Exploring our Context

Introduction to Branches Atelier:

By Patricia Hunter McGrath and Christina Bianchi

At Branches, we understand that education should always be able to transform and change with new knowledge and research.

Over the years we have moved from a curriculum based on traditional academics to a play-based curriculum to finally, an approach that we call Contemporary Academics." which borrows and combines elements from these ideas to help children learn how to problem solve, collaborate and create to be ready for the challenges of the future.

Looking back we learn that in the US, traditional schools were originally created to educate children to be workers in factories. Fifty years ago most adults had one job that lasted their lifetime. Today many of these jobs are no longer available. Nowadays most adults will have many different positions throughout their lives

We cannot use old techniques and curriculum to educate children for a past that no longer exists.
So we ask our selves how do we educate our children for work that hasn't yet been invented?
How do we teach children who live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world?
How do we educate for connection, relationships, and community?

By exploring and researching these ideas, we have come to learn that we need to educate for a different set of criteria. Rather than focusing entirely on facts and existing symbols, we need to teach for innovative thinking. Likewise, creative problem solving requires a need to educate for higher level thinking, collaboration and for children to be thoughtful and responsible citizens. We need to teach for this decade and the future.

We knew that our school needed to reflect these ideas. How do you create a school which balances and honors tradition while helping its community innovate for the world to come?

Over the years we have developed ‘Foundations and Practices’ that guide us and help us to make choices in our research and daily activities that will support these goals.

The roots of these ‘Foundations and Practices’ come from the theories and philosophies of Dewey, Vygotsky, Montessori, and Malaguzzi. These academic innovators, in their time laid the foundations for some of our western educational traditions. Into these ideas, we weave current scientific research from Filippini, Goleman, Dweke, Carson, and Gardner about psychology, neuroscience and ecology as the human race discovers new ways of knowing.

John Dewy developed the theory of Social Constructivism. Today, almost all progressive schools in the US have social constructivism theories at their core.

"A reaction to didactic approaches such as behaviorism and programmed instruction, constructivism states that learning is an active, contextualized process of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it. Knowledge is constructed based on personal experiences and hypotheses of the environment. Learners continuously test these hypotheses through social negotiation. Each person has a different interpretation and construction of knowledge process. The learner is not a blank slate (tabula rasa) but brings past experiences and cultural factors to a situation."

Cooper, P. A. (1993). Paradigm Shifts in Designed Instruction: From Behaviorism to Cognitivism to Constructivism. Educational technology, 33(5), 12-19.

Dewey believed that education should not be about filling a bucket but lighting a fire. That learning needs to be integrated and social in nature. Children need to have real-world experiences and many opportunities to solve problems. Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. Education therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living. Being that children are curious and intelligent, they can use these capabilities to come up with ways to problem solve challenges that are relevant and of interest to them.

Interest must be the motivation for all work. Teachers will, therefore, inspire a desire for knowledge that serve as guides in the investigations undertaken, rather than as task-masters.

"Learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge." - -Bruner

Branches Atelier Foundations and Practices

We value rich and meaningful relationships. We want children, teachers and families to feel that they belong here.

As teachers prepare to support children and families in these aims then we must:

Design, warm, creative, dynamic and aesthetic environments that welcome families into the school.
Actively cultivate our community outside of the school day through parent workshops, home visits and community events.

We value respect, reciprocity, kindness and empathy for children, families, community, our world and ourselves.

Therefore we must:

Actively integrate problem solving, conflict resolution and emotional literacy throughout our day.
Recognize that children are actively engaged citizens who are responsible for helping to create the culture of the classroom.
Seek ways to illuminate children’s connection and responsibility towards the rest of humanity, and all other living things.
Encourage children to retell their ideas as a way to create shared understandings and to help clarify their thinking because communication is essential to feeling like a competent community member.

We value creativity, imagination, problem solving, resiliency and flexibility.

Therefore we must:

Allow children time to solve problems.
Create environments that support communication, creativity and innovation.
Introduce intelligent materials.
Challenge children to scaffold each other’s learning.
Encourage children to test their theories even when we “know”them to be erroneous. A failed plan reveals new information, helping children move through a cycle of theory repair.

We value diverse points of view, multiple perspectives and being open to new possibilities.

Then we must:

Encourage children to orient newcomers to the work, so that new perspectives can help us innovate and build on our ideas.
Use reflection meeting as an entry point for new children.

We value diverse ways of communication and meaning-making

Then we must:

Provide materials that allow children to express their ideas. If drawing is not working, consider other media.
Research materials that are best suited for the job.
Allow children time to experiment with new materials.
Support children to develop and use systems that will allow them to work more efficiently.

We value thoughtful, reflective interactions and problem-solvingwhich supports and strengthens the values of our school.

Therefore we must:

Cultivate children’s creative problem solving and use innovative strategies as they arise.
Challenge children to engage in a cycle of theory repair, even when we “know” that their solutions may not work as new discoveries will emerge.

We value a sense of wonder. Wonder is the joyful seed of all innovation.

We must:

Re-discover our own sense of wonder through researching and reflecting alongside the children.
Look for the theory underlying the children’s ideas.
Build on the concept the children are grappling with, rather than the theme.
We need to slow down to help children to see the complexity in the simplest of things.

We value teachers and parents taking personal responsibility for integrating these values into the daily life of our school.

Therefore we must:

Allow for diversions, knowing that they are a necessary part of the creative process.
Continue to reflect and develop our values on a regular basis.
Consistently dialogue with parents so that children’s ideas and discoveries can become a part of our community knowledge.

We value working to educate parents and teachers and advocate for quality education for all children and families. We educate for the greater good with the hope to impact families and communities beyond the walls of our school.

Therefore we must:

We share our research with parents and educators beyond the walls of our school.
As we continue to bring new research and inspiration to our practice, our Foundationswill continue to develop and influence our work.