Part 1: Learning that Matters
Last night, my son was playing with his matchbox cars, possibly his favorite toy. He sat on the living room floor, smashing the lever that whipped each car through a loop and then flying out the other end of the track and into the next room.
“Mom! Watch this!” he suddenly yelled. He smashed the next car and I watched it speed through the loop, fly out of the track, into the next room, and land about 3 feet from the stairs. “That went far!” he joyfully exclaimed.
He picked up the next car and repeated the process: smash, loop, fly, crash. This car landed approximately 2 feet from the stairs. “That one went further!” I cheered him on, offering what was probably a weak attempt at encouragement, and went about clearing off the table.
A few minutes later, I came back to where he was playing. He was still smashing his cars through his tracks, but I noticed a bunch of Legos scattered between the track and the stairs where the cars were landing. As I watched, it dawned on me that he was marking the landing place with a Lego, and then putting the car in one of a few piles of cars.
“Can I help?” I asked. Together, we launched about 20 cars, marked their landing place with a Lego, and then put it in a pile with the other cars that had landed in a similar spot. “Why did all of these cars,” I asked pointing to the group that had traveled the furthest, “go so far?” By the end of our playtime together, Ikenna had determined that the heaviest cars didn’t go as far as the lighter ones. We had just conducted a science experiment, one that he initiated, and all through playing with his toys.
This is what learning looks like “in the real world,” and this kind of experience is what we are committed to emulating in our classrooms at Buffalo Commons.
Children are inherently curious. They want to understand how the world works, and they have fun trying to figure it out. They aren’t excited by learning because of the prospects of getting into college or having a lucrative career. They do it because they love learning. One of the most important jobs we have as parents and educators is to find ways to offer the kinds of experiences that foster organic learning, and then enhance it with texts, tools, and materials. When I think about the values and pedagogical philosophies that guide our school and the instructional decisions we make in it, this is what it is all about.
At Commons, we have intentionally selected curricula that help facilitate this type of learning. Our teachers are explicitly trained in Problem, Inquiry, and Project-based education (PIBL), so that they are equipped to create the kinds of classroom environments and experiences that set the stage for authentic, student-exploration and discovery that leads to lasting learning.
But it doesn’t end there! We know that there is no single approach to teaching that meets the needs of every child- no special sauce so-to-speak. So instead, we embrace an eclectic style of teaching. In addition to PIBL, we develop lessons from the foundations of three critical pedagogies:
Universal Design for Learning (UDL),
Culturally Responsive Education (CRE),
and Social Justice Education (SJE).
UDL guides us by ensuring that we provide access and instruction to our learning experiences in a variety of ways, empower children to demonstrate their learning in just as many ways, and build in the kinds of flexibility that help children learn how to advocate for themselves when needed and make independent learning choices that enhance and further their personal goals and purpose.
Culturally Responsive Education sets an important foundation for us because, like UDL, it operates from an asset mindset, and honors the experiences, learning approaches, and educational values of all the members of a class. As an intentionally diverse school, we believe that we are significantly stronger because of our differences, and we embrace them, rather than treat them as “other.” Our children see themselves represented in the curriculum, not just through the stories we lift up, but through the experiences we facilitate. We embed our children’s culturally relevant experiences into their learning, thereby demonstrating that what they learn in the classroom can actually be used in their lives and to pursue goals right now, not just twenty years from now. And we exist as partners in learning with our students, rather than purveyors of knowledge or opportunity.
Finally, we are in constant pursuit of justice within our school and community at large, so principles of Social Justice Education are equally important to the learning environment we aim to create. The best part about utilizing the tools of SJE, however, is that it empowers children to envision the world they want to live in, and provides tangible skill sets for them to be able to achieve it, rather than waiting for the grown-ups to do it for them. In fact, there are many things that a truly just world would look like that we “grown-ups” don’t have the ability to imagine, and that’s why it is so critical for our children to take the lead and have the tools to do so!
When I think about what I want for my children, it’s really quite simple. I want them to love learning! I want them to question everything! I want them to research and experiment and model and try. I want them to form their own thoughts and make sense of the world in their own way. I want them to develop their own definition of success and then know how to achieve it. I want them to thrive! The pedagogical and curricular foundations at Commons, and the teachers with the know-how and continued professional support that implement it, will be able to bring that simple, but sometimes elusive vision to fruition.
I was recently reminded of a book I read many years ago, when I was just beginning to understand the power of classrooms and student-driven learning. Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde, authors of Best Practice, offer wisdom that is just as true now as it was then. “Teaching is a unique profession. No matter what happens at the macro-national-political level, the real work always comes down to a group of young people and one grown-up, a teacher. Once that classroom door is closed, everything depends on the knowledge, planning, artistry, and heart of that special adult. When teachers bring best practice to life, kids find their curiosity fanned, their questions honored, their work ethic stimulated, their craftsmanship and pride rewarded. A hunger for knowledge becomes the most natural and delightful appetite of all. No matter how much shouting and static may be happening in the world outside the school, the classroom can still be a sacred space, one where spirits coalesce, lives change, and futures are forged.”
This is how Buffalo Commons is all together different!
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