More Personalized, Active Learning Needed Now
This column originally appeared in a number of APG of East Central Minnesota newspapers, such as the Morrison County Record.
More personalized, active learning needed now
Tim, Meg, Ross, Jillian, David and J.J. found – years ago – what many parents say they want now for their children: more personalized, hands-on learning. This is especially true as youngsters return to school this fall. Fortunately, a remarkable St. Paul district public school, celebrating its 50th anniversary this fall, is available for people to visit and learn from.
For 50 years, the St. Paul Public School District’s Open World Learning Community school (formerly Open School) has held individual family/student/educator goal-setting conferences every August. Part of what students study is what most interests them. Families are asked about their priorities. Many students carry out hands-on projects. Some combine classroom work and community service. The “three R’s” are included in the school’s curriculum. Graduation is based not just on credits, but demonstration of skill and knowledge. That includes developing individual career plans, now required under state law.
For example:
— Tim Lynch, who became a police commander in St. Paul, was fascinated by diving. The school introduced him to a scuba instructor. He wrote: “This lit a fire in me to pursue diving. I signed up for lessons and became a certified diver before age 18.” Lynch has been diving all over the world for 40 years.
Tim and Mary Lynch (Photo courtesy of Tim Lynch
— J.J., who lives in Stillwater, wrote: “I was an angry kid with a chip on my shoulder, using physical aggression to express my innermost deep depression about what was going on in my home life. … The school saved my life and kept me from going down a dark path that could have led to a life behind bars, or in an institution, or worse, death.” J.J. became the first in his family to graduate from college. For more than 36 years he’s been “helping children and adults with behavioral and mental health barriers.”
JJ and son (photo courtesy of JJ)
— On a cross-country trip the school arranged, Ross had an opportunity to “snip the sutures” after a doctor sewed up a wound on his friend. Ross recalled, “I was hooked on the emergency room.” He’s spent 34 years practicing emergency medicine.
Photos courtesy of Ross Huelster
— Jillian wrote that in previous schools: “I was bored and alienated at most every turn. It wasn’t that the coursework was difficult for me. It wasn’t. … I felt invisible, unencouraged and just another number. … However, Open School’s pedagogy changed my life! What a wonderful and remarkable experience it was.”
Photo courtesy of Jillian Holiday
— Meg studied controversies over a Mississippi River area where herons nested and coal barges docked. She wrote the school “exposed us to so many new ideas and taught me to look at things from a variety of points of view.” She spent 30-plus years as an urban planner.
Photos courtesy of Meg McMonigal
About 30 of these and other students’ brief stories are here.
Whether students are talented, troubled, or both, Open World Learning Community listens.
A new national survey of 1,005 parents and 495 educators shows that what the school does is what many recommend. For example, about 60% of parents want more one-on-one interactions with teachers and their students, and 61% of educators recommend hands-on activities. (The study, conducted by a nonprofit group called Understood and a group named UnidosUS, is here. )
As I review state and some local plans spending hundreds of millions of dollars to help youngsters recover from challenges of COVID-19, I see huge amounts for more social workers, counselors and tutoring. Each of them can be valuable.
What I don’t see are plans to ask students and parents what’s important to them. What I don’t find are blueprints to create more active, hands-on, active learning. I don’t read about efforts to give students more opportunities to make a positive difference in their community. This despite the fact that service-learning programs can have an enormous positive impact on academic skills and how students feel about themselves and their community.
Years ago, when I worked there, the U.S. Department of Education named Open School a “carefully evaluated, proven innovation worthy of national replication.” (More information is here.)
Every school doesn’t have to individualize or provide active, service-learning opportunities exactly like Open World.
David TC Ellis (Photo courtesy of David Ellis
But these principles can, as David wrote, “teach me to use my passion to help others.”
oe Nathan, formerly a Minnesota public school educator and PTA president, directs the Center for School Change. Reactions welcome at Joe@centerforschoolchange.org.
September 7, 2021 @ 9:20 am
Why has it taken so long for most educators to figure out and understand that student-directed learning, capitalizing on their interests as a starting point, is one of the most effective strategies for teaching and learning? It should not have taken years of failures or a pandemic to know this is what works. It may be that we have thought erroneously for too long that as adults we know what kids need in order to be academically successful. Yes, different kids learn differently but one thing they all have in common that we could have been nurturing much better is their curiosity. There are numerous examples across the country of student-directed learning. There is a group of schools under the heading of Acton Academy that does this very well. https://www.actonacademy.org/
September 8, 2021 @ 1:02 am
From Wayne Jennings:
Joe provided wonderful examples of students who attended a personalized learning school. The students became active citizens, and had productive satisfying careers, and continued as lifelong learners. In addition, the school encouraged personal passions. Other schools can do the same if they were not prisoners of tradition. I was principal of open school and saw these examples every day. Today’s schools should pay more attention to personalizing their programs.
September 9, 2021 @ 12:09 am
I’m happy to add my comments regarding the 7-12th grade education my daughter received at Great River School, a Montessori Secondary Charter School in St. Paul, Minnesota. This was a great example of personalized education.
My daughter and I were a Great River School founding family when the school officially opened in September 2004. She attended GRS for her 7-12th grade years and was a member of the first student class to complete the (then) six grade configuration. Previous to attending Great River, she attended Marcy Open School, the Minneapolis K-8 Magnet School in SE Minneapolis, located two blocks from our home. Both Great River and Marcy Open included very similar philosophies and operating styles featuring student driven curricula and operations.
My daughter and her classmates all had extraordinary years during that period of time which included multi-state travel, local field trips, opportunities to tutor young students, an incredible variety of projects and coursework, full opportunities to explore areas of student interest and practical application, and incredible relationship building throughout the school. The main focus of both schools was a strong sense of community and belonging, a student driven education, and inclusive family involvement.
As a Great River parent and School Board Member, I conducted many school tours to prospective families through the years. Among the high points of the tours, were conversations about the ‘Great River culture’, among the most important elements of the school and the school community. The simple but effective visual example I offered during the tours was simply pointing to the banks of colorful blue student lockers lining the hallway walls. I asked families to look at the lockers and to tell me anything that looked interesting or different about them. Parents and students examined the many lockers while walking by them. Few noticed the extraordinary thing I attempted to point out. A few of them ‘got it’.
None of the student lockers had locks.
I maintained that this rather rare element was a key definer of the GRS student culture.
Touring parents and students agreed and were quite impressed.
I explained the clearly, the lack of student lockers was indicative of the student culture among other things we discussed.
I believe the most important elements that helped contribute to the extraordinary education that my daughter received during her six years at Great River were:
the personalized/individualized education she received and helped drive
the extraordinarily strong sense of community and closeness present between all members of the GRS community particularly with student travel
the responsive and supportive nature of the staff and volunteers
the ability of students feeling comfortable expressing themselves with opinion and through activities
the involvement of students and family members with school decision making
the regular and sensitive involvement of staff with student achievement, participation and expression through specialized programming, individualized instruction and project work, and hands-on community involvement experiences
My daughter received an extraordinary educational experience due to the personalized/individualized education she received at Great River.
Ron P. Wacks • SE Minneapolis Parent
September 9, 2021 @ 11:04 am
A testimony to tried and true engaged learning/service-learning methods pioneered by St Paul teachers and students now practiced worldwide.