In mainstream classes, many students take standardized midterms. But on the fourth floor, students have opted for formats ranging from mock debates to gallery walks.
School Within a School (SWS) is an alternative program at the high school with 120 students, centered around learning, empathy and democracy. Students have a larger voice in their education than they would have in the standard curriculum, collaborating with teachers to plan a wide range of activities, projects and classes.
Unlike the usual class structure, the composition of SWS assignments are voted on by students. Social studies teacher Sydney Hou said her SWS class collaborates to determine how to create and value work.
“We vote on the point value of assessments. We have conversations about what it means when you put a point value on an assessment, and we vote on midterm options,” Hou said. “Lots of voting happens.”
The teachers still hold power over the final decision, but act more as mediators. SWS junior Anderson Tsai said there was a dispute over the social studies midterm, so their teacher stepped in to decide between the ideas given by the students.
“Our midterm is a gallery walk. For this, we had a lot of debates,” Tsai said. “Some people wanted to watch a movie and write a paper on that movie, some people wanted to make a mock election, some people wanted to do a gallery walk and it was hard to decide. Eventually, our teacher said, ‘We’re gonna do this, because X, Y and Z.’”
SWS Coordinator Dan Bresman said the program was made to give students more power in their learning, whether it be town meetings to discuss and vote on classes, or referring to teachers by their first names. Bresman said first names are used to promote a sense of partnership between student and teacher.
“First names are used to break down barriers and make a more informal relationship,” Bresman said. “The program was created where students and teachers work together to be in a partnership and run classes.”
Hou said even though she enjoys the structures of both mainstream and SWS classes, there’s more community building in SWS, where she enjoys hearing students’ opinions on her teaching.
“[There’s] a lot more emphasis on building community,” Hou said. “[In] my mainstream class [students] come in, I tell the students what to do. This is what’s decided. They’re going to take a test when I say that we’re going to take a test. There’s a lot less space and time for student voices or for them to give me feedback.”
The emphasis on teacher and student collaboration cultivates a unique environment where teachers and students constantly learn from each other. Tsai said the difference is unexpected because teachers are usually perceived to know more, but they can all learn from each other in SWS.
“There’s a big change from what you would expect,” Tsai said. “Normally, you expect teachers who are above you to know so much more than you, but here [in SWS], we learn from each other.”
