A good friend returned from a week-long program in Worcester for teachers of sixth-graders. We hope that this person will contribute about this training week in more detail. But, in the meantime, the facts, as are known by the contributors of this blog, are this. For a public middle school that has a community over-represented by single mothers of color, the ultimate rate of graduation from college from this school hovers around 95%.
Amongst some of the more impressive conditions: one, after a lecture/overview of material, students will then gather in groups of two and three to discuss the material presented. Inevitably, each student absorbs different aspects of the material and the discussion with their peers helps them incorporate the different aspects they may not themselves have initially understood in a vibrant, yet non-threatening environment. Indeed, when teachers observing this method approached students about what they were discussing, they were encouraged to ask the question, but then move on and not wait for an answer. The reason? Because if the students engage the teacher/authority figure, then their focus becomes pleasing the authority figure, rather than discussing and incorporating the new material with their peers.
Another feature of this teaching methodology was that it did not require the kind of hours of individual preparation teachers at both magnet and charter schools often experience. Again, the reason was the collective structure of the teaching model.
The statistics alone bears serious examination and reconsideration by schools across the country. It is certainly much more effective than testing our children repeatedly, which only prepares them for test-taking, rather than actually imparting both knowledge, and more importantly, the ability to critically assess new information.
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