Innovation and Meaning in Interdisciplinary Learning at Harpeth Hall

Each Harpeth Hall Center is a mission-driven area of concentration established to address priorities in girls’ education with agility and creativity. Transcending the scope of a single discipline, these centers engage students and faculty in research, innovation, and collaboration as they seek solutions to the challenges facing our world.

Since

the days of John Dewey’s educational philosophy, schools and teachers have

examined the best ways to integrate learning across disciplines. We inherently know that life is not sectioned into silos of subject areas. Yet undoing centuries of discrete disciplines can be a challenge. From the open classroom movement of the 1960s, to the backlash growth of more standardized testing in the 1970s, to a push for higher-order thinking skills in the 1980s, we keep trying to get it right.

In 2020, Harpeth Hall girls are hungry to begin solving real-world problems. Here they learn the analytical skills to dive into almost any 21st century issue or challenge and study it from all sides. Equally important, our students master the written and oral communication skills necessary to express their thesis clearly, while basing it on research and fact. Whether they are designing a better bridge or deliberating on American foreign policy, they have what it takes to contemplate the issues at hand and develop a deeper understanding.

By pushing our students to think critically about modern themes and topics across a wide range of disciplines, they can begin to apply the knowledge they have. It allows them to move beyond the classroom assessment or transcript grade to a fuller capacity for learning. Our students are highly motivated, and our teachers are newly engaged with the collaboration they experience across disciplines.

Today, we are broadening our concept of a Center at Harpeth Hall. By defining what this framework means to us, we are embarking on a more flexible approach to the inevitable educational changes that are coming our way. Within a shifting educational environment, we strongly believe that one thing holds firm — when students recognize a purpose to their study, they develop a love and respect for learning that will carry them throughout adulthood.

We established The Center for STEM Education for Girls in 2011. Now, we are pleased to announce our second center, the Center for Civic Engagement.

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CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

THE IMPORTANCE OF

CIVIC

ENGAGEMENT

Open and informed dialogue is a critical component of the civic engagement initiative at Harpeth Hall.

BY BONNIE MOSES • UPPER SCHOOL SOCIAL SCIENCE TEACHER

Each

Spring, the annual voter registration drive at Harpeth Hall is a day of excitement and anticipation for Upper School students. During the 2019 drive, 102 enthusiastic new voters were registered on campus. Visitors to the third floor of the Wallace Wing will see an entire wall devoted to “I registered” and “I voted” photos that bear witness to the passion Harpeth Hall students have for civic engagement.

To build on this enthusiasm and provide greater civic leadership opportunities for our students, the Faculty Committee on Civic Engagement (CCE) was created in the spring of 2019. In addition to encouraging active citizenship, the CCE initiative emphasizes the importance of information literacy, civic dialogue, and civic education.

Recognizing that this effort transcends individual disciplines and requires the commitment of the entire Harpeth Hall community, the idea for the Harpeth Hall Center for Civic Engagement was born.

Much of the foundational work related to the Center began with the work of the Civic Engagement Committee this past summer. In July, Upper School teachers Joe Croker, Tony Springman, and Bonnie Moses continued on page 32

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CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

We need more women at the leadership table, and Harpeth Hall ensures our graduates are ready to take a seat. HEAD OF SCHOOL, JESS HILL attended the “Sphere Summit: Teaching Civic Culture Together,” a conference for educators sponsored by the CATO Institute in Washington, D.C. Joe Croker describes CATO’s visionary work which “brings together conservatives, progressives, and classical liberals who, despite their many philosophical differences, share a fundamental faith in democracy, respectful dialogue, and the rule of law.” To provide a glimpse into the Sphere Summit experience, Peter N. Goettler, president and CEO of the CATO Institute, was the featured speaker for the Upper School faculty in-service day in October.

Open and informed dialogue is a critical component of the civic engagement initiative at Harpeth Hall. To support this objective, 32

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the history and English departments implemented an enhanced and specific difficult dialogues protocol in the classroom.

These guidelines have since been shared with the entire Upper School faculty and student body. In addition to this work, a team-taught English course, “Writing, Rhetoric, and Civic Engagement,” was introduced at the junior level. In this course, teachers Joe Croker and Dr. Ben Fulwider model respectful deliberation as well as healthy disagreement for their students. Beginning in the fall of 2020, the history department will offer a new semester elective, “Democracy and Leadership,” which provides an opportunity for students to learn about the role of citizenship, the importance of civic engagement, and the foundations and

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

The Center for Civic Engagement empowers young women to become active and informed citizens, and to appreciate — through action and reflection — what is required for civil societies to thrive.

mechanisms of government at the local, state, and national levels. With an emphasis on experiential learning, students will engage with the Nashville community and discover how citizens can partner with public and private institutions to enact change.

Head of School Jess Hill and Upper School Director Armistead Lemon have worked tirelessly to support the civic engagement initiative and to create a Center that will bring all members of the Harpeth Hall community together as partners in this work. Harpeth Hall is excited to announce the creation of The Center for Civic Engagement which will empower young women to become active and informed citizens and to appreciate — through action and reflection — what is required for civil societies to thrive.

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