Cultivating the Union of

Student Voice &

Community for a
Common Purpose
Shelby Baeten, Sarah Harrison and Katherine Shoals

Focus Questions
How are implicit biases and stereotypes present in
classroom interactions, teaching practices, and
classroom/school procedures?
How can I serve as an advocate for all children both
inside and outside of the classroom? Is it possible
that I, as just one teacher can influence others to
make the changes needed to support all students?

Focus Questions
How can I lessen the racial and socioeconomic gap in
educational achievement as well and in the
community of my own classroom so that I can
meet all of my students needs to the best of my
ability?
How can I make my lesson plans culturally relevant
through the backgrounds, knowledge, and
experiences of all of my students?

Tensions in Education for Diverse Students

1. Students thoughts/opinions/perspectives are not
valued
2. The curriculum in schools is not created with
individuals backgrounds, abilities and interests in
mind.
3. There are limited opportunities for students to
engage in meaningful collaboration: sharing
diverse perspectives and building on each others
ideas.

Tensions in Education for Diverse Students

4. There is a disconnect in relationships and learning
between a students home, school, and their
community.
5. Students in race and poverty are not given
equitable access to educational opportunities and
community resources.
6. Schools are not able to provide consistent and full
support to students both inside and outside of the
curriculum.

Our Mission:

We place value on bridging student

voice with community resources. Our
school is designed around students,
teachers, families and community
members developing a sense of
purpose and responsibility, as well as
engaging in practical experiences to
aid in the growth of the community as

Designing Schools to Dissolve Tensions

Curriculum:
Structural

School Structure: Building

Location: Center of City
Community Center Attached
Classrooms not sectioned off by walls or by grade level
Pod Areas around school for communal learning
Various styles of furniture
Physical Activity Room

School Structure: Procedures

Students are involved in hiring teachers
Students rotate administration jobs
Team Teaching:
There is a general educator and special educator assigned
to each classroom
NOT told which staff member carries which title
Teachers loop for 2 years

School Structure: Yearly Schedule

All Year Long School: 6 weeks in school, 1 week off
Camps/Programs during Break week
Free
Run by teachers
Different specialities that rotate around
district/schools

School Structure: Daily Schedule

Daily Schedule:
Morning Meetings
Breakfast
Instruction: Inquiry Centers
Genius Hour
Electives
Classroom PBL
End of Day Meeting

Genius Hour
Students meet with multi-aged individuals or groups
Work on project through PBL
Can go to lunch at any point from 11-2
Community members supervise
Teachers collaborate

Electives
Types of Electives:
Performing Arts: singing, instruments, drama, dancing
Physical Activity basketball, football, gymnastics, yoga,
fitness
Creative Arts (sculptures, painting, sketching,
photography)
Life Skills (sewing, cooking, car maintenance, carpenter)
Neighborhood History/Culture (inspired by PBL)
Survey
Taught by community members

Curriculum:
Instructional

School Curriculum: Assessment

Emphasis on Authentic Assessment and Self
Assessment
No standardized assessments given
All community members will know that this is an
opt out school
www.fairtest.org
We do not teach to the test because we do not think they are
worth teaching to. We value relevant, active, real-world learning
experiences.

School Curriculum: Students as CoCreators

Students are co-creators of their own learning
Students have choices in choices in what they
learn, how they learn it, and how they prove
their own learning
Students teach one another

School Curriculum: Project Based Learning

Students engage in:
PBL
Inquiry
Integration
Real World Application
Collaboration
Curriculum is flexible, student-centered and based on projectbased learning

Project Based Learning: Example

Start: Students outside at recess and lets go of
balloon
Where does the balloon go?
Research where balloon goes
Discover it adds to pollution
Joshua Tree National Park
Visit our local park

School Curriculum: Inquiry-Based Centers

Students will engage in discovery that allows
them to:
Design their own learning
Monitor their own progress
Collaboration
Problem solving
Higher order thinking skills

Inquiry-Based Centers: Example

Sink or float?
How tall can you build a tower?
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Class Pet
Plant Growing

Rationale
Fostering Community-School Relationships
Promoting relevant, active real-world learning
Allowing students to have increased responsibility,
voice, and say
Giving students opportunity to learn from others
Addressing tensions

Tension:
Students thoughts/opinions/perspectives are not
valued

Solution:

Voice
Administration
Curriculum
Choice

Tension:
The curriculum in schools is not created with
individuals backgrounds, abilities and interests in
mind.

Solution:

Individualized and Engaged Curriculum

Students are co-creators of the curriculum
Genius Hour
PBL
Inquiry Centers

Tension:
There are limited opportunities for students to engage
in meaningful collaboration: sharing diverse
perspectives and building on each others ideas.

Solution:
Social Experiences
Meaningful collaboration
Multi-Aged PBL and Inquiry Centers

Tension:
There is a disconnect in relationships and learning
between a students home, school, and their
community

Solution:
Home, School and Community Connections
Partnering with the community
Community service learning through outreach
Community Resource Center
Field trips

Tension:
Students in race and poverty are not given equitable
access to educational opportunities and community
resources.

Solution:
Equal Access
Community Center
No Standardized Test (www.fairtest.org)
No tracking (www.fairtest.org)

Tension:
Schools are not able to provide consistent and full
support to students both inside and outside of the
curriculum.

Solution:

Consistency and Support

Looping
Stay in school even if move
Small student-teacher ratio
Focus on building community

Concluding Thoughts
The beauty and promise of true
restructuring is that it will provide us with
the opportunity to create the educational
systems that never have existed before,
not because they were hard to create, but
because we have not yet manifested the
vision, or tried to create them - Asa
Hilliard

Questions?