PEN by Progressive Education Network

WINTER 2017

P E N

THE JOURNAL OF THE PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION NETWORK

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IN THIS ISSUE FROM THE PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION NETWORK

IN THIS ISSUE

PARTNER NEWS: THE SCHOOL IN ROSE VALLEY

WHAT IS PROGRESSIVE: LAUREN POROSOFF, Ethical Culture Fieldston School

SUPPORT PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION PEN NEEDS YOUR HELP

PARTNER NEWS: HIGH MEADOWS SCHOOL

NIPEN 5.0 NEWS: COHORT SCHOOLS OF TEACHERS INCLUDED

LOOKING BACK / LOOKING FORWARD: ALISA ALGAVA & GEORGE S. COUNTS

2019 CONFERENCE: TWIN CITIES!

BECOME A PARTNER: INFORMATION ON BECOMING PART OF THE NETWORK

REGIONAL GROUPS: CONTINUE THE DIALOGUE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Partner News: The School In Rose Valley Digging our Past: Exploring the Roots of Progressive Education at The School in Rose Valley Guest Contributor: Frank J. Mosca, Ph.D. On a crisp and sunny November morning, I joined the first team of nine students at the original location of The School in Rose Valley (SRV), where it was founded in 1929. There we met Stephen Israel (SRV class of 1953), a retired archaeologist. Stephen had spent many days researching the early history of the community, school, and the site, in preparation for the “Digging our Past” project. He had already identified the locations of four site test pits, and had arranged squares of tarp under sifters. Shovels, trowels, and a variety of other tools of the trade were ready and available. Upon our arrival, property owners Robert and Paula Healy displayed some early photos of the building and described to the students how the original 1920’s era “club house” became the first iteration of their school. Stephen explained how our work was to proceed. Then, our third and fourth grade students began to dig and sift, engaged in authentic community archaeology.

In the early 1900’s, discontent grew among a community of artisans in an area just outside of Media, Pennsylvania, and “was hastened by the rapid development of factories where the workers felt no relation to the whole product” (Rotzel, 1971, p. 3). With some local funding, and a loan from nearby Swarthmore College, they purchased eighty acres of farmland where “they hoped to offer craftsmen…the sort of work which would not only produce beautiful objects, but which would also develop the worker” (Rotzel, 1971, p.4). Soon after, they felt the need for a school that upheld similar ideals: to “develop all of the native capacities of each child, instead of just teaching him how to read, write, and gather facts” (Rotzel, 1971, p. 45). Grace Rotzel, the school’s first principal, would remain for 36 years, helping to define an institution that has persisted since. In 1947, Stephen Israel entered SRV as a second grade student. Grace Rotzel was now an experienced head of school, and one of his teachers. Stephen fondly recollected his time as a student, stating that the “unpressured, participatory education approach, anchored around kindness, fairness, and sense of belonging, instilled the love of learning in me.” A long and impressive career resulted in recognition for his lifetime achievements in archaeology. Today, even in retirement, Stephen persists as an enthusiastic archeologist, now with a passion to share his work with children. In 2014, he reconnected with SRV and proposed the Digging Our Past project. Early on, we agreed to base the project in the third and fourth grade, Middle Circle (MC), classrooms. O’Brien Wolff, one of the two MC teachers, took the lead. Apropos of progressive education, over the next several months, the students of the MC had to become archeologists. The overarching question of their unit of study was: Why is our past so important, and how do we learn about that past? Students explored the concept of culture, and the artifacts that provide evidence for understanding cultural stories. They worked together to explore Native American cultures by comparing our needs today with the needs of the Algonkian Indians. They discovered that when we cannot talk to people, or observe them directly, we have to make educated guesses about their lives based on clues they left behind. Using pictures and historical documents, students worked through various statements to determine if they were making observations or inferences. They later engaged in activities that asked them to imagine how they might test their inferences.

Archaeologists share their work, so that discrete discoveries can be woven together to create an historical understanding. To illustrate, students were provided with “puzzle pieces” of artifacts that could later be combined. They came up with theories about these “artifacts.” Then, they had to work to put the pieces together. Once the final “picture” was formed, they discussed how their theories had been altered and influenced by both the artifacts and their developing hypotheses. In yet another exercise, students worked their way around various “rooms” set up on tables. “Artifacts” were left behind, providing clues. Their task was to discuss the artifacts and infer the function of each room based on these clues. However, as each group traveled to the next table, an artifact was removed. This surreptitious removal of clues raised issues of archaeological looting, and how the practice influences our ability to understand history accurately. O’Brien followed this with an activity called “It's in the Garbage”. Students had to analyze the school’s refuse by sorting and classifying items. Attempts were made to organize these “artifacts” in chronological order. Charts were created to document findings. Students presented a summary of findings and made inferences about the people who discarded the trash.

For archaeologists, the site and the soil tells a significant piece of the story. Stratigraphy, the area of geology that investigates layering, was introduced, making further connection to the science curriculum. The children were shown how the context of the archaeological site provides further information. Students applied this new learning by engaging in a mock dig, using the school’s sandbox. They created measured grids, sifted sand, and practiced documenting artifacts. One can recognize how much time O’Brien and the MC students devoted to becoming archaeologists, and weaving those experiences throughout the curriculum. Progressive education necessitates careful planning and vision; deep thinking about content and curriculum, and nuanced focus on how children learn. On any given day, much of the work bears little resemblance to the classrooms most of us experienced as children, let alone the classrooms most children now experience. There is very little “telling”, and a major emphasis on children “doing”. When opportunities like community archaeology, and its constellation of associated learnings, play out, children engage because of real curiosity, and a desire to solve authentic problems. We leverage self-regulation, as opposed to the ownership of discrete pieces of information. We now know that self-regulation is reliably related to learning and problem solving, and is likely even more significant for school success than IQ (Duckworth & Seligman, 2005). This focus, of course, has been a longstanding foundational element of progressive education. On that sunny November morning, the actual dig went off without a hitch. Students understood the relevance of their preparation, and began to gain a sense of the history of their school. They recovered several small 20th century historical artifacts, and we learned quite bit about the site of the original SRV. As is often the case in archeology, we realized that we might want to explore several different locations. A year later, we followed up with a second dig at the site. A third dig is currently in the planning stages.

Rod Stanton is the current head of school at SRV. For more info, visit www.theschoolinrosevalley.org

Frank J. Mosca, Ph.D. is an associate professor of Education at La Salle University in Philadelphia. He has had a long standing relationship with The School in Rose Valley, including being the parent of an alumna, and serving as interim head of school during the 2014-2015 school year.

References : Duckworth, A.L., & Seligman, M (2005) Psychological Science. (16)12, p. 939-944. Rotzel, G. (1971). The School in Rose Valley: A parent venture in education. John’s Hopkins Press.

What is PROGRESSIVE? Guest Contributor: Lauren Porosoff The Ethical Culture Fieldston School’s annual Progressive Teaching Institute orients new faculty to progressive practices and promotes peer-to-peer learning. We learn from each other in experiential sessions, debrief these sessions in affinity groups to discuss the influence of identity and bias, and do a “learning event design challenge” to incorporate the progressive practices we learned into our own work. But even after these experiences, participants still have trouble defining “progressive.” To make the multiple facets of progressive education more accessible, we created an acronym, drawing from early theorists such as John Dewey and Paulo Freire; from contemporary scholars such as Sonia Nieto, Christine Sleeter, and bell hooks; and from our school’s founder, Felix Adler. We encourage teachers and staff members to use the descriptions as a personal rubric by which they can measure their practice.

A lesson, unit, program, or school is PROGRESSIVE when it is… Playful

It makes exploration, experimentation, creativity, and joy key components of schoolwork.

Rigorous

It reflects and produces deep investigation, critical analysis, and contextualized understanding.

Organized

It is clear and coherent so everyone understands the purpose, process, content, and intended outcomes of their work.

Growthoriented

It promotes asking questions, attempting and persisting at challenges, making and reflecting upon decisions, failing, and recommitting.

Responsive

It can be adapted and extended to accommodate different people’s backgrounds, circumstances, interests, and needs.

Experiential

It fosters learning by doing, making, and feeling—not just seeing, hearing, and thinking.

Social

It encourages participants to work together, care about each other, and help each other succeed.

Situated

It contributes to cross-disciplinary, multi-year, school-wide, and community goals.

Inclusive

It actively promotes multicultural awareness, perspective-taking, self-reflection, and antibias action.

Vital

It enables participants to engage in processes and create products that matter beyond the classroom and over time.

Empowering

It builds participants’ capacity to effect positive and meaningful change in their own lives, in the community, and in the world.

Lauren Porosoff is the author of EMPOWER Your Students: Tools to Inspire a Meaningful School Experience (Solution Tree, 2017). She teaches sixth grade English at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in Riverdale, NY.

SUPPORT PEN An educatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work is never done. Neither is the work of PEN! Please consider giving financial support to PEN. Also share our message with your network. Support progressive education through the Progressive Education Network!

THE BEST RESOURCE TEACHERS HAVE IS EACH OTHER. Special thanks to recent donors: Allegra Algava, Harry Ross, Jose L. Vilson, Merrill Smith, Philip Kassen, Laura Maule, Barbara G. Tirone, Matthew Walsh, Lily Delilah Homer, Christopher Willmott, Teri Turner, Michele Sola, Chris Collaros, Ayla Gavins, Theresa and Theresa Collins. Collins, and a donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

Visit progressiveeducationnetwork.org/donate

Partner News: High Meadows School making Green Strides High Meadows School, an independent, International Baccalaureate (IB) school focused on progressive education for students age three through eighth grade, is on the itinerary for the 2017 Green Strides Tour announced by the U.S. Department of Education. This year’s tour is themed “Taking Learning Outside,” and will visit High Meadows, located in Roswell, Georgia from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday Sept. 19. High Meadows was named a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School in 2014 for its efforts to reduce environmental impact and costs; improve health and wellness; and teach environmental education. Specifically, the school received the award for the many facets of its environmental programming: • The 42-acre campus of grassy fields and scenic woodland which serves as an outdoor classroom hosing bird feeding stations and butterflies/insect pollinators; vegetable, herb and flower gardens; native plant landscapes; nature trails; picnic tables, benches and other study sites.

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Environmental education program which combines the study of environmental science with environmental responsibility and is integrated into classroom activity, and offered as part of the regular enrichment curriculum.

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Relevant literature, indoor and outdoor laboratory experiments, examination of environmental issues, and evaluation of potential solutions and action plans for Middle Years students.

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Extracurricular opportunities for students who wish to pursue environmental studies and action on an even broader level.

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Partnering with the organic and healthy food provider Wholesome Tummies to provide better lunch options.

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Sponsoring an annual farmer’s market that is open to the community.

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Rigorous indoor air quality testing on a regular basis and clear asbestos-removal and remediation plan for older buildings.

“Our inquiry-based curriculum emphasizes love of learning, creativity, meaningful connections and environmental responsibility both inside and outside of the classroom,” says Jay Underwood, Head of School for High Meadows. “Our commitment to the environment extends well beyond the curriculum, as we believe in making responsible choices with maintenance, building construction and renovation, and waste management. These efforts led to a LEED Gold certification for our Community Center building.” During the tour, federal, state, and local officials, non-profit representatives, and other visitors from neighboring school communities will bring additional attention to how outdoor learning in its many forms – from school gardens, to field studies, to citizen science, and forest schools – provides opportunities to expand traditional learning into the real world to create real change for the betterment of our society and the environment.

The 2017 tour will highlight how schools teaching effective environmental education, stewardship, and civic values through learning outside school walls, using experience to breathe life into standards, in addition to making positive contributions to our communities and planet. Assistant U.S. Education Secretary Holly Ham announced this year’s tour at an annual ceremony in Washington, DC honoring 2017 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School, District Sustainability Awardees, and Postsecondary Sustainability Awardees. “The annual Green Strides Tour is an opportunity to convene national, state, and local policymakers, legislators, partners, and school communities to listen and learn from our honorees, as well as celebrate their achievements,” noted Andrea Suarez Falken, Director of U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools. “These awardees are doing fantastic work that should be shared.”

NIPEN 5.0 News

We are gearing up for the 5th cohort of NIPEN, which will take place at partner schools Wildwood (LA) and Francis W. Parker (Chicago). The cohort of 24 educators come from the following schools and you can find more details soon on our website! New Beginnings Family Academy (CT)

Brightworks (CA)

Ancona School (IL)

Presidio Knolls School (CA)

Green Acres School (MD)

McAuliffe School (CA)

Francis W. Parker School (IL)

High Meadows School (GA)

Wildwood School (CA)

NCCL School (DE)

Baker Demonstration School (IL)

Crow Island Elementary (IL)

LREI/Elisabeth Irwin (NY)

Wickliffe Progressive Program (OH)

Catherine Cook School (IL)

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD: What might Progressive Education dare to be?

We chose this pairing of essays by George S. Counts (1932) and Alisa Algava (2017), to highlight the vigorous exploration of possibilities as progressive education “dares” to be more true to its name. Both pieces challenge progressive education, as an institution, to be bold and truly live into/up to its promise of democratic education for all students.

As Counts begins…“if it is to fulfill its promise, it must lose some of its easy

optimism and prepare to deal more fundamentally, realistically, and positively with the American social situation than it has done up to the present moment.” In her writing, Algava continues the conversation about access as she takes a close look at the limitations that persist in progressive education spaces today. That exploration plays out with Algava’s focus on “one question: How might we reimagine constructivist practices and curricula so that we purposefully, consistently, critically engage questions of pedagogy, power, and culture through a sociocultural/sociopolitical lens?” We hope you enjoy excerpts of these two thought-provoking pieces. DARE PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION BE PROGRESSIVE? GEORGE S. COUNTS (Progressive Education, Volume IX, No 4, April 1932) If educational movement, or anything else, calls itself progressive, it must have orientation, it must possess direction. The very word itself means moving forward; and moving forward can have little meaning in the absence of clearly defined purposes. We cannot, like Stephen Leacock’s horseman, dash off in all directions at once. Nor can we, like our presidential candidates, evade every important issue and be all things to all men. You may reply that this sounds very interesting but that it has little bearing on the subject of Progressive Education. You may argue that the movement does have orientation, that it is devoted to the development of the good individual. But there is no good individual apart from some conception of the nature of good society. Man without human society and human culture is not man. And there is also no good education apart from some conception of the nature of the good society. Education is not some pure and mystical essence that remains unchanged from everlasting to everlasting. On the contrary, it is of the earth and must respond to every convulsion or tremor that shakes the planet. It must always be a function of time and circumstance. Counts’ full essay at: HTTP://BIT.LY/2CFZRSC

BEYOND CHILD-CENTERED CONSTRUCTIVISM: A Call for Culturally Sustaining Progressive Pedagogy

Excerpts: Prologue: Progressive Education for All? And Epilogue: Justice In and Beyond Schools

Alisa Algava Bank Street College of Education

A Black teacher speaking on a panel at the 2015 Progressive Education Network Conference in New York City asked, “Why do so few progressive schools serve our kids? Why are most of the educators white when workingclass children of color are given an opportunity to have a progressive education?”1 These questions and contradictions are not new. While notable exceptions exist, progressive practices, historically and still today, are not often found in public school settings for children from communities and families marginalized by structural racism and poverty. These schools are disproportionately dispossessed by policies that narrow curricula, mandate high-stakes tests, and police children and teachers (Fabricant & Fine, 2013). Teacher education programs grapple with the realities of preparing a teaching force dominated by white middle-class women (Sleeter, 2001). And skills-based instruction continues to be falsely positioned in direct opposition to inquiry-based learning (Delpit, 1995). The constraints on educators’ abilities, but not their desire, to see and honor each child, culture, and community are real. A tension between child-centered and social reconstructionist/social justice aims has existed since John Dewey’s time. Believing that our schools can and must build a new social order, George Counts confronted the Progressive Education Association in 1932 about the limited and limiting scope of a developmentalist educational philosophy. Radical possibility can begin with one child, one teacher, one school at a time. While progressive pedagogies are not inherently culturally sustaining, the potential is there. As the story of Town Square School shows, progressive educators must actively engage with theories that help us reenvision developmentally appropriate, childcentered, and constructivist practices and consciously reposition how we think about teaching and learning within a sociocultural and sociopolitical frame of understanding. Through collaborative work, dialogue, and reflection that honor the progressive tradition and then push it forward, educators can dare to imagine and enact critical constructivist pedagogies that will better meet all children and youth where they are, honor what they bring, and empower them to change, strengthen, and sustain our cultures, schools, and communities. Algava’s full essay at: HTTP://BIT.LY/2LMSY9M

OCTOBER 2019

PEN 2019 CONFERENCE: Twin Cities The National PEN Conference will take place in Minneapolis/St. Paul in October of 2019. Planning is underway; if you are in the Twin Cities area and are interested in being part of the team, please write to us at contactus@progressiveeducationnetwork.org!

REGIONAL GROUPS

Over the last year, the PEN National Board has been having conversations with interested people throughout the country who are ready to establish a regional group or chapter in their area. AGood vehicle encourage dialogue about progressive luck to to the Bay Areacontinued PEN, which is hosting a "miniPEN" education in the years regional winter conference onbetween Januaryconferences, 20 at partner New groups School will of be Sana vital resourceIftoyou're PEN. We seek to build out our networks by Francisco. in the area and want to regional attend, registration supporting through ourPEN website, providing resources, and informationgroups is available on the website: forging deeper relationships. https://progressiveeducationnetwork.org/event/progressiveeducators-winter-conference To inquire, email PENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Board at contact@ProgressiveEducationNetwork.org ContactUs@ProgressiveEducationNetwork.org

Our network is growing! Interested in becoming a partner? Submit your request at progressiveeducationnetwork.org/partners before Sept 30 2017

Partner Criteria

Schools and institutions that partner with us are: • Independent, 501 c3 • Public/Public Charter • Fully operational for a minimum of 3 years • Accredited by regional/national group • Have an Inclusive admissions policy • Have explicit articulation of progressive pedagogy/values in school mission, vision, and curriculum • Affirm and practice PEN Principles of Progressive Education

P le a s e c h e c k th e P a r tn e r s p age of ou r s it e t o p ro v id e u s w it h in fo r m a ti o n ; w e w il l b e r e v ie w in g n ew p a r tn e r r e q u e s ts o n a n o n g o in g b a s is .

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SUBMIT AN ARTICLE The national office of PEN seeks your entries for publication national office- of PEN seeks your entries for ideas publication in the to the inThe the journal articles, images, and related journal - articles, images, and ideas related to the Network and the Network and Progressive Education. Progressive Education movement. Email your ideas and questions to Email: ContactUs@progressiveeducationnetwork.org Charles Stanton at CStanton@ProgressiveEducationNetwork.org

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