Keeping School Student-Centered
A veteran administrator and school consultant once advised me that any decision a school makes is on solid ground so long as it is “mission-driven and student-centered.” Veering off course from either of those two guiding principles puts a school in the perilous position of making arbitrary or biased decisions, or making changes that don’t really serve the long-term needs of the institution. Now we’ve all heard that any organization, whether a school or business, ought to construct a mission statement and stick to it as its ultimate manifestation of identity, and Colorado Academy is no exception there. But what exactly does it mean for a school to be “student-centered”? What should a school look like if it is living out that value?
For one, decisions ought to be made that put students’ interests and needs ahead of those of the adults. Put somewhat differently, the school provides a setting in which students can meet the goals of the mission. Our current schedule is a good example of such an approach. The changes we made a few years ago deliver on our promise to increase student wellness (by reducing homework load and daily demands) and provide a more dynamic and relevant teaching environment (through longer blocks of class time and reserving student-teacher contact time). During these last few years of schedule re-design, building construction and, finally, new Upper School space allocation, I have asked myself, “Is this a student-centered solution to that problem?” If the answer is “no,” I have kept looking for another answer.
To be student-centered we should also offer students plenty of authentic opportunities to exercise leadership and to take on meaningful responsibility. At CA, such opportunities abound for Upper School students: Students HOPE, Community Leadership Team, Community Council, Faces of Diversity, club leaders, team captains, mentors, Kindergarten buddies. All these roles reinforce the notion that we trust older students to take the reins of important school activities or organizations. And next year we will add another layer when we roll in the concept of senior speeches to our Town Hall program (more on that next year).
Of course we also need to take the time to listen to our students. Sometimes in education, decisions are made in the “best interest of students” without really getting their input. Too many top-down, bureaucratic educational reform operates in this manner. At a small school, we should be in touch with our students enough so that we can let their voices be heard as we deliver the quality education they deserve. We should be unafraid to solicit their feedback and respond accordingly as the situation merits. Most teachers therefore conduct course evaluations at the end of a trimester or year. Also in that spirit, I have been excited to be part of a team of independent school administrators that has created an extensive questionnaire to be given to students twice during their high school years. Adapted from a model first constructed by Professor Richard Light for Harvard undergraduates, the survey touches on topics as far-reaching as social happiness, academic challenge, global awareness, and faculty-student interactions. Students in 9th and 12th grade have been taking this survey for the last two years. Direct student feedback can then provide an important check on the school’s goals; in the students’ eyes, is the school living up to its mission?
While I am stressing the need for “student-centeredness” to be directly linked to student perceptions as well as their educational desires, I am not advocating that we turn the whole administration of the school over to our group of adolescents. We cannot be in a position where we would let students totally dictate their own educational paths. After all they do not yet have the full perspective of experience, nor the wisdom to separate out their own narrow interests from those that might better serve a larger group. But neither does it follow that we should ignore the power of students’ voices. They are the constituency we are aiming to serve and therefore we should have objective feedback loops to garner their input rather than make assumptions or rely too much on anecdotes alone.
Like most things in a complex world, a balanced approach is necessary and appropriate. We might say that parenting is a "child-centered" activity, but no one would argue that children should have authority in their own upbringing. Parents must strive to foster autonomy in their children while defining boundaries and setting limits. Sometimes it is hard to know when to let a child exercise free will and when to impose restrictions. A student-centered school looks for the same balance. Over the long term, CA’s Upper School can thereby be a place where our students thrive.
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