Montessori Middle School: The Erdkinder

Montessori Education is over a century old. Since its inception, Montessori schools have been opened worldwide. While most are pre-schools serving three to six-year-old children, many people aren’t aware that Montessori spoke and wrote about middle level education before her death in 1952. Her concept for the Erdkinder, an intentionally designed learning environment for the adolescent ages twelve to fifteen, is described in this essay

Ponte Las Pilas: Hidden Narratives and Latinidad at Macalester College

Latinxs in higher education, while numerous, still lag behind all major racial groups in terms of graduation. Why is that? It is society’s hope that education will provide equal opportunity and a path out of poverty, but are schools really providing equal opportunities for attainment or are they simply reproducing inequalities in society? To what extent does this idea, if at all, exist even at liberal and multiculturally focused institutions like Macalester? I ask first generation Latinx alumni to recount their college experiences at Mac in order understand how their narratives compared to those promoted in college advertisements on the official website and Youtube account. What emerges from interviews with alumni are intense feelings of isolation based on not only racial but also class differences. It seems that colleges and universities do a lot to bring racial and economic minorities onto their campuses but often lack a community to support them. Now the question is, what needs to change in order for higher education to become truly accessible

L&D in the ED: A Game-Based Approach to Learning High-Risk Obstetric Emergencies.

IntroductionTeaching emergency medicine residents the principles of obstetric emergencies is a challenging task, as these emergencies are uncommon in general practice and include specific maneuvers for difficult and precipitous deliveries. These requirements are not easy to satisfy in a standard lecture and are labor intensive for small groups. This resource is a board game that leverages near-peer teaching, engages student collaboration, and supports friendly competition.MethodsThe game was designed to be used by emergency medicine residents and emphasized the evaluation and management of acute issues related to labor and delivery (L&D). To play the game, three to four learners took turns answering questions. Each correct answer was awarded points for forward movement on the game board. The first person to reach the end of the game won. A faculty moderator circulated among the players to clarify questions or answers as needed.ResultsOur residents loved this resource. They were able to teach each other throughout the game while using reference materials. Participants rated the educational value of the L&D board game as 4.81 (out of 5), as compared to 4.37 for prior lectures covering the same topics. The game was rated similarly to delivery procedural skills workshops implemented in prior years (4.62-4.82).DiscussionGame-based exercises are low-tech, highly interactive teaching tools enabling students to learn from each other in a fun and engaging way. Although we did not assess knowledge retention, this activity's educational value was rated similarly to delivery procedural skills sessions