Today I was given the opportunity to visit the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry located downtown Victoria. I have lived in Victoria my whole life and I wasn’t aware that this school existed. I was very surprised to learn about how this inquiry school worked. It is very free and open for the students to decide what they want to learn and where they want to learn it. Each student when starting an inquiry project has to develop questions, which are then followed by several steps that they have to go through then conclude their learning adventure in their chosen topic. They have all other subjects that regular high schools have like art, photography and filmmaking, technology, science, English, math, social studies, physical education, and music. The interesting thing is that there is not a set schedule for the students or a bell schedule. A few of the courses listed above meet once a week and have the rest of the time for students to work independently or with their teacher getting additional help tailored to them. Also, there are no classes designated to specific grades, they are all mixed based on their interests or inquiry projects. I really like this idea because I think that students who are driven to a certain subject can work together and come up with great research and questions.
There were multiple questions about how do these courses then get assessed or are they transferrable to universities. The PSII school still has the same curriculum and exams but are assessed in different ways than a normal high school would, like from test scores or assignments handed in. This school grades its students based on their learning journey and ability, they also don’t believe in homework, which I think is amazing!
I am hesitant because for certain students, does this “free” and “self-taught” environment really work? I know that for me, I like to be given something and then learn it. I know that Principal Jeff Hopkins mentioned that the students use the curriculum to create inquiry projects off of the competencies and content, but how can students really accomplish these on their own, from their own inquiry projects they have created. I have a hard time thinking about that if some students want a more structured timetable with the same classes at the same time would this school be able to do that.
The PSII school is an independent school that is supported by the government by only 50%, which means that the students have to pay around $7,000 a year. Within the $7,000 the students get a membership at the YMCA gym which is where they do their physical education classes when they need facilities. The students are involved in using facilities in the community that are outside of their school, which normal high schools don’t usually do. I think this is a wonderful addition to this school because, for high school students, this is really great to get them ready to post-secondary and becoming young adults.
From listening to Principal Jeff Hopkins speak, I have some new ideas and thoughts that I will be bringing into my future classroom.
