ERIC ED437318: Core Works Program: The Montclair Kimberley Academy.

40 Pages·1999·0.83 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 437 318
SO 031 236
Core Works Program: The Montclair Kimberley Academy.
TITLE
Montclair Kimberley Academy, NJ.
INSTITUTION
PUB DATE
1999-00-00
NOTE
38p.
The Montclair Kimberley Academy, 201 Valley Road, Montclair,
AVAILABLE FROM
NJ 07042. Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]; Web site:
<http://www.montclairkimberley.org>.
Descriptive (141)
Guides - Non-Classroom (055)
PUB TYPE Reports
EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Art Education; *Core Curriculum; Elementary Secondary
Education; *English Instruction; *History Instruction;
*Integrated Curriculum; *Music Education; Preschool
Education; Program Descriptions; Social Studies; Student
Needs
National Endowment for the Humanities
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
This program lists texts, music, and art works that have
been selected as a core of studies that continue through the curriculum from
pre-kindergarten through 12th grade at The Montclair Kimberley Academy (New
Jersey). The selections are representative of important texts, music, and art
that have been taught to the Montclair Kimberley Academy (MKA) students
throughout the years. MKA faculty have made their selections from the texts,
music and art available, using a construct of four criteria of significance
developed by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The four criteria
include: timelessness (judged important by thoughtful men and women over long
(2) centrality (involves major themes and motifs, uses
periods of history);
accepted methods of inquiry, is innovative with the promise of considerable
influence); and (3) originality (not novel, but represents a genuine,
fundamental shift in perspective that has the potential for meaningful new
vision and understanding of any "human achievement worth understanding"
[Wayne Booth]). To those criteria, MKA added "accessibility" as it relates to
student ages and development. The bulletin notes that an outcome of the
program is the opportunity to include significant non-Western texts, music,
and art in the curriculum. All students engage in a coherent core of studies
in writing, mathematics, science, foreign languages, technology, and
"Philosophy" (Anticipated
citizenship. The table of contents includes:
(1)
Outcomes, Special Curriculum Considerations, Operational Considerations, and
"Core Works Narratives."
Afterthought); "Core Works by Grade"; and (3)
(2)
(BT)
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1
The Montclair Kimberley Academy
PP
ST COPY AVAILABLE
2
Table of Contents
Philosophy
3
Anticipated Outcomes
4
.
Special Curriculum Considerations.
5
.
.
Operational Considerations
5
.
Afterthought
7
.
Core Works by Grade
8
Core Works Narratives
13
Timelessness
Centrality
Influence
Originality
Accessibility
4
Delattre went on to talk about the power
'Avery Barras, our school's
illi
g legend (1928-1956), once
of ideas:
eac
If what I am saying goes over
chal enged,
your-'head, raise your head." Great schools
Ideas are enormously powerful. If the idea is
are made of such convictions and attitudes
good, the fruit is wholesome. If the idea is evil,
toward education and excellence. MKA
the fruit is bitter, and its effects harmful.
faculty and administrators took this
Justice is an idea; so is bigotry. They both have
challenge to heart and acknowledged our
hugely dramatic and durable fruits. Cultures
school's motto, "Knowledge, Vision, and
rooted in good ideas deserve respect; those
Integrity," as they initiated the Core Works
rooted in the ideis of tyranny, bigotry, and
Program in 1999. This unique program
contempt for human dignity do not. This,
clarifies and declares just another example
children deserve to learn. But despite their
of serious intellectual purpose, and presents
power, ideas are powerless unless people learn
another reason why our school is worthy of
them, learn how to use them, apply them,
the trust of its students, parents, and
keep them vital, make them their own by hard
faculty. The Core Works Program elevates
and disciplined thinking. Ideas have little life of
and advances the well-being of students and
their own, little power to keep themselves
faculty by identifying significant literature
alive in the breasts and intelligence of human
and art guaranteed to be taught by our
beings. For this, parents, teachers, and books
faculty to all students in each grade.
are needed...and a way to tell the good ideas
from the bad is needed.
There is another powerful reason why this
The Montclair Kimberley Academy has
newest MKA program is essential to our
taken Delattre's telling comments to heart
students, to our school, and to the nation.
and is determined to "keep good ideas
In a July 1989 speech, "Ideas Die," given to
alive" for all its students by constructing a
The Council of the Great City Schools, our
friend Dr. Edwin Delattre noted that when
Core Works segment of its curriculum. In
Matthew Arnold's words, our purpose is to
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered
on the motel balcony in Memphis, a refrain
include the best that has been thought and
said in the world. Our purpose is also to
of solace ran like wildfire through the
offer MKA students and their parents a
country.
framework for excellence in education.
The refrain was that the man was dead, the
The Core Works Program lists significant
man could be killed, the individual human being
texts and significant art that have been
could be snuffed out, but the ideas, the dream,
selected by the faculty of the three
could not be killed, could not be erased, could
a common
campuses as a core of studies
not die. The ideas of Martin Luther King, it
core of texts and art
that continue
was promised, would live, and it would remain
through the curriculum from Pre-
true that "we shall overcome."
Kindergarten through 12th grade.
It is
Delattre comments that this refrain offered
important to understand that the Core
for
Works selections are representative of
us all scant solace in our heartache
we knew it was not true. "We knew that
important texts and art that have been
taught to MKA students throughout the
ideas do die. Dreams die. They die unless
years. MKA faculty have made their
they are transmitted from each generation
to the next; they die unless they come to
selections from the plethora of texts and
life and retain vitality in the hearts and art available, using a construct of four
minds of each generation as it grows
criteria of significance developed by the
toward adulthood and accepts the authority National Endowment for the Humanities
and responsibilities of that station."
plus one special MKA criterion.
Our faculty selected our Core Works on the
experience, to the best that has been
basis of Timelessness (judged important
written and said. This uniformity of
by thoughtful men and women over long
engagement by faculty and students will
periods of history); Centrality (involves
help us fulfill the following promises:
major themes and motifs, uses accepted
methods of inquiry, is innovative with the
We promise that MKA students are
promise of considerable influence);
truly educated, that significant texts
Influence/Importance (reaches beyond
and art are kept fresh and alive through
the discipline and is useful and interesting);
their study, and that an internal
Originality (not novel, but represents a
consistency of studies is maintained at
genuine, fundamental shift in perspective
MKA.
that has the potential for meaningful new
vision and understanding of any "human
We promise that MKA students will
achievement worth understanding" [Wayne
have a common language and common
Booth]). To those criteria, MKA added
experiences in their discussions.
Accessibility (relates to student ages and
development).
We promise there will be a special
foundation of study on which faculty
The Core Works is a promise that commits
can depend.
each MKA student and faculty member in
the departments of English, History, and Art
We promise to provide a greater
opportunity for parents and other
at each specific grade level to engage in
studies of carefully chosen and inclusive
adults to join with MKA in the study of
texts and art.
In a way, our Core Works are
common texts and art.
the MKA equivalent of state and national
standards
thoUgh a difference is that
We promise a commitment to mentor
MKAs "enduring understandings"
new faculty so that any potential
(objectives) in the carefully prepared lesson
erosion of coherent study and
plans for each Core Work will not be vague
curriculum is addressed. The Core
or general. In our Core, all of our students
Works Program will serve as an anchor
study works of enduring significance
in this regard and will provide for both
including great works of literature, works
vertical and horizontal curriculum
from the visual arts and music, and
articulation.
documents and speeches that inaugurate,
define, or explain our nation's institutions,
We promise to make it easier for
or which record important historical events
colleges to know what to expect when
and processes.
they accept an MKA graduate, and that
this information will help with the
As one result of the Core Works Program,
admission of MKA students to colleges
students at MKA will inherit the significant
and assist with the success of our
ideas of Western and world cultures and
students at the college and university
traditions that are rightfully theirs.
level.
Aniticipaecl Outcomes
We promise that the Core Works
Program will establish logical lines
The Core Works Program is meant to lead to
of inquiry for faculty studies,
a major result: that MKA graduates will
necessarily increasing intellectual
have a uniformity of exposure to some of
collegiality among the faculty, and
the great works that define the human
enhance communication among faculty
6
Special Curriculum
in the Primary, Middle, and Upper
Considerations
School campuses and across
campuses.
The Core Works Program does not drive the
We promise that the Core Works
MKA curriculum. Rather, the curriculum
Program will help parents know more
drives the selection and listing of the Core
about what they can expect when they
Works and ensures that the texts and art
make the decision to enroll their
are not the exclusive focus of a course, but
children at MKA.
give direction and energy to that course. In
fact, the faculty selection of Core Works
We promise to build a traditional study
includes several works that are already
of literature and art that, as a British
taught as part of the MKA curriculum.
columnist once remarked, does not
lose the unifying thread of cultural
The Core Works is not a listing of the only
initiation.
texts and art taught each year to students
at The Montclair Kimberley Academy. In
We promise to reestablish a link to the
addition to the study of significant texts and
founding principles of MKA. The
art, all students at MKA engage in a
Classical and Scientific courses at
coherent core of studies in writing,
Montclair Academy, as early as I 893-
mathematics, science, citizenship, foreign
1894, focused on college-preparatory
languages, and technology, as well as
core works. There is also a strong link
common experiences such as the 8th grade
to the heart of MKA's current
trip to Williamsburg and the 11 th grade trip
statement of philosophy, Our Common
to Washington, D.C. For example, in the
Purpose: "Our primary goal is to
3rd grade, Trumpet of the Swan and Every
graduate young men and women
Living Thing are already studied. In the 7th
who love learning, who acquire both
grade, Florence in the Time of the Medici and
the knowledge of fundamental subject
Cortes and the Aztecs are already studied.
matter and the power of learning, and
In the 10th grade, several of the Federalist
who are well prepared to select and
Papers are already studied by most
meet successfully the demands of a
students. Throughout the grades, the Fine
challenging college curriculum."
& Performing Arts program is flourishing
with Shakespeare, national award-winning
Perhaps the most important outcome from
MKA-produced movies, sculpture classes,
the Core Works Program is that MKA is
and a Distance Learning course in art taught
seizing the opportunity for a unique and
from Boston University.
rigorous inclusion of significant non Western
Operational Considerations
texts and art in the curriculum. Most
schools "wish" to teach non Western texts
and art with more competence and
MKA faculty members engaged in a difficult
confidence. MKA is "willing" this to happen
process of selecting significant Western and
by including these in our Core Works and
non Western texts and art. Once they had
then engaging our faculty in studies with
made their selection, faculty teams wrote
scholars from across the nation. In this
narratives for each of their selections using
way, those works will come alive in the
as a key reference the NEH's and MKAs
classrooms, and MKA will assist its students
criteria for "significance." The following
to become citizens of the world and to
substantial and complementary activities
understand each other better.
will also lead to successful teaching and
learning:
.First, all faculty in a given grade have
who assisted with such works as Anansi the
jointly designed common lesson plans for
Spider, Lon Po Po, and Bringing the Rain To
each text and work of art in the Core Works
Kapiti Plain; the University of Rochester's
Program. Faculty are to provide their
Dr. George Grella, an expert on the film
students the same general amount of
Casablanca; Rafe Martin, the author of The
engaged time with the text or art, though
Rough-Face Girl, one of the 2nd grade's
they may well add their own individual
Core Works; Boston University's Dr. Steven
knowledge and craft in different ways. For
Tigner, MKA's close academic friend for six
example, faculty team members in the 7th
years, who worked with our Upper School
grade who are responsible for the text by
faculty on such texts as Gulliver's Travels and
Pablo Neruda, "Then Up the Ladder," will
Oedipus Rex; and SUNY-Geneseo's Dr.
plan and reexamine for each September a
Ronald Herzman, who has shepherded our
related common lesson plan. Though they
program since its inception and taught us
will have common "enduring understandings,"
Dante's Divine Comedy.
common materials and translations,
common assessment practices, and will
Each Core Works text and art piece has a
engage their students in serious study of
key faculty contact or "captain" responsible
that text for a common period of time,
for the team's activities: cultivation of
each faculty member on that team can go
information, knowledge, interdisciplinary
beyond these commonalities to add his or
opportunities, and the craft of teaching the
her own teaching touches or to
respective work. For example, the I Oth
differentiate instruction for students of
grade team will have "captains" for
differing abilities.
Macbeth, classic slave narratives, selections
from the Bible, A Man For All Seasons,
.Second, faculty are able to study with
Raphael's The School of Athens, and for
each other and with national scholars each
Alexander Gardner's Civil War
year so that their presentation of the texts
photography. These captains will lead
and art will be at the highest levels of
faculty study, bring scholars to faculty study
teaching and learning. MKA has budgeted
sessions, and monitor the writing and
sufficient funds so that faculty teams
implementation of the respective lesson
responsible for the teaching of a specific
plans. The role of captain will rotate
text or art piece will have the ongoing
among team members each year.
opportunity to work with scholars or to
engage in other learning, e.g., traveling to
eThird, faculty will consistently teach each
Mississippi to participate in a William
other
a high form of collegiality and
Faulkner seminar, and working closely with
always a sign of a strong school, a strong
experts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
curriculum, and a strong faculty. The
In preparation for the first year of study,
identification and sharing of articles,
MKA faculty members have already studied
reviews, and other information will become
with Boston University's Dr. Paula_
more focused. For example, one 3rd grade
Fredriksen, a noted authority on the Bible;
faculty member might discover items in the
Indiana University's Dr. John Patrick, an
New York Times Book Review that inform
international figure in the teaching of
about The Mayflower Compact and
founding documents; Merrimac College's
Chartres Cathedral, a 6th grade significant
Dr. William Wians, who accepted our
art piece. That person could now share the
invitation to study the Odyssey with us;
first item with his 3rd grade team members
Columbia University's Dr. Robert Simon,
and share the second item with colleagues
who counseled us on 19th Century art
in the 6th grade. The 7th grade team might
works; Bank Street School's Dr. Nina Jaffe,
talk with each other about You Can't Take It
8
ongoing lesson plans for each work. The
With You and discover new ways to
integrate more effectively that work into
documents will be constantly updated to
the total 7th grade curriculum.
provide internal tightness and advancement
of teaching.
Fourth, faculty will continually document
Afterthought
their successes and concerns with certain
texts and art in the Core Works. This
information can be relayed to the scholars,
The process of selecting the Core Works for
et al., and the teaching dialogue will each grade has been revealing. Faculty
members with differing opinions, but with
continue
via e-mail, telephone calls, and
through the use of MKA's Distance Learning
good will, forged a Core Works Program list
that will engender even more confidence in
Room. For example, I Oth grade English
the MKA curriculum and teaching. The
faculty might sense that they should have
faculty demonstrated that they understand
drawn out more substantive understandings
from a selection from the Bible, the story of
compromise, that they understand the
possibility that outsiders may point out
"Ruth and Naomi." That faculty team
another text or piece of art that "could
would contact Dr. Ronald Herzman at
have/should have" been used rather than
SUNY-Geneseo to set up a Distance
the one selected, or that someone will
Learning, e-mail, telephone, FAX, or in-
person conference to foster further quarrel with the definitions of "inclusion"
and "non-Western." They understand that
discussion.
MKA has embarked on a unique program
which requires their intense study,
Fifth, MKAs Core Works is to be reviewed
every five years to reexamine and renew it,
continued scholarship, and collaboration.
It
is a splendid faculty. The Core Works is a
and to address telling curriculum changes
that have taken place. Should there be
significant new program for us all.
unanticipated, dramatic curriculum change
Good ideas will not die at The Montclair
within each five-year period, cogent
adjustments will be made in the Core
Kimberley Academy.
Works. For example, the I st grade faculty
With respect,
might determine that they would change
the major units and themes at that grade.
The Nutcracker Ballet might not then be as
easily integrated into the new curriculum.
The I st grade faculty would petition for a
Dr. Peter R. Greer, on behalf of the entire
change of the Core Works art piece to one Core Works Faculty Committee and
that meets the needs of the curriculum. Administration
June 1999
Sixth, MKA anticipates that other schools
Special Note: On January 28, 1999, the
around the country will want to learn more
Board of Trustees of The Montclair
about the Core Works Program and how it
Kimberley Academy unanimously
has all turned out. MKA will be well poised
approved this major program addition.
to provide such information through
conferences and articles and to assist others
where it can. Permanent and "living"
documents related to the Core Works
Program include a listing of the significant
texts and art, short narratives that explain
why each piece was deemed significant, and
Strand I (text)
Pre-K
My Very First Mother
Goose (Opie, Editor)
K
The Children's Aesop
(Calmenson, Editor)
Charlotte's Web
I
(White)
Rip Van Winkle
2
(Irving)
The Mayflower
3
Compact
4
Paul Revere's Ride
(Longfellow)
Stories from Ancient
5
Greece
(e.g., Pandora's Box;
Phaethon and the Sun
Chariot; The Trojan Horse)
6
English:
The Extraordinary Cases
of Sherlock Holmes
(Doyle)
History:
Magna Carta
7
To Kill A Mockingbird
English:
(Lee)
History:
The Cowtail Switch and
Other West African Stories*
(Courlander and Herzog,
Editors)
8
English:
Odyssey (Homer)
History:
The Declaration of
Independence
10