Taking a journey at High Scope

Desy Nurhayati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 05/02/2008 1:45 PM

"Learning is a journey, not a race" is the philosophy that guides national-plus school High Scope. It believes students have various personalities and develop at different ways and speeds, and therefore acts as a place to accommodate and empower their potential.

Treating students as the object of learning without accommodating their uniqueness has been a fact denied by the country's education system, which focuses more on results. Students only follow, memorize and pass exams without experiencing the whole process of learning.

"In fact, to face the challenging future, students have to be more qualified and creative. They should be able to think in more analytical and comprehensive ways," said Etika Hia, High Scope assistant principal of elementary and junior high schools.

Through its educational programs offered in early childhood, elementary, junior and high schools, High Scope applies a student-centered approach, changing the paradigm of conventional schools that use teacher-centered practices.

"In a student-centered approach, the student is the focus and teacher is the facilitator that gives broad opportunities to help students improve and manage their curiosity," Etika said.

"We develop students as complete human beings by balancing their academic, intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, in hopes they will be more prepared for their real life.

The school adopts the "Understanding by Design" approach, which enables students to understand the subjects not by chance, but because the teachers design them to understand.

A characteristic of High Scope is its multi-age class system that converges two grades in one class. For example, the K-1 class consists of kindergarten students and elementary school first grade students. The subsequent levels are 2-3, a combined class of second graders and third graders, and 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10, 11 and 12.

Students with different grades study together and receive the same subjects at first, then move up based on their speed of learning. Those with higher speeds of learning will be given more complicated subjects gradually.

Students stay in the same class for two years, acting as "followers" in their first year and "leaders" in their second year.

In accordance with the national curriculum, the junior high school teaches conventional subjects: mathematics, language and literacy (English and Indonesian), chemistry, biology, physics, history, geography, economics, physical education, music, art, religion and information technology.

The school also enacts several programs called Plan-Do-Review, Integrated Studies and Character, Community and Cultural Development.

These programs are aimed at encouraging students to develop their planning management, analytical and problem-solving skills in accordance with the High Scope approach that accommodates all aspects of students' development -- intellectual, physical, social and emotional.

Through Plan-Do-Review, students undertake projects of their own initiative, plan and execution. They should be able to present and evaluate whether the results meet their expectations. These projects include developing a student magazine, designing a product, making a comic book, writing a book and reporting news on video.

In Integrated Studies students undertake projects initiated by their teachers but are planned, carried out, presented and reviewed by the students.

Under the Character, Community and Cultural Development program, students undertake projects about events happening in daily lives. The topics include social, environmental, moral and family issues, current affairs and relationships between religions.

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