Why the Word “Expedition?”

Rather than skimming only the surface of many subjects, EL teachers and students organize the majority of curriculum and learning around what are called “expeditions.” The term expedition is used because we want our students to have serious, in-depth, and long-lasting learning experiences. Lewis and Clark went on an expedition—an incredible and unforgettable journey where they met challenges, solved problems, and arrived at a destination that seemed unattainable. The term expedition brings with it the sense that this will not just be a “lesson,” or a “unit of study,” it will be instead a deep, wide, and engaging learning experience that may take two months to as long as an entire school year. Just as Lewis and Clark had clear goals from the beginning, but met with unexpected turns and adventure, so too do students and teachers on learning expeditions encounter new twists and unforeseen challenges. Some of the most important learning takes place in response to these encounters.

How are Expeditions Structured?

An expedition is organized around a compelling topic that is both meaningful and important. Various investigations, experiments, and projects are used to gather knowledge about the topic and generate interest. All of the relevant tools of the various disciplines such as math, science, social studies, language arts, art, music, etc., are used to study the topic and achieve a deep understanding of the various issues and challenges. Throughout the expedition, teachers hold high expectations for all students and structure time and opportunity for high quality work through multiple revisions.

Doing fieldwork and seeking out local expertise is an important and common way in which EL students improve their understanding and skills in relation to the compelling focus topic. Certain aspects of a topic cannot be fully understood without the perspectives gained through this important work.

An expedition is not finished once a topic has been thoroughly studied. Instead, EL teachers and students always ask the questions (and are thinking about them from the beginning):

· What are we going to do with what we have learned?

· What products will best serve the needs we identify?

Many of these questions are answered early on in the expedition and products are developed throughout the journey; some are answered later on in the expedition when more information is gathered. In all cases, expeditions result in high quality products to share with families and other relevant community members at a culminating celebration of learning.

Do EL Teachers use different Instructional Approaches?

EL teachers practice “active pedagogy” which means skillfully applying practices that have been shown to be more effective in actively engaging students in learning. They facilitate the active construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and meaningful application. Not all students learn in the same way, consequently our teachers use a variety of strategies to take advantage of individual styles and strengths. Venture is committed to providing our teachers with extensive training through the EL professional development network.

How is Curriculum Selected and Delivered?

If pedagogy is the “HOW?” of what we do, curriculum is the “WHAT?” What we teach is guided by the Utah State Core Curriculum and is expanded where appropriate when studies call for it. Curriculum is delivered in three main ways:

How Are Students Assessed?

We believe that assessment should be primarily “for” learning, not just “of” learning. This means that assessment should provide ongoing feedback that helps students push their work to ever-higher levels. In order for this to happen, assessments need to be “authentic.” This is just a fancy way of saying that if, for instance, you want to test how many free-throw baskets you can make out of ten tries, the most authentic way to do that is to get on a basketball court and shoot ten shots. A less authentic assessment would be to take a multiple-choice test that asked questions about proper free-throw shooting techniques. A student may be able to pass the multiple-choice test and yet not be able to make any baskets!

Where possible and appropriate, students will gather their best work into portfolios that shows their progress. These portfolios will be a major part of student-led parent conferences where students will report their progress to parents.

In addition to product and performance based assessments, Venture will administer the required statewide standardized tests as well as any other standardized test that it believes will provide useful information on basic skill development and cognitive abilities.

Are Expeditionary Learning Schools Structured Differently?

Venture recognizes that the way in which a school is structured, or organized, affects its ability to accomplish its goals.

Time for Student and Adult Learning. The kind of work involved in learning expeditions requires adequate time and flexibility. Venture will structure schedules to allow for this. Likewise, teachers need adequate time to learn, prepare, and evaluate if they are to effectively carry out their plans. This requires a schedule that allows time for these activities. One way that Venture may accomplish this is by scheduling time within the school day in conjunction with specials like art, PE, and music.

Multiage Groupings. Venture teachers recognize that just as not every child learns to walk at exactly the same age, so too not all students advance academically at exactly the same pace and at the same time. Learning often comes in leaps, for instance, and not in a simple, steady progression. At Venture, we are more interested in where an individual child is at a given moment and how we can help them move forward with their best effort, than we are about what grade they happen to be in. When students are divided by grade, teachers tend to focus more on the grade they are in than on where each child is individually. One way that we are able to structure the school in a way that puts more focus on individuals is through multiage groupings. In multiage groupings, students of various ages and abilities learn and work together. These groupings more accurately recreate the natural ways that people in a community of differing ages and abilities learn and work together. Venture will be softly divided into three "pods," a Kindergarten through 2nd, a 3rd through 5th, and a 6th through 8th. Teachers and students within these pods will work cooperatively and flexibly to create the best learning environment possible, which will often include multiage groupings. (Note: With Kindergarten students, multiage grouping situations will be much less frequent than in all other grades.)

Adults Knowing Students Well. For students, one of the keys to success with EL style learning is the degree to which students are able to develop long-term relationships (longer than a single year) with teachers. Venture will provide structures that allow for teachers to have significant contact with students for more than one year.

* * * * *

In preparing for and judging learning experiences in EL schools, the following design principles are used as a guide.

Expeditionary Learning Design Principles

1. THE PRIMACY OF SELF-DISCOVERY
Learning happens best with emotion, challenge and the requisite support. People discover their abilities, values, passions, and responsibilities in situations that offer adventure and the unexpected. In Expeditionary Learning schools, students undertake tasks that require perseverance, fitness, craftsmanship, imagination, self-discipline, and significant achievement. A teacher's primary task is to help students overcome their fears and discover they can do more than they think they can.

2. THE HAVING OF WONDERFUL IDEAS
Teaching in Expeditionary Learning schools fosters curiosity about the world by creating learning situations that provide something important to think about, time to experiment, and time to make sense of what is observed.

3. THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR LEARNING
Learning is both a personal process of discovery and a social activity. Everyone learns both individually and as part of a group. Every aspect of an Expeditionary Learning school encourages both children and adults to become increasingly responsible for directing their own personal and collective learning.

4. EMPATHY AND CARING
Learning is fostered best in communities where students' and teachers' ideas are respected and where there is mutual trust. Learning groups are small in Expeditionary Learning schools, with a caring adult looking after the progress and acting as an advocate for each child. Older students mentor younger ones, and students feel physically and emotionally safe.

5. SUCCESS AND FAILURE
All students need to be successful if they are to build the confidence and capacity to take risks and meet increasingly difficult challenges. But it is also important for students to learn from their failures, to persevere when things are hard, and to learn to turn disabilities into opportunities.

6. COLLABORATION AND COMPETITION
Individual development and group development are integrated so that the value of friendship, trust, and group action is clear. Students are encouraged to compete not against each other, but with their own personal best and with rigorous standards of excellence.

7. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Both diversity and inclusion increase the richness of ideas, creative power, problem-solving ability, and respect for others. In Expeditionary Learning schools, students investigate and value their different histories and talents as well as those of other communities and cultures. Schools and learning groups are heterogeneous.

8. THE NATURAL WORLD
A direct and respectful relationship with the natural world refreshes the human spirit and teaches the important ideas of recurring cycles and cause and effect. Students learn to become stewards of the earth and of future generations.

9. SOLITUDE AND REFLECTION
Students and teachers need time alone to explore their own thoughts, make their own connections, and create their own ideas. They also need time to exchange their reflections with other students and with adults.

10. SERVICE AND COMPASSION
We are crew, not passengers. Students and teachers are strengthened by acts of consequential service to others, and one of an Expeditionary Learning school's primary functions is to prepare students with the attitudes and skills to learn from and be of service.

Expeditionary Learning Core Practices and Benchmarks

Much of what you will find in the following paragraphs has been covered earlier. We include this here as a succinct description of the various practices touched on above.

The Core Practice Benchmarks describe Expeditionary Learning in practice: what teachers, students, school leaders, families, and other partners do in fully implemented Expeditionary Learning schools. The five core practices--learning expeditions, active pedagogy, school culture and character, leadership and school improvement, and structures--work in concert and support one another to promote high achievement through active learning, character growth, and teamwork.

The Core Practice Benchmarks serve several purposes. They provide a comprehensive overview of the Expeditionary Learning practices, a planning guide for school leaders and teachers, a framework for designing professional development, and a tool for evaluating implementation.

Each of the five core practices is comprised of a series of benchmarks. Each benchmark describes a particular area of practice and is organized by lettered components and numbered descriptors.

I. LEARNING EXPEDITIONS	II. ACTIVE PEDAGOGY	III. CULTURE AND CHARACTER
Implementing learning expeditions across the curriculum Designing compelling topics and guiding questions Designing products and linked projects Incorporating fieldwork, local expertise, and service learning Producing and presenting high quality student work	Using effective instructional practices schoolwide Teaching reading K-12 across the disciplines Teaching writing K-12 across the disciplines Teaching inquiry-based math Teaching inquiry-based science and social studies Learning in and through the arts Using effective assessment practices	Building school culture and fostering character Ensuring equity and high expectations Fostering a safe, respectful, and orderly community Promoting adventure and fitness Developing a professional community Engaging families in the life of the school

IV. LEADERSHIP AND SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT	V. STRUCTURES
Providing leadership in curriculum, instruction, and school culture Sharing leadership and building partnerships Using multiple source of data to improve student achievement Linking Expeditionary Learning and school improvement plans	Designing time for student and adult learning Creating structures for knowing students well

Venture Academy K-9 Charter School Ogden, Utah.

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