There is nothing quite like students and staff learning together! I will never forget the first time I was a part of a week-long learning experience at (Birmingham Covington School (BCS) in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Jordy Whitmer, Sara Wilkie and Roy McCloud, three outstanding facilitators of learning, planned and implemented a week of summer learning camp for staff and students to learn in partnership. Each morning the teachers or administrators would meet with the same two students from their respective classrooms or schools. They would participate in a “challenge” designed by the facilitators. Each team of three (1 staff member and 2 students) would document the challenge, reflect on the process they used to accomplish the challenge, rework the challenge, ask powerful questions, and seek feedback from other teams. By the end of the first morning, there was no distinction between staff and students. Each member of the team had an equal voice. All members were valued for the gifts they brought to the table.
The students left before lunch and the staff members stayed for the afternoon to debrief the “challenge”. The early discussions during the debrief sessions were about the concept of “team” and the skills, habits and dispositions each team member brought to the table. The discussions that followed incorporated the power of documentation, reflection, peer feedback and the art of questioning.
A week of staff and students learning together allowed the debriefing sessions to be viewed through multiple lenses. Teachers often do not have the opportunity to work so intensely and purposefully with students as a member of the same team. (These students ranged in grade from third to eighth!)
My questions to you…“How and when is this type of learning opportunity happening in your school or district?” “Why doesn’t this type of learning opportunity happen more often?” My Grow Learning and USQ partner, Sara Wilkie, and I often wonder, dream and talk about the power of staff and students designing, planning and learning together. It has become a core part of the work we do with many schools and districts. And thus….the creation of The USQ Experience occurring on June 20 and 21, 2019 in Schaumburg, Illinois. This will be an opportunity for students and educators to engage as partners in learning, imagining, designing and leading what school can be! Attending with students is the most valuable type of learning experience for all attendees. Please consider joining us or even sharing your school’s or district’s successes, challenges and strategies for creating, leveraging and sustaining these key partnerships. To learn more about this incredible opportunity, please visit our page linked here: USQ19
