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| Author: | Aaron Schildkrout
| | Description: | Semester-long investigation of a single topic of justice and/or injustice.
| | Participants: | High-school seniors.
| | Schedule: | Classes and field work interspersed with other humanities study.
| | Goals: | Through detailed study and the expression of the students' own ideas, a transformative understanding of justice and injustice.
| | Products: | Authentic products addressing the topic and of real service in the students' world.
| | Assessment: | Ongoing assessment using detailed rubrics, close consultation and observation in the development of products, assessment of final products.
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The Justice/Injustice project described here aims to create a Humanities expedition that is truly “expeditionary”. By this we mean a curriculum that is grounded in the fundamental drive to create authentic products that are of real service to our world. These products grow out of rigorous, in-depth investigations into real-world topics that are compelling and that are connected to students’ own life stories. The learning in such an expedition is profoundly skill-based and is oriented most fundamentally towards making students stronger readers, writers, and thinkers.
The classroom staples of such a curriculum include: extensive field work, authentic research, on-going reflection, consistent use of appropriate technology, independent work combined with rigorous skill-based mini-lessons and frequent conferencing, group collaboration, timely investigations of student work, inquiry-based instructional methods, on-going differentiation for all learners, and an ethic of multiple revisions oriented towards publication. Ultimately, the deepest goal of such a expedition is to catalyze profound transformations in students’ lives, both intellectually/academically and (inter)personally.
First implemented in the 2004-5 school year at CACPS, this project was highly successful and, we believe, succeeded in achieving its deepest goal for literally every student involved. For all the challenges that we faced along the way (and there were many!), the expedition was ultimately an amazing experience for everyone (students as well as teachers). We hope that the materials that follow inspire you and create idea sparks that will manifest as radiant fires of learning in classrooms around the country.
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Best Practices
