Students Tell All: What It’s Like to Be Trusted Partners in Learning

[xcriteria]

This link has a set of 10 very short SoundCloud clips from students at Science Leadership Academy, run by Chris Lehman (who has a TEDx talk I suggest everyone here watch: Education is Broken.)

"Science Leadership Academy (SLA) in Philadelphia is a partnership between The School District of Philadelphia and The Franklin Institute. It has become well-known for its project-based, inquiry focused teaching style, which asks students to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways. Students like the approach, but acknowledge that sometimes it puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to testing – they aren’t used to them."

"Inquiry-based learning asks students to discover knowledge on their own with guidance from their teachers. Rather than receiving information up front through lectures, students research guiding questions, ask their own follow-ups and get help along the way."

"Learning through inquiry requires more student agency and demands that teachers and administrators trust that students will ask when they need help. It also places the responsibility for completing tasks and meeting deadlines on the shoulders of students."

Read and listen: Students Tell All: What It’s Like to Be Trusted Partners in Learning

This is an example of a school I encourage all of you to learn more about, and find ways to discuss these different ways of doing school with your parents, teachers, other students... basically anyone. This can help open people's eyes to the fact that school can take on many forms... and to the fact that new ways of doing school can and do sometimes happen, because some interested people get together and make it happen.

Also, the format they used here with embedded SoundCloud players is something we might think about for helping people hear from those on School Survival who are (or have been) stuck in ill-fitting school situations.

What do you think?