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What Is Progressive Education? | Virginia Chance School

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The foundations of progressive education. Sue Musson, Lisa Howie, and Dr. Betsy Fitch will discuss what progressive is and what it is not and share the progressive education tenets in action across our different classes.

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show you how I'm progressing education at chance is applied across the different classrooms so we're going to get through a little peek inside what children experience every day. I'd like to begin by introducing a I'm the head of school here in Virginia chance will be presenting today she's Elementary program and Lisa how is our director of preschool for any staff member or we can always go on our website and read our bio to see more about our background so I'm going to start with just a real quick overview of progressive ad what it is what it is not and then to at least they're going to do a visual Deep dive into what the 13% of 4 look like a classroom and then I'll wrap up with a reminder of how everybody can be involved the progressive ad what it is and what it is not I won't read all these people just point out a couple of them so pretty education is truly what we learned when we go to school to become teachers it's what we learn as best practice for children it is it's hard to implement it takes a lot of skill it takes a lot of patience to take a real support of this system is sometimes when you don't do that show up and places it's because it's really hard to do and maybe their resources aren't there but at Virginia school grounding so we are all in on that what we do but you will not be a lot of worksheet you will not see a lot of heat work or Thompson very specific textbooks or standardized testing but again I'll let you guys on your own but this is an overview what you will see a difference Progressive at school and what you see at Virginia Chan school is a lot of choice invoice for children you see teachers in different roles not just us turn the front of the room but you really see them coaching facilitating asking a lot of questions to help polar Explorer their curiosity and just become natural Learners and have a real love for learning we did for a lot of responsibility on them because they are very capable and I want to do more so we allowed time and space for them to grow and develop with regards to reading we don't have those textbook that we do have a different text but older and have things that they'll be in materials primary source material things in the classroom that go to the library all sorts of opportunities that's a really brief overview of what Progressive education show me the 10th at 10 a.m. of what it's not before a really beautiful visual deep. I forgot I'm going to turn that over to you and Lisa tenant number one okay everybody I'm sooo I wanted to say just real quickly and yes there are 13 tennis and we're going to look at them individually but I also want you to know that they're very integrated many of our slides different categories we have the first one experiences and lessons and very hyper and the different physical development and fine motor skills help and knowing to academic argument August lies here are representing some of the other areas of the first one is around emotional learning which is the zones of Regulation they're color-coded and starting at very young ages conversations all the way through fifth grade so this is more of a tactile decorating a little pumpkin and apparently decorating for group discussions in the classroom social gathering for Life Learning charity about one another the next slide is representing example of our physical development and on the last night here is tapping into our finest Arts exposure musical notes translate the writing music together and I apologize for the little bit of Reverb that we're going to try and mute back and forth so that helped this next part's and it too is about creative and caring communities and each classroom begins just with a physical space or very intentional and purposeful about providing a space that feels calming and aesthetically pleasing as well as making sure it's really set up for group Gathering both large and small and partner work you'll notice when you're in a classroom and looking at the wall two children have ownership of that face their work adorns the walls not teacher or adult work it's well-organized of children know how to use the face and where things along and they're able to care for that really well pairing for the invite is again intentional we add children to help take care of our space in our materials and even our school of chickens and bunnies those responsibilities help children if I left that I'm in transit view of self as incapable and a contributor to the group and again they see themselves as part of a community are classroom all wants a bill like Unity this community also extends to our families this year has been we have been very intentional and having lots of connection and Community event bringing our families back on campus were so happy to have everyone back around for these events and again to build what feels like very kind and caring Place children even within a classroom well you can see this picture on the couch we have soft areas and every room because we want children to gather together with adult and with each other to share their thinking are ideas and oftentimes a great book finally the slide talk a little bit to how we formalize these caring communities we don't just speak about it but we also try to make the very tan ball and visible reminders that hang in the classroom of the first pictures from a younger classroom of three-year-old and they called there's a kind of contract where they talk about what does it mean to be kind how are we kind to each other there are photographs that are examples and then every child made a thumb print in clay and that hangs as a reminder that we can talk to again showing kindness and being kind to one another or older children move into more of a writ reminder their classroom agreements and promises and contract and again this is children's voice and what does it mean to be a group how do we work together as a community and those are hung up on doorways in classroom cases find a way to read doesn't reflect on the thought of community and caring okay and it number 3 intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation can you hear can you hear me okay sound like my voice change all right what we know is that learning is a personal experience we do not learn for others for ourselves and in a progressive model we are not interested in achieving like a sticker or reward for our best effort but instead creating an environment that is safe that is risk-free and focus on a growth mindset or a knife an attitude which is self-empowering for a child and while they're doing their best work and wanted to do their best work this results and self-confidence and a strong sense of self and builds towards resiliency rather than the need for approval by others do teachers roles have shifted to being facilitators and supportive of children's learning rather than directing it and rewarding it externally this first slide also do this first slide again is working with children to create their own statements of kindness and then the second slide this is actually a check in for classroom to see who's there for attendance purposes do instead of the teacher just everybody's name they are asking questions the tea that the children respond to as they arrive each morning and this one again is a very intrinsic Lee motivated question I feel proud when so that's coming from within and really honoring make Mississippi child when they have a moment of feeling proud but also accomplishing the attendance for the day in such a lovely way here we have a child packing up his backpack either at the end of the day or after lunch again mode no self-help skills from within not a teacher directing what to do next and obviously he's showing that he's very capable and that's the message he's receiving internally which is all about intrinsic motivation and then this little girl who is working really hard to move this big stump and again the teachers are giving some space and time for her to take that on and again messaging I can do hard things I am strong and I am resilient so active Hands-On learning is really but Chance school is all about if you ever step into a classroom you will see this in action. what age group are visiting we know that children learn best when their bodies are engaged as well as their brains and that helps that learning really comes to life so relevant and meaningful examples on this page so measuring with both formal and informal measuring tools and Justin's discovery-based investigation of it's also useful in things like writing and math again will be manipulative, children can work with their hands on their whole bodies when you look closely at these a you're even see again that collaborate kind of work children are checking on each other helping them follow through on directions their problem-solving together the middle picture I love the all around the table there are a lots of native shape and numbers and letters and children are matching up an item that has that same symbol and in the final picture is a strategy that we use for early readers patent number 5 developing critical thinking problem solving and higher order thinking skills and they all are in a rovin together and these flies just speak so beautifully for the Felton the first one you have a child really thinking critically about how to use her body and dexterity and balance and how to maneuver her body from one account to another four and really assessing her risk knowledge there and the second one too it's a different kind of risk assessment with the guidance of a teacher facilitating a young one and how to build a campfire and knowing what is Faith or what is not safe that's developmentally appropriate for that age currently being empowered to participate in the process rather than the adults doing it completely and then the next one this is a group of children creating boot rack so they named a real problem this is such a beautiful example of problem solving in our school clever learning the weed as you know one of our most important school supplies are boots and we were noticing when we parked our boots outside right up that they were getting filled with rainwater and wasp nest and so that was the problem name the problem and then begin focusing on Solutions and they agreed as a group that we need to have our boots turned upside down and therefore we need to create some racks to hang them on and they gather their they made the problem they drill plan they gather their materials and begin construction and again all with the messaging of how capable they are in completely intrinsic ball together one of our intermediate will our intermediate team they did they were learning the Engineering Process and the inquiry method through creating a drop containers with very specific criteria for their Creations were I had to follow all the steps in planning on paper and then again Gathering materials and put in together so this is just one example of an egg drop that was tested and then we fine and then self-assessment is such an important piece of our critical thinking steps and so this is a reflection document that each student completed based on the process of their work not just the product processed obviously it will be a size long the way beautiful example of really reflecting on their hard work through critical thinking and problem solving collaboration and cooperation I think also find and every classroom matter what time of day you're stopping in to see what's happening it happens inside and outside there are lots of very intentional ways that teachers present opportunities for children in the first picture on this children are working in pairs on a project in the middle picture it's during an open Central Time where again materials are set up that work best with more than one child at a time in the final picture is a little more or out on the playground where children come together in a very authentic way to work and support and help each other stacking those laws but again back to some more specific things that we do in the classroom we have lots of jobs that children do just to help maintain the face as they work together in group and screws and a problem solved again just to do the speaking to on the last time at what needs to be done how to do it the best is there a different way to do it he's got the best idea today or how can we take a turn with your idea tomorrow the second picture where they have been in the construction of a fort again was organically brought up by the children and then they work together at the group so much problem solving happens and children work together in team and this type of Collaborative Learning is really a life kill that happen throughout their life and jobs in relationships I really every part of their future life and it's 7 treating each child with dignity and respect such a Cornerstone of who we are as a school it is an expected behavior that all children and adults treat one another with dignity and respect and to help make that happen there is lots of conversation in the classroom but also as a faculty and staff with guidance and orientation and training so that no matter where a child is in the building they are having the same positive and respectful experience but their interactions with both adults and children it's one of the reasons we also have to teachers in a classroom to really be attentive to the needs of each individual and a Common Language through the training that we offer this diagram on the left is from Castle and it is a beautiful structure that we incorporate when we're working with children on the different areas that support social-emotional development around dignity and respect where are the orange pie pieces Focus first on self-awareness and self-management how do you see your how strong is your sense of self and how well can you regulate your emotions or your body and those who practice those skills that's part of our learning in order to move into healthy social interactions and relationships and also been becoming responsible decision makers and being to adapt to being able to adapt to different situations school and then of course there's travels from the classroom into our broader School environment and into our families at home and I can a larger community so it's how you present yourself because he's really are life skills that carry forward we have a lot of of huge variety of literature in our classroom every day to help support these kinds of discussions awareness and then we have some extension activities you'll stay in the second slide that follows a reading from these beautiful book examples speaking more specifically to the language using how we approach children and one another around dignity and respect these are some of the steps that we train others and use on a daily basis so tone and volume and the word choices that we have a pretty specific threat her school and is our goal at the adult when a child is struggling to be the calm that needs to storm rather than joining in the storm and modeling has to regulate and to breathe and those lovely strategy I'm parked on children when were speaking with children that's having a struggle moment we dropped to their eye level so that we are being respectful in our conversation rather than talking over them and I'm also not calling across the room and interrupting the work of others but also drawing attention to someone who might be having a sensitive moment so physical proximity is very important to us we do a lot of acting in our school rather than telling that is a big difference station point in a progressive model we don't see ourselves as directors and having all of the information we instead facilitate and check out animation to better understand what's happening and so we are asking constantly how can I help you what do you need tell me more I see you have tears what are your tears about and giving them a chance to I have a voice of how we can be supportive for younger children that might mean limited choices for surround safety especially can't just is unsafe but here's what you can do and then for older children who are learning social skills with one another it's pretty simple sometimes we just asked what you said is that helpful or hurtful and how could you make a repair if it was a her full statement or remark but the overall outcome again speaking to life skills were trying to create future adults not just fix a quick moment in the classroom is creating some lovely Independence and self responsibility and of course Rebellion giving children a voice this is something that very important to us this is not just locally but I always find it interesting when I'm walking a guest if you are building and stopping in Washington state what do you notice and what I think they often notices the teacher's voice is not always to voice their hearing that children's voices are heard and that we are not trying to diminish that or take that away instead we really value that is honor that we give children to voice add to share their thinking to bring their thinking to life but that also shows up in other ways these pictures show a voting for a new class of dramatic play area are with the children get to help pick and choose of what they there will be what would be included in that how those things to be used on another picture that shows a friend sharing a book that's all about personal favorites and every child has that opportunity to speak in front of the group and take the turn really being the leader of that group of the first picture is actually an invitation a classroom gave to another class that wanted to visit the room where they went outside and the children develop their ideas of how best to reduce the classroom to them and to share with them and giving them a voice might mean truly a verbal opportunity or it might mean an opportunity to share their thinking about the ways I might come up as something like a class meeting class meetings are held in her Elementary classroom and this is the time where children can share a question or concern with their group it's been a very organized way where they're able to stay but they need they haven't listened to feedback or give us suggestions and have that suggested tried out by the group and then come back and do it again but this feels very formal and very important to a child again to have their voice shared with they also are earlier with the agreements and Promises children when we allowed to share their voices then they stop feeling capable and valuable they know that they have significance in the classroom amateur but help us to grow into really community-minded adult headed 10 providing compassion social justice and an anti-racist learning do this first by they said again speak for themselves beautifully obvious for slide is of project that was on completed by our fifth graders and these are faces of children that have been displaced or impacted by the war in Ukraine and through the memory project they have received photos of some of these children and have sketched them with the support of our teacher Laura Patterson and have written words of Hope underneath and then they will be sent to these individual children's to help them understand that they matter and that they are not such a lovely representation of compassion and then the other photo next to it is when our classrooms get out in the community and have visited some local Gardens and learned about the same bility and how to be good stewards and then have brought that knowledge back to the classroom these three spies are just lovely examples of compassion that really require no words from me but just to take notice of those this slide is a set of cultural celebration that took place in one of our Spanish classes with those are words of affirmation and then of course each day was able to stand with the wings of affirmation surrounding them and have a special photo taken to honor that true that Hispanic Cultural experience and then the other slide is through a conversation in the classroom different shapes that they were noticing up their skin and then painted the wooden play people to match the different skin tone so that when they're playing with them they have the messages saying I think myself which is a very valid and important I'm who you are and your strong sense of self do integrated curriculum that's really different here than what you might see at more of a Traditional School separating each area Creek elem into its own pee to take an emerging theme of interest within a classroom at the bat that begins in our preschool in our youngest these examples were from a dinosaur themed study that a pretty much a cure for at some point your four-year-old year dinosaurs don't have to work on dinosaurs but the children did everything from looking from a scientific standpoint of Bones and skeleton to separating and categorizing dinosaurs are are creatures a lining them up to count and measure Gene at them a technology to get a little more research and then using clay and art materials to reproduce the fossil for older students to a study on and the planet Incorporated everything from them research again at using technology doing some writing samples based on what they've learned literacy literacy and then crazy models to represent their morning but we do believe that again it's most meaningful when children are using their hands when they're working with the team or group everything to flow together to support and building scaffolds at learning that becomes deep and meaningful it rich at at 12 up and take assessment assessment is very important to us it guides our next step planning and instruction and again by having two teachers in a classroom were so able to individualize and differentiate learning among our we focus on two types of assessment a formative which is they're looking at their daily work and summative assessment which would be like your progress reports that are coming up they are in narrative form that tell a story Crossing development . and again sort of assimilation of the progress and growth has taken place from the start of school until December but for authentic us for the daily formative assessment which is so critically important. Construction in our next step lesson these are examples of you know where it doesn't resemble like taking a test that maybe you did in your own School experience or whooping some worksheets that you turn in for a grade but we're using probation tools and Anna little note taking and sending student work and to look for that progress and to help us guide for Next Step teaching and these flies are just examples of some examples. more formalized that you would be like in a traditional setting the first slide is a teacher of facilitating with a child one-on-one to see check on her knowledge of shapes and where she's categorizing them of what belongs in which category oh that is a quick check-in from a math lesson where they are learning their number on names as well as formation and they're just doing some quick whiteboard check-ins we're there and again I'm very sorry of informal assessment for the teacher probably just for listening it's just saying show me the number 5 and then they're going to hold them up and the teachers going to take note of how they're doing are there any reversal or some who needs some extra practice in that area the picture next to that is from a I think a four year old classroom where they've been studying pets and making decisions and categorizing what they know about pets of all the kinds of pets they have or wish they had what they can do and what they need to end taking care of and the representation that the children have put on this board gives wonderful insight to teachers on their ability for fine motor skill representation have they added labels are they adding any print sentences that where are they in their development of writing and showing representation with their work and our last tenant our favorite scent is that outdoor play and environmental learning as you're aware here at chance school we are so fortunate to have the campus available to us with so many different types of terrain the different types of setting settings to change from season to season that our families and children and our faculty and staff are engaged and being outdoors everyday all throughout the year and taking adopted learning from the environment but in our learning outside to the environment that's everything from checking in and voting on stewardship project at for classroom to really FreePlay when you're Outdoors really just engaging in protest Chelan gross motor work to making decisions and then investigated learning where we are searching for things we're collecting things that were bringing specimens back to the play also looks like a working out in the greenhouse classroom go out sometime just to engage in the space and what other classrooms are doing there new purpose our lower lot has lots of or working in our garden area or working in the garden house going beyond that to the field and the pond again there's just so much to see and do more competent in the spaces and offer opportunities for lots of gross motor but also and fine motor work on some creative work different invitations are sent out there everyday add children use those places for lunch or snack sometimes just for a gathering time we'll take a bath while we're out to learn about the outdoors and in the outdoors sometimes we're just taking our as well this all helps children really develop that sense of place that's where they are and help them develop a true love for the outdoors and especially the campus here they are ready and excited to be cared that space and they are braver every day with their rent and learning and we just cannot get outside and thank you for sending your prep to be out there in the weather finally at our older children really do the Lion's Share of the stewardship work everything from planning with Rachel and mr. Stevens on what needs to be done how we can take good care of what we've been given here and then really using all those areas again for research work for folding that into the other emerging are happening in classrooms and year studies as we connect even with other partners in communities outside the fridge in your chance cool as children age and are able to do that at a very end development away great thank you Sue and Lisa for that really beautiful presentation I hope that you enjoyed it and learn to lots and I just wanted to go back in there with you forgot to tell you and then we told you and then not hear the reminder of what Progressive that is and what it's not and all the beautiful example from the classroom that Lisa and Sue but that can't happen just in the car turn we have to have really a system around I'm supporting the work so as an administrative team we really tried to model all the tenants that we see with the children in terms of giving the adult 14 for being outside we really allocate the use of our budget and our tuition Revenue sister for having two teachers in the classroom as having the manipulative and having beautiful spaces outdoor for children to learn our pest professional development is also I really support training in this area so that teachers always really stay current with their pedagogical skills and their content knowledge so that time is well spent and then a Common Language it's really so Chris is safe environment for children when they know from classroom to classroom an adult to adult that they're going to hear the same language they don't have to be sooner in Nashville researchers and support system is in place in common they don't quite feel the do that and so when I suspended at home it's even more powerful but invite you to attend some of the sessions with Bridget or was doing Lisa around positive discipline and developing capable young people so that you can hear me about our language and use that in the home there is a beautiful webinar on our website with from his friend where she talks about common language so if you'd like to check that out it will also allow you to expand and then we love our little lesson to learn sessions I hope it's really convenient for people to attend Nathan attend them in a virtual format so with several the schedule for fall and winter in the last more than spring so please continue to come if you can't come it will be on the website or websites informative is always being updated Olivia does a wonderful job keeping that nice and fresh and any of the pictures that you saw today come from our Weekly Newsletter so we just encourage you to really spend time reading the newsletters they're wonderful form of what professional development not only do they share out what we've done they really hope you have a better sense of how Progressive education is being applied with in that classroom for that specific age of child so they spend a little time with. And we just nothing free Reeds if you how to check those out and then next week at least since you talked about would really like to ask a lot of questions and be really curious so she come to the conferences next week with your teachers come as Learners then have questions ready and I know that we share to share with you they're incredible experts again in terms of pedagogy and content and they're happy to collaborate with you and we're here for you we are here for you when you have questions cuz we know it is a unique way 2D registration but we were I believe it's the best way and so anytime you feel like you have a curiosity that we are so appreciate you being here today your time it's really important it's only 12:08 so we have a few minutes left if you have a question predict the pop on and ask you or if you're more comfortable you can put it in the chat and Olivia will share with that share with it I'm going to stop so that we can see everybody

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What Is Progressive Education? | Virginia Chance School

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