One group began by naming a broad problem related to the topic of exhibitions: How do you figure out what you want kids to know and be able to do? And how do you tailor your school to suit such outcomes? The key dimensions of that problem, participants decided, were these: THE AUTHORITY PROBLEM. What role does each of the
No one can identify magic solutions to the problems of school reform. But if school people at all levels will sit down together, they can come up with strategies for change, see where they might go wrong, and begin to create new ways to address their most troubling problems. There must be days that some of them wonder –those teachers,
Should students be grouped in classes by ability levels for academic reasons? Or should students of differing levels learn together in heterogeneous groups? How best to resolve this tension was the problem this group worried over. To realize fully the implications of the problem, they noted, it was necessary to address its class origins. Because students of lower socio-economic backgrounds
To the Editor: I just read the June and September copies of HORACE, and I congratulate you for such honest, believable portraits of Essential schools, and for your emphasis on personalization. I have read a few of the essays Pat Wasley has written on the struggles teachers go through as they and their schools change; like those essays, your reports
Who are the leaders in an Essential school, and what do we want from them? Can the conventional organizational system support this kind of leadership, or will it have to change? What’s the difference between a leader and a manager? How do we go about identifying leaders for hiring and promotion, developing them from existing staff; and encouraging reluctant leaders
How can mathematics (other than statistics and probability) be incorporated into interdisciplinary work? Must math be tied to –and driven by –the science curriculum? If so, does placement in the science curriculum depend upon competence in math? Bob Shanner, dean and math teacher Whitfield School St. Louis, MO We are running into scheduling problems because of interdisciplinary classes; students and
“We have met the enemy and he is us” The problem of resistance to Essential school ideas, this group decided, takes place on two levels: institutional and personal. On both levels, it arises out of the same sources: FEAR. What does “less is more” mean? What does being a generalist entail, and how will it interfere with the way I
What is “rethinking the curriculum”? this group asked itself, struggling with the process of defining its problem. Is what to teach the issue, or HOW to teach it? How do differing ability levels, areas of expertise, and teacher styles affect the rethinking process? Once you’re under way, how is a new curriculum best conveyed to others? Some of the challenges