In a previous post, I looked at a framework to guide inquiry that’s used at the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII), an innovative high school on  lək̓ʷəŋən territories in Victoria, B.C. We were lucky to have Jeff Hopkins, the principal of PSII, join our class to talk about the school and some of the projects his students are working on. I found Jeff’s discussion to be really inspiring. We’re learning about the concept of inquiry in all sorts of classes, and it’s really neat to see how Jeff and PSII have run with it and are implementing it in real and meaningful ways.

A Tedx Talk by Jeff Hopkins where he discusses PSII and the future of education.

Key Takeaways

1. Emergent Curriculum

One of the terms Jeff used that really stuck with me was “emergent curriculum”. My understanding of emergent curriculum is curriculum that emerges from student interest and ideas. I think this is a really interesting, powerful, and engaging model for co-creating curriculum. One of the main questions I had about PSII is how they line up this emergent curriculum with the B.C. curriculum that they are having to work within. This is something I feel like I still don’t understand fully, but from what Jeff said, it sounds like this can sometimes be a bit challenging. PSII is trying to move beyond simple coverage of curriculum within a system that is still trying to check curriculum boxes.

Some of the areas of study learners are focusing on at PSII.

2. Assessment of/for/as Learning

One of my other main takeaways from Jeff was his focus on assessment as a tool of, for, and as learning. We haven’t taken a class in assessment yet in this program, but have been learning a little bit about it in a couple of our classes. Jeff’s perspective on assessment was really interesting because it is really embedded in everything that PSII learners and teachers do. When I think about my high school experience, we did a lot of learning followed by assessing (Assessment of Learning) and a lot less of assessment as part of the learning process. I’m really interested in learning more about assessment and the different ways it can work, which is something I didn’t expect that I would have a lot of interest in coming into this program.

Interesting info session about how math is approached and assessed as PSII.

Resources from Jeff

Jeff shared a whole bunch of resources with us, including some of the books, videos, and ideas that guide his work at PSII. With all of the resources being thrown at us, I thought I’d compile a list so that I can come back to them later. Here are some of the things he shared: