I've been thinking about 'community building' quite a bit lately, more so than usual.
I ran into a friend who's in her 10th year of teaching yesterday, and when I asked her how things were going, she talked about, as many k-12 educators often do... 'triage.' Events and initiatives were piled on, and budgets fell to cuts again, key support positions riffed, PD time was scarce and dominated by initiatives, and then she dove into a description of her schools recent 'community service day.'
She said that faculty was asked to plan activities in the community, kids signed up, and the entire school marched out on one day to do community service work. Projects ranged from yard work, a lot green up efforts, to scientific testing, to nature walks, and bike tours. I asked her how 'bike tours' helped build a sense of community... and she laughed. Kids, she described, often loathed the activities as busy work and 'free labor' and she was worried they lacked connection in real and meaningful ways. Then, after one day, community service was over.
What if 'building community' was a grade level theme... all year?
The concept of grade level themes was introduced to me from the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia about eight years ago. For each grade classes at SLA are driven by theme focused lenses:
9th: Identity
10th: Systems
11th: Change
12th: Creation
So, if you're a 9th grader, every class, math, science, humanities, art, etc., is exploring 'Identity' as a theme to focus academics into something meaningful to kids lives. The result, especially in a project-based and inquiry-driven school, is that the students make meaningful connections to their place in the world.
What if a school used 'building community' as a project lens to focus every academic course and outreach project together at one grade level? What if teachers got a whole year of PD time to plan? What connections would people make? What academic disciplines could work together instead of functioning in their silo? What could students gain by knowing who is working in their community, in what jobs, and more about the area history and needs?
Schools can be robust community centers. It just requires thinking differently. Changing some thought paradigms about silos in education, about the school as a citadel, about one and done type activities - to check off on a list, can help connect kids, families, and communities on much deeper levels.
I ran into a friend who's in her 10th year of teaching yesterday, and when I asked her how things were going, she talked about, as many k-12 educators often do... 'triage.' Events and initiatives were piled on, and budgets fell to cuts again, key support positions riffed, PD time was scarce and dominated by initiatives, and then she dove into a description of her schools recent 'community service day.'
She said that faculty was asked to plan activities in the community, kids signed up, and the entire school marched out on one day to do community service work. Projects ranged from yard work, a lot green up efforts, to scientific testing, to nature walks, and bike tours. I asked her how 'bike tours' helped build a sense of community... and she laughed. Kids, she described, often loathed the activities as busy work and 'free labor' and she was worried they lacked connection in real and meaningful ways. Then, after one day, community service was over.
What if 'building community' was a grade level theme... all year?
The concept of grade level themes was introduced to me from the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia about eight years ago. For each grade classes at SLA are driven by theme focused lenses:
9th: Identity
10th: Systems
11th: Change
12th: Creation
So, if you're a 9th grader, every class, math, science, humanities, art, etc., is exploring 'Identity' as a theme to focus academics into something meaningful to kids lives. The result, especially in a project-based and inquiry-driven school, is that the students make meaningful connections to their place in the world.
What if a school used 'building community' as a project lens to focus every academic course and outreach project together at one grade level? What if teachers got a whole year of PD time to plan? What connections would people make? What academic disciplines could work together instead of functioning in their silo? What could students gain by knowing who is working in their community, in what jobs, and more about the area history and needs?
Schools can be robust community centers. It just requires thinking differently. Changing some thought paradigms about silos in education, about the school as a citadel, about one and done type activities - to check off on a list, can help connect kids, families, and communities on much deeper levels.
#vted #education #communitybuilding