A Fine Overview of What We Mean by "21st Century Skills" - http://bit.ly/qFROP3

This article (from The Intelligencer in Wheeling, WV) nicely captures the essence of the somewhat elusive term "21st Century Skills." The goals and approach that the authors describe in this piece are very much in line with the work we've been doing in the classroom at Friends and through our Teaching and Learning Committee.  Authors such as Daniel Pink, in A Whole New Mind, Tony Wagner in The Global Achievement Gap, and Tom Friedman in That Used to Be Us have echoed the need that these authors describe for a different set of outcomes than traditional education has produced.  Our Teaching and Learning at Friends School paradigm ( http://bit.ly/oQ6dsJ ) is informed by the research and thinking found in these and other considerations of the way that our educational system will need to change in order to adapt to the world in which our students will live.

http://bit.ly/qFROP3

Some Articles on the Case Against AP

Below are links to some representative articles about the increasing movement in public and independent schools away from the AP program.  At Friends we are pleased and proud to have always remained independent from the AP program, because of our belief that that we could offer students a more powerful and productive educational experience than the constraints of AP classes mandate.  

NY Times Article - "Rethinking AP"

"Advancing Beyond AP" from the Chronicle of Higher Education 

Independent School Magazine - "Changing Course for the Better" 

Predictions for the Future of Education - http://bit.ly/nDhmdD

I found this article on the Getting Smart blog.  Its predictions are thought-provoking, and utterly within the realm of possibility, even likelihood.  Fundamental shifts in the educational landscape are happening, and the rate of change will only increase with time.  These are exciting days in our field and a willingness to explore and adapt are essential for any school that aspires - as we certainly do - to providing its students with world-class preparation for the lives they will lead.  Many of the changes predicted in this article are underway, in one form or another, at Friends, as our teachers expand their repertoires and reimagine their roles in the classroom.

http://bit.ly/nDhmdD

The Dawning of the "Flipped" Classroom

The link below is to an interesting article that appeared recently in The Boston Globe about the "flipped" classroom phenomenon.  This relatively new approach to education has the students doing the passive work of listening to an explanation of (in this instance) a math problem and formula at home, where they can rewatch the explanation as often as needed to understand the concept.  The application portion, where students are solving problems that require the use of the formula takes place in the classroom where the teacher can be of active assistance and can gauge how well the concept is sinking in for each child.  Khan Academy, which is mentioned in the article, is a major source for educational resources such as this, but by no means the only one.  We've begun to use the "flipped" approach here at Friends in some innovative and fruitful ways.

http://bo.st/rmiQ3U

A Vision of Student Learning

This YouTube video offers an exciting vision of "The Networked Student" of the 21st Century and the ways in which the role of the student and the teacher are shifting.  These approaches are increasingly a part of the experience for our students at Friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwM4ieFOotA

Preparing our Children for "What's Next"

Here's a fascinating article, including an interview with Cathy Davidson, Duke University professor and author of Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work and Learn. Davidson makes the point that “65 percent of today’s grade-school kids may end up doing work that hasn’t been invented yet," highlighting the need to develop in students an array of adaptable skills, knowledge and habits of mind that will prepare them for a future we can't fully foresee. This philosophy is entirely in keeping with the steps we've taken to develop the Teaching and Learning paradigm at Friends.

I hope you enjoy this very thought-provoking read!

http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/08/how-do-we-prepare-our-children-for-whats-next/

NYT Article on another Independent School Adopting Longer Classes

Although the Calhoun School, which is profiled in this article, has adopted a more extreme version of the longer-classes approach, the philosophy motivating this change is very much the same as the thinking that has led us to develop a new schedule for the 2012-2013 academic year. Like Calhoun School, we believe that longer concentrations of class time are required in order to achieve deeper and more meaningful learning experiences for our students.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/education/02calhoun.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Study Proves Effectiveness of Student-Centered Learning in Science Classes

This article from Science magazine provides further evidence that when students are actively engaged in creating knowledge, they learn more than when they are passive recipients of information in traditional lecture-based classes. This study affirms the approach to education that we have adopted in all disciplines at Friends, one that is closely aligned with the goals articulated in our Teaching and Learning at Friends School paradigm. As we seek to achieve these goals with our students, we will continue to rely upon research-based studies such as this to inform our practice.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/05/a-better-way-to-teach.html

UVA School of Medicine Embraces Habits of Mind

This article offers a stirring affirmation of the student-centered, habits-of-mind-focused approach to learning that is at the heart of our Teaching and Learning at Friends School paradigm. Indeed, not a skill nor a habit of mind from our diagram goes unmentioned, in one form or another, in this article.

Like the UVA School of Medicine, we acknowledge the importance of factual knowledge while also recognizing that the ability to find and analyze information, to think about it critically, and to apply it to novel situations in collaboration with others is equally essential.

The RX FOR EDUCATION box halfway through the article is another heartening reminder that the direction we've charted aligns nicely with best practice and theory in the field.

http://uvamagazine.org/features/article/adjusting_the_prescription/

Well-Deserved Skepticism on College Rankings

This Newsweek article, written by the President of Reed College in Oregon, is a cogent summary of the many shortcomings of the college rankings offered most prominently by US News and World Report. Among the many unfortunate aspects of these rankings (above and beyond the fundamental dishonesty of claiming to be able to reduce a complex and very human process to a highly questionable algorithm) is that colleges and universities find themselves forced into making decisions on matters like admissions with an eye towards their impact on the statistical categories used in the ranking process.

There is also a call in this article for the kind of individualized college counseling that we are fortunate to be able to provide to our students. At Friends, we choose to eschew the view of the college search process as a trophy-hunting process segregated from the educational process. Instead, we see it as an extension of that process, an opportunity for reflection and discovery that deepens students' self-knowledge while also leading to the ideal "fit" between the individual and the college.


http://education.newsweek.com/2010/09/12/can-you-trust-college-rankings.html

High Tech High - A Glimpse of 21st Century Education

This You Tube video gives an overview of the remarkable teaching and learning taking place at High Tech High, a public school in San Diego. HTH's approach of providing students with opportunities for relevant and authentic real-world problem solving is geared towards the development of many of the same skills, knowledge, and habits of mind that we are pursuing here at Friends, and the projects depicted in this video mirror similar experiences that our own students are having.

High Tech High is featured in Tony Wagner's The Global Achievement Gap as a model 21st Century school.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcSsrgPmajE&feature=related

David Brooks on Civility

While this column is not directly related to education, I felt compelled to share it for many reasons. It seems to me as logical and compelling a case for the urgency of civility as I have come across. It also, unintentionally, touches on some of the core elements of Quaker philosophy and Quaker education. Quakers believe that each person has within him or her some piece of the truth. For that reason, Quakers (and Quaker schools) place a premium on providing a forum in which all voices can be heard, listened to, respected, and incorporated. When our public life as a nation is at its best, this is exactly what happens; ideas are shared and discussed, and we incorporate the best thinking of everyone involved as we move forward. In the classroom, this approach to learning means that the exchange of knowledge is a two-way street; teachers gain understanding from their students as well as vice versa, and all come away more enlightened.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/opinion/14brooks.html?_r=1&ref=davidbrooks

AP Rethinking Its Approach (It's About Time!)

As you are likely aware, Friends School has never offered AP courses (our students do, though, often take the AP exams and have an extraordinarily strong record on them). This article discusses the change in direction that is underway for the AP, a change that is fueled by the same reasons that we have steered clear of these courses in the past. The College Board is now acknowledging what we have long understood; that the AP approach (with its focus on the memorization of vast quantities of information rather than the development of essential skills) flies in the face of good educational practice and the needs of the 21st Century. "The new approach is important because critical thinking skills are considered essential for advanced college courses and jobs in today’s information-based economy." We at Friends agree wholeheartedly, and have built our Teaching and Learning paradigm around this belief.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/edlife/09ap-t.html?_r=1

The Value of Play for Children

This article from the New York Times explores the growing recognition of an argument so solidly rooted in common sense that it seems like it should go without saying; play is an important component of children's lives. Play, we are increasingly aware, is among the most essential "work" that children can engage in as they grow and develop.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/garden/06play.html?_r=1