2014 LRNG Innovation Challenge grant<\/a>, Castle Hill Middle School is implementing a school-wide YPAR project to create an online \u201chub\u201d for individual student projects, to include resources, data, and tutorials uploaded by both students and teachers.<\/p>\nLed mostly by the Social Studies faculty across sixth through eighth grades, students will navigate a Connected Learning-based methodology that will help them better understand and take action on the social and political problems closest to them. All 750 of the school\u2019s students are currently involved in the project, and they\u2019re diving into everyday issues, including the social and ecological environment of the school, bullying, and even the nutritional content and cultural relevance of school lunches. <\/p>\n
Students don\u2019t just see the project as another school assignment. They\u2019re excited about the opportunity to research and explore, and are using online annotation apps and group chat to collaborate and have independent discussions about the project. Curious about student engagement and interest at her school, student council president Sibill is investigating this issue by developing a series of interview questions for students, teachers, and administrators. Because of this project, Sibill believes that she\u2019s able to \u201cbetter explain to teachers, other students, and administrators the causes of students being engaged or not engaged. I\u2019m learning to look at problems from multiple perspectives.” <\/p>\n
Students will continue to shape their projects through data collection, trips to research sites, and talking with community leaders and field professionals. Documenting work and sharing progress with new technologies, students keep the collaborative energy going by using iPads, video cameras, computer stations, and mobile devices to record and load work onto the developing online platform. Trips are planned to Albany, NY and Washington, DC, where students will present their findings to state legislators. \u201cI think that through the process students are being empowered to think critically about the structures in society that have been created,\u201d said Martin Sanders, a teacher at Castle Hill and one of the project\u2019s leaders. \u201cThey\u2019re gaining knowledge about those systems and where they come from and being empowered on how to challenge the status quo.\u201d <\/p>\n
Though research skills are taught and have a place within traditional classroom environments, it\u2019s difficult to ensure that students are given the opportunities to apply these skills in settings and situations outside of school. Many educators also worry about not having the time to make additions to existing curriculums, comply with standardization measures, or access to the technologies needed to support student inquiry projects. Castle Hill, a public, ethnically diverse middle school situated in the Bronx, NY, had first-hand knowledge of these constraints as they worked to implement a participatory research program at the school last year. So why is it worth the effort? <\/p>\n
\u201cYPAR positions youth to provide alternative solutions to problems that they encounter, trusted to make decisions about issues that have a direct bearing on the trajectory of their individual and collective futures,\u201d says educator and team member Danielle Filipiak. \u201cIt asks the question, \u2018what can we do to improve the quality of life in our community?\u2019 and it takes seriously young people’s responses to this question.\u201d <\/p>\n
The 2014 Learning Innovation Challenge, supported by the National Writing Project, John Legend\u2019s Show Me Campaign, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, awarded 14 teams with grants for innovative projects that create more time and space for students to pursue interests and create work that is meaningful to them. <\/p>\n
Already, the school is transforming, with pedagogical approaches and tech-influenced practices being put into place, all fueled by the passion of the team engaged in the work and the greater school community. Notes Filipiak, \u201cSo often the narrative is that urban schools don’t have strong leaders. This just isn’t the case. The administrators who invited this project into the building are willing to struggle through trying something different. They believe and hope for the best for students and teachers.\u201d <\/p>\n
By Maranatha Bivens<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Grounded in Youth Participatory Action Research and supported by an LRNG Innovation Challenge grant, students at Castle Hill Middle School in the Bronx are engaged in thinking critically about issues that matter to them, and are empowered to provide solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":8407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[518],"tags":[619,486,503,504],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8404"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8404"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8543,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8404\/revisions\/8543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}