This week we had a guest speaker, Jeff Hopkins, who spoke to us about his school, Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry. The school focuses on more inquiry based learning and personal interests rather than the traditional way students are taught in public schools. It is different approach to learning that personalizes the curriculum to each student’s needs.
I think PSII’s pedagogy is a great way to promote student engagement and self-led learning. I like how the layout of the school isn’t set up traditionally with having classrooms for each subject. It feels more like a collaborative space where students are able to make deeper relationships with each other and learn from each other as well. I also think merging various subjects together is a good idea because students are able to see how the different subjects are interconnected. This is a good skill to have because in the “real world,” you need to know how things are linked and how they work with one another.
It’s important that PSII shows students the steps on doing an inquiry project because the transition may be hard for students who are coming from a mainstream high school. The video below outlines the process of doing an inquiry project at PSII.
Another thing that I thought was interesting about PSII is that their assessment is based on competencies. I think this is great because the competencies include things like collaboration and leadership, cultural awareness, and critical thinking, which will help students expand their worldview perspective and build on their skills.
