Finding Joy in the English Classroom

• This post began in the summer of 2018 as an article for the Center for the Advancement of Girls (CAG) at the Agnes Irwin School. 
• Laurie, an editor at NAIS, did a great job turning it into a blog post which was published on June 25, 2019, in the NAIS Independent Ideas blog. Here is the link to the post.
• Below is the full article. The main difference between the two versions is that the article includes more detail and comments from students.

Finding Connections and Meaning in the English Classroom

by Dan Slack

“What’s the difference between teaching boys and teaching girls?”

This is usually the first question I’m asked when I tell someone I made a career change in 2015 from working in a boys’ school for twenty-three years to teaching girls at The Agnes Irwin School (PA). And every time, I find it hard to answer without responding with a glib stereotype such as “Boys need frequent activity during class, and girls care more about their work.”

To be honest, in the college prep culture of many independent schools, teaching boys and girls is remarkably similar: both are highly motivated; both have an “I want to do it all” attitude which often leads to being over-scheduled; both enjoy the company of schoolmates as much as, if not more than, what they are doing in the classroom. It’s increasingly clear to me that I want to be careful when I use phrases such as “the way boys learn” and “the way girls learn” because each group includes a wide and overlapping spectrum of personalities, characters, and learners.

That said, I’d like to share some thoughts on what I’ve observed about the way girls learn through my juniors’ experience with personal interest projects, or as we call them, “PIPs.” It was encouraging to see first-hand how some of the research about what works best for girls surfaced in our classroom.

20% Time

Two years ago after we read essays by Emerson and Thoreau in my AP English sections, it seemed logical to give my students some time to do what these authors recommend: to explore the “self.” To that end, I gave the girls time to choose individual topics that interested each of them, to dive into research, and to share what they learned with the class--the Personal Learning Project (PLP) was born.

Moving away from the AP curriculum provided an opportunity to be more flexible with class time, and with encouragement from my Department Head, Sharon Rudnicki, and design help from The Agnes Irwin School’s Innovation Team—Julie Diana, Maggie Powers, and Kim Walker--the PLP turned into the PIP. Instead of three weeks, students had one class a cycle (every seven days) for most of the year to work on a project of their own choosing. This program is based on “20% Time” instituted several years ago by companies such as 3M and Google: the practice is to give employees 20% of their time to work on projects of their own choosing, individually or in groups. “20% Time” has energized employees and led to innovations such as “sticky notes” (3M), Gmail, and Google Sky. Educators recognized a good thing and adapted 20% Time (sometimes called “Genius Hour”) for schools.

This is how the PIP worked last year. After students spent several weeks identifying possible interests, they chose topics and began exploring them through research, writing, painting, building, interviews, surveys, photography, videography, acting, musical composition, and practice. The requirements for PIPs were to reflect (in writing) after each class cycle on progress and challenges, and, by the end of the school year, to produce a product, complete a self-assessment on what they learned about themselves, and, finally, share their experiences with others through a five-minute TED-type talk.

Embracing Connections​

During the early stages, as students were in the midst of choosing topics, we experimented with a “speed dating” type of information sharing to help narrow options. Desks were arranged in a line in pairs; each person shared her three top ideas for her PIP and received feedback from her partner; when time was called after several minutes, one side of the line moved to the next person and repeated the process until each girl had a conversation with all of her classmates. I was pleased by how well this activity worked: the girls appreciated learning about what their classmates were thinking, and many reported receiving helpful feedback from their peers and gaining the courage to dive into their topics. The following comments capture the general consensus about how valuable connecting with classmates was for the group:

I had to turn in reflections throughout the project about research and about myself... it was really interesting because I've never been pushed to do something like that: [we] had [the chance] to collaborate [and] commiserate with each other.

I also loved how we had to talk to each other in the beginning stages of PIP, even before we were comfortable with our ideas. It helped take me out of my comfort zone, gave me new ideas, and forced along the development of my existing ideas.

It was clear to me that the girls’ learning was amplified when they had the opportunity to share with each other, and their experience with PIPs confirmed the research about the importance of connection in girl’s education (Younger, 2016). ​As we built on this initial “speed dating” activity by sharing reflections along the way and listening to final talks, girls honed their ideas through their conversations, supported each other when challenges arose and developed meaningful relationships as they learned more about each other and themselves.

Finding Meaning

When first introduced to the PIP, the variety of responses from the girls was revealing: reactions ranged from feeling excited about the wide-open opportunities to being daunted by a new type of decision. While this kind of far-reaching choice was frightening to many, by the end of the project, most reported that having agency made the experience a powerful one. Here are several comments from students:

I liked the freedom to do anything I wanted with my PIP. This led to me being really interested in my work.

I really liked it because I learned the research process…[and] it empowered me: if there isn’t research, go get it yourself.

It was very easy to stay motivated about it because I am very passionate about the topic of my PIP, and I had a lot of fun coming up with the idea of how to create my documentary.

PIP is... for lack of a better word... awesome. I wish that we got to do this project every year. The opportunities are endless and now, after listening to a multitude of presentations, my head is spinning with more topics I want to explore! PIP allows students the time to immerse themselves in their passions, and lets others develop new hobbies of their own! I love the flexibility of the project and I cannot express my gratitude for this experience.

A key finding in a recent study done by the Harvard Graduate School of Education is that for teen girls to be successful learners and leaders, they need to engage in work that is meaningful to them (​Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2015)​. In the majority of middle and high schools today, most academic choices are usually made, or narrowed, ​for students. While choice can be challenging, it is an important component of meaningful work: the PIP provides girls with an opportunity to practice their decision-making, to work for an extended period of time on a project of their own choosing, and to learn more about their own creativity, skills, and interests—all important ingredients for meaningful work.

The Results

The majority of girls reported that the PIP was the most engaging academic experience they’ve ever had. And for me, it was one of the best teaching and learning experiences in my career so far. It was exciting to see the number of girls who planned to continue working on their projects after our course ended. One student created and recorded twelve original songs; she wants to see if she can produce her first album, and she has connected with an AIS alumna who works in the music business. Another student intends to publish her original art in a book that explores the plight of an endangered species of horses, and she developed relationships with people working directly with the cause. A third student is passionate about improving the prison system through increasing awareness about the wrongfully convicted. To that end she connected with folks involved with the Innocence Project and plans to use her photography skills to produce a documentary that tells the stories of the former inmates she interviews. As the research suggests, viewing the PIP as learning that extends beyond the classroom and meeting experts in various fields made the daily work more significant for a number of girls (Harvard GSE, 2015) The following student comments sum up the power many girls experienced through connection to others and to meaningful work:

This summer, I plan on interviewing people in New Hope — I'm planning to continue the project. It's inspiring me to do stuff outside of school that started in school.

I think that by allowing the project itself, within the confines of the school year, to be about the process rather than the product, I gave myself the freedom to take my time this summer to turn out a book that I can be proud of. In fact, I would say that this PIP helped me to kickstart a career in activism. I always wanted to be a part of the solution to so many problems, and this PIP was the missing piece to help me get started.

So, what’s the cost of implementing a PIP project that uses 20% of class time? To fit PIPs into our course that focuses on the essential question, “What is the American story?”, I had to give up units on Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five​ and selected essays by Emerson and Thoreau. However, some important curricular gains are a more varied writing practice that helps girls find their voices--before they have to write personal essays for college--as well as a substantial research and public speaking experience which serves as a helpful foundation for their Senior Assemblies, a capstone experience at AIS that provides every twelfth grader the opportunity to deliver a ten-minute talk to the entire upper school community about a topic that interests her. While I’m not sure about Vonnegut, I’m convinced that Emerson and Thoreau would cheer us on because we’re putting their ideas into action instead of just reading about them. More important, I want my students to know that their own American stories matter.

References:

Harvard Graduate School of Education. (n.d.). Leaning Out: Teen Girls & Leadership Biases. Retrieved from https://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/leaningout

Younger, M. (2016). ​Effective Pedagogies for Girls' Learning: A Review of Recent Research​ (pp. 1-26, Rep.). Cambridge: Girls’ Day School Trust. 

Dan Slack has been a teacher and administrator in four different independent schools; currently, he teaches upper school English at The Agnes Irwin School (PA). You can find him on Twitter @dgslack.