Reframing the purpose of school - Center for Inspired Teaching

February 17, 2016

(Photo credit: Sammy Magnuson/Center for Inspired Teaching)

This piece by Aleta Margolis, Inspired Teaching’s Executive Director, appeared in Inspired Teaching’s February newsletter.

What kind of school experience do all children need?

At Inspired Teaching, we believe every child should have a school experience that builds his or her Intellect, Inquiry, Imagination, and Integrity^®. These 4 I’s are inherent qualities that must be fostered with care. The Inspired Teacher who focuses on the 4 I’s does not fill students with information, but challenges students to wonder, experiment, and learn.

The 4 I’s are deeply intertwined, and they mutually reinforce one another. You can see how they work together in the classrooms of Inspired Teachers across the city. A Real World History student practices the skills of a historian by interviewing a senior Washingtonian who participated in the Great Migration, learning how to research, ask thoughtful questions, connect meaningfully with someone unfamiliar, and tell her subject’s story with authenticity and respect. Students in the high school physics classroom of a SCALE Teacher Leader engage in the process of scientific discovery as they learn about energy and how it impacts our world. Intellect, Inquiry, Imagination, and Integrity activate as the students purposefully play and seek to understand the mechanisms in toy cars, miniature solar-powered weathervanes, hot packs, and more.

These powerful learning experiences lead to success by conventional measures, to be sure. In school year 2014-15, the majority of the partner schools for the Inspired Teacher Certification Program were among the top performers on the PARCC standardized assessment, scoring significantly above the averages in both the DC public schools and public charter schools. Learning in this way also enables children to grow as intelligent, creative, responsible, and caring contributors to our world.

Last week, I hosted an event at the Inspired Teaching Demonstration School, bringing together about one hundred women working in education in the greater DC area. The Deputy Mayor for Education, Jennifer Niles, gave the keynote address. She challenged us to confront the entrenched historical biases that create divergent educational experiences for different groups of children, according to their backgrounds. Not every school, she and panelists noted, is like the Inspired Teaching Demonstration School; not every school respects and builds the Intellect, Inquiry, Imagination, and Integrity of all students.

Most students do not have access to the kind of school experience they need in order to thrive – and we must change that. Panelists described many of the ways in which they are confronting the challenge. Inspired Teaching’s strategy is to work with teachers. Recently, we engaged a subgroup of teachers who work with the Inspired Teacher Certification Program in an exercise to measure their exponential impact on the lives of children. So far, through classrooms they have led and classrooms of Inspired Teaching Fellows they have trained, this small group has reached 1,080 students. In five years, they will reach 12,000. In ten years, 36,717. That’s a lot of students, and it represents only one small piece of one of the many programs we run and have run over 20 years. And we still have much more work to do.

Join the movement to transform the school experience for all students. Reframe the discussion about the purpose of school. Advocate for an education that builds the 4 I’s in every student. If you’re a teacher or you think you might want to be one, work on your skills as an educational changemaker with us. The Inspired Teacher Certification Program is accepting applications from aspiring teachers until March 15; the Inspired Teaching Demonstration School is hiring lead and master teachers; and our professional development programs for inservice teachers, BLISS and SCALE, will be offered in DC public charter schools starting this summer. We’re always appreciative of all those who support our work in many ways and spread the word about Inspired Teaching.

Micaiah Anderson

Community Outreach Specialist

As a Community Outreach Specialist, Micaiah is responsible for program promotion and outreach support for Inspired Teaching events and workshops. Micaiah has a passion for collaborating with community members to build-power and connect. She is an educator with a heart for youth and has experience supporting students fight injustices within their schools and communities. She has a BA in Political Science from, the real HU, Hampton University & anticipates graduating in May 2024 with a Masters of Arts degree in Educational Policy Transformation from Georgetown University.

AUTONOMY

"I want to have a say in what happens to me."

Autonomy is the need for independence; the ability to make choices, to create, to explore, and to express oneself freely; to have sufficient space, to move around, and to feel unrestricted with opportunities to exercise free will.

Brady Maiden

Outreach Coordinator

As the Outreach Coordinator, Brady helps maintain Inspired Teaching’s social media presence and supports the organization’s mission to connect with DC community leaders, educators, and parents. Brady has her Master’s in Public Policy from George Mason University and her BS in Political Science from Northern Arizona University. She is passionate about community, equity, and coalition building recognizing that learning and growing with the community at large is how we continue to be impactful.

What brings you joy in life?

I find joy in spending time with my friends and family and meeting new people. I like going to concerts and festivals, and finding new books to read.

The Learner’s Cycle, Wonder-Experiment-Learn, and the Teacher’s Cycle, Observe-Plan-Instigate, comprise Inspired Teaching’s approach to engaging students in inquiry-based learning.

When they are engaged in the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, students are immersed in learning. They take the lead in designing authentic learning experiences around their own interests and their school’s standards of learning. Each discovery leads to a new question which in turn leads to more wondering and more learning. In the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, Learn is not a destination or an endpoint; it is a deeper understanding, leading to a deeper wondering and new possibilities that create new entry points to further exploration. The cycle continues because what students have learned generates more wonderings that require more experiments that foster more learning – and on and on.

The Observe-Plan-Instigate Cycle is the work of an Inspired Teacher. While a student is expected to follow the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, the teacher joins them on the learning journey while following their own cycle of Observe-Plan-Instigate. This cycle ultimately serves to ensure an inquiry-based atmosphere is at play in the classroom.

Jaqueta Abbey

Teaching and Learning Specialist

Jaqueta is the Teaching and Learning Specialist for Inspired Teaching. In addition to her current role with Inspired Teaching, Jaqueta is a first-grade teaching assistant. Her background features a variety of traditional and non-traditional experiences in the field of education, including working as an adjunct professor, teaching summer reading programs to children and adults, and tutoring children in the foster care system. Jaqueta earned a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.A. in Interactive Media from Elon University.

What brings you joy in life?

Creative self-expression! In addition to my passion for storytelling, I love dancing of all kinds. I've studied belly dance, bachata, and Brazilian Zouk among other styles. I also enjoy glass fusing, crocheting, photography, and cross stitching. These art forms allow me to express myself and build connections with other people at the same time. I think life would be a lot less vibrant without artists and storytellers!

Michelle Welk

Communication & Marketing Specialist

As Communications and Marketing Specialist, Michelle is responsible for finding and creating new ways to highlight Inspired Teaching and promote its programs in order to expand and deepen the organization's impact. Michelle has worked in communications in an array of settings, from creative agencies to state politics to national nonprofits. She has a BA in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia and is passionate about education, access, and equity.

What brings you joy in life?

My son, the beach, making a persuasive argument and good food!

Max Peterson

Real World History Assistant Teacher

Max received his Bachelor’s degree in History and African American Studies from Boston University in May 2016. He has worked in museum curation at the Museum of the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Max has worked with young people of varying ages from young children to young adults transitioning to college.

Feedback and Accountability

We grow through feedback and an understanding that the quality of our work is a reflection of what we are learning, but the shift to remote learning this spring disrupted a lot of the tools teachers were used to using to evaluate student growth. How might we do things differently this fall? Participants in this workshop will explore ways to bring meaningful assessment into the virtual and/or socially-distanced classroom and approaches to student feedback that strengthen motivation, and build relationships and achievement.