CURRICULUM
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
If you are not yet applying but would like to receive additional information about CWC, please complete this form.
If you are not yet applying but would like to receive additional information about CWC, please complete this form.
EMAIL US
info@citizensoftheworld.org
info@citizensoftheworld.org
"We have learned to be citizens of the world,
members of the human community."
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Fourth Inaugural Address, January 20, 1945.
CWC's curriculum is based on three of the leading strategies in education:
We believe an educated person in the 21st century strives to grow in all possible ways. An educated person can work independently and also work within a group, cooperatively at times as a member of the group, or at other times as a leader. An educated person thinks creatively and critically. Respectful of this nation's - and our City's - remarkable cultural and social diversity, an educated person participates thoughtfully and effectively in our democratic society. Cognizant of our ties as human beings on the planet, and as individuals in an increasingly digital, fast-paced world, an educated person seeks to be a productive, caring and responsible citizen of the world.
Our emphasis on Gardner's Multiple Intelligence theory embraces the notion that an educated person in the 21st century is one who has developed a broad range of skills interests across each of Gardner's eight areas of intelligence:
Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, including the ability to use language to accomplish certain goals; to listen perceptively and read critically; to learn languages; to express oneself persuasively or poetically.
Logical-mathematical intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking: the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically, conceptually, and abstractly; the interest in experimentation, puzzles, investigations and cosmic questions.
Musical intelligence involves the capacity to distinguish the whole realm of sound and, in particular, to discern, appreciate and apply the various aspects of music (pitch, rhythm, timbre and mood), both separately and holistically.
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence involves the ability to use one's body in highly differentiated and skilled ways, for both goal-oriented and expressive purposes; the capacity to exercise fine and gross motor control of one's body.
Spatial intelligence involves the ability to accurately perceive the visual world and to re-create, manipulate and modify aspects of one's perceptions, even in the absence of the relevant visual stimuli.
Interpersonal intelligence relates to the ability to work cooperatively and communicate, verbally and non-verbally, with other people; the insight to understand others' intentions, motivations and desires; and the judgment to recognize the biases underlying sources of information.
Intrapersonal intelligence involves the ability to understand oneself; the motivation and focus to study independently; and the wisdom to reflect. "The first, and most important, ability you can develop in a flat world is the ability to 'learn how to learn' - to constantly absorb, and teach yourself... " (Friedman)
Naturalist intelligence (added to Gardner's theory in 1997) involves the ability to recognize, collect, analyze and classify plants, minerals, animals, flora, fauna and even cultural objects such as cars and sneakers. Those who excel in naturalist intelligence exhibit a greater sensitivity to nature and their place within it, the ability to nurture and grow things, and care for animals.
"[Multiple Intelligence] theory is an agent of cognitive equity: it enables a greater diversity of individuals to use their minds well. In turn, the theory is a democratizing tool: it facilitates the development and expression of ideas by those who might otherwise remain largely unheard in their communities or in the wider society." (Kornhaber, 2009.)
HOW LEARNING BEST OCCURS
CWC will incorporate and integrate some of the most proven, successful curriculum methodologies, educational philosophies that have withstood the test of time, and current "best thinking" in the fields of neuroscience, developmental psychology, and education. We start with the simple premise that "Education should be child centered; we should begin planning the lesson by looking at where the child is developmentally." (Dewey, 1902.) More specifically, we believe:
Learning best occurs when students are treated as individuals, with lessons tailored to their differences and taught in several ways. We believe that all children can learn, and that one child's potential is not simply higher or lower than another's, but rather expressed on different dimensions in different ways. (Moran, 2009.) "People are not born with a given amount of intelligence, which serves as some kind of limit. We each have potentials across the intellectual spectrum." (Gardner, 2009.)
While educational pedagogy has long recognized that there are different ways of knowing and learning the same information, many schools continue to emphasize a "one-size-fits-all" approach to teaching. Every experienced teacher can cite examples of students who do not "test" well, yet clearly are bright - even gifted -- in certain disciplines. While we will appropriately prepare our students for standardized tests, we also believe that through a constructivist, project-based curriculum, we can allow children to demonstrate their learning and understanding consistent with their individual intelligences, beyond measuring their success on standardized pencil and paper tests. "By recognizing the diversity of intelligences that are available for students to tap into their understanding of the world, and by creating an environment that encourages students to develop and express those intelligences, we can be more confident and hopeful of our own work." (Rizzo, 2009.)
Howard Gardner recently wrote:
CWC will take these guiding principles to heart.
Learning best occurs when students construct their own meaning. We believe that learning should not consist of one person (a teacher) imparting knowledge onto another (a student), but rather that people should work with one another in constructing knowledge. (Freire, 1972). We believe that learning best occurs when students are given the means to explore, solve problems, reflect on situations and demonstrate their knowledge individually and in groups, allowing learners to construct their own meaning. We believe that learning occurs when existing beliefs, theories and perceptions are challenged through conversation, hands-on activities, or experiences. Learning occurs when learners initiate activities based on self-generated goals, work actively with concrete materials, try out ideas, solve problems, make mistakes and correct them, and have opportunities to stop and reflect on what they've done. Therefore, the more actively engaged children are in the learning process, the more effectively they will understand and retain concepts and skills. As the LAUSD Board-Adopted Superintendent's Strategic Plan states, "We learn by being active, not passive, learners."
Learning best occurs when children are motivated to seek understanding through dynamic investigation and exploration in the context of "real world" scenarios and projects. We believe that learning best occurs when children are self-motivated and inspired to answer questions across disciplines that have meaning and relevance for them. We believe project-based learning capitalizes on students' natural curiosities and methods of exploring the world around them, reality, self-awareness and more. (Freire, 1970.)
At their best, projects can serve a number of purposes well. They engage students over a significant period of time, spurring them to produce drafts, revise their work, and reflect on it. They foster positive cooperativeness in which each student can make a distinctive contribution. They model the kind of useful work that is carried out after the completion of school in the wider community. They allow students to discover their areas of strength and to put the best foot forward; they engender a feeling of deep involvement or flow, substituting intrinsic for extrinsic motivation (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). Perhaps most important, they offer a proper venue in which to demonstrate the kinds of understandings that the student has (or has not) achieved in the course of the regular school curriculum. (Gardner, 2006.)
Learning best occurs when students have clear - and high - expectations, receive appropriate guidance and enthusiastic support. We believe that learning best occurs when learners are expected to learn and when they are supported in their learning. We believe an effective educational program must begin with explicitly-stated, expected outcomes, such as the California state standards, areas identified by Gardner's multiple intelligences, and character development relating to our role as active participants in the "human community." We believe that children want to be challenged, and given high expectations for their own futures. They must then be given appropriate, individualized support to achieve the stated goals, and meaningful opportunities to demonstrate their accomplishments and successes. Constant communication between students, faculty and families must occur to facilitate ongoing analysis of each student's learning in the context of these stated objectives. As noted psychologist Lev Vygotsky described in Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, the key to a learning experience within a student's zone of proximal development is "problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers." Teachers scaffold the learning of students and differentiate instruction in order to lead all students to academic growth and achievement.
Learning best occurs when teachers are given ample resources - including time and training - to develop their skills and talents, supported by top experts in the field. We believe it is imperative that teachers study and understand the best thinking in education, including the works of Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner, Freire, Gardner, Hahn, Eisner, Noddings, Greeno, Lave and others. We believe teachers should be provided ample time, resources and support to continuously develop their understanding, pedagogy and skills, to collaborate with faculty both within our school and at other schools, and to consistently be learners themselves in the context of our school community.
Learning best occurs when standardized tests provide only a small part of the picture in determining student achievements. We believe that assessment is not a cross to bear, but rather an opportunity to identify weaknesses in our program and students' progress, validate strengths, and improve our curriculum, teaching and student learning. We believe that assessment should be ongoing and holistic, and that effective data systems can help educators continually assess and refine their curriculum's impact on each individual child throughout the school year. We believe that undue emphasis on paper and pencil tests of linguistic and mathematical skills only provide a small sampling of the talents, skills and intelligences of each student. "Many schools identify themselves as 'child centered' ... [y]et few adapt their curriculum and assessment model to reflect each child's uniqueness and perspective of the world. Instead, children are given a general curriculum to follow and must adapt their skills accordingly. Assessment is often a default to logical-mathematical and linguistic intelligences when schools generalize about 'intelligence.'" (Rizzo, 2009.)
We believe that children must be evaluated on, and educated well beyond the "core" or "scholastic" intelligences of how well they read, write and compute. We believe that art, music, dance, physical education, character education and more have an important place in our schools and the development of our children today. "Make no mistake: it is important that students do well in traditional academic areas, but an understanding an appreciation of MI makes it clear that the scholastic intelligences do not encompass all of the ways in which children can and should grow ... Embracing the MI model elevates the role of art, music, and movement in education." (Hoerr, 2009.)
Learning best occurs when students know how to collaborate, cooperate and negotiate with diverse people and understand others' perspectives. We believe that students should not be educated in classrooms with other students whose experiences are largely similar to their own (culturally, economically, linguistically) but rather in our rapidly developing technologically-driven world, we believe it is more imperative than at any other time in human history that people be open to the perspectives, values and meanings of different cultures. As students age and develop, their learning - tied to state content standards - will similarly grow in perspective from the local neighborhood to the city, state, nation and world. We believe that the remarkable diversity of our neighborhood offers an incredible opportunity that, to date, has not been fully realized in Los Angeles public education. "Cross-cultural interactions ... add a new level of possibility for learning and understanding ... Contributions [from intelligences] can range from proficiency to expertise in the maintenance of existing cultural practices, to creativity, or cultural transformation, to wisdom, or particularly astute actions that consider multiple perspectives within a situation or culture to have a positive effect on the common good." (Moran, 2009.)
Learning best occurs when students - even the youngest - are given opportunities to make a difference in their world and see the power of their own actions in effecting change. We believe that children must be given opportunities not only to learn, demonstrate and display their work, but beyond that, to contribute to their community in a culturally valued way. As children engage in their community, plan and interact to apply their intelligences in a meaningful way, they are empowered by seeing the impact of their actions on those around them in the real world. (Moran, 2009.) We believe this opportunity to make a difference is a powerful motivator for even the youngest and most at-risk children to succeed and build confidence in their ability to create a better future for themselves, their families and community.
Most importantly, we believe learning best occurs when children have confidence and believe they can succeed. We believe that when children are given the opportunity to express their skills, talents and intelligences across a variety of contexts, they are able to realize more success and thus develop more confidence. "It is of the utmost importance that we recognize and nurture all of the varied human intelligences and all of the combinations of intelligences. We are all so different largely because we have different combinations of intelligences ... If we can mobilize the spectrum of human abilities, not only will people feel better about themselves and more competent; it is even possible that they will also feel more engaged and better able to join the rest of the world community in working for the broader good." (Gardner, 2006.)
- Constructivism: This theory, based on research about how people learn, focuses on active, hands-on learning in which students "construct" their own knowledge. Constructivism also emphasizes that teaching and learning must be "differentiated" or individually tailored for each student, beginning with each learner's level of understanding and guiding students in building upon their prior knowledge.
- Project-Based Learning: In this framework, students are involved in planning, problem-solving, decision-making, and investigation around a central theme. They work relatively autonomously as well as cooperatively over extended periods of time; they reflect on their work, receive feedback and incorporate the feedback; they are guided by teachers' facilitation, not direction, to develop skills; their final product represents the skills and knowledge they gained, which fulfill explicit educational goals based on the state standards.
- Multiple Intelligence Theory: First detailed by Harvard professor Howard Gardner in 1983, Multiple Intelligence theory rejects the notion that intelligence is a single, fixed measurement. Rather, Gardner argues - in a theory that has since had a major impact on education around the world - "I believe that human cognitive competence is better described in terms of a set of abilities, talents, or mental skills, which I call intelligences. All normal individuals possess each of these skills to some extent; individuals differ in the degree of skill and in the nature of their combination ... [I]ntelligences always work in concert, and any sophisticated adult role will involve a melding of several of them." (Gardner, Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons, 2006.)
We believe an educated person in the 21st century strives to grow in all possible ways. An educated person can work independently and also work within a group, cooperatively at times as a member of the group, or at other times as a leader. An educated person thinks creatively and critically. Respectful of this nation's - and our City's - remarkable cultural and social diversity, an educated person participates thoughtfully and effectively in our democratic society. Cognizant of our ties as human beings on the planet, and as individuals in an increasingly digital, fast-paced world, an educated person seeks to be a productive, caring and responsible citizen of the world.
Too often we concentrate on cramming students' heads with easily testable facts and ignore the discourse of responsibility, interdependent sociality, community, and commitment ... Our children need to know something about ... what it means to be a parent ... good neighbors, responsible pet owners, concerned guardians of the natural world, and honest colleagues in whatever activities they pursue ... These are the common learnings teachers should include in their courses; these are the topics that arise in common human experience. (Noddings, Rethinking the Benefits of the College-Bound Curriculum. Phi Delta Kappan, 2006.)
Our emphasis on Gardner's Multiple Intelligence theory embraces the notion that an educated person in the 21st century is one who has developed a broad range of skills interests across each of Gardner's eight areas of intelligence:
Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, including the ability to use language to accomplish certain goals; to listen perceptively and read critically; to learn languages; to express oneself persuasively or poetically.
Logical-mathematical intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking: the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically, conceptually, and abstractly; the interest in experimentation, puzzles, investigations and cosmic questions.
Musical intelligence involves the capacity to distinguish the whole realm of sound and, in particular, to discern, appreciate and apply the various aspects of music (pitch, rhythm, timbre and mood), both separately and holistically.
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence involves the ability to use one's body in highly differentiated and skilled ways, for both goal-oriented and expressive purposes; the capacity to exercise fine and gross motor control of one's body.
Spatial intelligence involves the ability to accurately perceive the visual world and to re-create, manipulate and modify aspects of one's perceptions, even in the absence of the relevant visual stimuli.
Interpersonal intelligence relates to the ability to work cooperatively and communicate, verbally and non-verbally, with other people; the insight to understand others' intentions, motivations and desires; and the judgment to recognize the biases underlying sources of information.
Intrapersonal intelligence involves the ability to understand oneself; the motivation and focus to study independently; and the wisdom to reflect. "The first, and most important, ability you can develop in a flat world is the ability to 'learn how to learn' - to constantly absorb, and teach yourself... " (Friedman)
Naturalist intelligence (added to Gardner's theory in 1997) involves the ability to recognize, collect, analyze and classify plants, minerals, animals, flora, fauna and even cultural objects such as cars and sneakers. Those who excel in naturalist intelligence exhibit a greater sensitivity to nature and their place within it, the ability to nurture and grow things, and care for animals.
"[Multiple Intelligence] theory is an agent of cognitive equity: it enables a greater diversity of individuals to use their minds well. In turn, the theory is a democratizing tool: it facilitates the development and expression of ideas by those who might otherwise remain largely unheard in their communities or in the wider society." (Kornhaber, 2009.)
HOW LEARNING BEST OCCURS
CWC will incorporate and integrate some of the most proven, successful curriculum methodologies, educational philosophies that have withstood the test of time, and current "best thinking" in the fields of neuroscience, developmental psychology, and education. We start with the simple premise that "Education should be child centered; we should begin planning the lesson by looking at where the child is developmentally." (Dewey, 1902.) More specifically, we believe:
Learning best occurs when students are treated as individuals, with lessons tailored to their differences and taught in several ways. We believe that all children can learn, and that one child's potential is not simply higher or lower than another's, but rather expressed on different dimensions in different ways. (Moran, 2009.) "People are not born with a given amount of intelligence, which serves as some kind of limit. We each have potentials across the intellectual spectrum." (Gardner, 2009.)
While educational pedagogy has long recognized that there are different ways of knowing and learning the same information, many schools continue to emphasize a "one-size-fits-all" approach to teaching. Every experienced teacher can cite examples of students who do not "test" well, yet clearly are bright - even gifted -- in certain disciplines. While we will appropriately prepare our students for standardized tests, we also believe that through a constructivist, project-based curriculum, we can allow children to demonstrate their learning and understanding consistent with their individual intelligences, beyond measuring their success on standardized pencil and paper tests. "By recognizing the diversity of intelligences that are available for students to tap into their understanding of the world, and by creating an environment that encourages students to develop and express those intelligences, we can be more confident and hopeful of our own work." (Rizzo, 2009.)
Howard Gardner recently wrote:
After two decades of considering the educational implications of MI theory, I have concluded that two are paramount. First, educators who embrace MI theory should take differences among individuals seriously and should, inasmuch as possible, craft education so that each child can be reached in the optimal manner ... Second, any discipline, idea, skill, or concept of significance should be taught in several ways. These ways should, by argument, activate different intelligences or combinations of intelligences. Such an approach yields two enormous dividends. First, a plurality of approaches ensures that the teacher (or teaching material) will reach more children. Second, a plurality of approaches signals to learners what it means to have a deep, rounded understanding of a topic. Only individuals who can think of a topic in several ways have a thorough understanding of that topic; those whose understanding is limited to a single instantiation have a fragile grasp. (Gardner, Birth and the Spreading of a "Meme," Multiple Intelligences Around the World, 2009.)
CWC will take these guiding principles to heart.
Learning best occurs when students construct their own meaning. We believe that learning should not consist of one person (a teacher) imparting knowledge onto another (a student), but rather that people should work with one another in constructing knowledge. (Freire, 1972). We believe that learning best occurs when students are given the means to explore, solve problems, reflect on situations and demonstrate their knowledge individually and in groups, allowing learners to construct their own meaning. We believe that learning occurs when existing beliefs, theories and perceptions are challenged through conversation, hands-on activities, or experiences. Learning occurs when learners initiate activities based on self-generated goals, work actively with concrete materials, try out ideas, solve problems, make mistakes and correct them, and have opportunities to stop and reflect on what they've done. Therefore, the more actively engaged children are in the learning process, the more effectively they will understand and retain concepts and skills. As the LAUSD Board-Adopted Superintendent's Strategic Plan states, "We learn by being active, not passive, learners."
Learning best occurs when children are motivated to seek understanding through dynamic investigation and exploration in the context of "real world" scenarios and projects. We believe that learning best occurs when children are self-motivated and inspired to answer questions across disciplines that have meaning and relevance for them. We believe project-based learning capitalizes on students' natural curiosities and methods of exploring the world around them, reality, self-awareness and more. (Freire, 1970.)
At their best, projects can serve a number of purposes well. They engage students over a significant period of time, spurring them to produce drafts, revise their work, and reflect on it. They foster positive cooperativeness in which each student can make a distinctive contribution. They model the kind of useful work that is carried out after the completion of school in the wider community. They allow students to discover their areas of strength and to put the best foot forward; they engender a feeling of deep involvement or flow, substituting intrinsic for extrinsic motivation (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). Perhaps most important, they offer a proper venue in which to demonstrate the kinds of understandings that the student has (or has not) achieved in the course of the regular school curriculum. (Gardner, 2006.)
Learning best occurs when students have clear - and high - expectations, receive appropriate guidance and enthusiastic support. We believe that learning best occurs when learners are expected to learn and when they are supported in their learning. We believe an effective educational program must begin with explicitly-stated, expected outcomes, such as the California state standards, areas identified by Gardner's multiple intelligences, and character development relating to our role as active participants in the "human community." We believe that children want to be challenged, and given high expectations for their own futures. They must then be given appropriate, individualized support to achieve the stated goals, and meaningful opportunities to demonstrate their accomplishments and successes. Constant communication between students, faculty and families must occur to facilitate ongoing analysis of each student's learning in the context of these stated objectives. As noted psychologist Lev Vygotsky described in Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, the key to a learning experience within a student's zone of proximal development is "problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers." Teachers scaffold the learning of students and differentiate instruction in order to lead all students to academic growth and achievement.
Learning best occurs when teachers are given ample resources - including time and training - to develop their skills and talents, supported by top experts in the field. We believe it is imperative that teachers study and understand the best thinking in education, including the works of Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner, Freire, Gardner, Hahn, Eisner, Noddings, Greeno, Lave and others. We believe teachers should be provided ample time, resources and support to continuously develop their understanding, pedagogy and skills, to collaborate with faculty both within our school and at other schools, and to consistently be learners themselves in the context of our school community.
Learning best occurs when standardized tests provide only a small part of the picture in determining student achievements. We believe that assessment is not a cross to bear, but rather an opportunity to identify weaknesses in our program and students' progress, validate strengths, and improve our curriculum, teaching and student learning. We believe that assessment should be ongoing and holistic, and that effective data systems can help educators continually assess and refine their curriculum's impact on each individual child throughout the school year. We believe that undue emphasis on paper and pencil tests of linguistic and mathematical skills only provide a small sampling of the talents, skills and intelligences of each student. "Many schools identify themselves as 'child centered' ... [y]et few adapt their curriculum and assessment model to reflect each child's uniqueness and perspective of the world. Instead, children are given a general curriculum to follow and must adapt their skills accordingly. Assessment is often a default to logical-mathematical and linguistic intelligences when schools generalize about 'intelligence.'" (Rizzo, 2009.)
We believe that children must be evaluated on, and educated well beyond the "core" or "scholastic" intelligences of how well they read, write and compute. We believe that art, music, dance, physical education, character education and more have an important place in our schools and the development of our children today. "Make no mistake: it is important that students do well in traditional academic areas, but an understanding an appreciation of MI makes it clear that the scholastic intelligences do not encompass all of the ways in which children can and should grow ... Embracing the MI model elevates the role of art, music, and movement in education." (Hoerr, 2009.)
Learning best occurs when students know how to collaborate, cooperate and negotiate with diverse people and understand others' perspectives. We believe that students should not be educated in classrooms with other students whose experiences are largely similar to their own (culturally, economically, linguistically) but rather in our rapidly developing technologically-driven world, we believe it is more imperative than at any other time in human history that people be open to the perspectives, values and meanings of different cultures. As students age and develop, their learning - tied to state content standards - will similarly grow in perspective from the local neighborhood to the city, state, nation and world. We believe that the remarkable diversity of our neighborhood offers an incredible opportunity that, to date, has not been fully realized in Los Angeles public education. "Cross-cultural interactions ... add a new level of possibility for learning and understanding ... Contributions [from intelligences] can range from proficiency to expertise in the maintenance of existing cultural practices, to creativity, or cultural transformation, to wisdom, or particularly astute actions that consider multiple perspectives within a situation or culture to have a positive effect on the common good." (Moran, 2009.)
Learning best occurs when students - even the youngest - are given opportunities to make a difference in their world and see the power of their own actions in effecting change. We believe that children must be given opportunities not only to learn, demonstrate and display their work, but beyond that, to contribute to their community in a culturally valued way. As children engage in their community, plan and interact to apply their intelligences in a meaningful way, they are empowered by seeing the impact of their actions on those around them in the real world. (Moran, 2009.) We believe this opportunity to make a difference is a powerful motivator for even the youngest and most at-risk children to succeed and build confidence in their ability to create a better future for themselves, their families and community.
Most importantly, we believe learning best occurs when children have confidence and believe they can succeed. We believe that when children are given the opportunity to express their skills, talents and intelligences across a variety of contexts, they are able to realize more success and thus develop more confidence. "It is of the utmost importance that we recognize and nurture all of the varied human intelligences and all of the combinations of intelligences. We are all so different largely because we have different combinations of intelligences ... If we can mobilize the spectrum of human abilities, not only will people feel better about themselves and more competent; it is even possible that they will also feel more engaged and better able to join the rest of the world community in working for the broader good." (Gardner, 2006.)