Student-Centered Education
Where individual choice drives the experience of learning
Student-Centered Education
Where individual choice drives the experience of learning
Student-Centered Education at Catlin Gabel
Progressive education places students at the center of the educational experience, where they are encouraged to pursue their interests and exercise their natural curiosity. In this way, children become active learners, as teachers guide them to discover the pleasures and rewards of education and develop into adults for whom learning is a lifelong pursuit.
Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is a process by which students learn through a cycle of direct experience, reflection, analysis, and experimentation. It encourages deep learning, inspires personal growth, and promotes active citizenship.
- Student-directed, teacher-guided, student-choice
- Students apply knowledge and skills
- Trial and error, and failure as part of the learning process
- Authentic purpose and meaning-making in real world context
- Rubric and demonstration-based assessments
- Opportunities to reflect and make sense of the experience
Teaching the Whole Child
Teaching the whole child means knowing and nurturing individual children and designing learning opportunities that honor and develop their full identities so they can thrive now as children and grow into happy and fulfilled adults.
- Teacher curiosity and interest in students’ whole selves
- Children and families are known and valued
- Safe and trusting relationships are nurtured
- Differentiated and responsive approaches with opportunities for student-directed learning
- Children are represented in the curriculum, in the classroom, and in the adults on campus
- Growth and support of students’ physical, emotional, academic, ethical, and interpersonal skills is cultivated
- Opportunities are provided for children to learn in a variety of settings and modalities
Inquiry Based
Inquiry based education incorporates student questions, fosters curiosity, and fuels the desire to keep learning. It’s based on the belief that asking good questions leads to success and happiness more than having all the answers.
- Creative, multiple perspectives, and original thinking
- Generative (students generate questions and paths to pursue them)
- Iterative process through which students learn
- Reflective (analyze outcomes and process, incorporate into next learning cycle)
Educating for Democracy
Educating for democracy equips students with the mindset and skills to increase their self-awareness and understanding of complex issues, with the goal of taking responsible action in their communities.
- Creative, multiple perspectives, and original thinking
- Generative (students generate questions and paths to pursue them)
- Iterative process through which students learn
- Reflective (analyze outcomes and process, incorporate into next learning cycle)
- Fostering empathy and awareness of others, including those with differing experiences and viewpoints
- Developing a sense of agency and voice
- Building the knowledge and skills necessary to be informed, participatory, and engaged community members
- Engaging in discourse about power and privilege
Spirit of Inquiry
Developing Life Skills Through Science Education
by Marguerite McKean ’04, Upper School Physics Teacher
I think that physics, and science in general, are very good places to learn how to ask questions. Instead of shutting me down and saying, I don’t know how to do that, I can say, How do I solve this problem?
Creativity
Unleashing Creativity by Giving Students a Problem to Solve
by Phil Robinson, Middle School Visual Arts Teacher
This is a safe space; I never tell a kid “no.” If they're trying to create something and they're getting frustrated, we talk about problem solving: How do you solve that problem within the medium?
Critical Thinking
Interdisciplinary Study: The Holocaust Unit
by Holly Walsh, 8th Grade English Teacher, and Zale Clay, Middle School Social Studies Teacher
Humans are interesting creatures. They can be beautiful in one moment and heinous in the next. As students enter their teen years, they become intrigued with this polarity of behavior and wonder where they sit on the morality scale of “good” and “bad.”
Critical Thinking
Helping Students Understand Today’s World by Engaging with the Past
by Peter Shulman, Upper School Social Studies Teacher
It's about creating the hunger to learn more, and to get their footing and find their voice regarding a very dynamic, complex world. I hope all of the students will participate as informed citizens.
Spirit of Inquiry
Rigor in Math Education
by Anna Blakeslee, Lower School Math Specialist
We are challenging students to be problem solvers, be flexible in their thinking, and understand mathematics from different points of view. We want them to see the problem, understand it, and pick the strategy that is most efficient to solve it.