For many families, school simply no longer “works.” From frustrations of too much homework and meaningless busy work to huge class sizes and safety concerns, parents find themselves saying, “There has got to be a better way.” There is a better way in learner-drive microshools like Acton Marietta. In the learner-driven model, young people take control of their own learning. They make decisions for themselves and for the school community, providing a significantly higher degree of autonomy. A learner-driven approach helps young people to make principled decisions because: ● The responsibility for setting the contracts and covenants that will form a mini-civil society of peers helps young people develop complex problem-solving skills and a sense of due process and justice in action. ● Socratic discussions develop listening skills, logic, perspective, and critical thought and dispel the idea that the adult is the ‘expert’ who is there to impart knowledge. ● Multi-age studios mean learning can be shared peer-to-peer and within studios grouped by age through critiques and joint projects. ● Offering self-paced work for core skills in an environment where many types of gifts are celebrated. The environment praises improvement rather than artificial standards, which leads to an appreciation of excellence, with multiple ways to win. Want to learn more? Check out this article on the demand for learner-driven education, or watch the video below to learn more. Want to take a deep dive? Watch this video with Acton founder Laura Sandefer about the origins of the Acton schools and how the model works. Come join the education revolution with us! Do you have questions, or are you ready to schedule a tour? Click here to schedule a discovery call today!
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With no homework, no tests, and no busy work, Acton schools have created a 21st-century place of learning where young people can THRIVE by cultivating the skills needed for the real world in a learner-led environment among peers of mixed ages, learning from and collaborating with each other to build both character and community. Join the Learning Revolution! At Acton we believe: Clear thinking leads to good decisions, good decisions lead to the right habits, the right habits forge character, and character determines destiny. Acton schools offer:
The Acton network of schools and the Acton model are endorsed by well-known writers and thinkers such as Seth Godin, Tom Vander Ark, Kerry McDonald, and more. Want to learn more? Check out our Info Kit or watch the video below to learn more about the more than 300 Acton schools transforming education. Want to take a deep dive? Watch this video with Acton founder Laura Sandefer about the origins of the Acton schools and how the model works. Are you ready to reimagine education? Do you have questions, or are you ready to schedule a tour? Click here to schedule a discovery call today! Mistakes are the portals of discovery. ~ James Joyce
In Scoop #4, I briefly discussed the Growth Mindset work of Carol Dweck. She theorizes that people have either a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. Someone with a fixed mindset believes people have a finite or fixed amount of talent or intelligence that cannot be changed or grow. Alternatively, someone with a growth mindset believes people can grow their natural talent or intelligence through hard work and effort. It’s not surprising that people with a growth mindset are shown to be happier and more successful in life. The words we use when talking to our learners greatly affect their mindset and how they respond to challenges. At AAM, we know that mistakes and failures are essential for learners to develop, test, and strengthen their growth mindset. Therefore, we neither avoid nor prevent them for the learners. Rather, we challenge the Eagles to own their mistakes and consider how to learn from them. In the article Learning From Mistakes: Helping Kids See the Good Side of Getting Things Wrong, Marilyn Price-Mitchell suggests ten ways to help children and teens learn from their mistakes. These include acknowledging that you don’t expect perfection and providing examples of your own mistakes and how you grew from them. Guides at Acton and parents alike can also support Eagles by using growth mindset language when they are facing challenges. Phrases to Encourage Growth Mindset When a child says they can’t do something, reply, “You can’t do it YET.” or “You don’t know it YET.” “Thinking is like giving your brain a workout.” “The harder you try, the smarter you become.” “Don’t give up!” “Everyone makes mistakes.” “Failure = learning” or “If it’s too easy, you’re not learning.” “You are so hard-working!” (Instead of, “You are so smart!”) “I can tell you tried your best on this.” Because the process of making mistakes and learning from them is paramount at Acton, the way we recognize (not monitor) learner progress looks different. First and foremost, we look for ‘big small moments’ – times like when an Eagle rises to get help then decides to try again themselves. Or like the day a younger energetic Eagle reads calmly without distraction for twenty minutes straight. No quizzes. No tests. No grades. Big small moments that accumulate and, over time, produce strength in competency, community, and character. Badges Recognizing progress is a celebration at Acton. At the end of each session, learners who have completed a series of competencies earn a mastery badge. Eagles use badges to track learning milestones and to see their work quality improve over time. To earn a badge, Eagles may present evidence of their “excellent” work to peers, guides, and audiences for approval. Badges form the foundation of a portfolio and can be translated into a traditional transcript for school transfers or college admission. Later, they can show employers and colleges what an Eagle has accomplished. Badges are grouped together for each learning squad (a group of Eagles at similar places on their learning journeys) and form a ‘badge plan’ – the collection of learning outcomes required for each Eagle. Badges offer clear guidelines and examples of the type of work required along with as much learner freedom as possible. Badges also are designed so that they can be translated in such a way as to cover all the necessary traditional education subjects like math or reading. The modular and open-ended design allows Acton founders to create custom badges for their campuses. Several times a year, Eagles review their badge plans and progress in a Journey Meeting with their guide and report to parents. Goals are discussed and adjusted as the Eagle considers their progress. Parents receive their Eagle’s badge plan when badges are introduced during Session 1. At Acton, we do not use letter grades nor do we give written progress reports. Eagle progress will be documented through their achievement and mastery of badges in the Core Skills of reading, writing, language arts, and math initially and, eventually, in humanities and science areas. Acton Academy Marietta has been fortunate to participate in a beta group for a progress tracking software program. This coming year, all AAM learning squads will have access to this program and the ability to share and celebrate progress with their parents! Last week, we learned that the ‘why’ of AAM is to provide an environment where learners can develop competency, community, and character. Cultivating, observing, and celebrating progress in these areas is a tremendous paradigm shift from how we’ve all thought about and experienced learning progress in our lifetimes. We, as guides and parents, are all learning together through this shift, and need to be kind and thoughtful with ourselves as we make the transition. There are bound to be moments of uncertainty and many questions – we have them, too! Together, we will navigate our own Hero’s Journeys alongside our Eagles. Years of educational research have had experts waffling between theories on what’s important in the world of learning and why. Several decades ago, a wave of thought emerged professing that the key to raising and educating a child successfully was to immerse them in complex cognitive experiences from an early age; essentially, flood them with knowledge and do everything you can to push their IQ along. Do this, and you’ll grow a successful human being.
Well, they tracked the human beings reared and educated with this emphasis and, as it turns out, they found that what you know and how much you know has little, if anything, to do with your success trajectory. Rather, there are key traits that are essential to develop for a child to grow into a happy and productive adult. For years, the focus of our schools...our society...has been on the wrong aptitudes. Cultivating the soft skills that comprise ‘character’ is a far better predictor of overall success. THIS is the ‘WHY’ of Acton Academy Marietta. Why is our program so different? It’s because our goals are kept front and center, and our learning design is deeply committed to prioritizing development of tools for success. We look to cultivate - Competency - a learner’s knowledge and behaviors that equip them for success. Community - a learner’s awareness of and connection to the people and world around them. Character - a learner’s mental and moral qualities that will determine their habits, decisions, and destiny. Now, how do we do this? Acton’s learning design is made up of three elements that support the development of competency, community, and character. We do not have a rigid curriculum to be followed in lockstep, but a modular menu of choices so that our learners: ~“Learn to Learn” foundational skills along with processes, recipes, and algorithms. Learning to learn includes developing the skills of lifelong learners such as curiosity, grit, and resourcefulness. ~“Learn to Do” by solving real-world problems both independently and with peers. Learning to do includes project management, organization, and making practical decisions to accomplish great tasks. ~“Learn to Be” by forging the character that is the bedrock of a successful, satisfying, and fulfilling life. This means developing warm-hearted and tough-minded character traits while searching for a calling that will bring joy and fill a need in the world. Building competency starts with Core Skills and moves through Socratic discussions, Civilization explorations, and Quest challenges. Building community involves self-governance, studio maintenance, and a deep connection to others. Building character is woven into every moment of the day; whether it’s finding grit to push through a math problem, using empathy to help friends work through a disagreement, or channeling curiosity to dig deeper in a learning task. With a clearer picture of our ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ I’d love to share a personal note. I’ve recently been considering my ‘Why’ as an Acton founder, director, and guide. The large majority of Actons are started by parents looking for something different for their families. My children are grown, so what connects me to this group of pioneers? At first I thought my ‘why’ was to find a learning space that felt more relevant and less restrictive. But I realize now that the ‘why’ that fuels my passion for AAM is so much more. Our AAM children… ALL children...deserve an environment that sets them up for success. I’m so glad we are teaming up to make that happen! Go Deeper with this article on 7 Traits Kids Need to Succeed (and even deeper with the book How Children Succeed; Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character). |