Reflections of Havergal: 1994-2019

SCHOOL LIFE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CURRICULUM OVERVI EW

Our children need to learn how to find, sort, evaluate and apply information to new situations. They need to learn how to ask critical questions and solve difficult and messy problems. They need to develop a deeper understanding of key concepts and processes that will help them flourish in an unpredictable world. Understanding core ideas and the ability to transfer them to new situations should be the twin goals of education today. ( Jay McTighe and Elliott Seif, “Teaching for understanding: A meaningful education for 21st century learners”) According to Wiggins and McTighe 26 , students provide evidence of understanding when they demonstrate their ability to explain, interpret and apply their knowledge, as well as shift perspective, empathize and self-assess. The Teaching for Understanding model has provided Havergal faculty with an innovative approach to curricular integration. It is integration not though content or themes, but through the development of the critical and creative thinking skills and dispositions that are essential for deep understanding, the kind that will ensure students can apply core ideas and concepts across disciplines and beyond. Since 2000, keen to continue to avail itself of the best practices in education, the college has launched two major whole-school initiatives that support the school’s focus on the Teaching for Understanding model.

When creating and revising curricula, teachers are encouraged to make use of a three-stage process guided by key pedagogical questions: Stage 1: What should students know and be able to do? What core ideas will yield enduring understandings that students can apply in other units in the course and in other disciplines? Stage 2: What kinds of assessments will provide persuasive evidence of students’ deep understanding and their ability to transfer it? Stage 3: What teaching practices will most effectively engage students and support the learning process? The UbD model has yielded impressive results in Havergal classrooms. As Davis explained in “Teaching and Learning at Havergal,” written by Young Um for the Spring 2013 Torch : When teachers focus their planning on answering these questions and creating a rich learning environment, students are more likely to show commitment to learning, find more meaningful connections between school and outside life and display attitudes we want to see develop in our learners—open-mindedness, curiosity, appropriate skepticism, and a thirst for understanding ... Things you remember best are always the things you understand.

Asking Big Questions” Torch , Fall 2017

The Understanding by Design framework has provided Havergal faculty with a focused but flexible approach to curriculum design that serves all students across all disciplines, bringing a new continuity and cohesion to their learning experiences. The framework has also provided a common vocabulary for teachers that has enhanced communication across disciplines. 

Understanding by Design

The Understanding by Design (UbD) framework devised by Wiggins and McTighe, the developers of Teaching for Understanding, is an approach to curriculum development and instructional strategies that relies on “backward design.” The starting point for teachers is a determination of the Big Questions at the heart of a lesson, unit or course, questions that will provoke deep thinking and ultimately facilitate transfer.

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