanian schools.Distance learning technology inschools, combined with moreestablished technologies like emailand Internet access and dedicatedschool websites, are now helping tocreate nations without boundaries
people connected by commoninterests and aspirations, not dividedby artificial national boundaries.From a learning perspective, thiskind of access to people and expertsall around the world provides
students at even the most remoteschool with opportunities for beingpart of the larger, global community.
Internships
There is a growingschool-to-career
movement in high schools
everywhere. Such programs areaimed at improving studentengagement and achievement by
giving relevance to the curriculum.The newly emerging internship
programs are designed to preparestudents for the world outside schoolwhile exposing them to career
choices. This approach is differentfrom the older vocationalinternships which were simplydesigned to give students proficiencyin one particular industry. Bothapproaches are legitimate and havebeen proven to improve studentachievement in and outside school as
well as college attendance rates. Atthe Met School in Rhode Island,
students spend two days per weekat internships that they select basedon their interests. Across four years,one student interned with an
engineer, a judge, a choreographer,and a marine biologist. He completedmany personalized projects such asco-directing a musical and
developing water quality systems inNarragansett Bay.12David Woods, Principal of SevenoaksSenior College in Perth, Western
Australia, considers internships to be
so important, that he has assigned afull-time staff coordinator to developthe industry contacts needed to set
up good internships with localcompanies. Sevenoaks hassucceeded in signing up over 400companies to provide internships tothe students at the school.
Resurgence of
Art
Artists and creativity have alwaysgone hand-in-hand, but the study ofart in school used to be seen as
something separate from and lessimportant than the hard subjectslike math and science. Only now areconnections being recognized
between the creativity that is implicitin artistic endeavors and thecreativity that the global society will
demand from all citizens. Creativepeople invent, imagine, problem-solve, create, and communicate infresh, new ways. Every businessrequires creative thinkers in the form
of scientists, engineers, medical
researchers, technology innovators,business entrepreneurs, artists,performers, writers andillustrators.13
Beyond the use of art as a means tonurture and strengthen the creativespirit that resides in all children,there is now an added impetus forart to assume its rightful place in ourschools the advent of technology.
12
One Student at a Time: A DeeplyPersonalized Public High SchoolbyElliot Washor and Dennis Littky/ NewHorizons for Learning.http://www.newhorizons.org/lifelong
/adolescence/washor.htm13 Crayola. The Importance ofCreativity.
http://www.crayola.com/parents/powercreativity/
With technology, learning is quicklybecoming a multi-media experiencewhose demands include not onlytechnological know-how, but alsoartistic skills. Regardless of the
subject being studies, demands arenow being placed on all students topresent their work professionally,
and this takes a certain level ofartistic competence.
By combining their artistic ability withtechnological competence, studentsare also expanding their careerchoices. Today, there are manyprofessions where art andtechnology are interwoven. Theyinclude graphic arts, advertising, setdesign, architecture, computeranimation, claymation, digitalphotography, computer art,
computer game design, digitalpublishing, industrial and costumedesign and even filmmaking, which
now involves extensive off-cameraeffects that are created in thestudio.16
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Laptops and
Wireless
Technology
for Anytime, Anywhere
LearningThe following summary by JamieMcKenzie about the benefits oflaptops and wireless technology for
Anytime Anywhere discusses whywireless networks utilizing mobile
computers are preferable to the still-prevalent practice of putting a fewdesktop machines in the back ofeach classroom. (Also see a relatedpublication by NCEF on this
subject14). Jamie McKenzies list
published in the journal From NowOnis paraphrased here:
Ease of Movement:Untethered laptops can be
moved anywhere in the buildingand require no special furniture.
Relaxed Fit: Laptops are easier
to accommodate within existingclassrooms because of theirsmall footprint.
Strategic Deployment: Laptopcomputers can be deployed on
rolling carts where they areneeded most, creating one-to-one learning opportunities that
traditional methods ofdistributing computersthroughout a school do not
provide. Flexibility: Laptops can be used
within existing rooms and can be
configured to fit the teacherspreference and the nature of thelearning experience, whether
that is team, group, or individual.
Wireless laptops place no
14The Role of Wireless ComputingTechnology in the Design ofSchools, Prakash Nair, National
Clearinghouse for EducationalFacilities.http://www.designshare.com/Research/Nair/wireless.pdf
additional demands on furniture
or space. Cleanliness: Elimination of
cables and wires means that 25or even 30 laptops can beaccommodated in a room
without creating a mess. Low Profile: Unlike desktops
behind whose large monitorsstudents may be hidden, laptopshave low profiles, allowingteachers and students to have
important eye contact. Convenience: As with the
Quinns Beach example, wirelesslaptops' ability to be readilyavailable when needed andeasily stowed when not makesthem more likely to be used.
Simplicity: The simplicity,
comfort, and reliability ofwireless laptops means thatteachers and students can focuson learning, not on hardware.This may help technology attain
the full use that has been hoped
for but often not realizedbecause of technical difficultiesor inconvenience.
Speed: There is almost no setuptime for wireless laptops. Theycan be up and running without
needing to locate and connect ordisconnect a wire. This is a huge
advantage and another way in
which the technology itselfbecomes subordinate to the task
of learning.
Parent
Involvement
Sometimes, it is not how good animprovement program is, but howwell it is understood that matters.
Parents are likely to resist changethat takes them outside their comfortzone. There is a general sentimentthat when it comes to the educationof our children, it is better to live
with the existing system with all itsproblems than to experiment withnew ideas. The only way toovercome this fear is by workingclosely with the parents so that theydevelop a real understanding for the
need to change and then becomeactive partners in the change
process.
Parent involvement in New Paradigm
schools goes far beyond typicalvoluntary efforts of the school PTA.With the proliferation of charter
schools, parents are increasinglybecoming involved in developingschools from scratch. One greatexample of a parent-inspired school
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is the Avalon School in Minneapolis.The other is the Discovery 1 Schoolin Christchurch, New Zealand.Neither one of these schools looks orfeels like a traditional school. Neither
has classrooms and almost all thelearning at these schools is rigorousand experiential.
But parent influences can besignificant even when the traditional,government-sponsored schooldevelopment model is followed. Theaward-winning Reece CommunitySchool in Tasmania, Australia, whoseplanning was led by the StateDepartment of Education, washeavily influenced by parents.Parents played an important role inthe committees established todevelop this school. Not surprisingly,
the Reece School practices amajority of the strategies identifiedin this report.15 New Paradigm
schools see parents as legitimatepartners in the way schools aremanaged and run, and this is one of
the key factors in their success.
Student-Led
Performances
Play is a legitimate form of learning
and is often the only form that workswhen students are disenchanted withthe educational process. Childrenare natural performers, and this isone way to introduce play into thelearning equation. Performance is away to get children to becomeengaged, active and motivatedparticipants in school. Performancescan range from impromptu skits inthe classroom to elaborateprofessional- quality stage
productions.
Halsey Junior High School in Queens,
New York allows its students towrite, produce, direct and act in aseries of contemporary skits as part
15For information about Reece and
other international award-winningschools, please seehttp://www.designshare.com/Awards/Review.asp?ProjType=HIG
of its annual production. Theseperformances involve literallyhundreds of students and introducethem not only to the traditionalrange of dramatic skills, but also
teach them important lessons inplanning, collaboration, accounting,public relations, administration and
management. Students are willing
to put a lot of effort into thisendeavor, because it is always well-
received by their audience of peers,parents and community residents.Often the enthusiastic cheers fromthe audience drown out importantdialogue on stage, though no one
seems to mind.
Another great example of usingperformance to engage students isthe All Stars Project (ASP) based in
Newark, NJ, Philadelphia andOakland, CA. The ASP createsoutside of school, educational andperforming arts activities for tens ofthousands of poor and minorityyoung people. It sponsors
community and experimentaltheatre, develops leadership training
and pursues volunteer initiatives thatbuild and strengthen communities.16
The great thing about performance-based education is that it can be
used to teach just about anything,with little or no infrastructure. This isevident from the wide acclaim
earned by one national award-
winning social studies teacher whowas featured by Disney in its
Creative Classroom series. Hissecret? His classrooms are almost alldevoted to helping students discoverthe joy of learning throughperformance. By the students own
admission, this teachers class helpthem develop a deeperunderstanding of the subject matterand also makes them think bothcritically and in ways that allow them
to apply skills learned in one contextto a different context and time.Imagine what it would be like for astudent to play the part of ahistorical figure based upon thoroughresearch and study of that character
and the social context in which thatcharacter lived, and compare the
16 All Stars Project, Inc.http://www.allstars.org/index.html
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quality of that learning experiencewith learning the same material outof a textbook.
Non-Academic
Life Skills
Curricula
Conflict Resolution: The abilityto peacefully resolve conflicts isa vitally important skill. Mostindividuals are left to figure outfor themselves the best way inwhich to deal with conflict - be itwith members of the family, withfriends or with colleagues. Butmany schools actually "teach"
students how to deal with andresolve conflicts in their life. Notonly is this important in building
better citizens, but it alsoaddresses the problem of
conflicts interfering with astudent's ability to get the mostout of school.
Character Education: Sincehumans are not necessarily born
with character traits like caring,civic virtue and citizenship,honesty, justice and fairness,
respect, responsibility andtrustworthiness, they need to be
introduced to these virtues inschool - particularly when theydo not have adequate role
models at home. However, it isnot possible to "teach" character,because these are virtues thatmust be appreciated andpracticed over time. Schools arefinding that it is far easier tobuild character in non-traditionalsettings where students workindependently and cooperativelyin hands-on environments. Bymore closely duplicating the
work environments of the realworld, students are able to"practice" virtues and perfect
them while their essentialnatures are still developing.
Teaching Wisdom: It is a wellaccepted notion that "wisdom" issomething gained with
experience - and many believethat age is a prerequisite forwisdom. However, wisdom isnothing more than the ability toface life choices and make good
decisions, decisions with thepotential to yield the best long-term results. Another aspect of
wisdom is the ability to makedecisions that positively impactthe maximum number of people- thus differentiating wisdomfrom selfish acts that may yieldpositive benefits for oneself atthe expense of others. RobertSteinberg, Professor ofPsychology and Education at
Yale University, is an ardentbeliever in the idea that wisdomcan be taught. Unlike IQ, whichis mostly inherent and difficult if
not impossible to change,wisdom, according to Steinberg,can be acquired. Further,
Steinberg maintains, wisdom isan even more important "lifeskill" and certainly a better
predictor for success in life thanIQ. To prove his point,Steinberg talks about how
"smart" people can make"stupid" decisions - implying that"practical intelligence" or wisdomis not the same thing as
intellectual intelligence or IQ.Steinberg defines wisdom as ahuman quality "based oncommon values that run throughmost religions and cultures:reciprocity, courage, sincerity,honesty, integrity and
compassion. It involves knowingwhat you know and what youdon't know. It is sustained by
balance: balance between one'sown and others' interests; byshort- and long-term
perspectives."17
It is important for children to"learn" how good decisions havepositive life-long impact, butchildren are often asked to learn
17So you think you're smart,stupid?The Guardian, Tuesday,June 25, 2002.
wisdom by osmosis - watchingadults make decisions.Obviously children who grow upwith wise adults who make gooddecisions are more likely to learn
wisdom themselves. However,rather than leave it to chancethat children may be able to
watch and emulate good rolemodels, schools can followSteinberg's lead and "teach"wisdom. This can be done viahighly visual and interactiveexercises where students areexposed to hypothetical "realworld" scenarios and then askedto make good decisions. Througha process of discussion, childrenget to understand theramifications of their decisionsand are taught the difference
between short-term gratificationand long-term fulfillment. Bylearning to make good decisions
in school under a variety ofsituations, students acquire anessential life skill - that of
wisdom.
Meaningful
Career
Counseling
Career counseling in school hascome a long way from the traditional
"career day" or worse, the "tracking"of students according to so-calledability. Today, we know that
students may be "intelligent" in ahundred different ways. In a forum
on educational planning published onDesignShare.com, I had noted, Letme hasten to debunk the myth that
kids who are good or even brilliant atscience and math are more
intelligent than those who are not.Let's face it. In this increasinglycomplex world, we need such whizkids more than we ever did and weshould do everything we can toencourage them to achieve theirfullest potential. But do we have tomake the other kids who have nointerest in science and math look
stupid in the process? Whathappened to actors and musicians
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and artists and architects? Thecounselors and naturalists and chefsand jewelers and librarians andhistorians and writers, marathonrunners and entrepreneurs? Society
will still need all these people so whyare all children forced to competewith the future geneticists and rocket
scientists?18
Good career counseling programsmeet children where they are andnurture the talent that all childrenhave. New Paradigm schools buildon students innate strengths andabilities and encourage them topursue their interests in careers oftheir choice. Career counselingrecognizes that while some studentsare certain about the career theywant to pursue as adults, others are
less sure about their life goals.Despite their uncertainty, schoolscan do a lot to prepare students for a
good career by focusing on the lifeskills that most adults will needregardless of their career choice.
These include social and emotionalintelligence, collaboration skills,research skills, and critical thinking
ability.
Social/
EmotionalCounseling
Studies have shown that social andemotional skills are a more important
determinant for life success thanprofessional competence in any
particular field. While it is not likelythat a reclusive personality can beconverted into a social butterfly, it is
possible to teach childrensocialization skills at an early age.
The best way for them to develop
18But Are They Learning? AConversation between Bruce Jilk andPrakash Nair, Forum onDesignShare.com.http://www.designshare.com/Research/Nair/Are_They_Learning_Forum.htm
good social skills that they can use inlife is to practice these skills while inschool. Student-centered schools, byvirtue of giving more opportunitiesfor students to work in collaborative
settings, thus provide better lifepreparation.
Similarly, students who are havingdifficulty in school due to emotionalproblems can be counseled at anearly age to work through theirproblems. They can also be taughtimportant emotional skills they willneed to use in life - such as angermanagement and understanding theconnections between their feelingsand their life experiences or "sub-text". In student-centered schools,students who have weak social andemotional skills are also easier to
spot, since they are unable to "hide"behind high academic achievement.Not only can these students benefit
greatly from the more social natureof student-centered schools, but theyare also likely to be helped through
peer and adult counseling - bothessential components of a NewParadigm school.
Physical
Fitness
Programs -Beyond Sports
Why do schools focus so much on
sports and so little on physicalfitness? While sports has universalappeal, and schools shouldencourage all those interested toplay sports, it is a well-known factthat only a tiny fraction of students
who play sports in school actuallycontinue to pursue sports as a
physical activity after school. Beyondthis problem, it is also important toremember that only a small
percentage of a school's totalpopulation can participate in itssports teams. As for the rest of the
students? They are relegated toboring "gym" periods with listless(and often forced) physical activity.
In America, it is obvious that publicschools are doing a terrible job in thearena of physical fitness. Today'steens are more obese and lesshealthy than at any time in recent
memory. For example, in Texas,nearly 40% of all 4th and 8th gradersare obese.19The lack of a sustainable physicalfitness regimen is not only a healthproblem, but it also has directramifications on the academicperformance of students, their rateof absenteeism, and their mentalhealth and overall well-being.The way to attack the problem is todevelop physical fitness programs inschool that students can continue toutilize throughout their life. Suchprograms run the gamut of activities
from dance and aerobics to yoga,walking, hiking and bike-riding (thelast two in areas where outside
terrains permit). Indoor activitiescan include jogging on indoor tracks,recreational swimming and weight
training. When student "gyms"begin to look more like adult physicalfitness centers, they are more likely
to develop healthy, lifelong habits.
A more complete physical fitness
regimen in school will include relatedclasses in nutrition, health andcooking. The idea is to teachstudents that good health is involvesa balanced diet and a regular
regimen of exercise - and that theseaspects of living can actually be funand enjoyable while serving to enrichall aspects of one's life.
So, educators across the country,including Texas, are turning to whatis being embraced as a socially
gentler, scientifically smarter NewP.E. Students spend part of theirclass time engaging in their choice ofpopular cardio activities such as kickboxing, Pilates, fencing, juggling andtai chi, and part of it studyingsubjects such as cholesterol, dental
19Texas Department of Health
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care, drug prevention, bloodpressure and body composition.20
Outdoor
Learning
An argument can be made thatkeeping students in indoor
classrooms for extended periods oftime over the course of many years,"chained" to hard chairs for theostensible purpose of learning, isnothing short of inhumane.Children, even more than adults,need to move around and experiencethe outdoors. In fact, there isdefinitive research about theimportance of sunlight and fresh air
being essential for healthy humandevelopment and academicachievement. By imbuing outdoor
activities with some educationalpurpose, schools achieve the dualgoals of making learning moreauthentic while simultaneouslyallowing children to be more
physically, socially, emotionally andspiritually healthy.
Student-Run
Independent
Newspaper
One of the biggest obstacles that
New Paradigm schools have toovercome is the hard-and-fast rule inmost schools that students becomesecond-class citizens when theyenter the school building. Other than
20New P.E. Finds Way into
Schools by Paige Hewitt, HoustonChronicle, May 7, 2003
prison, it is hard to find anyinstitution in which the "inmates"have so little power. The irony of thissituation is that schools are intendedto serve the student population,
and it is hard to understand how theidea of "service" became equatedwith a demand for subservience to
the "rules" of the adultestablishment. An institution whosebasic purpose should be to developstudent autonomy toward preparingstudents to enter the world asresponsible citizens is insteadfocused on fostering dependenceand obedience to authority. There isnothing in the research that suggeststhat such control exercised byschools over every aspect of astudents day and behavior has anybeneficial effect - and so the idea
that "it is for their own good" holdsno water at all.
How to solve this dilemma? Oneanswer is to give students a realvoice in school. An independent
student-run newspaper unimpededby adult interference can begin toserve this purpose. But can any
school afford to allow students toproduce a journalistic piece withoutcensorship? Actually, yes. A pilotprogram run out of a New York City
public high school (Middle CollegeHigh School at LaGuardia CommunityCollege in Queens) does just that --and in spite of the fact that thestudent body is made up entirely ofkids transferred from other highschools due to ongoing behavior
problems. Students produce anindependent daily newspaper with nooversight whatsoever from any
school official. Instead, thenewspaper is produced withguidance from professional
journalists who work for the City'smajor newspapers. Fears that a
completely independent studentvoice would wreak havoc on thedelicate student-staff balance ofpower in school have notmaterialized at all. Because studentshave so much power to write whatthey want to, they take theirresponsibility seriously. Taking their
cue from their professional advisors,students really research their storiesand are careful when they sayanything critical about theestablishment by making sure that
their facts are accurate. Since theyare responsibly written, such"negative" stories, whenever they
have appeared, actually encouragethe school's establishment to solvethe problems the stories address.The journalism project is not just anexercise in student independence. Ithas become a tool of empowerment- solving many social pathologiesassociated with an inner city highschool. It shows that when studentsstop feeling powerless and are ableto take charge of their own destinies,school begins to have a differentmeaning in their lives, becoming a
positive stepping stone for lifesuccess.
This student journalism pilotprogram was so successful that ithas been accepted by Columbia
University's Journalism School forreplication in schools throughout thecity and possibly nationwide.
Relevant Staff
Development
and AdequateStaff Preparation Time
I have interviewed many teacherswhose classrooms are models ofNew Paradigm schooling. They areuniformly of the opinion that thismethod of teaching - serving as aguide and mentor and allowingstudents to "discover" knowledge, is
far more unpredictable and difficult
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to manage than a traditionalclassroom. It is no longer possiblefor a teacher to rely exclusively onso-called lesson plans and repeatthem year after year.
In order to be good facilitators inproject-based learning (PBL)
environments, teachers needsubstantially more preparation timeand more staff developmentseminars that expose them to thelatest research and effectivemethodologies for managing non-traditional "classes". But once theyare freed from the isolation of theirclassroom, teachers are also eager toteam with colleagues to designmultidisciplinary projects. For PBL tobe effective, it is not unusual forteachers to need up to two hours of
preparation time each day.
"Rubrics" and
Portfolio-Based
Assessments
Multiple-choice tests are just aboutthe worst way to assess how muchprogress a student has made inunderstanding a given subject. One'sability to remember something longenough to spit it out on a test is
quite different than "learning" thematerial so that the knowledge canbe applied in other contexts and
become a useful life skill. Deepunderstanding of a subject is bestevidenced by original student work
that demonstrates thatunderstanding. With project-basedlearning has come the need todevelop better and more authenticassessment measures.
In her non-traditional geometry classdiscussed under the PBL strategyabove, Eeva Reeder developed a rich"rubric" that measured studentlearning in a variety of areas.
Reeder's rubric was also keyed to theState's standards. Another form ofassessment is the student portfolio.
A portfolio of student work - oftenstored electronically on the Internet
at a student's own website - is now
becoming a legitimate and moregenuine assessment of how much astudent has actually learned thanperformance on a test. Portfolioscan be created not only for older
students, but for younger ones aswell.
The primary purpose of a studentportfolio is to provide both teachersand the students themselves with ameaningful measure of learning.Good student portfolios done by highschool students also becomevaluable tools to help them gainadmission to a good college or evenenter the workplace. Showingprospective employers actual workproducts is a far more convincingway to indicate the students abilitiesand increase salability in a particular
industry than a good set of "marks"or grades which proves good test-taking skills but little more.
New Paradigm
School Building/
Campus Design
It is impossible to accept the idea ofNew Paradigm schooling and notalso understand that these kinds ofprograms are best conducted in non-
traditional learning settings. Forexample, as the earlier discussion onadvisories illustrates, New Paradigm
schools challenge the preeminenceof the classroom as a school's basic"building block", challenging the
"cells and bells" model for schoolplanning and organization stillprevalent today.
When designing a brand new school,there is no reason why classrooms(at least in the traditional sense asthe primary location for most"learning") should enjoy the kind ofpreeminence they have in the past.Several new school buildings that
could be considered exemplars ofNew Paradigm teaching are
organized without traditionalclassrooms.21
Despite the success of these trulyNew Paradigm learning
environments, it is highly unlikelythat educational establishments andlocal communities will be ready to
start building schools withoutclassrooms. This reluctance to breakaway from tradition must be seen inlight of the reality that a majority ofthe world's school buildings havealready been built - and almost all ofthem have classrooms. The goodnews is that New Paradigm schoolscanstill work even with a basicbuilding arranged aroundclassrooms. Sometimes, just re-labeling the classroom and arrangingit so that the lecture format is no
longer the primary form ofinstruction within the confines of thisroom can work wonders. In writing
for Education Week, I described thisand several features of a newparadigm school building as
follows.22
Research is still sparse when itcomes to evaluating the benefits ofnontraditional learning spaces on
learning outcomes. However, sincethere is solid evidence that
progressive methods of education dowork when properly implemented, itmakes sense that school facility
design should follow suit and supportthe new teaching and learningmodalities. Here are 11 ways in
21 These include: The Zoo School,The Interdistrict Downtown School,Crosswinds Middle School, the
Avalon School and the Harbor CityInternational Schools in Minnesota;
High Tech High in San Diego; theCenter for Advanced Technology andCareer Exploration in Virginia; TheReece Community School in
Tasmania, Australia; and theDiscovery 1 School in Christchurch,New Zealand.
22 But Are They Learning?Commentary by Prakash Nair,Education Week, April 3, 2002.
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which small, learner-centeredschools will be configured, thoughthe list should not be read as someprecise prescription for what willwork in a particular community.
1. Learning Studios Insteadof TraditionalClassrooms. Classroomswill give way to multipurpose"learning studios," placeswhere different children
could be engaged ondifferent tasks in variousactivity zones. Daylight willbe abundant, fixed furniturewill be eliminated, and therewill be adequate room for
both individual space andgroup gatherings.
2. Kivas, Atriums, and
Learning StreetsReplace Corridors. Beyondthe learning studio, newlearning environments will
have fewer corridors wherestudents run past oneanother and more openareasboth within andoutside the buildingwheresocial interaction isencouraged. A number ofschools that have put theseideas into practice areshowcased in theDesignShare- and SchoolConstruction News-sponsored Awards 2000 andAwards 2001 programs.
3. Project Rooms forProject-Based Learning.
These will be high-ceilingedareas with ample power,
gas, work tables, andspecialized equipment. Theyare places where students
can work on long-term
projectsusually buildingsomething. Such rooms aredistinguished from thetraditional science labs and
art rooms by the fact thatthey are not specialty-oriented. That means onestudent could be building anarchitectural model next toanother who is painting alarge canvas next to astudent building a robot. Aswith the world outsideschool, projects won't startand end with bells, andstudents will work on themat their own pace.
4. From ProgrammedSpaces to Resource
Areas. The school library or
media center, cafeteria, andfitness center will become
resource areas that studentscan use as they see fitnoton some predeterminedschedule.
5. Multi-age Groupings. As areflection of the real world,
most student groups will bebased on aptitudes and
interests and represent arange of ages.
6. Learning Outside School.Older students will spend asignificant part of their
timeperhaps as much astwo or three days a weekoutside the school building,involved in communityservice and school-to-workprograms, and all studentswill share the wealth of thecommunity's many learning
resources, like libraries,parks, and museums. Thismeans that buildings may
not need to accommodate asmany students as before and
could be built to a smallerscale.
7. Parent and CommunityUse. Areas will be designedwith all the amenitiesneeded for school-hours useby parents and volunteersand after-school use by allcommunity residents.
8. Teacher Workrooms.Places will be provided forteacher research,collaborative work, andstudent meetings that treatteachers like the
professionals they are.
9. A Place to Think. Students
will have places where theycan enjoy a moment ofsolitude, where they will be
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allowed both the time andthe space to think or notthink. Almost every creativeendeavor is achieved at leastin part through moments ofsolitude. Given the freneticpace of modern daily life, theneed for places that nourishthe spirit and provide thosemoments has never been
greater.
10. Technology as Liberator.
With wireless laptops andother digital communications
devices proliferating, andwith the Internet becomingavailable to students when
and where they need it,there will be less reason forstudents to be situated in a
classroom to learn. Wirelesstechnology will also permitequipment previously fixedin place, such as dataprojectors, printers, andscanners, to move freelyaround the school.
The school day will not endwhen students leave thebuilding. Learning will
continue at home, asstudents and teachers talk to
one another via e-mail, orperhaps audio and videochat sessions. With more
online course offerings,many classes will have noconnection with the schoolbuilding at all. Classmateswill not be limited to thosewho share the same space,but will include those whoshare the same interestsintown, in another town, or
even in another country.
11. Living, Not Static,Architecture. The buildingwill be designed as a living
space for maximum flexibilityand change, so that the mixof learning areasindividual,
team, small-group, andlarge-groupcan be
adjusted easily as needsvary.
After-School
Programs and
Community
Use of Schools
While the term "community schools"is widely used, one would be hard
pressed to get consensus on whatexactly this means. Mostly,
community schools refer to schoolswhich open early in the morning andclose late at night so that they
service the entire community and notonly the students who attend the
school. However, the problem withmost community schools is that they
strongly delineate the academic andnon-academic components of theprograms offered so that there islittle synergy between the two. Thisproblem has been effectively solvedby the Children's Aid Society (CAS) inNew York City, whose communityschools are developed in order to
strengthen the community while atthe same time improve bothchildren's and adults' opportunities toget a better education.
The CAS' idea of setting upcommunity schools in partnershipwith the City's Board of Education
and a number of other public serviceagencies in New York City, has beensuccessfully realized at variouslocations within the City. According
to the CAS vision that led to thecreation of these schools, "Thecommunity school would be anintegral part of the neighborhood, afocal point in the community towhich children and their parentscould turn for a vast range of
support and services. It wouldsimultaneously reach for the highest
educational goals and standards, andcontain all of the health, welfare andyouth development services of alarge social welfare agency. Medical,dental and mental health services,family life education and evensummer camp opportunities wouldall be accessible through this one
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What we proposed was not simply to use the schools inthe after-school hours, but to work side-by-side with
parents, teachers and the broader community to ensurethat children are given every chance to succeed
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building, while the comprehensivefocus of every activity would be thepromotion of children's learning anddevelopment. The building would beopen up to 15 hours a day,
weekdays and weekends, year-round. What we proposed was notsimply to use the schools in the
after-school hours, but to work side-
by-side with parents, teachers andthe broader community to ensurethat children are given every chanceto succeed."23 Community schoolswhose creation was coordinated byCAS have vastly improved school
achievement and its value to thecommunity by a variety of measures.There is improved academic
performance, improved attendancerates, greater parental involvement
and improved student-teacherrelationships, schools are safer andenvironments are more cheerful and
welcoming to both parents andstudents.
Conclusion
In the end, this Guidebook is aboutrepairing what we have today and
not replacing it altogether. Thereare purists who will argue that the
current system, created for adifferent time and world is so farremoved from what todays learners
need, should be scrapped altogetherand not be subject to band-aid fixes.
If one could wave a magic wand andinstantaneously create a new systemof education, the purists argumentwould be valid. However, we have 60million public school students in 15thousand school districts in the U.S.alone and one could safely arguethat close to 99% or more of these
23 Building a Community School.Third Edition. The Children's AidSociety, New York.
districts and the students they serveoperate under the traditionalteacher-centered model ofeducation. However, the climate forchange within the traditional systems
is right because of the manypressures they face from alternativesystems. The most visible
alternatives to the traditional model
are offered by home schooling,charter schools and online schools.These alternatives systems havestrong advocates and are growingrapidly. As the alternative modelscontinue to grow in size and
respectability, the influence and sizeof the traditional educationestablishment will diminish. Some
will argue that, in most communities,the traditional establishment will
simply disappear as it becomesincreasingly irrelevant. Of course,some of the more agile
bureaucracies (if