Above is the trailer for the film Most Likely to Succeed. I found this film very interesting as it features an independent school called High Tech High that follows a different model than the “traditional” ways of learning seen in most public schools in North America. Ever since completing a project last semester in EDCI 303 where we were tasked with design our own school system, I have found myself questioning the setup and methods of teaching used at current North American public schools. I chose to design my school system around Friedrich Froebel and Maria Montessori’s ideas because I found Froebel’s thoughts on play and Montessori’s thoughts on teaching independence and practical life skills to be very intriguing. Both of their ideas for how children should be educated featured some aspect of independence for the students and I believe this to be very important. Many students get labelled as “reluctant learners” because they are not interested in every single thing that is being taught in the curriculum however, I believe that if we gave students the choice of what they would like to focus on, those “reluctant learners” would change their thoughts towards school and become a lot more engaged in learning and therefore learn a lot more than if they are being forced to sit through lessons they have no interest in.

 

Here is a video that features Jeff Hopkins explaining a bit about the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII). Hopkins is the founder and principal of PSII which is located in Victoria, B.C. and has been running since 2013. Hopkins was a guest speaker in EDCI 336 and i found that I was very engaged in his presentation because (as I previously mentioned) I have found myself to be increasingly interested in non-traditional ways of teaching, especially ones that involve giving the students plenty of freedom. One of the points that Hopkins made in his presentation was that subjects should not be seperated. Student will learn so much more and make so many more connections when cross-curricular lessons are presented. I agree with this statement and, when I am teaching, I hope to use as many cross-curricular lessons as possible.