The focus, concentration, and smiling eyes speak volumes.
One month into our 71st year, examples of active engagement in the
scholarly and creative abound at Saint David's: Our young scientists in first grade learn how to use pipettes and microscopes.
Second graders engage with museum educators and their Saint David's teachers for a months-long collaboration with the Guggenheim Museum on an art inquiry and creation unit that takes place just down the block at the museum and in our art studios. Our eighth graders, as part of their micro-to-macro exploration of human anatomy, prepare to dissect cows' eyes; this hands-on experience will provide a deeper comprehension of anatomy than can be gleaned through illustrations in text books or videos.
The Philharmonic Ensemble, Chamber Singers, and Percussion Ensemble are all back - our boys are flexing their creative muscles as they play instruments or sing, all safely and in accordance with pandemic protocols. It is wonderful to once again hear music through the doors of the Otto-Bernstein Theatre on our second floor.
In these and all our endeavors, Saint David's teachers guide and coach the boys to think deeply and creatively; to explore the questions "why," "what if," and "how;" to be ever curious and to innovate.
And our teachers have modeled this, themselves. This past summer more than 50 of our faculty members engaged in a variety of professional development experiences that sparked innovation in several units. The very nature of these workshops used tech creatively to eliminate the barriers of time and space.
Led and organized by our Director of Teaching and Learning, Jamie MacNeille, the experiences ranged from workshops and conferences, such as the International Boys' Schools Coalition seminar on relational teaching, to Teaching for Understanding workshops, and innovative curriculum-related projects. TFU, developed by Harvard's Graduate School of Education, is the common pedagogical framework we utilize to design or redesign our courses with the goal of maximizing learning and depth of understanding.
Most exciting on the professional development front was the launch of our new Exploring Action Research initiative the summer. The initiative enables our faculty members to engage in original action research on a topic that has pedagogical and practical implications for the effectiveness of teaching. At Saint David's, it is driven by real-world questions that arise in the classrooms, within the context of our school's mission, values and pedagogical imperative. It is where the science and craft of teaching boys intersect, honoring our school's rich traditions while inspiring research-based innovation. I look forward to sharing more on this topic in later entries.
