An unusual program in a small, rural school uses individualized instruction, student self-scheduling, freedom, an outdoor classroom, teachers-as-advisers, learning centers rather than classrooms, and a library which is the true heart of the school

Ubben, Gerald C.

English

Kansas State University

Educational Considerations Volume 3 Number 1 Article 4 9-1-1975 Model for Change: A Rural Elementary School Gerald C. Ubben Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations  Part of the Higher Education Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Ubben, Gerald C. (1975) "Model for Change: A Rural Elementary School," Educational Considerations: Vol. 3: No. 1. https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2091 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Considerations by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact cads@k-state.edu. An unu,ual program in a small, rur.1 ,chool ",e, in-dividuali"cd in,truction, Hudent ,eif-,chedulins,f'eedom, an olrtdoor cia"rcom, teache,,-a,-.dvi,ers,teaming centers rather than cl""oom" aod a lib,arywhich is the tfue heart of the school.model for change:a rural elementaryschoolbl' Ger.ld C UbbenAprime<:oo,,,ltoo!io the development of the 01ive, 5pri"S'p",wam, CeTald C Ubben 15 associate ptofc"Qr ofroue.tiooal odmio;""(;QO ,od supervisionat the Universityof Tel\l\~',,", H~ has al,o tousht .t the Universities ofMio"esota and Nebraska. Hi, profession"1background in-dude, servioe as a t~achc" ;opeT"i'Qr ,nd principal inMinnesota. He was ono 01 th" lirst ioe",", with the NASSPAdministrative Internship Proiect i" tho mi~·l%(Y',WUCAJlONAl CONSIDERATIONS,Vol. J, No.1, fall, 1975This is a stolY of educational change in a rural Americancommunity. In that community hum, J beautiful elementary,chool that i, an open space, open curriculum <chooldedicated to providing an up-to-<:Jate,excieing, education.1program for it' children. Individualized inmuction i, thebasi, for it. program de'ign with multi-aged group, ofchi I<lrenand team teaching. White not yet achieving many ofil< goal" it' instruction.1 prOSr.m is moving rapidly towardeffective individualization, it< staff i, functioning with theprincipal to cooperativelv reach in,truetional deci,ion,withi" the ,chool; and the climate among the student, and'taft i, one of excitement about learning,Oliver Swing, is. ,mall village located in a~ eCMomieallydepressed area in rural Appalachia. Strip mining ha, proVideda major economic base; unemployment is basically high;average pe"onal income i, very low (und€r $5,000 p€f year);drop-out mte, high (o,"er 50 percent by grade twcive), and theoverall edutationallevel of the population averages aroundgrade eight. The 01 iver Spring, Elementary School building isover 30 yeo" old and built for self-contained clamooms, Afew of the teacher< have taught in the building almo't ,ince itopened, a few of the teacher> are beginners, and a lew of thete.chcrs have yet to complete bachelor> degree, Never·thele;;, the climato for learning is fanta.e;c,~e.. n;ng CentersThe curriculum for the Oliver Springs School range, froman outdoor environmental education center to typing andb.llel. Broadly ba,ed, it draws on the many strengths of theteaching team, combined with the wide interem 01 theelementary ,tudent. Learning centers are operated as ,elf·in5Uuctional, toµical re,aurce centers which allow student,to interact with many more c<mkular are" and allow theteacher> to supervi,e many more activities than would befIO"ible it teacher direction were necessary to, all studentlearning,In addition to those subje-cg mentioned and the no,malsubject. of the elementary 'chool, one c~n find at OliverSpring, such activities as sewing, dramatic" "take-a-partactivitie,," education.1 games, weather surveillance, na(,"e.tudies, ere.tive crait" and recreational reading. The fullcurriculum for e3ch of the group, ot 'tudenr. arld theirteacher; would include approximately 20 different offoring>.The great majority of the acti"ities have be~n prep. red andset out in advance by the teachers so the children can engagein a variety of learning .ctivitie, with a minimum of teacher1Ubben: Model for Change: A Rural Elementary SchoolPublished by New Prairie Press, 2017• ndireotion. In this manner, the teacher:< are free to work withsma[1 groups of children, as well., to supervi'e severaltente" ,jmultaneo",ly. The materials used in the," learning~onte" must be many and diverSe including both com-mercially prepared and teacher-made item'_ However, withthe ,hortage of fund, with which to purc;ha,e material; atOliver Springs, the great majority are teacher-made item,such a, ta,k cord, and learning package;Outdoor Cla"l'OomOne pha,e of the individualized program is the ole of an"outdoor classroom." Trail' are being con'tructed onproperty owned by the ,chaol. One trail tallow, the contourof" ,mall creek. Here the children see and ,wdy the €ffect,of wind and water on ,oiLNatural ,pring>, wildlife, tree" pl"nts, rock" and ,oilb'ecome the springboards to inve'tigation, re",arch, and newdi,eoverie"LibraryThe library at Oliver Spring' Elementary School function,a, an integral par! of ,chool, b<Jt is unique enough in itsfunction \0 be worth mentionin~ ,eparately, The teacheT>,re'tricted only by a team ,tudent quota to prevent over-loading, u'e the librarv a, one of their learnin~ centerS, Achild can 80 to the library for recreational reading, to doresearch on ,pecial project" \0 engage in a game of chess, toconstruct model' faT a group project in any ,ubject area, \0listen to tap.,.,-ecorded ,torie" to receive instruction inlibrary u,e, to check out m.terial, or equipment to take backto the cla'Sroom or home, to work a jig,aw puzzle, \0 work onteacher-con,trLJcte<:! game' or work sheet<, etc. The onlyregularly scheduled library cia" i, a 'pecial story time forkindergarten and first grade; but even when thl, is going on,,tude nt, are Iree to uSe the remainder of the library in theways mentioned ahove It truly functions", the '"center" ofthe ,chool.Student Self-SchedulingReliance on student ,elf_initiative and interest in learningi5 a major tenet of the program The 'tudent' at OliverSprings are e'pected to schedule themselve, into learningcel1tc" for their contaa with in'truction, The centers theychoose t"'attend "nd the length of time they ,lay dependslargely on the ,elf-felt n""d5 of the child and the pro/e"ionaljlldgement 0/ hi, adviser. Student inteT€st become' a majortool for personali,ing the curriculum_ beh ,tudent in thecomplex, therefore, op"'rates on hi. own ,chedule whi~h isnot e<oOly like that of any "f hi' classmates,There is teacher supervision of this ,tudent ,chedulingOneof the mo't [lovel features of the Oliver Springs programis the personal contact between the teachers and each$Iudent, Each student ha, had the opportunity to ,elect hi'own advi'er from among the member> of the team_ h~hweek in an individual conference the student and his teacher-advi,er review the individual ,tuden!', ,chedule, a' well a,the material, produced during that week by the 'tudent_The,e conferences take on the avera~e of ten minute, each.The tcacher-advi,ers quite otten ,uggest modification, inthe student's program if they feel change i, nec",s.ry, Theteacher> have found that 'Ome student; mu$l be counseledmore thon once a week in order to keep them .ctivelypartitipatin~ in a learning program, while othe" could be,,,,,n Ie" ottenThe student, through thi' adviser->tudent arrangementhave definitely made progre" in a»l'ming more fespon'i-bility fOTtheir own learning. (This is one of the stated ob-jectives of the Oliver Spring:; program), For example, whenthe program fi"t began a number of ,tudents, u,ed to the"heavy hand" of a teather upon them, simply could not ,ettledown to any concentrated ,t"dy when they knew they werefree to mOve to another learning center if they wi,hed_ Theteachers hegan to refer to them as the fliUers "' they would"'flit" from one activity to another looking for excitement,quite often creating their own, After the novelty of the new-found freedom wore o/f. many children ,ettle<:! down to theirlearning ta,ks of their own accord; however, otherS nee<:!e<:!aSTeat deal 0/ teacher help through temporary u,e of a morecon,trained environment before they could function with,elf-direction a, desired_ The r.ward of freedom, somethingvery coveted by mo,! elementary children, -became apO'.'icrful tool in bringing about the desired result',Group ActivitiesThesehedufe for each ,tudent really i, not quite a, open a,it misht ,eem at fi"t glance, Each 'tudent participate, inseveral ,cheduled group activities each day_ For most, thi'means a reading skill' group, a math group, P.E. and probablya large-group pre,entation, calfed by one of the teachers,relative to their learning center activity. These learningcenter pre,entation, vary from day to day and are ,cheduledand announced by the team; "' they feel they are needed_Cooperative Tea~hingThe te.ching team' at Oliver Springs Elementary vary in'ize/rom two to fourteoche,,_ No magic formula wa, used toarrive at team ,i,e, but rathe, e<isting spaces in an old build-ingdictated it_ Last year one team u>ing two space' includedWU(A TlONAl CONSIDERATIONSI2Educational Considerations, Vol. 3, No. 1 [1975], Art. 4https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations/vol3/iss1/4DOI: 10.4148/0146-9282.2091A ,moll ,kill gfOUp '.'''0' 10' ""ding i"<!ruction.An improvi,e</ li'tening center cap'iv.,., it> use,s,seven member<, but that was found to be too large for goodteacher and student communication so this year it wasreorganized. A variety at approache, to the use of teacheraides nave al50 been tried, depending on their availability,Some paid aides have been u,ed .. well as volunteers, Theteacher< have Q.8reed that aide, are extremely important inmaking a IGarning center program work well,Team OrganizationOn most team, each member teaches five or ,ix ,ubjectsincluding reading and math. Reading and math are organile<!around ,kill group' crGated by bringing to~ether children lorin,truction who have been ""e,sed as havins very ;imilorachievement level, On a ,kill, continuum in that subject,These groups change in composition every few day, aschildren mOve along on their own personal ,kill ladder. Inorder to keep these instru~tional groups ,m.11 (ten to fifteen),each teacher work< with two or three ,eparate ~roup, in bothreading and math each day. The other ,ubjects_,acialstudies, science, health, 'pelting, plus many other area, asmentioned earlier are tausht in learning centerS throush a,elf-instructional orientation with each teacher respon5iblelor three to five different centerS, Her re'pon,ibility is toplan, prepare, set up, monitor, ,upport, and evaluate e"ch ofthe centers in her jurisdiction. The teacher< try to change thematerials in the center< at least every two weeks, bllt with theheavy reliar>ce they have tallen behind that two-w""kschedule, particulorly when they try to strive for a ,"nse ofmaterials th~t will meet the children's variou, ability level,Whenever a teacher feels that a particular learning goalmust be supported by a teacher-<iirected activity as part ofthe instruction in a center, ,he will ,ehe<!ule with the team,everat sroup meetings for the children, u,ually spaced o"tOVer several day, so that all the children working in thatactivity will have time to build it into their Own schedules,• The five to ,even ,eparatc o"ignment> that each teacherha' represent fewer preparations than she would have in a,elf-contained cla,sroom, but 'till provide her with a goodopportunity to observe the whole child. This alleviate, theproblem that ,eem, to plague the departmentaliledprogram' de'igned around teachers teaching in only onespecific di,cipline, A bonu, fe"ture 01 a team approach, ofcourse, i, the opportunity to match 'tudents and teachers ona 'tudent's choice ba,e for the advisement function of theprogramProgram BeginningsHow did a program like this get 'tarted in • ,mall ruraltown of Appalachia? Many people were involved before theproject really could get underway_the ,uperintendent, theprincipal, the community, the teachers, the school board_but the ba,ic idea generated Irom the feder"1 project officerof the Roane County School Sy'tem,Mr. Roy Bowen. Teamedwith sever~1 professors Irom The UniverSity of Tennessee,they put together a basic propo,al Jesigne<:l to do two things:1. To identify and prepare the ,taff, of ,everal of thoelementary ,chools of Roane County to implement openspace, open ""rriculurn sc~ool,"2, To further thc profe«ional graduate training of the 'taff,of these two ,chool, to a mOre accepted level and do itwith a program tailored to tho need, of their local ,chooldistrict.Funding was received from the Appal.chian ResioMICommi,;ion HDD to assi,t in the upgrading of the teachersas public employee, in an amount la,se enough to pay fortheir participation in a nine-8raduate-hour course throu~hthe Exten,ion Divi,ion at The University of Tennessee. Aprofessor from the Department of Educational Ad-ministration ~nd Supervi'ion was ensaged as a con,ultant totrain the ,taff and advi'e them regarding tho OrSanilation oftheir program_ He ~Iso directed the preparation of the in_dividualize<! instructional material; and continued work withthe program approximately once a month for a year oiter itwas first implemented,The Board of Education for Roane County a, "ell a, theSuperi,nendent, Dr, Ed William" was behind the programswith extr~ linancial and political 'upport. Captial outlaylund, were appropriated for necessary building• Two elementary ,chool, in tho county, Midtown and OliverSprin8', were identiliod to PMti<ipate in the progr.m. Lar""lvbeoau,e of. principal who Wll> eager to try some new id",,>,Mid_town is al,o oporating today with an organization very mu<h likethat of the Ol;vec Spring, School.3Ubben: Model for Change: A Rural Elementary SchoolPublished by New Prairie Press, 2017A quiet game center in the librarymodificotion,. Numerous walls were taken out of the OliverSpring, building in order to create the de'ired ,ize, for in-'tructional 'pace, and each of the new areas was carpeted.The ,uperintendent and boord abo provided a nece"aryprotective shield from the ,m.11 but vocal dissiden( Com-munity group, that did not understand or did not like theprogramThe community, generally, was qIJite ,upportive of theprogram. Pre,entation. were given at ,everal PTA meeting.and the principal, Richard Davi" worked very hard to beopen with hi' coml11unity. Even '0, ,ome oppo,ition to thenew $Chool developed. Mr. Davi, found that one of the be>!ways to counter the oppo'ition wa' 10 invite these peopleinto the ,chool for a first-hand look. He hone,tly ,hared withthem 'Orne of the problem; of implementing the newprogram and then .,ke<i if they might help him and teachersby working in one pha,e or another of the parent volIJnteerprogram that had been implemented. This ,eemed to workmo,t of the time; however, there are ,titl a few- -All of the problems were not external, however. A numberof cri,i, situations developed the first year internal to theOliver Spring, "aff. The large,t team, ,even teachers, three1Two ,,"deOlS work on .heir own ;n a soci,,1studi., c.n'~r.aide" and 210 fourth, fifth and ,ixth grade 'tudent', found it,,ize 100 large for good effective communication andcoordination. It stayed together all year, but it wa, veryrocky. Another team of four te"ChefS, grade, two ami three,had '0 many perSonality and phHo,ophic conflict, that by(hri,tm", the only ,olu(ion left wa' to 'plit it in two. Afterseveral end-of-the-year re'ignotion, end realignment of theteam" the second year wa, much smoother but not totallywitho(Jt conflict. The third year_well, it wa, better.The principal a! the Oliver Springs school ,ti II h., the driveand enthusiasm he had when the project began. Teacher> ~rebeginning to assume weater leade"hip in the im-plementation of the ,ehool-wide in,tructional goaf', and thecommunity is assuming greater involvement in the projectBe,t of all the ,tall h.s found va,t improvements in >tudentattitudes toward school and in many ca,e, thi' i, besinninsto have a positive effect on 'tudent I"oming.Ha, the ,chool yet arrived' No, a program like thisprobably take, from three to five yea" before it ,tart, to lookgood. However, when you think of the oil floor>, the chai" instraight row" the limited graded curriculum, and many""happy children, Oliver Spring, ha, conle a long w.yWUCATIONAL CONSIDtRA'IIONS4Educational Considerations, Vol. 3, No. 1 [1975], Art. 4https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations/vol3/iss1/4DOI: 10.4148/0146-9282.2091

Model for Change: A Rural Elementary School

https://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2091&amp;context=edconsiderations

Model for Change: A Rural Elementary School

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Kansas State University