Visiting the Pacific School of Technology and Innovation was eye-opening, and also definitely confusing. I had, and still have, so many questions. After watching Most Likely to Succeed, I was fascinated by the concept, and I honestly thought it was one of the best ideas I had ever heard. I still think it is extremely innovative, inclusive, and interesting, but once the initial excitement settled, I decided to look at it more critically through my own lens as a future teacher, and according to my own personal believes, personality, and experiences.
For me, the big question is about balance. YES, students should be creative, think critically, follow their passions, work hard and learn to be autonomous. I love that this model seems to support all of that. But I also believe that school isnât only about following our interests. Sometimes it means learning things even when we donât naturally care about them. You might love space more than anything, but that doesnât mean you shouldnât learn about Canadian history. In fact, I think being exposed to a variety of subjects when youâre young is what helps you discover unexpected interests. Maybe you thought history was boring until one day you realize itâs actually not. Regardless, it’s important. I also believe that learning how to be bored or unmotivated and still follow through is an important life skill. I donât think the Pacific School of Technology and Innovation model is for everyone. If I take myself as an example, I donât think I would have had a strong enough passion at that age to research one topic all day, every day. Not all kids have a âthingâ yet, and honestly, some people might never have one big passion, and thatâs okay too.
Another downside in my opinion that I noticed, from my short observation, I noticed that most students were on their computers. Personally, that is not how I would want my students learning most of the time. I would definitely need to observe again before forming a strong opinion.
Despite my critics, I absolutely loved the idea of adapting learning to student interests, but, as I aim to work in public schools, I also question how realistic it is to expect one teacher to individualize everything for 30 students. That said, I am fully on board with pieces of it. I love the idea of genius hour. I also really like the idea of project-based learning where students still learn certain subjects but get to demonstrate their understanding in their own way, similar to what we saw in Most Likely to Succeed.
So overall, I am inspired but cautious. I do not want to romanticize something just because it feels progressive. I want to find a way to take the parts that, as of right now, I believe truly work and apply them in a classroom setting that feels balanced and realistic.
