Today, Jeff Hopkins graciously came and presented to us via. Zoom from the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII). To summarize, PSII is basically an independent high school where students have the opportunity to learn what they want to learn. All of the student learning is focused around a central inquiry project” that the students will work on for the year. Through this project they will engage with specific learning competencies and a variety of subject areas like math and language arts. At PSII there are no real “classes” and rather just differentiated spaces around the school where students can learn such as large collaboration spaces, or a quiet space. Ultimately, PSII hopes to put meaning behind student learning.
I thought the concept of PSII was SUPER cool! It was something I had never heard about before, which was surprising considering I have lived in Victoria my whole life. Something that really stood out to me about PSII was the opportunity for personalized student learning. It is evident that students learn best when they are learning about something they are interested in, and Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry gives students just that. I also appreciated how students were being assessed. There is no real tests or exams, and rather educators would report on personal inquiry progress as well as the learning competencies set out by the school. Therefore, it appears that both formative and summative assessment styles are being used, but just in a different way.
I think the idea of PSII can connect back to the movie we watched at the start of term. Both schools followed a somewhat “alternative” model, and were driven by student interest. Ultimately, I believe that these schools are the way of the future. Even now, we can see schools shifting away from standardized testing and marking, and adopting proficiency scales. This further emphasizes how the curriculum is constantly changing and evolving. However, my only concern is that students will struggle when they transition to the college/university setting. How will they apply and get into university with no marks for each subject? How will they adapt back to a standard model of learning?
Featured Image by Ismail Salad Osman Hajji dirir on Unsplash
Hi Teagan!
I also connected this way of structuring an institution to High Tech High as discussed at the beginning of the term. It is interesting seeing local schools that are integrating this way of teaching. It’s an exciting structure and I feel like will allow for a lot of growth and adaptability within the system but also, as a main benefit, within the students. School becoming less structured and more focussed on students’ interests and strengths will aid in an evergrowing, everlearning environment! Exciting stuff!