The visit to PSII school today open my mind to new learning possibilities and teaching opportunities but also gave me some new questions.  I am really fond of the idea of students having the chance to work on an develop knowledge in areas that they enjoy, are interested in, or wish to know more about. I feel that this gives them independance in their learning and may further allow them to a positive sense of mastery or competence in what they are working on.

I admired the space that the school had and the many opportunities and options it provided for the students. It gave different modes of spaces for each type of learner including a quiet space for learners that beleive that they don’t work well with noise and a large collaborative space with large wondpws that allowed students to chat, work together, and work on individual projects in a group setting. The school also provided multiple smaller rooms for small groups to work in together, alone, or in sessions which allowed for students to opt for a more individualized space for their learning if need be. The school also included a sort of multi- purpose space that provided a space for students to work on art projects, textiles, home economics, and wood/metalworks and promoted hands-on art projects and creative exploritory experimentation. I appreciate that the school really provided for their diverse learners and gave them the various spaces they need to succeed as individuals.

The school also allows students to develop their knowledge and understanding of different subjects through inquiry-based projects. They also allowed students to choose their own inquiries, generally create their own lesson plan, and work toward their own goals in their own way (with support and helpful guidance from a teacher). Students are able to choose how they complete different aspects of their inquiry including whether they work on it individually, collaboratively, or through a class-like session provided by a teacher. I appreciate that this opportunity for open choices and learning exists for these students so they my choose how they will best succeed. However, this exists at the high school level. I believe that this may be tricky to implement within an elementary school setting with students choosing when they work on specific tasks and with whom and how they do so. I think that younger students should still have the experience of working within a structure that allows constant access to teachers and encouraged collaborative group and classwork. Assignments and lessons should also still have some sort of structure to steer students in the right direction and understand how learning and understanding can be achieved so that later on they will be able to take on this individualized inquiry approach. Saying this, I do believe that elementary students should have the opportunity to exercise their autonomy and engage in inquiry-based projects, just in a slightly more structure way.

The school also uses an abundance of technology to help students keep track and up to date on their inquiries and learning. I think that this is helpful to many students to promote technological literacy and provide them with multiple modes of tools for their future endeavours. However, what happens when a student within this school learns to use the technology and platforms needed for the school and later on decides that these tools do to fit their personal learning style and they would rather use writing utencils and keep their work in hard copies? Could the school adapt to this?  Further, if a student comes to this school to gain a new learning structure, but dislikes a project approach, could they still engage in their inquiries using a different format?

I also like the fact that this school takes some of the tools used and saved mostly for children with exceptionalities and makes them available to all students. This would include the various learning spaces, the sensory room, the personalized learning plans, and the choice of how they would like to learn. This school allows all students to be equal and makes room to benefit all children in every way they can.

I really enjoyed this visit and I feel that I got my head turned to a new way of teaching and approaching student learning.

Photo #1: Photo by Hannah Rodrigo on Unsplash

Photo #2: Photo by AbsolutVision on Unsplash

Photo #3: Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash