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Expeditionary
Learning Outward Bound
In the late 1980s and early 1990s a new movement in Outward Bound
began in the United States called Expeditionary Learning. A group
of dynamic educators centered at Harvard University and New York
City Outward Bound Center began to develop the concept of large-scale
school reform based on the tenets of Kurt Hahn and Outward Bound.
The Idea: Emphasize learning by doing, with a particular
focus on character growth, teamwork, reflection and literacy. Simultaneously,
assist teachers in connecting high quality academic learning to
adventure, service and character development through a variety of
student experiences including interdisciplinary, project based learning
expeditions.
The Principles: Expeditionary learning connected to the roots
of Outward Bound, the Seven Laws of Salem, and the contemporary
work of Eleanor Duckworth and Paul Ylvisaker from Harvard University
Graduate School of Education. The result, the 10 design principles
that every Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound School follows:
1. THE PRIMACY OF SELF-DISCOVERY
Learning happens best with emotion, challenge, and the requisite
support. People discover their abilities, values, "grand passions,"
and responsibilities in situations that offer adventure and the
unexpected. They must have tasks that require perseverance, fitness,
craftsmanship, imagination, self-discipline, and significant achievement.
A primary job of the educator is to help students overcome their
fear and discover they have more in them than they think.
2. THE HAVING OF WONDERFUL IDEAS
Teach so as to build on children's curiosity about the world by
creating learning situations that provide matter to think about,
time to experiment, and time to make sense of what is observed.
Foster a community where students' and adults' ideas are respected.
3. THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR LEARNING
Learning is both a personal, individually specific process of discovery
and a social activity. Each of us learns within and for ourselves
and as a part of a group. Every aspect of a school must encourage
children, young people, and adults to become increasingly responsible
for directing their own personal and collective learning.
4. INTIMACY AND CARING
Learning is fostered best in small groups where there is trust,
sustained caring, and mutual respect among all members of the learning
community. Keep schools and learning groups small. Be sure there
is a caring adult looking after the progress of each child. Arrange
for the older students to mentor the younger ones.
5. SUCCESS AND FAILURE
All students must be assured a fair measure of success in learning
in order to nurture the confidence and capacity to take risks and
rise to increasingly difficult challenges. But it is also important
to experience failure, to overcome negative inclinations, to prevail
against adversity, and to learn to turn disabilities into opportunities.
6. COLLABORATION AND COMPETITION
Teach so as to join individual and group development so that the
value of friendship, trust, and group endeavor is made manifest.
Encourage students to compete, not against each other, but with
their own personal best and with rigorous standards of excellence.
7. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVITY
Diversity and inclusivity in all groups dramatically increases richness
of ideas, creative power, problem-solving ability, and acceptance
of others. Encourage students to investigate, value, and draw upon
their own different histories, talents, and resources together with
those of other communities and cultures. Keep the schools and learning
groups heterogeneous.
8. THE NATURAL WORLD
A direct and respectful relationship with the natural world refreshes
the human spirit and reveals the important lessons of recurring
cycles and cause and effect. Students learn to become stewards of
the earth and of the generations to come.
9. SOLITUDE AND REFLECTION
Solitude, reflection, and silence replenish our energies and open
our minds. Be sure students have time alone to explore their own
thoughts, make their own connections and create their own ideas.
Then give them opportunity to exchange their reflections with each
other and with adults.
10. SERVICE AND COMPASSION
We are crew, not passengers, and are strengthened by acts of consequential
service to others. One of a school's primary functions is to prepare
its students with the attitudes and skills to learn from and be
of service to others.
The Practice: At the heart of the Expeditionary Learning
school are five core practices:
· Learning expeditions- Learning expeditions are long-term,
multidisciplinary explorations of a single theme, such as the geology
of caves, the Civil Rights Movement, water quality, or Galileo's
theories. Harnessing the power of adventure and discovery, expeditions
take students on intellectual journeys with challenging projects,
fieldwork, service, and culminating performances.
· Reflection and Critique-At Expeditionary Learning
schools, teachers model a culture of reflection, critique, revision,
and collaboration. Students practice until they and their teachers
are fully satisfied with the end product.
· School Culture-Expeditionary Learning schools promote
a strong culture of best effort, high expectations, community and
collaboration, service, and diversity. School structures, policies,
and rituals support an environment where adults and students feel
emotionally and physically safe, and free to take risks and go beyond
their perceived limits.
· School Structure-Expeditionary Learning requires
the reorganization of time, student grouping, and resources to support
high quality learning expeditions. Schedules at Expeditionary Learning
schools provide longer and more flexible blocks of time for project-based
learning and fieldwork, for team planning, and for community-building
activities like community circles.
· School Review-Expeditionary Learning schools engage
in an annual cycle of reflection, planning, and action to improve
the quality of teaching and learning. Schools look at evidence of
student work and instructional practices to assess progress toward
full implementation of the design, set priorities for improvement,
and create an action plan for achieving those priorities.
The Success: In its first 10 years, Expeditionary Learning
Outward Bound has been very successful in transforming learning
and schools in the United States and Puerto Rico. In many of their
schools reading levels and math comprehension levels have increased
and students, parents and teachers are more engaged. Over 100 schools,
53,000 students and 3,000 teachers have been reached with this innovative
form of Outward Bound.
What
students say about Expeditionary Learning:
"I felt like a real scientist looking into a microscope and
when I found the specimen I felt awesome. When I sit down in the
grass and write down some information about the ponds, it feels
like you are a reporter observing the scene and you've got to make
sure you get everything because you want the front page. When you
are done with the expedition, you go home and tell you mom and dad
what you learned and they practically don't even know what you are
talking about. It's like you wrote a new chapter in the encyclopedia.
Six weeks ago I would never have known about pond life."
--Dalles Kalmes, student Table Mound Elementary School Dubuque,
Iowa
"When we talk in my class about being kind, they know that
they need to start with something positive before they move into
areas of improvement. I have the author sit on an "author's
stool" in front of the room, and everyone gathers around on
the carpet. It's like saying, "It's time for you to listen
to me." When the author has finished, she calls on her peers
for their feedback... Everyone has to go through the critiquing
process. No one is exempt. It's a chance to talk about things we're
good at and those we have to work on. Now we recognize that when
we make mistakes those are areas for growth, and we all have them.
Vivian Stephens, a teacher at the Clairemont."
--Elementary School in Decatur, Georgia
"The essence of expeditionary learning is that it motivates
students. And I think motivated students are good students."
-Dan Eaton, parent at the King Middle School, Portland, Maine Quoted
in the Christian Science Monitor, 2/24/98
CONTACT
EXPEDITIONARY LEARNING OUTWARD BOUND:
100 Mystery Point Road
Garrison, NY 10524-9757
Bus: 1 (845) 424-4000
Bus Fax: 1 (845) 424-4280
E-mail: farrell@elob.org
Web Page: www.elob.org
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