Quotes
“real experience in real world”
“getting credit for it”
“having a real experiential meaningful part of that…project”
“providing an experience”
“got interested in alternative energies”
“it got me speaking out in some large groups of people”
“there’s science to be done”
“see some tangible results at the end”
“specific certificate training programs”
“any time you spark an interest in someone, it sort of transcends all the courses”
“a lot of people…look at it as a new experience or adventure”
“promoted relevant methods of communication”
“cohort style of instruction”
“strengthened other programs”
“the city…became a partner because it’s a good community project”
Ways of Teaching and Learning
The third theme that emerged from the data was ways of teaching and learning. This theme encompassed many aspects of participants’ experiences throughout the project including cohort groups, community involvement, authentic tasks, hands-on learning and skills development, and reflective practice.
Cohort Groups
Staff at WestShore follow a cohort style of teaching and learning, which is one of the things they believe contributes to their success. Students stay together in relatively small groups for all subjects, similar to Elementary Schools, Middle Schools following the house system, as well as many graduate school programs. It allows both students and teachers to get to know each other and develop relationships amongst each other. It also reflects a more realistic work environment where people get to know their coworkers by working with them regularly. The Irwin Park project fit with this style and provided opportunities outside the classroom for continued relationship development as participants worked together towards common goals.
Community Involvement
Community involvement with students in their learning was a reciprocal process. Community members worked alongside students and learned more about their lives and concerns. Students were exposed to new people and experiences that facilitated their own understanding of what other people do and how community organizations can work together for a common cause. Janet Riecken, one of the team leaders, spoke about benefits to students in the project and said,
[The] major benefit was their involvement in the community. They’re participating in some project that was part of a bigger community, including the school but beyond the school. Getting out into the community through the school and possibly, hopefully making some connections with their learning and why maybe they’re in school, and how that can connect to community and their efforts in working on the project.
Authentic Tasks
The common cause and goals were genuine and authentic. Participants spoke of the real-life, real-world experiences that they had during the project. Cleaning up and restoring the abandoned Humpback Lake campsite to a public community park for all to enjoy was a concrete undertaking. Creating a video documenting the project and student learning was a specific task or set of tasks. There was a clear focus, which also provided opportunities for choice, flexibility and creativity. Participants placed a high value on the purposeful and relevant jobs, responsibilities and skills that were being taught and learned.
Having tangible results such as the information hut, snake fencing, certificates and completed videos was important to everyone, both during the project and in the conversations about the future of the park for when participants planned to return. It was evident that participants were proud of their work and wanted to leave a legacy for others to show what they had accomplished in a very visual and observable way.
When one student made a presentation to the Select Standing Committee on Education about his experience and learning from the project, they were amazed by the improvements he reported (he went from reading about five words on a page to reading a five hundred word essay on the Second World War). When they questioned him on this dramatic increase, he explained that he desperately wanted to see a water wheel at Irwin Park and so he researched and read everything he could to find out how to do it. He has since taken one of the MLA’s out to the site to discuss the idea further. Participants noted and appreciated that the project provided opportunities, access and resources for students and community members to make choices and follow their interests.
Hands-on Learning and Skills Development
Students, leaders and community members alike referred to the hands-on learning involved in the project. The experiential focus for the work as well as the skills and certificate training was seen as practical and useful.
Students learned how to use a variety of tools and equipment for brush cutting, falling trees, redoing the roof on the hut, and creating signage and shingles. The principal, Dave Betts, was impressed by the interest and engagement that students demonstrated with trades-related skills. In addition, they received credit towards their graduation for taking part and completing coursework for Work Experience 12 and Media Arts 11 or 12. Initially, it was learned that none of the Media Arts students in the Fast Forward Program received credit for successfully completing the course. Through the process of the evaluation, this was brought to the attention of the staff and administration and this has now been rectified. It appears this oversight was a result of a communication breakdown.
Video making was perceived to be a good way to interest, engage, motivate and empower students. They learned skills that enabled them to demonstrate their learning in other ways and to voice their concerns and opinions in a more contemporary fashion. The medium of video allowed them to experiment with a variety of images, sounds, styles and effects in creating their messages. The existing Media Arts program was strengthened and supported by the project to the point where, this year, WestShore has hired one of the team leaders as a part-time Media Arts instructor. The program has become viable and no longer needs to rely on external funding.
Video making provided opportunities to learn and build on skills incrementally (Theodosakis, 2001; Tyner, 1998). Learning and skill development were scaffolded to complement one another in reading, writing, and calculation as well as technical camera and video editing skills and techniques. Additionally, making videos developed and encouraged higher order thinking skills such as visioning, research, problem solving, logic, planning, and analysis. When asked about ways in which the use of video supported, enhanced, or improved literacy skills in this project, Donna Miller said,
I think the part of the project where the students had to evaluate each groups’ video was an important part of looking at aspects of literacy in which one analyzes information and critiques it. This gave them some critical thinking skills and the ability to share ideas and information with others.
One student participant said that the Irwin Park project had helped him with his literacy in several ways including public speaking, reading, researching, and helping put together a proposal for the future of the park. He also got back into photography and has taken over 2000 pictures of the park, many of which have been used in public presentations and slide shows about the project. He continues to work on completing his graduation requirements as well as on finding ways to continue the Irwin Park project, which he sees as having huge educational potential for all.
Reflective Practice
Teachers felt compelled to reexamine the way they delivered courses in light of the Irwin Park experience. Dave Betts, the principal of WestShore, said that the Irwin Park project changed people’s lives and as a result, they have restructured WestShore’s programs to incorporate elements of the project. In particular, they now have a cabin-building project that occurs one day at week on site at the WestShore Annex that works in conjunction with the Media Arts class, which is documenting that project.
Mike Huck spoke of the influence the project had on the academic work of the students. He said, “any time you spark an interest in someone, it sort of transcends all the courses”. He told stories of specific students whose lives had been transformed by their involvement and participation in the project. One student told him that it was his favourite course and Fridays were his favourite days, that it helped him decide that he wanted to work outdoors (though not in forestry), and that it helped motivate him to complete other coursework required for the welding program he has now just completed, less than a year later.
Students and leaders looked forward to the end of the week when they could go out to Irwin Park for their Friday morning work days. They said that it was great to be in a totally different environment and still consider it part of school. John Lyall also saw the project as a way to keep students interested and coming to school. Dave Betts was particularly impressed with student attendance out at the park on rainy days. Students were incredibly motivated and enthusiastic to be at Irwin Park. At the same time, team leaders and project partners identified inconsistent attendance as a challenge to the momentum and ongoing success of the project. Paradoxically, the attendance records requested for this evaluation were not made available and it was not clear that they had been kept up to date for the project. (Go to the discussion of the results.)
References
Theodosakis, N. (2001). The director in the classroom: How filmmaking inspires learning. San Diego, CA: Tech4Learning Publishing.
Tyner, K. (1998). Literacy in a digital world: Teaching and learning in the age of information. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.