Study Proves that Students Benefit when Teachers Collaborate

The link below gives a brief overview of an important - if unsurprising - finding from researchers at Stanford University.  The article (also linked below), entitled "The Missing Link in School Reform," states that students gain when teachers are given the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from each other.  Close collaboration has always been part of the professional culture at Friends, but we are taking an important next step towards this goal by introducing 8 PLUSS days into the calendar for the 2012-2013 academic year.  On PLUSS (Professional Learning to Uphold Student Success) days, faculty will have 2 hours to collaborate in a variety of ways, all with the goal of enhancing student learning.  We'll share more about the plans for and results of these days in the future.

Overview - http://bit.ly/y5EqNd
Article from Stanford Social Innovation Review - http://bit.ly/wPgPqN

A Marvelous Animation about the (Never-Ending) Learning Process

If you haven't yet seen any of the "Born to Learn" animations that have appeared online, here is a great place to start.  http://vimeo.com/20924263

The thinking that, well, animates this video is at the heart of the evolving paradigm of teaching and learning at Friends.  The ongoing and accelerating breakthroughs in brain research have helped us to understand the learning process in new and exciting ways, and it is incumbent on all of us as educators to put these new understandings to work in our classrooms.  This is just one of the factors that makes this such an exciting time to be a teacher and a learner.

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