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Expeditionary Learning (Video & Design Principles)

July 31st, 2010 |

Expeditionary Learning Schools are models for increasing student achievement in all schools.

Give Me Shelter video; to view video click on link: Expeditionary Learning ………………………………………………………………………………………………

In February 2009, President Barack Obama visited Capital City Public Charter School, an Expeditionary Learning School in Washington, DC, and said the school “is an example of how all our schools should be.” – From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expeditionary_learning_schools

Design Principles of Expeditionary Learning Schools (ELS)

The following design principles serve as a moral and cultural foundation for each Expeditionary Learning School. They express the core values and educational philosophy of Expeditionary Learning.⁴

The Primacy of Self-Discovery states that learning happens best with emotion, challenge and the requisite support. People discover their abilities, values, passions, and responsibilities in situations that offer adventure and the unexpected. The primary task of the teacher is to help students overcome their fears and discover they can do more than they thought they could.

The Having of Wonderful Ideas places emphasis on fostering curiosity about the world by creating learning situations that provide something important to think about, time to experiment, and time to make sense of what is observed.

The Responsibility for Learning argues that learning is both a personal process of discovery and a social activity. Therefore, every aspect of an Expeditionary Learning school encourages both children and adults to become increasingly responsible for directing their own personal and collective learning.

Empathy and Caring believes that learning is fostered best in communities where students’ and teachers’ ideas are respected and where there is mutual trust. Older students often mentor younger ones, and students feel physically and emotionally safe.

Success and Failure states the fact that all students need to be successful if they are to build the confidence and capacity to take risks and meet increasingly difficult challenges. But it is also important for students to learn from their failures, to persevere when things are hard, and to learn to turn disabilities into opportunities.

Collaboration and Competition positions Expeditionary Learning schools as integrating individual development and group development, so that the value of friendship, trust, and group action is clear. Students are encouraged to compete not against each other, but with their own personal best and with rigorous standards of excellence.

Diversity and Inclusion believes that both diversity and inclusion increase the richness of ideas, creative power, problem-solving ability, and respect for others. Schools and learning groups are heterogeneous.

The Natural World helps create a direct and respectful relationship with the natural world, which refreshes the human spirit and teaches the important ideas of recurring cycles and cause and effect. Students learn to become stewards of the earth and of future generations.

Solitude and Reflection argues that students and teachers need time alone to explore their own thoughts, make their own connections, and create their own ideas. They also need time to exchange their reflections with other students and with adults.

Service and Compassion places emphasis on strengthening students and teachers through acts of consequential service to others. One of an Expeditionary Learning school’s primary functions is to prepare students with the attitudes and skills to learn from and be of service. ^[1]

Notes

^ Expeditionary Learning – Design Principles, http://www.elschools.org/aboutus/principles.html

¹ ELS Website ² Kearns, David T ³ Berends, Mark (2002) ⁴ ELS Website ⁵ Murphy, Josheph F. and Amanda Datnow (2002) ⁶ ELS Website ⁷ The Kauffman Foundation Website ⁸ Borman, Geoffrey, et al. ⁹ Capital City PCS Website

References

Berends, Mark (2002), Facing the Challenges of Whole School Reform: New American Schools After a Decade. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Murphy, Joseph F., and Amanda Datnow (2002), Leadership Lessons from Comprehensive School Reform. Corwin Press.

Kearns, David T, Toward a New Generation of American Schools. The Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 74, No. 10 (Jun., 1993), pp. 773-776.

Borman, Geoffrey D., Gina M. Hewes, Laura T. Overman, Shelly Brown (2002), Comprehensive School Reform and Student Achievement: A Meta-Analysis. Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk, Report # 59.

Bodilly, Susan (1998), Lessons From New American Schools’ Scale-Up Phase: Prospects for Bringing Designs to Multiple Schools. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

The Kauffman Foundation, http://www.kauffman.org/education/expeditionary-learning-schools-outward-bound.aspx

Expeditionary Learning Schools Outward Bound, http://www.elschools.org/index.html

Capital City Public Charter School, http://ccpcs.org/news/54

Mosle, Sara, May 28, 1995. “A City School Experiment that Actually Works”. The New York Times.

Herszenhorn, David M., March 20, 2006. “A New York School That Teaches Teamwork by Camping”. The New York Times. …………………………………………………………………………………………………

The Pacific Heritage Academy (PHA), a proposed charter school for Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, is using the ELS (Expeditionary Learning Schools) model for its guide. For more information on the Pacific Heritage Academy (PHA), see their Facebook website: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=290162105890&topic=12898&post=59598#!/pages/Pacific-Heritage-Schools/290162105890

To the improvement of all schools in all nations!

Doc Meek, Saturday, July 31, 2010, at South Jordan, Utah, USA —————————–

J. Collins Meek, Ph.D. (Doc Meek)
“What if you are smarter than you think?”
Learning Specialist https://docmeek.com

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