ERIC ED438688: Spotlight on New Learning Environments: A Journal of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design at the University of Virginia, 1997-98.

65 Pages·1998·1.1 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 438 688
EF 005 294
AUTHOR
Duke, Daniel L., Ed.
TITLE
Spotlight on New Learning Environments:
A Journal of the
Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational
Design at the
University of Virginia, 1997-98.
INSTITUTION
Virginia Univ., Charlottesville. Thoffias
Jefferson Center for
Educational Design'.
PUB DATE
1998-00-00
NOTE
66p.
AVAILABLE FROM
Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design, Curry School
of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
22903. Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone].
PUB TYPE
Collected Works
Serials (022)
JOURNAL CIT
Spotlight on New Learning Environments: A Journal of the
Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design at the
University of Virginia; it -2 Win 1997-1998-Fall 1998
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Classroom Design; Core Curriculum; Elementary Secondary
Education; *Experiential Learning;° Preschool Education;
Public Schools; School Construction
IDENTIFIERS
*Learning Environment
ABSTRACT
A.two-issue volume presents articles describing innovative
schools, classrooms, and alternative learning arrangements found in
some of
today's schools. Issue one contains three articles offering glimpses of
an
elementary school committed to the Core Knowledge curriculum of E. D. Hirsch,
a renovated school devoted to early childhood learning programs, and a middle
school experiential learning program. The three articles contained in the
second issue highlight the Minnie Howard School in Alexandria, Virginia,
a
learning environment exclusively for ninth graders; "The Center for
Communications," a high-tech learning environment in Henrico County
(Virginia); and a case study of Gildersleeve Middle School in Newport News,
Virginia that follows the school's creation from initial conception to final
construction.
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Issue I
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1
Winter, 1997-98
A Journal by the Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
0)
O
O
O
to
EST COPY AVAILABLE
U.
2
SPOTLIGHT ON NEW LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
A Journal of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design at the
University of Virginia
ISSUE I
Winter 1997-98
3
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
SPOTLIGHT ON NEW LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS is intended to provide
educators, policy makers, designers of learning environments, and interested
citizens in general with descriptions of innovative schools, classrooms, and alter-
native learning arrangements. The Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational De-
sign is committed to monitoring these new developments and determining their
strengths and weaknesses. The inclusion of a particular innovation in this publi-
cation does not constitute endorsement by the Thomas Jefferson Center for Edu-
cational Design or the University of Virginia.
EDITORIAL STAFF
Daniel L. Duke
Editor
Monica Gillespie
Assistant Editor
Michael Kraft and Dan Butin
Editorial Staff
Sandra L. Davis
Editorial Associate
INQUIRIES
Inquiries regarding receipt of this publication or submission
of manuscripts for consideration should be directed to the
Editor, in care of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Educa-
tional Design, Curry School of Education, University of Vir-
ginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903. The phone number of
the Center is [phone] and the fax number is (804) 924-
0747.
2
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
It is with great pride that I present the inaugural issue of
SPOTLIGHT ON NEW LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. A
publication of the University of Virginia's Thomas Jefferson
Center for Educational Design, the journal is an important
component of the Center's mission. The three articles fea-
tured in this issue have been researched and written by doc-
toral students at the Curry School of Education. They offer
glimpses of an elementary school committed to the Core
Knowledge curriculum of E. D. Hirsch, a renovated school
devoted to early childhood learning programs, and a middle
school experiential learning program.
I join my colleagues
at the Center in hoping that readers will find the material in
SPOTLIGHT informative.
Daniel L. Duke, Editor
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Statement of Purpose
2
Editor's Introduction
3
Table of Contents
3
The Origins of Core Knowledge
by Gassia Gerges
4
Spotlight on the Jefferson Preschool Center:
An Early Childhood Learning Environment by
Christine Appert
12
Discovery: An Experiential Learning Program's
First Year by Tim Thomas
26
3
re
r
of
C o
ler%
0
0
0-
(t1
by Gassia Gerges
phrases, events and other items that
should be
familiar
most
literate
to
Americans.
Linden Kent Memorial Professor of
English at the University of Virginia.
E.D. Hirsch Jr.,
Father.
Grandfather.
the Yale University-trained expert
on
the English Romantic poets, is also a vo-
cal critic of America's schools.
He is
convinced that public school perform-
While Hirsch's message was not bla-
ance is lagging because the majority of
tantly ideological, the Reagan White
schools are miseducating kids.
Hirsch
House embraced his message, helping
has spent more than ten years trying to
his book climb to the top of the best-
help schools out of the wilderness.
In
Hirsch's call for schools to
seller list.
his 1987 national best-seller Cultural Lit-
increase attention to core curriculum
eracy, Hirsch provided a rationale for
content and reduce emphasis on skills
undertaking a program of educational
and process curriculum is reiterated in
reform to produce a high level of cul-
his latest book, The Schools We Need and
tural literacy. Cultural literacy, defined
Why We Don't Have Them. Hirsch argues
as the "network of information that all
that the "learning how to learn" ap-
competent readers possess" (1987, p. 2),
proach to education has produced gen-
is termed a national imperative essential
erations of students who are ignorant of
for the continued economic competi-
geography, history, literature and other
tiveness and the exercise of democracy.
content. Too much attention to skill de-
He argues that the nation's democratic
velopment, he asserts, hurts disadvan-
institutions are threatened by a citizenry
taged students most, depriving them of
that lacks a shared cultural vocabulary.
the ability to participate fully in Ameri-
To correct the problem, Hirsch and his
can democracy. Poor students who are
names,
the
identified
colleagues
not given access to cultural knowledge
4
6
each child there is a natural and best
also cannot compete on a level economic
playing field with students from mid-
time for learning certain subjects and
dle-class and affluent homes whose par-
Hirsch claims, however, that
skills.
ents supplement what is
learned
at
much of school learnings are not natural
school with books, travel, trips to muse-
physiomotor develop-
processes
like
ums, and other cultural advantages.
ment and the learning of the mother
Without a shared body of common
"The most striking evidence
tongue.
knowledge, society divides into two
against the naturalness of reading, for
those who are cul-
classes of people:
instance, is the brute fact that alphabetic
turally literate and those who are not.
literacy is extremely rare among the his-
Students who lack a core knowledge
of the world, whereas
torical cultures
.
base rarely catch up with their peers.
language
oral
universal"
(Hirsch,
is
1996, pp. 220-221).
Psychologists have
Hirsch criticizes progressive teach-
found that the learning processes in-
volved in the unnatural skills of read-
ing methods that stand in the way of the
knowledge.
ing, writing and math are slow at first,
cultural
acquisition
of
Over-emphasis on
but they speed up as time passes.
progressive
tech-
Be-
niques like interdisciplinary instruction,
cause of the cumulative nature of school
learning, students who are held back
ungraded
and
"hands-on"
work,
"discovery"methods, and "cooperative"
until they are "ready" most often do not
learning, has led to the neglect of core
catch up.
When elementary schools
withhold demanding knowledge and
content. Hirsch stresses the importance
of recitation, memorization, standard-
skills during primary grades, all stu-
ized tests, and other traditional meth-
dents are deprived of important content;
He does not reject multisensory
however, the impact is especially harm-
ods.
learning, but cautions against reliance
ful for disadvantaged children. Hirsch's
on any single kind of teaching.
content-rich Core Knowledge (CK) cur-
riculum--which introduces children to a
Furthermore, Hirsch questions the
sequenced body of basic knowledge--is
value of the "child-centered" curriculum
meant to correct the problem.
in which subjects like world history and
In 1986, Hirsch founded the Core
science are displaced in the early grades
by material associated with the stu-
Knowledge Foundation to help schools
dents' world.
"The presumption that
The heart of
implement his program.
the affairs of one's neighborhood are
the program is the Core Knowledge Se-
more interesting than those of faraway
quence, a bare-bones outline of the con-
tent to be taught at each grade, along
times and places is contradicted in every
classroom that studies dinosaurs and
with suggested titles of books, poems,
and stories that might be useful.
fairy tales," he argues (1996, p. 10). Too
"The
sequence is not meant to outline the
often child-centered learning means that
children are not taught the content they
whole of the school curriculum; rather,
it offers specific guidelines to knowl-
need to advance in school.
edge that can reasonably be expected to
make up about half of any school's cur-
Hirsch rejects the claim that delaying
learning until the child is "ready" will
riculum, thus leaving ample room for
speed up learning in the long run.
and emphases"
requirements
local
"Developmentally appropriate" implies
The non-profit or-
(Hirsch, 1991, p. 4).
ganization, funded in part by Hirsch's
that education is a natural unfolding; for
5
7
book royalties, is now working with 350
skills such as those used to decode writ-
schools in forty states, including Char-
ten language (reading skills), identify
cause and effect, and locate places on a
Elementary
Paul
Cale
lottesville's
School (Jones, 1996). The remainder of
map--they could teach any content they
A first grade teacher might
this article describes the initiation and
desired.
implementation of the Core Knowledge
teach about fairy tales. So, too, might a
second grade teacher. The history and
Sequence at Cale Elementary School.
geography units often were determined
by the trips teachers took during their
Initiation
summer vacations, not by curriculum
guidelines. The main goal was for stu-
Every year since 1994, Alice Gibson's
dents to acquire skills; content was not
second grade students at Cale Elemen-
of central importance.
and
Native
pioneers
become
tary
Americans, reliving the struggles of the
That all began to change in
the
westward movement. They also take on
County principals, in-
spring of 1993.
identities
the
cluding Cale's Gerry Terrell, were in-
Abraham
of
vited by the chairman of the Albemarle
Lincoln,
Sit-
to meet with
County School Board
ting
Bull,
members of the Core Knowledge Foun-
Geronimo and
dation to hear about the cultural literacy
Annie Oakley.
Impressed by what he
movement.
read
They
heard, Terrell shared his experience
about
stories
with all Cale teachers at a staff meeting.
Peter Pan and
Refusing to force his teachers to adopt
Hood,
Robin
that the teachers re-
Hansel and Gretel and Paul Revere.
CK, he requested
projects with Zeus,
view the CK guidelines and share their
They create
art
To Terrell's surprise, the
Athena, Hermes and other Greek gods
impressions.
overwhelming majority
and goddesses as themes. They weigh
the
staff
of
showed tremendous interest in becom-
and measure the geometric figures they
construct; find their way to principal
Six Cale teachers ap-
ing a CK school.
Terrell with a
request
proached
Gerry Terrell's office using a compass;
to
submit a grant proposal in order to pilot
and distinguish between a cell wall and
various CK strands. The proposal was
cell membrane using microscopes.
In
accepted; and in the fall of 1993, CK lan-
later years, they will reenact the Ameri-
guage arts was piloted in the second
can Revolution, read abridged versions
and fifth grades, social studies in the
of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Julius Caesar and
first grade, and science in the third
debate immigration issues,
the
Iliad,
grade. "The teachers worked with the
construct a model of the circulatory sys-
various strands and talked with the rest
tem, and participate in Shakespearean
of the staff throughout the year about
plays.
what they were doing," relates Terrell.
During the spring of '94, we had to
Six years ago, the 515 students at
make a decision as to what we wanted
Cale Elementary School might have
to do with this curriculum.
It wasn't
studied these topics in their classes, or
easy because there were a few teachers
they might not have. As long as Cale
vehemently
opposed
Core
the
to
teachers taught the skills dictated by the
Knowledge Sequence."
Education--
Department
Virginia
of
6
8
One teacher critic worried that the
when I get them than they ever have
curriculum would bore her students
been in the past."
with "drill-and-kill" memorization of
and
Cale's mission is the same as that of
figures,
Another
dates.
facts,
Albemarle County:
provide and
teacher feared that the content was too
"to
promote a dynamic
advanced, not "developmentally appro-
priate" for her students. Terrell was not
environment
for
convinced that the criticism was valid:
learning
through
"While we teach our babies from the
which
students
all
cradle about the world at large, when
acquire
the
knowl-
we get in schools, all of a sudden con-
edge, skills and val-
tent is not 'developmentally appropri-
ues necessary to live
ate."' Another teacher didn't agree with
as informed and pro-
ductive members of
the Foundation's choice of content, la-
beling it "Eurocentric." When the ma-
society." In addition, Cale teachers strive
jority of the faculty voted to adopt and
to develop a specific plan for the success
implement CK in all grades beginning
of all students by placing them on com-
mon ground and providing them with
in the fall of 1994, the three teacher-
an equal educational opportunity. With
other
requested
transfers
to
critics
CK as the curriculum, Terrell is certain
county schools.
"that the mission is possible: that it can
be accomplished."
Implementing Core Knowledge
Terrell and the remaining faculty
While the adoption of CK went rela-
implementation
smoothly,
tively
were convinced that CK was critical to
its
proved quite challenging.
When Cale
the success of their students. As he put
teachers began implementing CK, they
it, "The majority of our students are nar-
got rid of their textbooks and lesson
rowly restricted to their small world.
plans, and started all over.
"It was
They haven't
their
school
enriched
overwhelming at first," said Alice. "We
learning with travel, trips to museums,
had to implement not only CK, but also
etc. We are trying to share the wealth of
human knowledge with our students
whatever county standards not covered
by Core." The school board voted seven
who come from all backgrounds and
to one in favor of the adoption and im-
That's what CK started
walks of life.
plementation of CK at Cale, with the
putting all children on
doing for us:
stipulation that the county guidelines
common ground. By providing a com-
that were different from CK guidelines
mon set of curricular guidelines for each
also be taught.
Consequently, Cale's
grade level, I became closer to ensuring
curriculum guidelines are a blend of the
an equal educational opportunity--equal
Albemarle County standards and the
access for all our students."
For exam-
Core Knowledge Sequence.
ple, second grade Albemarle County lit-
Gibson echoed Terrell's sentiment, "I
erature requirements include Bread and
have taught for over 20 years, and this is
Jam for Frances, Caps for Sale, and Mike
the first time that I feel my students are
coming to me with similar background
Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, none of
which are CK recommendations. Albe-
knowledge since they have had Core in
I truly
Kindergarten and first grade.
marle County's
physical
science
re-
believe that my students are smarter
quirements for the second grade include
7
9
air pressure, heat, and sound, while the
been given that kind of money," said
CK physical science requirements in-
Terrell, "but frankly,
we have made do."
clude simple tools, metals, and engineer-
During the 1994-1995 school
year, Cale
ing. The only overlapping physical sci-
received $1,500 to send several teachers
It is no wonder
ence concept is light.
to a CK conference. At CK national
con-
that Cale teachers
felt overwhelmed.
ferences, teachers attend different
ses-
The majority of county guidelines that
sions put on by CK teachers from vari-
are not CK requirements, tend to in-
ous states in order to gather instruc-
volve skills and processes related to in-
tional ideas and resources. The intent is
formation literacy (using library
to expose a few teachers to
sys-
resources
tems) and technological literacy (using
and materials so that, they, in turn,
can
computer systems).
provide colleagues with resources,
ma-
terials and ideas.
This year Terrell re-
Motivated by the need to offer their
ceived $4,000, which he used to send six
students coherent and sequential con-
teachers to the Core Knowledge confer-
tent, the teachers at Cale refused to be-
ence in Denver, and to purchase addi-
come discouraged. The teachers formed
tional
instructional
materials.
Cale
curriculum committees--language arts,
teachers have purchased a collection of
science, mathematics, social studies and
lessons created by other CK teachers
music--to design new lesson plans and
from the Foundation, and they
con-
ensure that the new materials and re-
tinually download new lessons and
sources were appropriate for each grade
ideas from the Foundation's home page
This was the only restructuring
level.
on the Internet.
that took place at Cale.
"Everything
other than the curriculum and the cur-
While the Core Knowledge Founda-
riculum committees pretty much stayed
tion provides teachers with resources
consistent," states Terrell. According to
and instructional ideas to help them
Gibson, the majority of Cale teachers
teach the prescribed content, they avoid
saw the task of creating new lesson
telling teachers how to teach the mate-
plans and finding instructional materi-
rial. Hirsch, however, favors traditional
als as challenging, not daunting. "When
methods, including memorization, reci-
you are trying to teach practically two
tation and drill-and-practice.
"Core is
curriculums, you have to be really good
criticized for teaching primarily with
and really efficient, and I believe that I
dittos, worksheets and the like; but walk
have become a better teacher because of
into any classroom here at Cale, and you
I have learned how to find outside
it.
will
see
otherwise,"
Terrell
claims.
information and other resources to
"You will see discussions taking place,
cap-
tivate and engage my students.
In the
cooperative learning going on, and kids
past I just relied on textbooks, work-
working on hands-on projects.
Just re-
sheets, and other materials provided by
cently, I observed a kindergarten class
doing a
the publishers and the county."
science experiment outside,
working with shadow, sundial, etc." A
To pay for teacher training and
walk around the halls and classrooms at
ma-
terials, the Albemarle County School
Cale reveals that the teachers indeed fa-
Board provided
vor using a
the
principal
variety of instructional
with
The Core Knowledge Founda-
$8,000.
techniques
including
games,
discus-
tion suggested that $16,000
was needed
sions, projects and technology. Students
to get a school started. "We have
never
at all grade levels play a variety of aca-
10