In the final chapter in Tony Wagner's book, The Global Achievement Gap he talks about how some schools have, in his opinion, have began to close that achievement gap. One school he talks about is High Tech High which is based here in San Diego. He believes that schools with models similar to High Tech High focuses on implementation of his 7 survival skills (Ch 1) daily in their lessons. In addition to this the lessons are not based around a textbook but rather interdisciplinary projects that interlinks multiple subjects. According to Wagner High Tech High (HTH) does not teach to the test but rather teaches students how to apply the content to new and unique situations. Recent data show that the graduating students from HTH are testing very high on the standardized tests and they are attending, what is considered to be some of the most prestigious colleges in the US. According to one of the teachers at HTH, he states that the school's philosophy helps to prepare all their students for success in the "real world".
I would love to work at High Tech High or any one of the schools that is listed in chapter 6. I really like the flexibility of these schools, and sharing that occurs with the entire staff about strategies that worked and those that did not work as well. Really offering a collaboration of reflective teaching practices. As this sharing of the responsibility (and making that part of the entire school's professional growth) really helps to increase all our students' learning outcomes. I am very excited to have my own classroom and I definitely learned a lot about teaching in the 21st century from reading this book. I believe this is a great book for all educators to read and try to implement the survival skills Tony Wagner talks so highly about. I believe that these are the very skills that will help shape our future leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs.
I would love to work at High Tech High or any one of the schools that is listed in chapter 6. I really like the flexibility of these schools, and sharing that occurs with the entire staff about strategies that worked and those that did not work as well. Really offering a collaboration of reflective teaching practices. As this sharing of the responsibility (and making that part of the entire school's professional growth) really helps to increase all our students' learning outcomes. I am very excited to have my own classroom and I definitely learned a lot about teaching in the 21st century from reading this book. I believe this is a great book for all educators to read and try to implement the survival skills Tony Wagner talks so highly about. I believe that these are the very skills that will help shape our future leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs.