Where are we?
Our group is united in its values–all members have had a chance to share what we would like our school to instill in its students, as well edit the contributions of others. We have now assembled a list of core ideals that will permeate the structure of our institution as we move forward.
Furthermore, we have built a rough outline in which we explore potential programs that would promote such values. This outline includes some sample programs that introduce founding principles into the curriculum–these include potential feedback mechanisms, extracurricular activities, and an emphasis on local community engagement.
Finally, we have drafted a mission statement modeled off Poly's. This statement represents a more condensed version of the core tenets that have guided our work. It also speaks to the impact we would like our school to have on the world. Read it below!
How did we get here?
Throughout the week, we have engaged in dialogue to shape the core principles of each group member into a cohesive whole. This began with casual conversation and then coalesced into a google doc in which each of us shared our vision of the school in an organized fashion. Each group member had the opportunity to edit the mission statement & curricular outline as it was created. After deliberation, we all agreed that we could ensure that the philosophy of our school would be best implemented in a K-12 format. We immediately agreed on most of the procedural elements of primary education. Having decided as a group that we would also offer high school education, we adopted most of the principles provided by Ezra in the previous week's brainstorming class, with an important note that all curriculum be strongly grounded in the values inculcated in lower school.
Where are going next?
One area for growth is attaching our school to an established philosophy. Does our institution align with the values of Plato? Or perhaps Milton? Maybe just our own? How might this contrast with conventional pedagogy?
Looking forward, we also want to begin to make real-world considerations for our school (How many students? What are our hours? What will our food options be like?) and incorporating them into a philosophy. Overall, there's a lot to be excited about!
Mission Statement:
Mission Statement:
The mission of our school is to foster growth of ideas that sustains a love of learning for a lifetime. ((To foster lifelong curiosity and inquisition)) As an institution of education, we are dedicated to the maxim that all of our students deserve the freedom to shape their own individuality through an exploration of the humanities, the sciences, and the arts. We emphasize community engagement and encourage cooperation and service to others. We structure our curriculum so that all who leave our halls will embrace the plurality of life rather than its limits. In this way our school is prepared to embrace a more just and vital future.
We strive to instill in our students:
Knowledge of the past, perspective on the present, expectations for the future
Personal/Communal/National/Global sense of duty
Lifelong love of learning
A sense of obligation to protect our planet and its people
I'm interested in your K-12 format. My group also wants students to have a global sense of duty, but we thought we could best find/shape this sense of duty in high school/middle school students. I'm excited to see the real-world considerations you mention above.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be cool to see you come up with an entirely unique school of thought that your school could serve as an extension of. Having that permeate into the smaller decisions such as food would be really interesting, and I'm excited to see all of the manifestations of said philosophy if you were to base the school off of your own. I am especially curious to see how you would approach the instillment of a national sense of duty in young kids and how that deviates from other interpersonal forms of obligation and involvement.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, your mission statement parallels our mission statement. I am excited to see how our schools diverge and/or converge in our philosophies and implementations of them into the real world.
ReplyDeleteI'm especially intrigued by the "national duty" part of your statement. I'm engaged by the scale and excited to see how you take that on, whether it be through a smaller-community scale project or something that actually works on the national scale. I also like that you're focusing on feedback models– as we've learned from our experiences in City of Angels and now MOL, they're a pretty important part of the classroom experience. I'm excited to see what you come up with!
ReplyDeleteI am very interested to see how you promote a love of learning for a lifetime. I think especially at young ages it is vital to get children interested in learning, and if your school's aim is to help children explore life and explore possibilities rather than sit in front of computer screens I think this school could be really great and also something that could actually become a reality in the future.
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