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| A corner of my classroom, when I returned to teaching, 1974. |
I'm a teacher.
I learned as a child the entrancing power of the weekend countryside walk with an enthusiastic adult. (See blog posting, I'm a collector, I'm a scientist).
I learned as a teacher the motivating and engaging power of the natural world - especially its incredible impact (when handled appropriately) on bored young and adolescent children. ( See Post: TIGER)
I learned as a teacher of teachers, in workshop and university classroom environments) how to build and engage a community of adult learners by sharing my love and affection for nature's delights, especially rocks and fossils, pillbugs and spiders, and showing how one can create POCKET MUSEUMS that children (and adults like me) can keep their artifacts.
I learned as a visitor to countless classrooms (preK up to 8th grade, inner city and suburban) in four local school districts that environmental science plays a very small part in what a teacher has to teach - and test. (See blog posting: A common sense view)
I learned, when submitting a proposal to open a public school with an emphasis on first-hand inquiry/activity in one school district, that such philosophical and practical beliefs about what captures children's minds are not understood and valued.
SO, today, May 15th, I'm going to begin a post that will include books and articles that speak up for putting environmental education where it belongs - in every public school classroom.
I'm going to begin with TIGER, my memory of the adolescent who opened my eyes to what I needed to do to engage kids, then give you, the reader, David Hawkin's Statement on Environmental Education - his testimony before the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, US Senate Education Sub Committee on May 19, 1970. That's almost 43 years ago. It's a profound view of the education process.
I helped David set up The Mountain View Center for Environmental Education in July, 1970, supported by a big grant from the Ford Foundation. He and I had worked on workshops throughout the States, after we had met in my Leicestershire classroom way back in 1967.
OK......here goes............
I began my teaching career in 1963, joining Elvet Thomas, the former Latin teacher from Humphry Davy Grammar School, when he became Headmaster of Trinity Fields Secondary School in Stone, Staffs.
Well, teaching is perhaps too grand a word. It would be more honest to say that I began to be paid for standing daily in front of loads of bored adolescents, opening a well-thumbed science text book, and reading aloud. Then, scribbling science words on the blackboard to be copied into science notebooks.
The early days didn't go well.
It took a student, a switched-off, aggravated student, to show me what I could and should be doing to engage my students. It took a student to give me my first glance of the power of environmental education - that is, the power of educating kids through the environment.
Tiger
13- year-old Tiger always sat alone at the back of the science lab. Sometimes he smiled benignly at the thirty-two other boys and girls, six of whom had recently emigrated from India and could speak but two words of English (‘lav, sir?’). Tiger always looking for trouble.
My science lessons on Mosquitos and other insects didn’t interest Tiger. He did not sit politely through each lesson. Sometimes, to prevent himself from falling asleep, he’d run his fingers through his greasy hair, scratch his head, and interfere with anyone sitting close to him working diligently through the science textbook.
Occasionally, Tiger shouted that he was fed up with school and very fed up with boring science.
School didn’t interest him and science didn’t engage him. His Dad told him that he’d have a job with him as a bricklayer on the building sites when he was fifteen, so why should he ‘do his best’ in school? What was the point of it all? Nothing I did in my science lessons made any connection to Tiger’s life experience or appealed to his sense of curiosity. The science I read from the textbook was irrelevant to his world – especially the way I presented it.
My science lessons didn’t involve my non-English speaking Indian pupils either. They did, though, sit politely through each lesson. They spent their time scribbling and drawing in their science writing books, often whispering to each other. They always looked poorly dressed, out-of-sorts, tired and hungry. I wondered what was going through their heads.
In the first week of October, my luck changed. The miracle of miracles happened - a big change for the better came over my teaching. Tiger, of all people, and a small garden spider, were my divine inspirations.
Walking back from shopping for the weekend food, I spotted the most beautiful orb-web spider sitting in her intricate silky web in the black currant bush outside the steps leading to my flat. Surprised to see one so late in the year, I fetched a jar, popped her inside, and took her upstairs.
I took the spider to school the following Monday, put her in a large bell jar with a little soil, greenery and a branch, and set the new home on a small table at the back of the science laboratory.
I never showed the spider to any of my science classes. After all, why should I? We were studying the quirks of the 6-legged mosquito from the textbook, not an 8-legged garden spider. Well, to be precise, we were reading about the mosquito that spread malaria in some far-off country, and, then perfecting our handwriting and spelling skills.
A week or later, I noticed a silk egg sac was dangling from near the center of the spider’s orb web. Sensing the spider was hungry, I found a small silverfish darting around the base of my desk, unscrewed the top of the spider home, and put the small creature on the web. Immediately, the spider came running towards her prey. I sat and watched, fascinated by the process, until Tiger’s class came through the door, breaking the atmosphere by noisily throwing their satchels under their stools.
They were ready for yet another particularly dull science lesson (all chalk and talk, then reading and writing, and no ‘hands-on’ science investigation). They looked bored before I even started. I got up quickly, pushing the spider home to one side.
Then Tiger came through the door, late. He looked upset. When I asked him where he’d been, he stared at the floor and mumbled he’d been sent to Mr. Thomas’ office because: “I was caught looking through a dirty book, sir. ‘fore school started.”
“Who caught you?’ I asked. I wanted to know more about what had happened. His tone changed, and he looked across the room at me, and shouted loudly:
I calmed him down as best I could. Tiger turned and went to his usual spot at the back of the classroom. He looked sulky and angry.
As I was writing on the blackboard, asking the children to open up their journals and copy my notes, there was a loud shout of “CHRIST!” from the back of the room. Startled, I looked up. Everyone in class turned their heads to see what was going on. Tiger was standing up and pointing his index finger and thumb at the bell jar. His eyes now were wide open.
“F*# ‘ell! Look! Mr. Paull, Mr.Paull, there’s a spider ‘ere! It’s killing a creepy-crawly! It’s f*^** killing it! Look!!!”
I raised my hand. ”Tiger, watch your language!”
” Mr. Paull, Mr. Paull, I can’t f*ing believe it. Look at THAT! The spider, f*+** great!!”
I told him to sit down, leave the spider alone, and get out his science journal. I turned to the class, some standing near their seats, wanting to know what was going on.
“Wassup wiv Tiger, Mr.Paull?” asked Michael. “’e sick or summat?”
I tried to settle everyone down. “C’mon. Everybody! Never mind Tiger. He’s just having a moment.
C’mon everybody, no big deal.”
The spider eating her lunch, of course, was, for Tiger, far more interesting than my science-reading lesson. Tiger swearing loudly was much more captivating than my science-reading lesson for the class. I gave in.
The class didn’t need telling twice. Everyone rushed to join Tiger at the back of the room, seeing and then chattering excitedly about the spider – excited chatter was something I had never heard in one of my science lessons.
“Ain’t never seen a spider like that! What is it? Wos it doin’?” asked one pupil.
One of the girls, Diane, said the spider was so beautiful.
“Can I look at it, sir? Please?” “Can I get a maggy glass from the drawer?” she asked.
I thought for a moment. Why not? Diane fetched a magnifying glass and peered through it.
“Of course. Use your pencil, not your pen. Oh, don’t, though, draw it in your science book.
That’s for science. Here, there’s a piece of scrap-paper on my desk you can use!”
Dianne looked at me, and asked, drily, “Aren’t spiders science, Mr. Paull?”
“’Course, Dianne. Sorry. Do it, drawing, oh, go on, put it in your science journal.”
The idea caught on and a few more girls also wanted to draw the spider, sitting in her web, clasping the poor silverfish.
Tiger did not draw the spider in his journal. He sat very still, ignoring me and everyone else, watching the jar, mesmerized.
Not all the pupils liked the spider. One or two said they killed spiders when they saw them at home, reminding me of the conflicting long-ago conversations about small creatures in Mr. Jones’s class. Children, I remembered, generally liked and protected what they liked and ignored or killed what they didn’t like.
We spent the rest of the lesson drawing and talking about spiders.
Tiger stayed behind after class, and, with a warm grin and an impish twinkle in his eye, asked me where I’d found the spider. When I told him, he said,
“The spider’s great, sir, ain’t it great? You like ‘em? Spiders? They’re brill!”
“Well,” I said, “I think you can draw, but your pictures are rude, you know.”
Tiger smiled and then said he was going to get some spiders of his own as soon as he got home.
“Good, but now get off to your next class. Don’t be late,” I said.
“Oh, and don’t forget to see Mr. Thomas………….and be sure to give the book back to your friend.”
The next day, there was Tiger waiting for me, before school started, with that impish smile on his face. "Din't get whacked, Mr. Paull."
“Found spiders, found ‘em, Mr. Paull, found ‘em.” Tiger had a jar in his satchel. “There were stacks of ‘em. Tiny ‘uns. Babs, I think, ain’t they? I got free or four. Can I keep them in the lab, Mr. Paull?
Go on! Can I? Next to yours?”
Then, he added: “Found out about ‘em, too, Mr. Paull. My dad knows what they are – they’re Garden Spiders, and they eat flies and stuff!
You know what? You’re ok, Mr. Paull! Sorry, sorry, I swore.
“Thank you, Tiger, thank you. I appreciate that.” I said. “I’m sorry you swore, too.”
I gave him four jars, telling him that spiders can’t live together without paralyzing and eating each other. “Make a home for each one, ok?” “Quick, school’s starting soon. OH, and you can tell your class what you know about spiders, ok?”
When his class came for science, Tiger stood sheepishly at the front of the room, by the blackboard, and told a very respectful, quiet, surprised, and very attentive audience what he had learned about spiders. I was fascinated to see how Tiger caught everyone’s attention with his excited, twitchy, body movements. Tiger had at last discovered something in my science period that made him feel that wonderful, inside –your-head glow when the brain is alive and alert. His classmates felt it, too.
“Spiders, “ he said, “ are dead good. Look at this one. It’s a beaut.”
He held up one of the jars.
“Guess what I found out………….spiders suck their food after they’ve crushed and made it watery…….ain’t only the gals that make silk……..the fella spiders make silk, too, but only when they’re young………..then they stop and go looking for a spider girl-friend. They mate on the web………….sometimes the gals kill and eat the fellas.
I was taken aback by how much he knew, thinking:
“Where did he learn that from, then? All from his dad? It weren’t from me in science lessons.”
He’d really done his homework. This was Tiger’s amber moment. As I listened and watched Tiger’s nervous twitches as he spoke to his classmates he reminded me of the sharing time on Wednesday afternoons with Mr. Jones. It also reminded me of Mr. Kitson’s advice at college, “When you’re teaching, always plan for the unexpected.”
Tiger told his audience that, if anyone wanted to watch, he was going to release the spiders and their eggs in the school garden at lunchtime.
“They’re goin’ to die soon, y’know, and the eggs will ‘atch, next year, spring, right, Mr. Paull?”
When he’d finished, everyone clapped. “Any questions for Tiger?” I asked. The hands went up, and Tiger was asked a million questions, some of which he could answer, some he couldn’t. Neither could I.
Almost everyone turned up at lunchtime to see Tiger release the spiders.
That night I checked my spider’s identity in a spider book, learning that it was Meta segmentata, a common garden species related to the garden spider. Its courtship routine was different, though. The male, I read, drives off other male suitors, but doesn’t advance towards the female until an insect is caught on the female’s web. Both spiders then move towards the struggling insect.
The male’s front legs are larger than the female and he uses them to push the female away from the insect.
He then gift-wraps the prey. As the female tucks into her dinner, the male wraps silk around her legs and then mates with her.
The following day, I went to school early in the morning, an hour or so before the official start of the day, and went to the science storeroom. I gathered a box full of microscopes, racks of test tubes, flasks, and other scientific equipment. I set them out in the science lab. And rearranged the stools.
When Tiger’s class came through the door, the boys and girls noticed what I had done and looked at my displays of science equipment.
“Hey,” said one, “look….look at all this science stuff……..and hey, look, we ain’t sitting alone. He’s put us in groups. Mornin’, sir, this stuff looks great. Can we touch it?”
Tiger showed me a picture he’d drawn at home of the beautiful orb-web spider. “Hey, you did it. You drew your spider. You can draw, see?” I said. Tiger smiled.
“OK,” I said, “ but first let me rip out those inappropriate doodles, ok?”
Seeing Tiger operating like a young scientist, was a first-time experience in my classroom. I had learned, by sheer luck, what motivated and engaged my most challenging pupil: observing and studying a small spider.
I started off by sharing the spider snippet with everyone. They were enthralled.
I was very struck with the ensuing class conversations and how the class listened when Tiger had something to say. When talking and learning about the spider, the pupils were very animated, commenting and asking good questions.
When I told the class it was time to open their books and begin the science lesson, the atmosphere changed. When I opened the science textbook and read aloud everything one needed to know about insects, they were quiet and withdrawn, and didn’t ask me a single question. There was a disconnect between the two. Without the class’s engagement, my science lesson went nowhere beyond formal handwriting exercises, similar to the ones I experienced as a pupil when in Mr. Miller’s and Mr. Hitchens’ classrooms. With the class’s engagement, I could, in part, reproduce something of what happened on those far-off Wednesdays in Mr. Jones’s classroom.
It was, in fact, an incredible teachable moment. It was THE first ‘Come on, John Paull, be a REAL teacher. Be professional. Earn your pension.’ wake-up call.
“Tomorrow, “ I said, at the end of the lesson, “we’ll do that again, ok? See if you have anything that links to our lesson topic. You don’t have to stand at the front and share. You can share your artifacts with me privately, if that’s what you’d rather do.”
“Great,” said Diane, “Like bein’ a proper scientist. S’dead good!”
I wrote the word, artifacts, on the board, explaining what the word meant.
Later, at home, I took out my
notebook and a red pen, and jotted down some notes.
URGENT!!!!!!! In my
science lab, I need to
Create a ‘scientific’ classroom atmosphere so my pupils
feel they are entering the world of the scientist when they walk through the door.
I can do that, can’t I, by displaying more scientific equipment and scientific
pictures? Why can’t I have a cupboard like Mr. Jones? Or, I could lay things of
interest out on a table and call it my science table.
Connect the textbook science subject matter to the pupils’
experiences - and give them a chance to work in science teams and talk about
what they do and what they observe. Think about the knowledge they might gain
and the skills they can develop from each other. Appreciate, though, that not
everyone wants to talk out loud to the class about their science. (Some of my class
are shy and feel uncomfortable if pushed to speak out loud. That’s especially
true for my Indian pupils. So how do I help them feel part of the class?) So, John
Paull, with 2 Ls, be brave! Read, digest, remember, and then put the
textbook away and introduce my science lessons with demonstrations and ideas
that catch my pupils’ interest – then, when the class are working on table
experiments, focus on those who need me - especially my non-English speaking
Indian class who have no idea or interest in what I am teaching.
From that day on, my planning
took a different route. For all my science lessons, I decided, before I focused
on the science content of the day, I’d greet the class, show them something I
brought in, give them chance to ask questions, and chance to stand at the front
and share whatever they had found (fossils, crystals, jars full of dead insects
and spiders) and brought into the room. I’d ask some questions, then make time
for the pupils to ask and talk to each other about any science question in
their heads, and I’d then place everything on the science table, and later in
the small glass fronted science cupboard (now to be called Mr. Jones’ s cupboard).
Then I would open the science
textbook and focus on the science lesson I was supposed to teach.
If we finished early, the
pupils asked more questions about the specimens brought in that day and put on
display on the science table.
This science lesson routine
worked for me and worked for most of the class – at least, kept them occupied -
and one that kept me in touch with my teacher contract requirements. I also
really enjoyed setting out the science table and arranging the growing
collection of interesting artifacts in my Mr.
Jones’ cupboard.
Even though my pupils didn’t
go to museums or public libraries or live in houses with gardens, all of them
had a strong sense of curiosity about their world, especially their world of
nature and science. I also learned that there was more background experience
for science in these children’s lives than for most other subjects taught at
Trinity Fields Secondary School.
Science, I had come to
realize, was a ‘natural’ for them - if presented in the classroom in an
engaging, authentic way, and involved asking questions, handling
resources, and carrying out experiments. The challenge for me was to link the
way I was starting my lessons – sharing anything of interest we’d found
outdoors – to the content I was supposed to teach.
And now an article I wrote in the late 60s when I was part of the Leicestershire Advisory team. My brief was to help teachers develop classroom science......
September 1967 -
At the end of one of my pond-dipping workshops at Foxton Field Study Centre, we put our microscopes and white dishes to one side and talked about what we had discovered throughout the day. The conversation soon shifted to what science was and what wasn’t going on in their classrooms. Some of the teachers, I knew, were comfortable teaching 'hands-on' science, taking kids outdoors and exploring, some weren’t.
One teacher, sitting at the back of the room, told me and the class what happened when she asked her 7 year-olds to draw a garden worm. A little girl, with wide questioning eyes, put up her hand, and said out loud "I've never seen a worm. How big are they? Are they like snakes?” "Do they bite?"
True or not, it made a point.
This isn't so surprising, is it, when you think about it? If you live in a high-rise apartment building in the middle of a city you don't have many encounters with worms or cows. But so what? Would it matter if our children grew up not knowing about cows and worms? What relevance have the lives and activities of cows and worms to the urban child who lives in a concrete environment? And, taking this further, does it matter that adults view many small creatures with distaste and pass on their prejudices to their children? After all, isn’t it true that smoldering beneath the surface of many of us are hostile attitudes to nature. Which one of us hasn't trapped and killed a mouse, stepped on a snail, crushed a spider, or swatted a fly?
Well, I think it does matter. Isn't it important that all children have an opportunity to experience the natural world first-hand and to learn about familiar living things that share the world with us? As teachers, shouldn't we provide the children in our care with the opportunity to discover the natural world for themselves, to learn to enjoy it and to appreciate our dependence upon it? Won't that subsequently encourage them to care for it?
For many teachers of young children, nature (creepy crawlies, birds, rocks, fossils, for example) is an invaluable aid for educational purposes, an inspiration for discussion, science, language, art, music, and writing. They know that outside the door is a huge outdoor classroom, a place to learn about and to learn in. It needn't be a dense woodland, rich meadow, pond or clear mountain stream (they help, though!). A schoolyard, however sterile, is home to a myriad of interesting small animals. Turn over a brick and you find woodlice, slugs and snails. Standing in silky webs are spiders, hiding under dead leaves are earwigs, centipedes and millipedes. Lurking inside cracks in the wall are tiny beetles.
Such small animals have big life histories and are easy to keep for short periods of time. A friend of mine, a professional biologist, kept a small colony of woodlice in a tobacco tin for a few days, dropping in the occasional damp dead leaf for food. Not, of course, by any stretch of the imagination, a recommended way of keeping small creatures, but it does show what is possible.
If we create appropriate classroom homes for small creatures, think of what our children could learn from observing creepy crawlies at close range. Woodlice, for example, would be ideal creatures to keep in the classroom. They’re easy to find and they’re so interesting! Female woodlice mature when they are about two years old and rear their young in a brood pouch under their bodies. When the offspring are ready to emerge, the female stands still, and stretches her front legs out stiffly so that the young can crawl down to the ground. And snails! What wonderful creatures they are, and so easy to keep for a few days. As are spiders, and worms, and millipedes and slugs………………………….
If children are encouraged to find, watch, and understand how small creatures live, won't it help them learn to live in harmony with nature and appreciate living things? And, important for us teachers, doesn't a worm or a spider give us so many ways of developing other classroom skills, such as reading, writing and drawing?
Try it and watch how it impacts the children. And your classroom.......
John Paull 1967
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| David Hawkins |
David Hawkins, professor, philosopher, scientist, mathematician, founder of ESS, came to my classroom way back in the mid 60s.
When I joined the Leicestershire Advisory Center in 1967, I was invited to run science workshops with David in several US states during the summers of 1967, 68, and 69.
When he set up the Mountain View Center for Environmental Education in Boulder, 1970, I was one of the founder members of staff.
Here's the article he wrote then about Environmental Education:
That's the first three pages. I'll scan the others this evening.
So, what do you think?
Take a look at David's other articles, brought together in his book, The Informed Vision, especially, I, Thou and It, and Messing About in Science. they are brilliant.
Someone has asked me about the Beacon School Proposal Jeannine and I submitted to Denver Public Schools in 2005.
Superintendent Bennet (now Senator) asked for proposals that would be 'beacons' in the school district.
Here's our submission - which, I hasten to add, was rejected - dedicated to the memory of my 35 years as friend and colleague of David Hawkins.
The Hawkins School believes that learning is enhanced when students pursue it with enthusiasm and confidence. The Hawkins School students will experience the joy that begins with curiosity and grows with the pursuit of their own interests and passions.
That's the first three pages. I'll scan the others this evening.
So, what do you think?
Take a look at David's other articles, brought together in his book, The Informed Vision, especially, I, Thou and It, and Messing About in Science. they are brilliant.
Someone has asked me about the Beacon School Proposal Jeannine and I submitted to Denver Public Schools in 2005.
Superintendent Bennet (now Senator) asked for proposals that would be 'beacons' in the school district.
Here's our submission - which, I hasten to add, was rejected - dedicated to the memory of my 35 years as friend and colleague of David Hawkins.
A proposal for an Elementary (K-2)
School for Arts and Sciences
to be named
The
Hawkins’ School for
Arts
and Sciences
Jeannine West – McKinley-Thatcher
Elementary School
John Paull –
University of Colorado Denver
Jeannine West - Jeannine
started her life in the classroom as an ‘artist in residence’ in Denver Public
Schools in 1997, providing art
instruction to students in K-5th grade.
With a background and interest in science and
writing, Jeannine entered a teacher preparation program in 2001, spending the
year in a school focused on experiential learning for students identified as
highly gifted.
On completion of the program, Jeannine taught
in a Denver public school in a multi-aged 1st/2nd grade
classroom for the next five years. There she developed an enthusiasm and strong
understanding of inquiry-based science instruction.
In 2007, Jeannine became a math/science
facilitator in an underprivileged , urban Denver school. She worked with
students across the elementary age range, teaching science and, mathematics while
supporting teachers with an inquiry-based, environmentally focused science
curriculum. She also piloted a program to strategically teach the use of
science notebooks as a means to ‘make thinking evident’.
Jeannine has spent the last two years
teaching 4th/5th grade students in a
socially/economically diverse school, again in Denver. Her classroom focus
mirrors her keen interest in inquiry-base, environmentally focused science,
integrated curriculum with multiple opportunities for students to creatively
and authentically document their learning.
John Paull - John is a children’s author, science
consultant, Schools’ Television (U.K.) writer,
administrator, teacher and trainer with more than 45 years of classroom
experience from pre K/elementary through to post-graduate university level.
Initially a teacher in middle school and elementary school, then science
advisor to 365 public elementary schools, he was principal of two schools for
over 18 years, and, thus, has extensive school experience as teacher,
curriculum facilitator, and administrator.
During the
summers of 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970, John Paull ran science and environmental
education workshops across the U.S. In 1970, he worked at CU Boulder with
Professor David Hawkins setting up the Mountain View Center for Environmental
Education, and was consultant to EDC, Head Start and Follow Through programs in
various parts of the U.S. In 1971, he spent time at the Wounded Knee
Reservation in South Dakota, leading an educational program for Native
Americans. In 1972, he presented a paper on Children and the Environment at the
United Nations/ International Union of the Conservation of Nature annual
meeting, in Rotterdam, Holland. During the 1980’s, he was an active member of
the consultative committee that contributed to the creation of the National
Curriculum in the U.K. In 1996, after 18 years as principal of two schools, he
came to Denver to direct and develop a teacher preparation program in
partnership with UCD. Currently, he is the Director of the Friends’ School
Teacher Preparation Program, in Boulder, Colorado, senior lecturer at UCD (Research Methods for Teachers), and
is a Site Professor in the university’s IPTE program.
OVERVIEW
Saul and Jagusch (1992) reported that more
people in the United States earn their living by doing astrology than by doing
astronomy! Current research highlights a declining number of students entering
science and mathematics professions.. Attending the Colorado Science Summit in
the summer of 2008, we took note of the points made by the conference’s main
speaker, Dr. Carl Wieman, Distinguished Professor of Physics and Nobel Prize
winner:
- “The USA lags behind other
countries in graduating scientists……..57th in world table…”
- “The Colorado economy is
one of the most science-dependent in the nation”
- “Less than 50% of its
students competent in science….”
- “We need to provide a workforce with
appropriate skills for our high-tech. economy”
- “So we need to make
education relevant for a large fraction of the population”
As experienced teachers we see the irony in
this state of affairs, acutely aware from our teaching that ‘inquiry-based environmental science’,
more than any other curriculum area, engages and catches students’ imagination
and curiosity, matches what we know of how children learn, AND is a proven,
positive springboard into literacy and mathematical activities [1].
Yet recent research points out that the U.S.
national movement emphasizing reading, writing, and mathematics skills, as measured
by high-stakes standardized tests, conflicts with efforts to make progress in
science education (Uorgenson & Vanosdall, 2002).
Our
wide and intensive teaching experiences tell us we may be able to combat this
trend, in one school at least, by creating classrooms full of involved and
motivated learners through ‘good’
teaching that effectively links inquiry-based environmental science (using teachers’ and students’ curiosity
about the world that surrounds them) and visual arts with reading, writing and
mathematics.
Therefore, we propose to create an elementary
school (beginning in its first year with Kindergarten, first and second grade)
that focuses on a creative, imaginative, authentic
environmental inquiry-based science and arts curriculum that would appeal
to students and match the aspirations of their parents.
The school will be staffed by enthusiastic,
knowledgeable teachers who have demonstrated effective teaching and learning
and who know that teaching, indeed, is the art
of the possible.(Hawkins, 1970)
Operational Goals: The
Hawkins School aspires to begin as a K-2 school, adding one grade level each
year until reaching its final goal of K-5. In this way, we hope to establish, a
step at a time, a strong community of teachers, students, administrators, and
families who are committed to the common goal of children achieving to their
highest potential through an inquiry-based environmental science and visual
arts program.
Academic Goals: The Hawkins School is
committed to educating the whole
child through an imaginative, authentic, stimulating content-based instruction
program. It will use teachers’ talents and students’ innate curiosity as the
building block for a flexible yet structured curriculum that is of intrinsic
interest to them, one that stretches their abilities, and one that develops
their respect for the natural world and the accomplishment of others.
We believe (that is,
we know from personal experience gleaned from the 1960’s open education era,
working in Headstart and Follow-Through programs, up to the
present day as teacher and university lecturer) that inquiry-based learning
will raise student overall achievement levels.
The Hawkins School rich
content-based program will support different learning styles and provide opportunities for students to develop
critical thinking and collaborative skills that can be transferred across the
curriculum and, more important, beyond the classroom. Student individual and
collaborative needs will be supplemented with disciplined observation and
explicit instruction in a series of back and forth movements that constantly
illuminate and qualify each other (Hawkins, 1977).
We will support such
movements.
The
Hawkins School will positively demonstrate that a strong and richly resourced
program of inquiry-science and visual arts instruction can play an important
role in improving elementary student achievement in literacy (Thier, 2002),
science and other areas of the elementary school curriculum.
We agree with the
learning theorists who document that no-one fully understands which teaching
approach makes an individual child or group of children learn. Hawkins writes
that the young human mind is not an open-filing system in which teachers can
store the fruits of society’s wisdom, but a highly reactive and selective
affair which accepts, reorganizes or rejects what we offer in accordance with
its own inner program of readiness, need, and motivation. If frustration is the
inevitable consequence of thoughtful teaching, he states, the other side is
delight – delight with the inventiveness of the young mind, with new
perspectives and connections, and so with the opportunity to learn while
teaching. Good teachers are those who learn to steer themselves by these
responses and so maintain the freshness of subject matter and of their own
minds. (Hawkins, 1970).
The Leadership Team
will draw upon past experiences in all governing bodies of school life
including principal, CSC, PTA, Professional Learning Communities,
instructional/academic leadership, and teacher preparation programs.
Operational and Academic Goals of the Hawkins
School for Arts and Science
The Hawkins School’s
academic goals include but are not limited to:
- Students will engage, daily, in
inquiry-based ‘hands-on’ learning which draws from culturally relevant
content, students’ prior knowledge, as well as research based effective practice.
- Students will participate, daily, in
authentic peer collaboration in order to develop independent and group critical thinking skills.
- Students will meet and exceed minimum
proficiencies in math, science, reading and writing..
Teachers will draw
upon research and their previous and current experiences to incorporate a research-based, constructivist approach to
learning for all students. The teaching of reading and writing and
mathematics will be integrated into all areas of the curriculum, will be
relevant to student learning, and will meet and exceed the Denver Plan. Our
academic program will focus on:
The curriculum
Inquiry-Based Environmental Science: Classroom science instruction will be driven by the aspirations and
interests of the teachers and the students plus the guiding principles of the
National Science Education Standards and will incorporate the following:
- A richly-resourced school and classroom
environment that encourages students to work as scientists.
- A rich school and classroom learning
environment and community that nurtures curiosity, questioning,
exploration, and investigation.
- An engaging and relevant range of environmental
science topics taken from the disciplines of chemistry, physics, biology,
earth sciences and health (as described in the Standards).
- ‘Hands-on’ teaching and learning investigatory methods
that encourage students working in teams, planning, designing and answering
questions and reporting results
- Opportunities for students to reflect on
and celebrate their learning through group and individual science
journaling.
Notebooks (journals)
will be an important component of the science and will be used to provide
students with:
- An opportunity to work as scientists.
- An opportunity to develop a personal
construction of meaning and understanding in the individual/group/class observation
of environmental science phenomena
- A tool for constructing meaning through
observation, experimentation and discussion
- A tool for thoughtful reflection on
their questions and their inquiry-based research activities
- A vehicle to extend authentic,
significant literacy opportunities
The Visual Arts: The arts curriculum will focus on providing students with
opportunities, materials, and techniques to express, represent and integrate
their experiences, ideas, and emotions.
- An important feature of the Hawkins
School is the daily multi-age Open
Studio Time. Students will
rotate disciplines in the Open
Studio and explore visual arts, creative movement, drama, creative
writing, and music.
- Visiting artists, authors, and
scientists will be invited to participate in ongoing collaboration with
students in the Open Studio.
All specialist
teachers will teach in the Open Studio
each day. The Visual Arts Curriculum will
be based on the Kindergarten - 5th grade State and National Arts Standards.
- A richly-resourced school and classroom
environment that encourages students to work as artists.
- Students will recognize and understand
that visual arts are a particular and effective way of communicating.
- Students will learn to analyze, evaluate
and critique their own artworks as well as those of famous artists.
- They will discover and make connections between art and other
curriculum areas.
- Students will create original artworks
using a variety of techniques, mediums and processes.
- Students will read books and articles to
learn about historical art techniques.
- Students will learn the routines, rituals and tools of an artist’s studio.
- Students will keep art portfolios and create art shows for
community engagement
Literacy: As teachers, we know that
reading is a vital and necessary skill. We absolutely agree that reading
instruction should occur in the ‘content areas rather than in separate lessons
about reading.’ ( National Commission on
Reading, 1985). Consequently, the school’s literacy program will take place in
a school and classroom environment that encourages students to work as readers
and writers.
- Students will engage with reading materials that are authentic,
meaningful, interesting and relevant.
- School will follow the reader's and writer's workshop (Lucy
Caulkins) format with whole, small group and individual instruction.
- Each teacher will focus on coherent and
consistent instruction that connects reading skills to writing, connects
reading and writing to content, and content learning to student interest.
- Reader's and Writer's workshops will focus on the strategies that
are needed for students to become successful, effective readers and
writers.
- As students become fluent readers they will have many
opportunities through science and other investigations to explore higher
level texts that will increase comprehension.
Mathematics:
Mathematics will be
integrated with the teaching of science, and in relevant content areas across
the curriculum. It will include:
- An opportunity to work as
mathematicians.
- ‘real life’ environmental science problem solving through collecting and using data
- balanced instruction
- multiple methods for basic skills
instruction
- emphasis on mathematical communication and appropriate use of technology to understand more about the world of mathematics
Assessment:
The Hawkins’ School teachers will use systematic, reliable assessments
that provide insight into the growth and development of knowledge and skills,
inform on-going instruction, and ensure a broad and ongoing picture of each
student’s development. These may include
portfolios, notebooks, or other artifacts that show evidence of children’s
skills, knowledge, and accomplishments across a wide cross section of
meaningful, curriculum based activities over time in regard to teacher
expectations and state standards. Assessment
tools will include DRA, anecdotal evidence, and other assessments as needed to
inform instruction and ensure that the needs of all students are met.
Math will be taught
using the Everyday Mathematics Program and will be integrated into every
science activity/investigation.
Differentiation will occur according to the
academic needs of individual students in every teaching situation.
The teachers
High expectations for
all students and teachers and parent community will define the culture and
climate of the Hawkins School.
We know from
first-hand experience, in working in prek and K-8 classrooms in the public and
private sector for many, many years, what works in classrooms.
We know, for
example, the importance of building a
community of learners through teachers using engagement strategies to build
respect for each other and for subject matter.
The Hawkins School believes that learning is enhanced when students pursue it with enthusiasm and confidence. The Hawkins School students will experience the joy that begins with curiosity and grows with the pursuit of their own interests and passions.
- Teachers at the Hawkins School for Arts and Science know, from first-hand experience, how to create a classroom community that welcomes and celebrates diversity.
- They know that children learn in different ways (such as visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, field-independent, field-dependent, reflective, and impulsive learners).
- They know how to support every individual student in appropriate, positive and engaging ways.
- Consequently, because different children approach learning differently, the approach to classroom learning in the Hawkins School will follow a mixed strategy – one that does not pretend to be perfectly planned and leaves opportunities of the moment for a particular student. (Hawkins, 1967).
- ALL children are welcome at the Hawkins School.
- The school
culture will support and encourage collaboration and reflection on its
teaching practice through critical feedback and the evaluation of student
work. This process will involve
parents.
- Parents and
community members will be welcomed into the school to share expertise with
students and teachers in an atmosphere of shared enthusiasm especially for
art, science and learning.
- Teachers will
jointly design, implement, and evaluate student work using science, art
and literacy connections, and chronicle ‘best’ practice.
- Scientists
and artists will be invited to share and celebrate their work.
- Teachers will
journal and note student participation, lesson successes, and other
aspects of classroom life, using qualitative and quantitative research
processes.
- They will
keep abreast of current, relevant research.
- Each teacher
will be assigned a teacher candidate from an institute of higher education.
- Each teacher candidate will be encouraged to work with the lead teachers in the development and implementation of the school’s learning program.
Professional Development
The Leadership Team
will ensure professional development for teachers that supports and addresses
the use of inquiry and descriptive/quasi-experimental action research as tools
for exemplary teaching.
Professional
development will focus the action research model and be based on these guiding
principles:
- Excellence
The Hawkins School will uphold high standards of academic performance across the disciplines. Its highly trained teachers will implement a stimulating and rigorous academic program that encourages critical thinking, creativity, and achievement. - Experience
The Hawkins School will create an educational journey that combines hands-on learning with an integrated academic and artistic curriculum. Students will participate in new and traditional activities designed to enliven and enrich their learning. Students will be encouraged to explore and enjoy the natural world.
- Individuality
The Hawkins School will value each student as a unique individual and considers every student’s strengths and needs. Students are urged to develop their own thoughts, questions, and interests. - Community
The Hawkins School encourages cooperative work along with self-reliant performance. Students develop confidence in their ability to speak, lead, and contribute positively. - Responsibility
The Hawkins School students will learn through their own success, failure, and perseverance. They will learn the appropriate acceptance of and expression of feelings. They accept responsibility for their work and their actions. Students practice moral behavior and uphold the principles of honesty, courage, self-respect, and respect for others. - Differences
The Hawkins School students will learn to value individual differences and divergent thinking. They learn, as they grow, to seek inclusiveness and justice in a multi-cultural world.
Development,
Implementation and Evaluation Plans
Year One will focus on
·
Begin applying
the K-2 inquiry- based/visual arts curriculum (Denver Plan; Reader's and
Writer's Workshops; Everyday Math; appropriate and engaging Science and Visual
Arts)
- Developing a community of educators,
students, administrators, parents and visiting community scientists and
artists.
- Strong Staff Development through weekly
conferences.
- Application Process used for students
and faculty members
- Appropriate intervention strategies for
students
- District Assessments, journals, projects
and observation will be used for evaluation.
- Leadership Team and district in-house committees
Year Two Adding Third Grade curriculum
- Revisions and enhancements of any
curriculum for K-3
- Strengthening management of school
- Building strong community of learners
(students and faculty)
- Implement District Assessment (CSAP, and
other tools)
- Writing Grants for enhancement of
equipment needed for science, art and acquiring a library.
- Refining application process used for
students and faculty members
- Intervention strategies for students
- District Assessments (journals, projects
and observation will be used)
- Continuing to establish strong program
with higher education licensure programs.
- Working with community members to build
a robotics, invention and flight program
- Adding Music Program
Year Three Adding Fourth Grade curriculum
- Continue implementing inquiry-based
curriculum for intermediate grades.
- Revising curriculum as needed and adding
assessments and interventions as needed
- Additional Staff
- Continue to build strong learning community and involving outside community members in school
Year Four Adding Fifth Grade curriculum
- Recruit additional Staff Members
- Stabilizing all programs
- Revising and implementing any program
community feels would beneficial to students
- Continue fluid movement between grades
- Evaluating success and continue
coordination of programs
- Continue building strong community of teachers and learners.
Year Five
o
Implement
any new program that would benefit students
- Continue to build strong community of learners
Implementation
o
The
Leadership Team, faculty and members of the community will implement the
Hawkins School academic program and maintain the integrity of the school’s
underlying philosophy
o
Each
step of implementation will be discussed, revisited and implemented in a timely
manner.
o
The
Leadership Team will meet regularly to meet the needs of the school, students
and community to ensure success of our school.
We believe in the
statements already addressed that we will be capable of implementing the
academic rigor of our program.
We will be asking
for the advice of The Beacon Committee to guide us in obtaining district funds
and a school site to open our door in the fall of 2007.
Evaluation will be carried out by the
Leadership Team, faculty members, parents and the Beacon Committee to ensure
its integrity.
- Daily assessments will occur in all classrooms by thoughtful, disciplined observations and self-assessments of how classroom instruction was given.
- Revisions, alternate questioning and strategies will vary to insure learners gain information needed to succeed.
- Observations, student projects, database of students’ progress, formal assessments, and CSAP will all be used to evaluate students and school 's progress.
- Formal assessments will be given as outlined in the Denver Plan.
g.
Provide a calendar and daily schedule that supports the overarching mission and
philosophy
of The Hawkins School for Arts and Science.
A week in the
life of Hawkins School of Art and Science:
8:15-8:45
|
Monday
Class meeting
|
Tuesday
Class meeting
|
Wednesday
Class meeting
|
Thursday
Class meeting
|
Friday
*All
school meeting
|
8:45- 9:45
|
Everyday Math
|
Everyday Math
|
Everyday Math
|
Everyday Math
|
Everyday Math
|
9:45- 10:00
|
All school recess
|
All school recess
|
All school recess
|
All school recess
|
All school recess
|
10:00- 11:30
|
Reader's and
Writer's
Workshop
|
Reader's and
Writer's
Workshop
|
Reader's and
Writer's
Workshop
|
Reader's and
Writer's
Workshop
|
Reader's and
Writer's
Workshop
|
11:30-12:30
|
Lunch
|
Lunch
|
Lunch
|
Lunch
|
Lunch
|
12:30- 2:00
|
Science
|
Science
|
Art/ Movement
|
Science
|
Science
|
2:00 – 3:00
|
*Open Studio
|
Open Studio
|
Open Studio
|
Open Studio
|
Open Studio
|
3:00-3:15
|
*Reflections
|
Reflections
|
Reflections
|
Reflections
|
Reflections
|
* All School Meeting – This would be a
weekly meeting to build school communities meetings would be led by a variety
of people.
* Open Studio – This time would be used for in-depth
studies of various subject matter . These classes would be taught by faculty
and principal.
* Reflections – Closing of day for students. Time to
reflect and share the “big ideas” of daily classroom learning.
Each member of the
Leadership Team will have a unique set of skills and passions that will enhance
the teaching/learning environment at The Hawkins School.
The Leadership Team
will be directly involved in development, implementation, and evaluation of the
Education Plan.
The Leadership Team
will also collaborate with faculty to set academic goals, develop and implement
curriculum, assess progress, and hold each other accountable for reaching goals
in the following ways.
The Leadership Team
will:
- Implement curriculum activities to
support school goals and work with curriculum committee to enhance The
Hawkins School program
- Participate in regular discussions
regarding curriculum, instruction, assessment, and program management
- Translate instructional vision into
action
- Enable shared learning
- Determine appropriate instructional
strategies
- Implement appropriate discipline and
support student code of conduct uniformly
- Collaboratively develop, monitor, and
revise school improvement plan
- Coordinate school surveys
- Summarize and communicate all assessment
and survey data
- Develop, enhance, and oversee peer
review structure
- Review data to develop instructional
strategies
- Plan professional staff development in
support of school improvement goals and school professional development
needs that enrich school-wide learning and achievement.
[1] See the record of achievement in El Centro School District
What do you think? Could it have been a BEACON?
:)
OK. Anyone thinking they could contribute to this posting?
:)
OK. Anyone thinking they could contribute to this posting?
 |
This is an account of a classroom way back in the mid 60s that focused on using the environment as a resource for engagement and motivation. Available still, I believe, from Amazon - or from me. Oh, and the BEST book - for its message, its writing style, and its brevity - is BEYOND ECOPHOBIA, by David Sobell. 1996, The ORION SOCIETY. And another I recently discovered in an antique shop: The Amateur Naturalist's Handbook, by Vinson Brown. GREAT, great reading.
Here's another one of my postings in my blog on
PLACE-BASED EDUCATION - the latest
in-phrase for Environmental Education:
Place-based is the belief that teaching happens most effectively through use of the local culture, politics, art, environment, economy, geography etc.... creating a concrete context in which students can build connections to the content being taught.' Nature and Children.
My, sounds like a return to the best of 1960s UK practice in schools in UK. 'Nature Study', 'Using Nature', 'Environmental Studies', 'Field Studies', 'Environmental Education', and now 'Place Based Education'................... It's time I weighed in on this.......particularly as my whole teacher career, with children and adults, has focused on arousing curiosity.......through story-telling, collecting, displaying and sharing nature's artifacts, and taking all-ages on environmental walks and searches. Anyone read YESTERDAY I FOUND....by John and Dorothy Paull, 1971, an account of how one teacher very effectively used the wild and man-made environment to engage and motivate her kids? Anyone read THROUGH MY EYES...by John Paull, 2012, a memoir of teaching in the 1960s and 1970s? Anyone who reads this blog recognize the theme running through most of the postings? :) Hey, hey.... Funny.................the three school districts I am familiar with have and continue to do their best to discourage Place Based Education. It's left to a small number of Charter and Private Schools to make the most of the power of curiosity-driven classroom activities..........activities that encourage children to think, draw, write, read, and measure. Jeannine has a new job. I'm going to photograph and document weekly how she brings in the outdoors to stimulate and motivate her students..............the school year starts soon. interestingly, she is joining a school, North east Elementary. that is shifting its focus on Project Based learning..............hey, HEY!! JULY 17th.......just finished the first class of five, I am a scientist, for parents AND children,,,,,take a look if you have a minute: POST: I am a scientist. |
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