Learning for Life
Welcome, all, to the 21st Century! But perhaps that sounds too cheery. After all, as parents and teachers, we may be struggling with the fact that the expectations of the world we live in are different from our own youth; we may be struggling to change the way we prepare students for high school and beyond. But struggle we must. It is encouraged as well in SAS’s vision statement: “By 2012, the Shanghai American School will be recognized as a leading international school in Asia and the world by providing a rich cultural and social learning environment for families who seek an exemplary core American educational program”. In other words, our charge is to develop strategies to support student learning in ways that prepare students for the world around them. As part of that process, both campuses are helping students develop a strong base that exemplifies our values and commitment to excellence. Our objective is for each SAS alumnus to be recognized not only for excellent academics but for character, leadership and ability to work in this new age.
In my former role as a high school principal, I would explain to parents that there are over 4000 valedictorians throughout the United States every year but less than 2000 slots for incoming freshman at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton
combined. To be considered for these universities, one must possess more than grades on a page.
No longer can students simply rest on the laurels of high SAT scores or impressive GPA’s; numbers alone do not guarantee entrance to top universities. Students today must be able to articulate their learning in ways never asked of our generation. At the same time, teachers can no longer drill students on route facts and figures. In our world today, students must know the impact of historical decisions and the reasons why mathematics works. Companies and universities want students able to apply knowledge to new learning as opposed to those simply trained to complete information-based tasks.
Developing the whole
child
And so more and more, we as educators talk to parents using terms such as ‘developing the whole child’ or providing opportunities for students to be ‘empowered’ and ‘learn authentically’. What is it that we are actually talking about?
The terms may be new, but in fact, the values they embody are as old as education itself. Education is a concept that spans several thousand years, over 6 if not all 7 continents. The purpose of education (as opposed to training) is not simply to be academic but also to know how to apply what is learned and to relate it to the world in which we live. The early Greeks taught students the importance of community, and knowledge was shared for the purpose of promoting the democratic state. Hundreds of years later, in a report to the Commissioners for the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson noted that “such qualities as morals, understanding of duties to neighbors and country, knowledge of rights, and intelligence and faithfulness in social relations” were paramount responsibilities of education. In both examples, students were to be educated in how to use their knowledge to uphold the values of the society and to improve not only themselves but nothing short of their world.
Our two campuses thus strive to create learning within a meaningful context (‘authentic learning’) and to develop well-rounded citizens aware of and comfortable with (‘empowered by’) their potential beyond the classroom (‘the whole child’). The EAGLES and our school’s core value exemplify this endeavor.
And it is an endeavor worth contemplating a moment longer, based as it is on the belief that children have to be exposed to a variety of activities in order to develop their personality and interests. Research suggests that students in middle
school should have the opportunity to engage in art, drama, music, sports, and language. Too often, as adults, we wish to imprint our likes on our children based on our own experiences rather than on their abilities and interests. It is imperative that we allow students to find areas that they themselves enjoy, which is where Pudong Middle’s exemplary electives program shines.
Developing students’ sense of self-awareness and joy by no means diminishes SAS’s high academic expectations, however. We have a reputation for getting students to excel in the traditional subjects and indeed, we have begun to have students
compile portfolios of their work to showcase this excellence. To be clear, portfolios-done-properly are more than collections of random ‘good tests’ or ‘best assignments’; in the form they take at Pudong Middle, they are a key element in teaching our students to be empowered, life-long learners.
Good portfolios help children to articulate their learning – both its process and its products. And so on November 7 and 8, Pudong Middle School students will invite their parents to join them for a Student Led Conference. These conferences will do much more than allow parents and students to sit together and look over the projects, papers, and tests that have resulted in certain numbers on a report card (although this in itself is time well spent with your child). It will also provide an opportunity for parents to better understand the perspective of their child in terms of how and why their learning takes place. The conferences will further allow parents and students to set goals together for the second quarter and to outline possible courses of actions to achieve these goals.
The latest research data tells us that by providing opportunities for students and parents to reflect on learning together, students will be encouraged to take even further ownership of their education. And the latest research data also tells us that Student Led Conferences, portfolios interdisciplinary tie-ins to the EAGLES and core values, experimentation with
electives are all excellent initiatives. But we won’t stop there. The studies are out there, and the results are in; we at SAS are tapping in to the research and the best practices to create a learning-rich environment that will stretch your child’s abilities and better prepare today’s middle schoolers to lead us in to tomorrow’s New World.
Powered by ScribeFire.
