Weekly reflection 3

This week, instead of our regular zoom class, we went on a field trip to the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry, a school that operates through student lead learning and inquiry projects, where students create their own schedules, instead of being placed in specific classes with specific teachers for specific allotments of time. These students work through project based learning and learn to plan and problem solve, as well as work with others to reach results. When they need additional help, they go to teachers to ask for it, and all assessments are done as a conversation between the students and the teachers. This was very interesting to observe. I am of the belief that our current education system is in need of many large scale changes: we have had the same system in place for over a century, and it is a system that prioritizes students who can memorise content, regurgitate it, get tested on it, then forget it all 2 months later when they have a break from any standardized testing. Students also need to be better prepared for the real world, in terms of preparation for various workforces, independence in everyday life, ability to work with other to achieve measurable goals, and to be productive member of society. It is really difficult to say what school system would be effective. At PSII, the students were all extremely motivated, knowledgeable, driven, and incredibly articulate. It seems as though beyond learning the basic core subjects, they are becoming better at project management, collaboration, and special skills beyond what is typically taught in a high school. They also have been seen to go on to do very well in post secondary. So this begs the question, should all schools switch to this model of education? To derive my opinion, I wanted to reflect on my high school experience at Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School. In my high school there was a huge issue of absenteeism and an extreme lack of any effort from many students. When I asked the principal at PSII what they do to combat this issue, he told me that it really isn’t a problem for them because a) these are all students who opted into this school, instead of a traditional public school because they want to learn this way and be self motivated, and b) these students are working on projects they are passionate about and therefore don’t want to slack off. This makes me wonder how this model would work for students who did not opt into a special school like this and how this would go if it were the standard. Would students who are for the first time able to focus on their interests be driven to work harder, or would the additional freedom allow for even more slacking? Regardless of how the implementation of this system in mainstream schools would go, I can say for a fact that I am very impressed and it has definitely opened my eyes to other methods of teaching for when I have my own classroom.