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Reflection 4: Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry

2024-11-23 /

On October 22, 2024, Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII) founder and co-principle Jeff Hopkins spoke to our class about PSII, his vision for education, and how it all started.

PSII is an independent/private school located in the heart of Victoria, British Columbia. They use inquiry-based philosophy to deliver content to grades 9-12 students. This involves helping students develop multidisciplinary projects that act as vessels for curricular competencies. Hopkins provided stories of students in grade 9 fulfilling requirements for Physics 11 and 12 because they were interested in determining the velocity of a skier at Mount Washington. They use a checklist system to keep track of the competencies that a student has developed, and teachers suggest alterations to projects to ensure they are meeting the standards set by the BC curriculum.

Why Start PSII?

Hopkins states that administration and teachers know that direct instruction is not the optimal method for teaching students, but the education system does not allow for a dramatic shift in the way we teach. As a superintendent, this bothered Hopkins greatly. He refers to this phenomenon as the “knowing-doing gap,” when knowing what is right does not always mean that we are doing what is right.

There is another problem with implementing inquiry-based learning that goes beyond our current system limitation – it wouldn’t be ethical to change the educational ethos of an entire district without firm backing that it will work. So Hopkins decided to quit his superintendent job and open PSII.

What are the benefits?

Hopkins claims that there are far less behavioural challenges with students because they are excited to come to school and work on their personal projects.1

Other benefits include:

  • Individual needs are catered to.
  • Students are always working within their zone of proximal development.
  • Collaboration is encouraged and emphasized.
  • Students gain autonomy in their learning – what, why, and how they learn is up to them.
  • Learning is done in the context of a project, which leads to deeper and richer understanding.
  • Assessment is holistic and less artificial.
  • Students learn how to think for themselves, and think critically about their projects and analysis.

Below is a flowchart students use to develop their projects.

From the PSII Website

For more information, check out this video on PSII’s vision, goals, and methods via Vimeo:

Thank you,

Jordan

  1. I think it is important to note that this is a private school, so students and student parents are paying to be there, so it is possible that behavioural challenges and student engagement is affected by this. I trust that Hopkins is well-informed and not maliciously providing misleading information for personal gain. I just want to mention this fact. ↩︎

Reflection 3: Trevor Mackenzie & Inquiry Based Learning

2024-10-05 /

On October 1st, 2024, Educational consultant, teacher, and author Trevor Mackenzie spoke to us about “Inquiry Based Learning.” We discussed classroom engagement, how to give feedback to students, and assessment strategies.

According to Trevor, classrooms with curious students experience better academic performance, increased attendance, reduced behavioural disturbances, and stronger peer-to-peer and student-to-teacher relationships.

“Curiosity is like a campfire; people naturally gravitate towards it.”

Trevor Mackenzie, October 1, 2024.

So how do teachers encourage curiosity? First, the teacher must model curiosity themselves. He states “curiosity is like a campfire; people naturally gravitate towards it.” Students need to be given the opportunity for “turn and talk” learning so that they can make assessments of their knowledge with peers, and ask questions that they may not otherwise put their hand up to ask. Utilizing ‘co-constructive’ activities; activities which allow students to figure things out for themselves, is a practical method to foster curiosity. Sitting with students and conversing with them about the topic can also increase attention and encourage the students to think about the topic.

These can be great opportunities to provide feedback to students. It is crucial to provide helpful feedback. Valuable feedback has three qualities: it needs to be kind, specific, and helpful. However, valuable feedback can be overlooked by a student if it is given next to a grade. Trevor recommends having students self-assess and discuss with the instructor about what their mark should be.

A screenshot of Trevor’s inquiry diagram from his website

I enjoyed Trevor’s presentation style and content. He provided the class with practical inquiry-based strategies to add to our teaching repertoire, and gave us realistic expectations for utilizing his ideas in the classroom.

Reflection 2: Students and Cellphones in School

2024-09-28 /

On Tuesday, September 24,

educational consultant Jesse Miller spoke to our EDCI 336 class about “personal mobile technology” in the classroom, corresponding regulations, and personal boundaries as a professional in an education setting.

Miller argues that the current methodology to curbing phone usage in class is not preparing students for reality. He further asserts that by banning cellphones in class, parents and administration are expecting students to grow up in the low-tech reality that previous generations grew up in. The solution to this problem is to educate children to help them understand the things that they are experiencing online, teaching them “enduring values,” and empowering their communication.

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silver-ipad-on-white-book-page-289737/

Other topics, such as internet culture, digital identity/rights, educator responsibilities, sexual harassment, and communication, were enthusiastically discussed.

Jesse Millers website can be viewed here: https://www.mediatedreality.com/

Many students and adults have an unshakable urge to use social media (Watson, 2018)1. As educators, policymakers, and adults, we need to ensure the well-being of the children in our society. A part of this well-being is delivered through students learning the prescribed curriculum. According to a 2022 meta-analysis on social-media addiction conducted by Diego Calderón-Garrido2, there is an inverse relation between phone use and academic performance. 

Banning cellphones in school is likely not the most effective solution to the problem. Calderón-Garrido concluded that the uncontrollable urge to go on social media could be avoided if “there is sufficient emotional education and good development of media literacy.” He also posits that the “authoritarian and disciplinary style are negatively related to the problem of dependency.” So, while banning cellphones may have a positive impact on academic performance, there may be unintended consequences for the overall problematic cellphone use.

Calderón-Garrido and Miller would probably agree on this: Children need to be trained to have sufficient self-regulation and digital literacy skills before cell phones are introduced in the classroom.

Below is a great TEDxtalk on cell phone addiction, and some of the implications on mental health arenot talked about in this article.

A great TEDxTalk about cell phone addiction.
  1. Watson, J. C., Prosek, E. A., & Giordano, A. L. (2021). Distress among adolescents: An exploration of Mattering, social media addiction, and school connectedness. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 40(1), 95–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/07342829211050536 ↩︎
  2. Calderón-Garrido, D., Ramos-Pardo, F. J., & Suárez-Guerrero, C. (2022). The use of mobile phones in classrooms: A systematic review. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 17(06), 194–210. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v17i06.29181
    ↩︎

Reflecting on Educators and FIPPA

2024-09-22 /

In a lecture given by Dr. Michael Paskevicius in the course”Technology and Innovation in Education,” we discussed the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and its implications on the way educators interact on social media1.

We live in a ‘datafied’ world. Why further expose students? Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

Educators must be conscientious about where they record information about their students. Organizing grades on a Google slide might seem harmless, but a simple data leak or hacked Google account can leave the student’s information compromised.

Educators need to be aware of their actions on social media. Adding a pupil as a ‘friend’ can blur the boundary of the relationship between the student and teacher. This also puts both the student and teacher at risk, as an ‘off colour’ post can lead to awkwardness and discomfort for both parties.

Holy smokes! Did you see what Mr. Paskevicius posted online? Photo by Vanessa Loring Via Pexels

Even utilizing social media to engage students can be risky. Imagine a teacher has just set up an assignment where the students will make a TikTok video to demonstrate their learning. For the teacher to view the assignments, they must have some visibility to the students’s personal TikTok accounts. To the student, this could feel like an invasion of privacy. If a student doesn’t already have a TikTok, the teacher (in general) is required to receive permission from the student’s parents along with a notice of purpose. If the student does not want to join the social media, the teacher must provide an alternative to using the social media2.

It is important for educators to take the opportunity to educate students about privacy, datafication, and surveillance.

Dr. Michael Paskevicius, Slides from week two (link)

Personal data is the currency of big-tech companies3. As educators, parents, and knowledge holders, it is our duty to inform others about how our data is being used.

  1. Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (link) ↩︎
  2. Vancouver Island University has a great Privacy Guide (link) for educators using 3rd party web technology. ↩︎
  3. A ZDNet article on what Big Tech is doing with the data it collects (link) ↩︎
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