Douglas Fisher

Nancy Frey

Dominique Smith

Ian Pumpian

Policies and Practices to Empower All Learners

Building Equity

Susan Wachowiak

School in the Park is an innovative museum-based educational effort to engage students in their community during the school day. Since 1999 several hundred students have been educated each year in museums and the zoo in San Diego. This is more than a field trip, it is changing the way that education is provided. Challenging the Classroom Standard Through Museum-Based Education: School in the Park presents the experience of School in the Park from the perspective of different disciplines--oral language, reading, writing, social studies, math, science, and the arts--to determine how students are learning content within museums and the zoo. It provides a number of examples, case studies, references, scenarios, and recommendations for teaching and learning outside of the traditional classroom. The perspectives of teachers, museum educators, and students are represented. Importantly, this book offers ideas that readers can use in their own communities, ranging from long-term partnering with cultural institutions to one-day trips, to ensure that students have authentic experiences with the curriculum. With the current increased focus on accountability and achievement, less attention and importance is given to community-based learning experiences. This book demonstrates the viability of merging formal and informal learning and using community venues as an extension of the classroom. All those interested in and charged with educating children will find this book useful in exploring powerful learning experiences that occur outside traditional classroom settings.

School in the Park

Challenging the Classroom Standard Through Museum-based Education

What does it feel like to walk into your school? Is it a welcoming place, where everyone feels valued? Most school improvement efforts focus on academic goals, instructional models, curriculum, and assessments. But sometimes what can make or break your learning community are the intangibles--the relationships, identity, and connections that make up its culture. Authors Fisher, Frey, and Pumpian believe that no school improvement effort will be effective unless school culture is addressed. They identify five pillars that are critical to building a culture of achievement: 1. Welcome: Imagine if all staff members in your school considered it their job to make every student, parent, and visitor feel noticed, welcomed, and valued. 2. Do no harm: Your school rules should be tools for teaching students to become the moral and ethical citizens you expect them to be. 3. Choice words: When the language students hear helps them tell a story about themselves that is one of possibility and potential, students perform in ways that are consistent with that belief. 4. It's never too late to learn: Can you push students to go beyond the minimum needed to get by, to discover what they are capable of achieving? 5. Best school in the universe: Is your school the best place to teach and learn? The best place to work? Drawing on their years of experience in the classroom, the authors explain how these pillars support good teaching and learning. In addition, they provide 19 action research tools that will help you create a culture of achievement, so that your school or classroom is the best it can be. After reading this book, you'll see why culture makes the difference between a school that enables success for all students and a school that merely houses those students during the school day.

How to Create a Culture of Achievement in Your School and Classroom

Ian Pumpian

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