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Calgary school is proponent of flexibility in education
Imagine that your child comes home from school and, as you discuss the day, she tells you that she didn’t write the math test scheduled for that day because she didn’t feel ready but she has almost completed all her social studies work—a mere two months into the term—and you matter-of-factly take it all in, knowing it’s all perfectly acceptable.
Most parents will not have that conversation with their children, unless they attend Calgary’s Bishop Carroll High School—one of seven members of the Canadian Council on Self Directed Learning (CCSDL) and a proponent of the increasingly popular concept of flexibility in education, a learning model that is still somewhat misunderstood. But there’s no misunderstanding the level of excellence and the concept of ownership that it instills in students.
“The underlying idea of this school is ‘learning is the constant,’” says Ed Wozniak, a social studies teacher who has been at the school off and on since 1977. “Every other place, time is the constant. But at this school, time can be flexible, and students who are good in a subject can fly through it. And when they have difficulty they can spend time in a really rich environment, working one on one with a teacher.”
Personalization of learning is a key element of the self-directed program. Students get the help they need when they need it; they create a timetable not as the school demands, but as the students—aided by a teacher advisor—see fit with respect to their plans for the term and for the school year.
“I think I was amazed at the amount of time you could talk about teaching and learning,” admits Daniel Danis, Bishop Carroll’s principal, who also taught at the school. “That blew me away. In the other schools I came from, it was mainly management: keeping the kids in the proper areas, following the proper rules. … I spent a lot of time on that as a teacher and as an administrator. Here, we’re actually talking about best practice, curriculum, freedom and the flexibility. Really trusting that kids were going to do this.”
Struggling students get support if they need it but it would be a mistake to think that kids can dawdle and take all the time they need to complete their diploma—Bishop Carroll no longer allows fourth and fifth years (unless you’re an elite athlete or have another legitimate excuse) to complete a high school diploma.
Another false impression is that the school is just for the brilliant student and average kids need not apply.
“I think it attracts a lot of students who are high flyers or academically strong because they can pursue more,” Danis acknowledges. “But people forget that 20 per cent of our population is students with learning disabilities, and they succeed very well here. Seeing students come out of junior high with learning disabilities or with a lack of success and coming here and doing well really shows that this is a school for everyone.”
“I really like differentiated instruction. And I think Bishop Carroll does that better than any other school, particularly for kids with special needs,” notes math teacher Marilyn Blackhall, a graduate of the school, whose four children also attended. “We can tailor things to fit their needs. If they’re hearing impaired or visually impaired, we can deliver the programs in a better way for them.”
With technology permeating education so deeply, it’s no surprise that Bishop Carroll has been at the forefront in that area, as well. The school piloted a one-to-one laptop program three years ago and that is among the initiatives that the district has considered expanding.
“It’s constructivist learning,” says CTS teacher Ray Vizina. “It’s never boring. In a regular classroom, you’re the sage on the stage. You’re at the front of the class delivering a lecture, and there are challenges in that environment. Here you can tunnel down to the individual. My biggest question is why there aren’t more schools like this. It’s been here for 41 years and it’s proven itself.”
When it opened, Bishop Carroll was as foreign a learning model as you could find. Surprisingly, only of late has there been a small move toward more flexible time management in other schools, a case in point being the Alberta government’s High School Flexibility Enhancement Pilot Project, a four-year in-depth analysis and rethinking of current practices in 16 schools around the province. This project, now in its final year, has been examining a shift from teacher-centred education to student- and outcome-centred education. As part of the study, the test schools were released from the 25-hour per credit requirement, which has been the norm.
“We talk about Bishop Carroll in our literature review for this project as well as St. Joe’s [in Edmonton] and other CCSDL schools across Canada,’’ says Gerry Fijal, the project manager, who used to teach at Bishop Carroll. “What I would say—certainly from the perspective of Inspiring Education and creating a school where students feel more connected and in control of their learning—I think this is an approach that can be extremely valuable in Alberta. It has also been a source of thinking and conversation for many of the 16 schools in our project.”
“Two hundred years of education and if you really examine it, it’s truly an archaic system, an assembly line model, where students spend 80 minutes in a class, the bell rings and they move on,” Danis said. “Where this flexibility model challenges the norm and really flips it on its head is saying that students have the ability to move their education where they want to. I see some great strides lately with our government moving toward flex schools. That’s a good sign.”
Bishop Carroll has given students who have continued with their postsecondary studies a leg up with respect to honing their organizational skills, time management and discipline. Looking ahead to the post–high school years, the school has undertaken a partnership with nearby Mount Royal University and as of January 31, 2013, will offer a prerequisite English course that is transferrable to any university in Alberta.
