the rise of experiential education I THE Rebékáh was done with Clevèl Trnnslorming ready to move on. As much as she loved her. school and her suburban neighborhood, heo a School plan was to g:o to a big city college and makel that city her home. Then, as a sophomore, she Through took a three-week immersion course on com- munity developnient and urban planning ai Integrated Hawken School's urban extension campus, Thd Sally & Bob Gries Center for Experiential and Experiential Service Learning, located in University Circle, Education the park-likç hub of cultural, educational, relil gious. and niedical institutions in Cleveland, ^^^ed by struggling city neighborhoods. BY SARA MIERKE I the rise of experiential education The course, designed to orient stu- Such significant change was a experiential learning opportunities dents to the harsh realities of many of risky move given the school's flat such as service, animal husbandry, and Cleveland's neighborhoods and find enrollment and revenue in 2005, set outdoor leadership. Slowly, however, solutions, started with an urban trek against the backdrop of a sluggish the school drifted away from this core. and an overnight stay in a church that local economy and declining regional By 2005, the board of trustees recog- serves low-income, distressed, and population. But indicators show the nized the need for dramatic change, homeless people. During the following risk was wise, in spite of the economic and hired a new head of school to turn weeks, Rebekah and her classmates crisis in the intervening years. Today things around. explored how and why University Circle the school is thriving. Hawken's story Key to Hawken's ability to make a has become the fastest growing district demonstrates that schools can success- comprehensive shift toward a model in Cleveland, learning on-site from real fully accomplish significant transfor- of integrated experiential education estate development, foundation, urban mation in a short period of time, even was its past; indeed, experiential planning, and government profession- and perhaps especially during tough education is threaded in the school's als. Through communify workshops, times. It also illustrates that experien- DNA, An inquiry into the best of the they were introduced to area residents tial learning and rigorous academics school's past yielded an appreciation seeking to improve their neighbor- are not only compatible, but mutually for the immediate relevance of James hoods that have been wracked by reinforcing. And when given sufficient decades of poverty, racial segregation, time and meaningful preparation, underfunded schools, disinvestment, experiential learning can be life chang- decaying infrastructure, discriminatory ing for students — and their teachers housing practices, and government — and serve to fulfill a school's public Hawken's story neglect and corruption. A final project purpose in significant ways. required the students to redesign a Even the most tradiüonal indepen- demonstrates that buut space or empty space in ways that dent schools have a starting point for would generate greater physical and expanding or integrating experiential schools can social connectivity between a neighbor- education. Indeed, if you listen closely, hood and the insfitufions and opportu- most positive school narratives, as told successfully nifies of University Circle. by students and alumni, are about By the end of the course, the city "learning by doing." Perhaps it's a long- accomplish Rebekah had planned to leave behind standing service program, a teacher had become compelling — a place of who regularly takes students on expe- significant vibrant people, dynamic change, and ditions, or a middle school robotics professional opportunities. She now club. A look at most schools uncovers transformation understands that her participation in such nuggets of experienüal learning, solving the cify's challenges makes a whether they reside in the past or thrive in a short period of difference. In short, one three-week in the present. Schools can draw upon immersion course changed her post- them to inspire and model change. In time, even and college plans. Rebekah still wants to go our case, experienfial learning was core away to college, but now she also wants to our past, but latent in our present. So perhaps especially to return to Cleveland. the school needed to act, Hawken was founded in 1915 as during tough times. FINDING ONE'S an alternative to existing traditional PEDAGOGICAL ROOTS private education options for boys in Six years ago, Rebekah's transforma- Cleveland, James A. Hawken, a pro- tive experience would not likely have gressive New York educator, founded Hawken's philosophy and practices. happened at Hawken School. With an the school in a small house on the As such, the founder's original intent early içoos-sfyle, 45-minute period edge of Universify Circle in Cleveland, formed the core of a new mission schedule, physical detachment from In those early years, Hawken and his statement for Hawken, a far-reaching its core city, and a curriculum that had band of innovative teachers taught document that continues to guide its drifted from its progressive education children through hands-on experi- transformation," past, the school was limited in its abil- ence, focusing on character and using Concurrent to a realignment ity to offer students real-world experi- the school's surroundings to enhance with the school's pedagogical roots ence. Yet, in 2007, Hawken recom- classroom learning. Throughout was a commitment to its geographic mitted to its pedagogical roots and most of its first 80 years, the school birthplace as a way to engage stu- initiated a process of deep integration remained progressive, with child- dents in real-world learning in its of experiential education. centered pedagogy and innovative own community. The purchase of a 64 NDEPENDENT SCHOOL the rise of experiential education turn-of-the-century mansion in Cleve- team-teaching and interdisciplinary land — 600 yards from the school's offerings. The new schedule features a original location and only one block four-part "Rotation-Intensive-Rotation- EXPERIENTIAL from the epicenter of one of the most Intensive" framework, balancing two LEARNING AT densely developed "arts, eds, and semesters (August-November and meds" districts in the country^ in January-April) of rotating blocks HAWKEN one direction and struggling urban (60, 70, and 85 minutes long) with neighborhoods in the other — served two three-week "mini-mesters" (in Core Curriculum: K-12 courses and as a lever for deeper change. With an December and May) caUed Intensives, units that use experiential and urban extension campus underway, each offering a single course worth community-based learning as a momentum grew around designing a semester's credit. As with curricu- foundation. innovative curriculum, addressing lum, Hawken's schedule is no longer the use of time (that lock-step, 20th- completely static. Three years out, the Community Service: Volunteer action century, upper school schedule had to upper school is considering tweaks to organized by and for different go), emphasizing 21st-century skiUs, the Rotation schedule. Also, the lower groups of students (class, grade- adopting educational technologies, school is examining how it uses time level, division, team, club, etc.). and engaging in partnerships and to best impact learning. place-based learning. Service Learning: Courses or units EARLY ADOPTERS across the curriculum that inte- INTENTIONAL USE OF TIME Just as most schools have some form grate community service to enrich Transforming a school's approach, cul- of experiential learning to expand the learning experience, teach ture, and mindset toward experiential upon, they all have inventive teachers civic responsibility, and strengthen education requires examining the use wiUing to lead the change and pro- communities. of time, often leading to the redesign vide momentum for new initiatives. of the academic schedule. In 2005, As Hawken's building in University Classroom Cleveland: A K-12 curricu- Hawken's upper school schedule of Circle was being renovated, teachers lum that engages students in aca- demic study and meaningful urban 45-minute class periods was essentially from the lower, middle, and upper revitalization through community the same as a public school schedule school divisions jumped at the charge partnerships. in the first decade of the 20th cen- to innovate, inspiring others to follow. tury. The middle school already used A veteran upper school English Global Connections: Engendering a flexible, modified block schedule teacher, for example, integrated his global citizenship through inter- supported by faculty and administra- experience serving homeless people national student exchanges, travel tors committed to team-teaching and with his knowledge of literature, experiences, and studies. both project- and place-based learn- resulting in a senior elective titled ing. Similarly, the lower school, as is Homelessness. The course includes STEMM Pathways: Guided research the case for many independent school daily internships with homeless ser- in Science, Technology, Engineering, elementary divisions, used time more vice agencies, coupled with inquiry Math, and Medicine through lab- and openly, as determined by classroom and creative nonfiction writing. Once field-based internships. teachers. The Hawken lower and the new urban campus and schedule were ready, constraints of time and middle schools were well