Honoring Choice and Voice: Putting Children in Charge of Their Learning
Date: Saturday, January 28, 2023
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location: Hanahau‘oli School, 1922 Makiki Street, Honolulu, HI 96822
Cost: $200 per person. Scholarships available! Inquire here.
There are a number of characteristics that help to define a progressive educator’s approach to assessment. This includes an overall philosophy of education that values intellectual curiosity, initiative, independence, collaboration, evidence of growth over time, and a pedagogy for measuring student learning in accordance with these values. Assessment is differentiated, allowing children many ways to demonstrate what has been learned. Individual learners are responsible for learning and are taught how to set goals, define evidence of goal achievement and reflect about progress. Student skill development (e.g. in math, language arts, inquiry, etc.) is reported on a continuum with descriptors to show what children are able to do at various points in time. The assessment also focuses on the entire learning process, not just on the final product of a unit of learning. It is a strengths-based model, supporting both the work of students and teachers, “designed to measure individual growth–not in comparison to others of their grade–to guide future planning and goal setting” (Peters, 2019, p. 58).
At Hanahau‘oli School, the student-led three-way conference is a critical practice for carrying out the school’s progressive approach to assessment. Participants in this workshop will learn both the theory and process behind student-led three-way conferences. This will include an in-depth look at collaborative goal setting and all of the other work that students and teachers do to prepare and reflect, before and after the conference. Participants will also have the opportunity to practice what they learn by role playing the student-led three-way conference process. Additionally, there will be opportunities for dialogue and reflection within a professional community of inquiry.
Lunch will be provided.
About the Facilitators:
Kathy Galdeira Many places of learning have contributed to Kathy Galdeira’s passion for teaching and commitment to children. Beginning at Lanikai Elementary, continuing into the Punahou School community then onto Lewis & Clark College, each learning community offered her insights into the joyful process of learning. Earning a B.A. in Elementary Education and Psychology, her classroom career began in Oregon and found its way back to Hawaii. Her relationship with Hanahau’oli School began in 1987, spanning 34 years of classroom teaching, all with 7-9 year olds. Her children are alumni of this special place. Together they share a passion for this beautiful Island Home.
Dr. Robert G. Peters served as Head of School at Hanahau‘oli for 30 years. Hanahau‘oli is a multi-age school in the progressive education tradition which emphasizes creative expression through the arts. Dr. Peters is an instructor in the UH-HAIS Masters Degree program in Private School Leadership and has taught at the University of Massachusetts, Smith College and Hampshire College. In 2000, he was Visiting Scholar at the Klingenstein Center at Columbia University. Peters received his Doctorate in Educational Foundations in 1980 from the University of Massachusetts.