Introduction

Through this course, I was given the opportunity to visit the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII) alongside my fellow classmates in Downtown Victoria. We were given time to discuss the schools structure and pedagogy with the founder Jeff Hopkins and, Dr. Valerie Irvine. As a student preparing to enter elementary education, I was a little confused about why we were going to tour a high school. However, once we arrived and were welcomed into the space, Dr. Irvine explained this experience was still highly relevant for us as future elementary and middle school teachers. She explained that within elementary school, teachers often have more flexibility throughout their school day to be able to reimagine learning and make changes to the traditional teaching pedagogy, unlike high schools which are limited due to rigid structures. This explaination was really eye-opening and helped everything make sense.

Do we need to reimagine education?

I believe that we do need to reimagine education because right now, the system is set to meet a one-size-fits most approach. Through observing students and working with individuals with higher needs in educational contexts, I have seen how much work educators put in to adapt their lessons to meet individual students’ needs educators need to do so much adapting to make their lessons meet each students needs. This has made me feel like there could be a better approach to education. I am fascinated about the phiolosophy and pedagogy and PSII, which has an inquiry based focus. I am curuious about how this pedagogy could be adapted to fit the needs of an elementary school setting. As students need to develop foundational skills such as reading, writing.

What obstacles do educators often face when they try to change pedagogy?

After getting to visit PSII and learn about it from Jeff Hopkins, I beleive there are many obstacles that educators often face when they try to change teaching pedagogy. One major obstacle is the fear of losing what is familiar and comfortable. In order for meaningful change to occur, some level of discomfort is inevitable, and many people prefer to remina within the systems they already know. Another challenge is resistance from parents, students, other educators when attempting to move on from the traditional school structures. Even when educators are motivated to be innovative and fight for change, the resistance can make change difficult. for trying to change the traditional school system. Additionally, a signficant obstacle for educators to make change is the lack of time and support needed to make these meaningful changes to teaching pedagogy. This is predominantly due to educators busy schedules, class sizes, limited resources and so much more.

What are the potential benefits of developing a personal learning approach?

During my visit to PSII, I noticed that every student was engaged and working productively. This approach appears to motivate students because they are learning through subjects that genuinely interst them. Therefore, a key benefit to this individualized learning is that increased student agency leads to higher motivation and willingness to learn. This approach is also beneficial because students who attend PSII, who choose to go to post-secondary are more readily prepared for the transition, compared to peers in traditional school settings. Jeff Hopkins mentioned that because students spend so much time dedicated to their inquiry, they develop strong study habits and determination that support them in the transition to post-secondary. Another benefit of PSII’s approach is that it can motivate students to learn subjects that are less preferred, by connecting them to their inquiry project. One example that I heard was how one student who was really into figure skating but less interested in learning math and physics, incorporated these subjects into their passion. Teachers suggested the student to research and learn about the physics of figure skating.

Photos from my Tour at PSII