A simple way to fix the woes of U.S. public schooling -- Has the nation the will to make it happen?

Xelor · Aug 8, 2018

Learning is a social process that occurs within the specific culture of an institution. The teacher is a representative of a community that has certain values or assumptions about what learning is. The goal of learning is the use of a student's powers for social ends. Therefore, a school needs to have a way of representing its understanding of learning to itself: a social and pragmatic symbol.
-- Guy J. Williams

Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Academy
Shady Side Academy
Loomis Chaffee
Mercersburg Academy
The Lawrenceville School
The Fieldston School
St. Paul's School (Concord NH)
The Moses Brown School
The Pingry School
Memphis Jewish High School
Hathaway Brown School
Horace Mann School
Cushing Academy
The Hotchkiss School
Deerfield Academy
Palmer Trinity School
Asheville School
St. Paul Academy and Summit School
American Hebrew Academy
St. Mark's School of Texas
Middlesex School
St. George's School
The Masters School
Germantown Academy
Kingswood-Oxford School
Milton Academy
Tampa Preparatory School
The American School in London
The John Cooper School
Regents School of Austin
Rocky Hill School of East Greenwich, RI
Annie Wright School
Guilford High School
The Ensworth School
The Hill School
The Taft School
Choate Rosemary Hall

What have the schools above in common? They all use the Harkness Method (HM) and the emboldened ones appear in Niche's listing of the top 50 private schools in the U.S., the first two being (arguably) the two best schools in the country, though all of them, AFAIK, are "A-grade" schools and being educated at any of them will likely result in one's being quite well educated.

But going to one of them isn't required. nor is it what I'm suggesting any kid do. What I'm on about here is that these schools overwhelmingly consistently produce graduates who thrive after high school and the schools noted routinely raise the bar of what it takes to perform well at them, and kids, year in and year out, rise to the expectations set by their instructors. What I'm suggesting is that a sound and clearly proven way to improve American public schooling be transformed to adopt the pedagogy, the HM, the above schools have.

So who was Harkness?

Edward Harkness, a "St. Grottlesexer," Yalie and Columbian, was a Standard Oil heir who offered to donate nearly $6M (1930; ~$88M today) to a school that in turn agreed to transform its pedagogy to conform to his model. Exeter, accepted the offer and made the switch. And make no mistake, doing so was fraught with risk; Exeter was, then as now, among the handful of Ivy League "pipeline" schools. The school predates the Constitution and has only ever been a place where among the country's most promising students are educated.

What is the HM?

Overview:
The short is that it's an interactive, collaborative and vicarious pedagogy. At some institutions, it's a lifestyle. Many people remark upon it in terms of the characteristic oval table, but the table is but a tool that sets an inclusive tone and that makes it easy to offer one's ideas in an assertive yet respectful manner. What distinguishes it and makes it effective, IMO based on having observed how one of my kids handles discussions in contrast to the other three, is its availing of vicarious learning and the attendant synthesis of thought -- one's own ideas and others' -- that comes with that approach. Another key facet is the small classroom size, never more than 12. (Interestingly, that number aligns nicely with "span of control" concepts of personnel management as go the limits of effective management and mentoring of one's subordinates.) Is it Socratic? Yes, but it goes beyond that.
How it actually works:
- Discussion-Based Learning in a Harkness-Based Mathematics Classroom -- Document with detailed descriptions and learning session samples
- Inclusivity and Harkness Method: Building Empathy in the Classroom -- Summary depiction, sans actual discussions
- Harkness Learning: Principles of a Radical American Pedagogy

Can the transformation happen "overnight?" No, nor am I suggesting it needs to. It's a journey, but it's one on which I think we need to embark with the aim of finishing within about 20-30 years.

Nap · Aug 9, 2018

You know what they also have in common? Incredibly expensive and only the best students are allowed in.

I'm not saying the method is bad or wouldn't be an improvement over our current system. I'm merely saying if you are taking the best and brightest then you will naturally have more success at educating them.

Xelor · Aug 9, 2018

Nap said:
You know what they also have in common? Incredibly expensive and only the best students are allowed in.

I'm not saying the method is bad or wouldn't be an improvement over our current system. I'm merely saying if you are taking the best and brightest then you will naturally have more success at educating them.

Red:
I'm not talking about that because that'd be the case independent of the pedagogy.

I'm talking about the pedagogy and its effectiveness, which is something that doesn't depend on the price of the school or whether one is necessarily the "best and brightest." I'm saying that the pedagogy has been tried and tested and shown itself very effective. Moreover, I'm saying that one of the key features of the HM is that its very nature catalyzes learning, remembering and understanding; thus regardless of the innate "talent" of the students, it produces better educational and personal development outcomes than does the alternatives. (This last was part of what shown in the supplemental materials to which I linked in the OP.)

Obviously, some variations on the theme -- my own alma mater uses a blend of Harkness and traditionally Socratic methods -- can work too, though some such as 13+ class sizes likely don't.

Aside:
Yes, the schools are pricey. They are so, however, for a host of reasons, only one of which derives materially from the HM. After all, what does the approach require? One table, 13 chairs, textbooks and the same other equipment that any other classroom has. Class size has a material impact on price/cost, insofar as one needs more classrooms and more teachers than one'd need were one to have >12 students per class.

(FWIW, two 14' oval tables and 26 chairs costs prices comparably -- on the scales and quantities we're talking -- to the same as a teacher's desk and 24 student desks. I was rather shocked when I learned that but it is what it is.)

Nap · Aug 9, 2018

Xelor said:
Red:
I'm not talking about that because that'd be the case independent of the pedagogy.

I'm talking about the pedagogy and its effectiveness, which is something that doesn't depend on the price of the school or whether one is necessarily the "best and brightest." I'm saying that the pedagogy has been tried and tested and shown itself very effective. Moreover, I'm saying that one of the key features of the HM is that its very nature catalyzes learning, remembering and understanding; thus regardless of the innate "talent" of the students, it produces better educational and personal development outcomes than does the alternatives. (This last was part of what shown in the supplemental materials to which I linked in the OP.)

Obviously, some variations on the theme -- my own alma mater uses a blend of Harkness and traditionally Socratic methods -- can work too, though some such as 13+ class sizes likely don't.

Aside:
Yes, the schools are pricey. They are so, however, for a host of reasons, only one of which derives materially from the HM. After all, what does the approach require? One table, 13 chairs, textbooks and the same other equipment that any other classroom has. Class size has a material impact on price/cost, insofar as one needs more classrooms and more teachers than one'd need were one to have >12 students per class.

(FWIW, two 14' oval tables and 26 chairs costs prices comparably -- on the scales and quantities we're talking -- to the same as a teacher's desk and 24 student desks. I was rather shocked when I learned that but it is what it is.)

As I said, I'm not knocking the system as I don't know enough to make that judgement. I misunderstood your post and thought you were judging the method based on the academic success of those schools.

Xelor · Aug 9, 2018

Nap said:
As I said, I'm not knocking the system as I don't know enough to make that judgement. I misunderstood your post and thought you were judging the method based on the academic success of those schools.

From my own K-12 scholastic background, the closest analogue I have to it are the exercises I and my mates undertook to prepare debate competitions, collaborating with the director and other actors in preparation for school plays, and in discussing and history and English lit and presenting and "defending" papers in those two classes. Like Harkness, I'm a "St. Grottlesexer," but I didn't go to a HM school.

Moreover, the only experience I have in public schools is that of guest lecturer. Periodically I led college and/or career focused, goal setting and "successful mindsets" lectures and interactive learning sessions.

What's it like to study economics?
What can you do with an economics degree?
A Day in the Life of Consultant
A Day in the Life of a Business Owner
What Matters and What Doesn't in an Interview
How to Think about Your Future and Figure Out What to Do with Yourself
Choosing a College: What If Harvard Won't Have Me?
Choosing a Major -- My Own Journey
Goal Setting: Tomorrow, Next Week, This Year, Next Year, and Beyond
Other topics

Those sessions usually began with bio about me, and then transitioned into a interactive (yet directed) discussion about the subject. Often enough, both refreshingly and surprisingly, the kids who were typically unruly and/or not the highest performers were among the most enthusiastic participants. That suggests that when given the opportunity to contribute positively, kids of all "prior" scholastic performance levels can and will "step up." Indeed, it seems they rather like to, and everyone's availing to do so, as well as everyone's blundering from time to time, is a key feature of how the HM works and builds confidence.

Confidence is important, IMO, for kids...both with being right as well as with being wrong. Kids helping each other understand in the classroom also builds confidence too, to say nothing of the reality that a kid who "gets it" teaching a concept to his mate who doesn't, often can do so in a way that the teacher cannot, but that the teacher can build upon and parlay it for subsequent classes. A lot of learning and confidence building, most of it if memory serves, comes from being wrong and discovering how and why one came to be so and jointly having and overcoming the same "wrong moment" as one's class-/roommate....So as a kid, it's good to be wrong so long as one is wrong at the right times, namely before the exam.

The schools are illustrative of the method's success, though I'm not judging the efficacy of the HM based only on it working at those schools. There has been some thought put into public schools applying it, but to be sure it's mainly used in private schools.

Though the HM has largely been a private school thing, and super-posh private school at that, I'm saying that while not everything about a "posh" prep school will transfer to public schools -- gorgeous rural campuses in bucolic settings with rivers running through them just isn't going to happen; there probably won't be many crew and equestrian sports -- it's essential that we find ways to make the most important aspect of it, the learning, do so. We've been trying for decades to do so using traditional pedagogies, and that's clearly not working all that well, so it's time to try something radically different because quality education really isn't, IMO, a thing that needs to be that complicated. It takes texts, teachers and attentive students, and pretty much any kid is willing to be attentive if one can get them participating the learning that's going on, if they are necessarily part of it, as opposed to merely watching it. That's what the HM does; it makes everyone at the table truly be part of the process.

I'd implore you and other would-be discussants to read at least the "Discussion-Based Learning" document to which I linked in the OP, along with perusing the three above linked ones, and form their own opinion. To be sure, I'm convinced of the method's efficacy; however, I'd hope that some members here could, after reading that document, and considering the differences the HM has on the nature of classroom interactions, remark upon how they'd construe the HM working in a public school setting.

(And, no, one's not going to find a political article that tells one what one is supposed to object to or agree with on the matter of the HM's implementation in public schools.)

Nap · Aug 9, 2018

Xelor said:
From my own K-12 scholastic background, the closest analogue I have to it are the exercises I and my mates undertook to prepare debate competitions, collaborating with the director and other actors in preparation for school plays, and in discussing and history and English lit and presenting and "defending" papers in those two classes. Like Harkness, I'm a "St. Grottlesexer," but I didn't go to a HM school.

Moreover, the only experience I have in public schools is that of guest lecturer. Periodically I led college and/or career focused, goal setting and "successful mindsets" lectures and interactive learning sessions.

What's it like to study economics?

What can you do with an economics degree?

A Day in the Life of Consultant

A Day in the Life of a Business Owner

What Matters and What Doesn't in an Interview

How to Think about Your Future and Figure Out What to Do with Yourself

Choosing a College: What If Harvard Won't Have Me?

Choosing a Major -- My Own Journey

Goal Setting: Tomorrow, Next Week, This Year, Next Year, and Beyond

Other topics

Those sessions usually began with bio about me, and then transitioned into a interactive (yet directed) discussion about the subject. Often enough, both refreshingly and surprisingly, the kids who were typically unruly and/or not the highest performers were among the most enthusiastic participants. That suggests that when given the opportunity to contribute positively, kids of all "prior" scholastic performance levels can and will "step up." Indeed, it seems they rather like to, and everyone's availing to do so, as well as everyone's blundering from time to time, is a key feature of how the HM works and builds confidence.

Confidence is important, IMO, for kids...both with being right as well as with being wrong. Kids helping each other understand in the classroom also builds confidence too, to say nothing of the reality that a kid who "gets it" teaching a concept to his mate who doesn't, often can do so in a way that the teacher cannot, but that the teacher can build upon and parlay it for subsequent classes. A lot of learning and confidence building, most of it if memory serves, comes from being wrong and discovering how and why one came to be so and jointly having and overcoming the same "wrong moment" as one's class-/roommate....So as a kid, it's good to be wrong so long as one is wrong at the right times, namely before the exam.

The schools are illustrative of the method's success, though I'm not judging the efficacy of the HM based only on it working at those schools. There has been some thought put into public schools applying it, but to be sure it's mainly used in private schools.

How To Bring This Private School Teaching Method Into A Public School Classroom

Addressing Classroom Challenges With the Harkness Method

Harkness Moves to Public Schools

Though the HM has largely been a private school thing, and super-posh private school at that, I'm saying that while not everything about a "posh" prep school will transfer to public schools -- gorgeous rural campuses in bucolic settings with rivers running through them just isn't going to happen; there probably won't be many crew and equestrian sports -- it's essential that we find ways to make the most important aspect of it, the learning, do so. We've been trying for decades to do so using traditional pedagogies, and that's clearly not working all that well, so it's time to try something radically different because quality education really isn't, IMO, a thing that needs to be that complicated. It takes texts, teachers and attentive students, and pretty much any kid is willing to be attentive if one can get them participating the learning that's going on, if they are necessarily part of it, as opposed to merely watching it. That's what the HM does; it makes everyone at the table truly be part of the process.

I'd implore you and other would-be discussants to read at least the "Discussion-Based Learning" document to which I linked in the OP, along with perusing the three above linked ones, and form their own opinion. To be sure, I'm convinced of the method's efficacy; however, I'd hope that some members here could, after reading that document, and considering the differences the HM has on the nature of classroom interactions, remark upon how they'd construe the HM working in a public school setting.

(And, no, one's not going to find a political article that tells one what one is supposed to object to or agree with on the matter of the HM's implementation in public schools.)

How can you expect it to work without equestrian sports?

Kidding aside, from some of the stuff I read it does sound pretty good. Reminds me of a couple of teachers that I had growing up.

Xelor · Aug 9, 2018

Nap said:
How can you expect it to work without equestrian sports?

Kidding aside, from some of the stuff I read it does sound pretty good. Reminds me of a couple of teachers that I had growing up.

Not a lot of folks do, so I appreciate your having read some of the linked content. TY.

I suspect you're not alone in recognizing similarities between the HM and experiences with one's own teachers. Hopefully, as the HM did me when listening to my daughter describe her classes, it evokes memories of the best of your teachers and learning moments.