Educational Philosophy
We believe that students must see value in their educational experience before they can be fully present at school and committed to long-term success. Effective middle schools meet three conditions to make this happen:
- The school must recognize that its commitment to each student's academic success and personal development are inextricably linked.
- Staff members must model the values that they teach, i.e. academic excellence and personal growth must be hallmarks of all adults that students encounter.
- The school must embrace in philosophy and practice a set of core practices and a corresponding curriculum that guides its decisions so that the learning experience is coherent.
As a Massachusetts public school partnered with Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound, McAuliffe Regional CPS has created a curriculum organized around the Massachusetts Frameworks and teaching methods consistent with Expeditionary Learning's Core Practice Benchmarks. We believe that our approach meets all three necessary conditions for student success.
Expeditionary Learning promotes learning as a rich and organic process that emphasizes students becoming experts in how to be active, effective learners, rather than simply trying to ingest and remember information. Through in-depth explorations called learning expeditions, and through a series of teaching practices collectively known as active pedagogy, students gain skills and knowledge in a way that broadens how they see themselves, their study topics, and ultimately the nature of learning itself.
Students grow through their successes and failures and by taking responsibility for their learning (two of Expeditionary Learning's Design Principles). They develop confidence, learn research and revision skills, gain in-depth understanding of meaningful content, and gradually learn the value of creating quality work.
Learning expeditions blend in-school content, fieldwork outside the classroom and performing community service, all culminating to create products for external audiences (parents, community and peers). This results-oriented, integrated process shows students the benefits and tangible results associated with their hard work. This active, experiential approach cultivates skill development and content knowledge and provides students with a life-long platform for becoming resourceful learners who take initiative and value their education.