Visiting the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry was one of the most informative and interesting things I have learned about so far! This high school is based on learning through inquiry; students develop interdisciplinary pathways that lead to learning activities that personalizes a curriculum for them, at the same time as meeting (or exceeding) the BC high school graduation requirements.
At first, I was a little skeptical at how exactly this whole inquiry process would work, especially over four years of high school. How exactly are you able to tie in all the “core” subject areas that are required not just for graduation but also as a university or college entrance requirement? Jeff Hopkins, founder and Principal of PSII (and former Superintendent of SD64) took the time to thoroughly explain the PSII concepts to our group, and it was incredibly informative. Leaving there, I wished I could have experienced PSII in high school – it was inspiring!
Jeff explained that although they do have to charge tuition for PSII, it’s purely so they can access things like computers or other materials, along with renting the building. They break even at the end of each year, and his hope is that the current BC school system will eventually take over PSII and adopt inquiry learning into all public schools. He explained that students arrive at PSII and basically the teachers get to know them by finding out what they’re interested in. From there, that leads to what they’re curious about – and it’s usually related to their personal interests and hobbies. Students develop questions they have about whatever topic they want, and then conduct research to answer those questions. When they bring back what they’ve found, this usually leads to refining those questions and adding on more layers to the topic, and students come back with learning activities for themselves (and others) that they’ve created. Finally, the process leads to assessment, where they usually present to other students and teachers what they’ve learned – they teach an informal mini “lesson”. Information and skills that you typically learn across classes such as math, psychology, English or social studies are all tied into these inquiry questions – teachers also help facilitate students developing questions that lead into these areas. The steps for inquiry are:
Step 1: Creating Questions
Step 2: Research
Step 3: Refining Questions
Step 4: Learning Activities
Step 5: Assessment
Honestly it was an eye-opening experience! So different to the traditional school system. Yet, Jeff said that students have all been accepted to universities and colleges, some before their formal 4 years are complete. Other students come out of PSII with up and running online businesses. They are able to develop practical, real world skills through their inquiries. How cool would it be for something like this to be adopted into the regular school system…
