PSII: Reimagining What School Can Be

In class on Friday we were lucky enough to have Jeff Hopkins, the Principal of the Pacific School for Innovation and Inquiry (PSII) speak with us. I found the discussion fascinating, particularly the way the school has been set up to support learning: it looks so different than standard schools.

For instance, the school utilizes the surrounding community of downtown Victoria for much of its programming. Students have memberships at the YMCA and Crag X for their physical education, and frequently go to parks as well. I was struck by how seemingly obvious this step was, because it highlighted to me the ways I never questioned the separation between school and community beforehand. When I was in high school, I felt very much within a bubble and separate from my surroundings. I think this is a problem because students don’t develop the community awareness of community building skills that would serve them after graduation; school would be such an ideal opportunity to forge these connections and develop within students a sense of civic responsibility.

I also really liked that the students used Trello, a project management software to help organize and manage their learning plans. It made me realize that we so often overlook ways to support students in developing skills and capacities that are important for the real world. Why shouldn’t they get comfortable with software that is widely used in workplaces amongst adults? Often the switch from school to work can feel overwhelming and foreign to students; perhaps there is opportunities for further integration to make that transition smoother.

I was struck by Jeff’s generosity with his ideas and resources; he said we were welcome to take the resources they had created, including the <a href="http://<!– wp:paragraph –> <p>I was struck by Jeff's generosity with his ideas and resources; he said we were welcome to take the resources they had created, including the competencies and inquiry framework. Listening to the way this school worked made me feel like I really wanted to attend the school; not just as a kid, but now as an adult! To have support and guidance but the freedom and agency to follow your passions and interests sounds incredibly appealing. I am left considering the ways this model could be taken into a more traditional classroom environment, and hoping that it becomes more widely accepted and implemented across all schools.</p> competencies and inquiry framework. Listening to the way this school worked made me feel like I really wanted to attend the school; not just as a kid, but now as an adult! To have support and guidance but the freedom and agency to follow your passions and interests sounds incredibly appealing. I am left considering the ways this model could be taken into a more traditional classroom environment, and hoping that it becomes more widely accepted and implemented across all schools.