RE-ENVISIONING EDUCATION A Discussion on Competency-Based Learning
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cademic Dean, KaTrina Wentzel, leads MA’s academic administration with an eye toward innovation, educational research, and best practices in curriculum design. KaTrina has an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Minnesota. Before coming to MA, she was the Director of Studies at Mounds Park Academy (MPA) in Saint Paul, MN. Before her 14-year tenure at MPA, KaTrina was a teacher and curriculum coordinator for St. Paul Public Schools. As a Midwest native, KaTrina enjoys reading outside during all seasons, no longer needing an ice scraper, and discovering the trails that abound in Marin. What inspired you to lead MA to this new approach in teaching and learning? Marin Academy was founded on a belief in and commitment to progressive education. Since its inception, MA has designed its academic and co-curricular program to focus on experiential learning, problem-solving, and cooperative learning, while honing in on the development of social-emotional skills, critical thinking, and an ethical obligation to act for a common good. Competency-based teaching and learning is the modern-day practice 16
MARIN ACADEMY
proving to be more important than ever before.
of those beliefs. That is, this work has allowed us to focus on what already was at the core of a Marin Academy experience and make it relevant to teenagers existing in the 20-teens and 2020s. The World Economic Forum named complex problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity as the top 3 skills needed in 2020. New on their top ten list last year was emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility. The National Association of Colleges and Employers released that the most in-demand talents from employers are communication skills, problemsolving skills, and being able to work on a team. So-called “soft skills” are
While we’re receiving clear messages about what skills will be needed for our students to fulfill their future career goals, we’re also gaining more insight into both learning and teenagers. Thanks to Carol Dweck, we know the value of a growth mindset (the belief that talents can be developed) over a fixed one (the belief that talents are innate gifts). Alongside this, we’ve learned that perseverance and resilience — sticking with things through challenge, delayed success, and even failure — improve long-term success and happiness. We’ve learned that the long-held idea of “learning styles” is likely untrue and that the role of active participation and choice in the learning process — as well as reflection and metacognition — are even more important than we once thought in creating deep learning. It’s actually a paradigm shift to think of schools not as places that provide instruction but rather produce learning, but that’s exactly what we believe is needed — and what we’re doing. This was the culmination of 3 years of work. Tell us a little about how you built this model?
