Ideal Instructional Models: Successful Examples of Complete Human Education
This article is from our series, Education Reform: A Simple Blueprint for Human-Friendly Education. For a directory of all articles in this series, click here. To get the full series in one downloadable PDF, sign-up for the free report in the black box on the right.
Education Reform – Part II:
Practical Implementations of Complete Human Education
Ideal Instructional Models
So far in this series, I’ve focused on “solutions” that any one teacher –in theory— could slowly incorporate into an individual classroom. However, as a former classroom teacher, I fully realize there is a vast difference between the “theoretical” and the “practical” capacity of any one person. Clearly, these individual solutions would be much easier for teachers to implement –and have a much greater impact on students— when supported through the curriculum, by the administration, and by the culture of the school.
The following instructional models are just a few of many examples that provide effective, school-wide frameworks for supporting the solutions described in the first several articles in this Education Reform series.
Montessori Philosophy & Curriculum
Maria Montessori dedicated 50 years of her life to the observation and testing of her methods. She first sought to understand principles guiding effective learning –based on the natural development of children and young adults– then developed a comprehensive curriculum according to these principles.
Of all educational psychologists and specialists to ever live, Maria Montessori was the only one to develop a comprehensive framework for putting her theories into practice. For this reason, you will see that the “Ideal School System” matrix outlined at the conclusion of this report is built on the Montessori Model of Human Development and largely incorporates Montessori curriculum and materials.
The Montessori legacy has been proven over 100 years. It has transcended all socio-economic and cultural boundaries.
Why reinvent the wheel?
The scope of Montessori’s full curriculum is well beyond that of this report, but her work can be neatly summarized into four principles:
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- Provide Structure. Learners naturally need boundaries to keep from becoming overwhelmed, to ensure that the learning expectations are developmentally appropriate, and to assimilate with social expectations.
- Celebrate Originality. Learners are empowered when they have an opportunity to make choices and explore personal interests.
- Build on Aptitudes. The very process of “learning” means stretching into unknown or undeveloped areas. Learners will be most effective when that stretching starts from a place that respects their strengths, creating a foundation of confidence for reaching deeper into the “unknown” territory of authentic learning.
- Make it Relevant. Students must know how the information they are learning connects to their life now, or in the future. They are always asking themselves, “Why do I need to know this?” This question is not coming from a “bad attitude,” it’s coming from their biology; their brain absolutely needs to understand these connections in order to properly organize new information in their brain.
Are Expectations Developmentally Appropriate?
As content standards have grown more stringent in the past decade, students are being held to higher and higher expectations. Sometimes, it’s good to hold students to high expectations. But only when our expectations are within the students’ intellectual, physical, and social/emotional development. In too many cases, our increased standards have placed an impossible burden on students; they are expected to perform beyond their capacity.
Dr. Montessori observed that children and young adults all go through the same general development cycles, but those cycles can vary by up to three years. For example, what one “normal” child is naturally able to do at age 6 may not come “naturally” to another child until age 9. However, that 9 year-old likely mastered some other skill three years ago that the 6 year-old won’t get for another three years.
For this reason, Montessori grouped her students in multi-age cohorts so they could learn –and teach—each other. Every child grows in a unique pattern, with their own unique timing. Maria Montessori developed an instructional model that naturally accommodates this ebb-and-flow of child development.
Montessori on Human Development
Dr. Montessori was uniquely qualified to understand human development, versus “cultural influence.” She was a medical doctor and a doctor of anthropology. She was exiled to foreign countries across across eastern and western cultures for more than half of her career. Dr. Montessori concluded that human development is a 24-year process and established 4 distinct phases of the development process.
These phases of development are not linear, as we tend to assume. In reality, students experience “peaks and valleys” throughout their development. At some points, they are learning and developing very rapidly; they seem to absorb everything. Other times are much slower and may even appear to include some regression. This is a normal pattern of human development.
Montessori on Physical Education
“One of the greatest mistakes of our day is to think of movement by itself, as something apart from the higher functions…Mental development must be connected with movement and be dependent on it. It is vital that educational theory and practice should become informed by this idea.” – Maria Montessori
Brain research over the last decade confirms what Montessori always knew; movement and activity are essential to the process of learning. Scientists have confirmed that physical activity develops the intellect; aerobic movement actually manufactures new brain chemicals that provide power to the brain. And, the coordination of fine and gross motor skills build channels for new neuron connections that are vital for learning.1
Above all, Montessori believed that physical development was integrated with the complete learning process and core to the development of independent living. She also believed that movement and physical activity help to create peaceful children.
She encouraged freedom to move in the classroom, to work on the floor, or outdoors rather than being restricted to sitting for long periods of time at a desk. She developed materials to help children develop large and fine motor skills. She encouraged free play as a critical way for children to build muscle, coordination, and spatial/body awareness at their own pace.
As children get older, she encouraged the participation in team games for the development of physical and social skills. She also emphasized the need for children to learn and practice the principles of self-care with: an active lifestyle, healthy nutrition, and proper sleep. These skills may seem “obvious” now, but this was long before it was fashionable to teach them.
Montessori always viewed physical development and self-care as a critical –not optional— element of education.
Montessori on the the Power of Gardening
“Gardening” may seem somewhat random. However, gardening is like a “super activity” that provides students with many benefits.
Dr. Montessori believed gardening provided students with an appreciation for “where all things come from” and expanded their sense of the world in a tangible and relevant way. She felt it was important for students to connect with the Earth as the source of all life and that gardening gives students an appreciation for the development of life.
Gardening activities were incorporated in her curriculum for students of all ages. Over the last several decades, studies continue to confirm there are countless benefits to gardening. It promotes a sense of ownership, develops responsibility skills, and has been proven to be healing for people who have suffered trauma. There are also neurological benefits to working with soil.
Gardening also correlates with all three layers of the Success Pyramid:
Level 1: Confidence – Students take a lot of pride and ownership in caring for their plants and crops, which boosts their confidence.
Level 2: Self-Management – The consistent care and maintenance of a garden builds helps students better understand their own needs for self-care and self-management. The process of caring for a garden also builds important organization skills. Working with others in the class to care for their garden promotes the development of communication and interaction skills.
Level 3: Learning – Witnessing the life cycle of plants provides many opportunities for students to make connections of relevance across other areas of study, particularly in science and social studies. Caring for a garden presents many real-world math problems to solve and opportunities for relevant reading and writing activities. Many schools sell their produce to the community, which then becomes a real world lesson in math and economics.
Even if “gardening” does not directly match specific content standards, the pride, ownership, collaboration, and learning connections students make has a profound impact on students. It is a powerful activity to help build a positive learning culture.
Green Pastures School
Green Pastures is a small, independent school tucked in a rural pocket of suburban Detroit. The school is home to 70 students from ages 4-14 (pre-K to grade 8).
Green Pastures Philosophy: Above all, the philosophy of the school is built on strengths. “Every child is a genius; our job is to nurture the child to let the genius shine through.” Students are grouped in multi-age cohorts according to social/emotional and intellectual development, just as Montessori promotes. Teachers embrace social/emotional coaching as a comprehensive part of the learning environment.
Green Pastures Structure: Every cohort has a lead teacher, known as the “Morning Meeting” teacher. In Morning Meeting, students have their daily language lessons, thematically connected with a science/social studies theme. (Language lessons and expectations are adjusted according to each students’ ability.) Following Morning Meeting, students have a 15-minute “fresh air” break before returning to math class; math groups are also assigned according to students’ level.
The morning schedule is highly differentiated according to students’ individual development. These placement decisions are made based on careful observation, assessment, and collaboration of the teacher and parents. “Differentiation” has become an important value in education, but the effective execution of differentiation is still lacking across the USA. For Green Pastures, differentiated instruction has always been core to their morning instruction of math and language.
Green Pastures’ afternoon schedule is what really sets the school apart! The school operates on a trimester schedule. Every trimester, a wide variety of elective classes are offered. Each class meets for one hour, once a week. The afternoon schedule accommodates two one-hour sessions, for a total of 10 sessions across the week. Students of all ages select the classes they want to take for each afternoon slot. Some sessions may even be selected as a “free hour.”
Some examples of afternoon elective classes include: eco-jewelry, foldable books, box-building, cardboard construction, gardening, farming (includes a weekly visit to a nearby farm), computer programming, art, music, poetry, drama, set design, even a class about tea!
One semester -for reasons no one understands- Tea Class was so popular that it filled to capacity quickly, leaving many students out. So, one teacher volunteered to cancel a different class she was planning to teach to open a second Tea Class. This is a beautiful example of the school accommodating the students, rather than stuffing the students into a predefined, inflexible mold.
The classes fall into seven categories: literature, humanities, mathematics, physical sciences, arts, technology, and physical education. If students select two classes from each category throughout the year, they are recognized with a Renaissance Award at the end of the year. (In other words, they do not have to meet a quota, but are incentivized to sample a wide range of classes.)
The magic of Green Pastures’ afternoon program cannot be overstated! At minimum, in one school year, students of all ages are given the opportunity to make at least 30 significant choices about their education. (Ten electives X three trimesters.) That’s not even counting the “layers” within those decisions including whether or not to take a “free hour,” when to take it, and if they want to fulfill the category quota or not.
The students at Green Pastures are engaged and love to learn because:
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- The “whole” student is valued at Green Pastures; social/emotional development is valued just as much as academic development.
- Students are met “where they are at,” particularly for language and math instruction.
- The electives program provides many opportunities for: students’ strengths to be explored and celebrated, their voices to be heard through the wide variety of choices, and for students to explore a wide range of relevant and high-interest topics.
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Oakland Schools Technical Campuses (OSTC)
Conclusion
The three models described above (Montessori, Green Pastures, and Oakland Schools Technical Campuses) are just a FEW OF MANY instructional models that are putting the most effective educational solutions into practice at the school-wide level.
In the next article, we’ll explore a proven political model for making these changes possible at a national level.
To our students’ success,
Susan Kruger, M.Ed.
Education Reform: A Simple Blueprint for Human-Friendly Education
This article is from our full report on education reform. Portions of the report will be released on a weekly basis in article form (see the directory below).
However, to access the full report (in its entirety) now, sign-up in the black box on the right.
Education Reform Article Directory:
- Introduction to Education Reform: A Simple Blueprint for Human-Friendly Education
- Three Core Problems with Education in the United States
- The Success Pyramid: A Model of Effective & Efficient Learning
- The Brain Biology of Learning: Why the Success Pyramid Works
- Solutions for Core Problem #1 with Education in the United States
Solutions for Core Problem #2 with Education in the United States
Solutions for Core Problem #3 with Education in the United States - Special Education: It Doesn't Have to Be So Difficult - Part I of III
Special Education: How to Solve & Prevent Learning Disabilities - Part II of III
Special Education: The Brain Biology of ADHD & Autism - Part III of III - Ideal Instructional Models: Successful Examples of Complete Human Education
- Finland: A Political Model of Education Reform
- Why Common Core Is the Worst & BEST Thing to Happen to Education
- The Simplest Leverage Points in Reading, Math, & Skills Instruction
- Looking Forward: Advice from a Futurist
- Conclusion: The Four Principles of Optimal Instruction
- Summary: An Ideal School System
SPECIAL REPORT: To get the full series in one downloadable PDF, sign-up for the free report in the black box on this page.
Sources
1 Ratey, John J.,Hagerman, Eric.Spark: The Revolutionary New Science Of Exercise And The Brain. New York : Little, Brown, 2008. Print.
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