4 ms·

I would love to learn more about this, can you give me any pointers or links? I haven't had teacher training and I obviously only do it part time, so I'm sure

by adam-a 12y ago

I would love to learn more about this, can you give me any pointers or links? I haven't had teacher training and I obviously only do it part time, so I'm sure a more experienced teacher might have a different view on this. I can believe that once the kids are in the mindset of following instructions they have a hard time switching to being more self-directed. I would be really interested to hear more about the schools that run these types of programs too. The difference in class sizes and staff numbers, as well as the background of the students surely impact how easy it is to run a school in this way.

japhyr 12y ago
> I would love to learn more about this, can you give me any pointers or links? http://elschools.org/ http://elschools.org/ - This is the application of Outward Bound principles to education. It is not just taking students outdoors - you can do high-quality Learning Expeditions that never leave the classroom. It's the idea of taking a group farther than any one person could go on their own, by working with everyone's strengths and by building the skills and knowledge required to reach the goal. Quick example: I had a class conduct a population study of starfish at a local beach one spring. Lots of different work to focus on, allowing many students to address the variety of skills and understanding they needed to focus on. Plenty of coherence to make it easy, even fun, to manage the different work everyone was doing. > I can believe that once the kids are in the mindset of following instructions they have a hard time switching to being more self-directed. Yes. When students come into our school, many of them take 6-12 months to start taking ownership of their own work and their own learning. They've spent 8+ years being told what to do, and many have lost the ability to trust themselves to make meaningful decisions and follow through on those decisions. > I would be really interested to hear more about the schools that run these types of programs too. The difference in class sizes and staff numbers, as well as the background of the students surely impact how easy it is to run a school in this way. Class size is not as important as many think. 30+ is difficult, ~20 is quite manageable - in fact, having a diversity of skills and perspectives can be really helpful when you're doing meaningful work. You might be surprised about how the background of students affects this kind of work. Students who have had behavioral issues in traditional models can often be redirected toward meaningful work - they've been behaving poorly because they want good education, by people who are willing and able to meet them where they're at. These students are actually easier to work with in this model than students who have become overly compliant.

by adam-a 12y ago

japhyr 12y ago

> I would love to learn more about this, can you give me any pointers or links? http://elschools.org/ http://elschools.org/ - This is the application of Outward Bound principles to education. It is not just taking students outdoors - you can do high-quality Learning Expeditions that never leave the classroom. It's the idea of taking a group farther than any one person could go on their own, by working with everyone's strengths and by building the skills and knowledge required to reach the goal. Quick example: I had a class conduct a population study of starfish at a local beach one spring. Lots of different work to focus on, allowing many students to address the variety of skills and understanding they needed to focus on. Plenty of coherence to make it easy, even fun, to manage the different work everyone was doing. > I can believe that once the kids are in the mindset of following instructions they have a hard time switching to being more self-directed. Yes. When students come into our school, many of them take 6-12 months to start taking ownership of their own work and their own learning. They've spent 8+ years being told what to do, and many have lost the ability to trust themselves to make meaningful decisions and follow through on those decisions. > I would be really interested to hear more about the schools that run these types of programs too. The difference in class sizes and staff numbers, as well as the background of the students surely impact how easy it is to run a school in this way. Class size is not as important as many think. 30+ is difficult, ~20 is quite manageable - in fact, having a diversity of skills and perspectives can be really helpful when you're doing meaningful work. You might be surprised about how the background of students affects this kind of work. Students who have had behavioral issues in traditional models can often be redirected toward meaningful work - they've been behaving poorly because they want good education, by people who are willing and able to meet them where they're at. These students are actually easier to work with in this model than students who have become overly compliant.