Eight public high school students, aged 15 to 17, in western Massachusetts under the supervision of their guidance counselor and various teachers designed and ran their own school within a school. The students designed their own curriculum, deciding to split their September-to-January term into two halves and took on much more work than was normally the case for even A.P. Students. The students worked with and supported each other and even wrote and filmed a movie demonstrating how students could design their own learning.
The project was a success. After returning to their conventional curriculum the students are highly motivated and are doing well. Two of the seniors are applying to selective liberal arts colleges. The lessons learned here are that if students are given the opportunity to take control or contribute significantly to their own learning they will become more accomplished, more engaged and more knowledgeable. But isn’t this really what learning is all about. Should we be surprised by these positive results?
