In this week’s class, we had a guest speaker, Jeff Hopkins, who is the founder of the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII) here in downtown Victoria. The school was designed around the idea of inquiry-based learning for students from grades 9 to 12. He discussed some of the challenges and hoops that they had to jump through in order to get it off the ground, such as convincing the school-board that parking for students was not necessary seeing as they are situated in the downtown core; rather, most people will be commuting by bus, bicycle or on foot.

He also talked about the overall structure of the school, which eschews the typical system of bells and changing classes in favour of having students all working together on various projects that suit their abilities, curiosities and interests. He mentioned how students have the option to go to ‘classes’ or take part in discussions which may or may not interest them. One of the advantages to this is that students aren’t tied to a timetable; meetings and discussions can happen spontaneously or at whatever times suits those involved, and students can jump in or out of projects as they see fit. In my opinion, this is such a great idea as it incorporates more student voice into the decision-making, giving students more agency in their learning.

Despite the looseness, there are still processes that the school follows in order to build in some structural components. This usually starts with questions from students about what they want to learn and is usually guided (to a degree) by the facilitators. Because some students may be embarrassed by this or are scared of “looking stupid” in front of peers, some of these ideas are presented privately before being made public. From here, the facilitators help to scaffold students throughout their learning processes, guiding them in certain directions by helping them figure out the questions they need to keep asking in order to assist in their continued learning. This process allows them to work across subjects and fields rather than the traditional approach of only working within one area. This idea is something we in the TeacherEd program have been introduced to, as well. Collaboration and interdisciplinary ways of teaching in high schools are encouraged these days as a way to use practical approaches and bring students into the fold who may normally believe they don’t have the abilities to do a certain subject or who may have little to no interest in a subject. This latter idea certainly describes some of my experiences as a grade school student as certain subjects have always felt dull and uninspiring to me.

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

The presenter mentioned one interesting anecdote about how they were using WordPress for students to develop their own websites to share with the other students and teachers. After one student mentioned how they didn’t like the overall design and lack of user-friendliness of the site, the teacher told him how, unfortunately, it was as complex as he was able to make. To this, the student replied that he himself could build a better site. After some consultation, the student did, in fact, build a much better site and the school has been using it ever since. This actually highlights quite well the strength of the school and the concept behind it: the students themselves are an integral part of not only helping the school function, but of deciding the directions that the school takes. This level of flexibility in learning feels to me like a great way to encourage learning and spark the desired curiosity in students. It also fosters the idea of continued learning outside of the classroom, something that is of utmost importance in today’s rapidly changing workforce.

“It’s an art, not a science.”

Jeff Hopkins, founder of PCII, in regards to the day to day structuring and challenges of students’ learning

Another thing Mr. Hopkins mentioned in response to a question from one of my classmates is how, although rare, the school is not necessarily for everyone. Sometimes this is because the structure can be a little jarring and doesn’t fully jibe with their expectations and how they want to learn. He also mentioned how they end up with a lot of students who suffer from anxiety and who are on the autism spectrum. Because the school allows students to work on what they want to, it often ends up accommodating those students better than traditional high schools by allowing them to first work within their comfort zones and then nudging them toward areas that match their personalities and interests. Furthermore, it was mentioned how the tuition can sometimes be an obstacle, as well, although because of certain funding they receive it does help to mitigate some of the costs.

One thing I found interesting about the school was how they broke down the core competencies students are expected to learn. They have divided these competencies into 8 general categories: ecological literacy, mathematical literacy, reading ,writing, speaking & listening, collaboration & leadership, critical & creative thinking, cultural awareness & understanding, information & media literacy, and personal planning & responsibility. I personally find this fascinating as it focuses on more practical and useful skills instead of forcing students to learn content they likely don’t care about or need to know. It makes me wish I had had the opportunity to learn in such a way as it would have almost certainly sparked more curiosity out of me and allowed me to explore more areas and subjects. As it stands now, there are certain fields I’ve never had an interest in and this is mainly because of how they were presented to me as a child.

On the whole, I really admire what Jeff Hopkins and those at PCII are doing and how it fully considers what the students want to learn. It provides hope that the school system can be reformed to take into account different abilities and ways of learning instead of trying to fit people from diverse backgrounds into one common category. I will certainly do my best to apply many of these ways of learning into the classroom as I commence my own career as a public school educator.

Have a look at the PCII website to see all of the innovative stuff they are doing by clicking here.