It's 9:10 on a Wednesday morning on the third floor of Brennan Middle School in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Committees of 7th grade Unlimited Team members are meeting. Team Night is fast approaching, and these children have much to do to get ready.
Members of the Parent Involvement Team, amidst a pile of crumpled papers, are on their third draft of a plan for a potluck dinner with 90 classmates, families, and teachers. Across the room members of the Historians Team are rehearsing their review of team accomplishments—the Christmas play for grades 5/6, Middle East and Africa presentations, the publication and sale of seasonal literary booklets, and the hosting of 100 7th grade students at a Halloween party.
In the hallway, Mrs. Bradbury and Activities Committee students are practicing poetry readings about what it means to be on the Unlimited Team, that is, one of 48 regular education students and special education students who receive their instruction in this classroom.
Mrs. Blythe is proofing a Communications and Public Relations news release for the Attleboro Sun Chronicle about the upcoming community service project—tree planting with the Kiwanis Club. Her pen treads lightly on the document as she proceeds, mindful of Thea's caution, “Don't change anything but spelling and punctuation. The committee agreed we like it the way it is.”
As the creative and somewhat chaotic process of Classroom by Committee comes to a close, every committee prepares to report out. In this active processing of the day's learning, the students summarize their accomplishments and receive input from their classmates.
A Town Council Model
The philosophy that guides Classroom by Committee is a belief that a classroom for all students should be run like a classroom for the gifted. Its instructional strategy is based on a town council model of subcommittees. Students choose committees they feel are necessary to meet their needs. Thus, they learn they can control many aspects of their classroom community. As Mike puts it, “The Unlimited Team is where I learned about self-governing.”
The teacher's role is to facilitate learning, guiding students to necessary resources and processing outcomes. The teacher does not interfere with the natural consequences of projects and activities. Children work in an emotionally safe environment. They are encouraged to take risks. As they themselves will tell you, “Mistakes are simply signals for improvement.”
Teaching Self-Management
To prepare them for the Classroom by Committee experience, we teach students management techniques—brainstorming, prioritizing objectives, task analysis and completion, role determination and selection, and evaluation. Students develop their critical thinking skills and learn how to set goals, identify problems, and generate solutions.
One helpful tool has been the PERT (Performance Evaluation Research Tool—Adelphi University model) chart, which asks students: What do you want to accomplish? What needs to be done? Who is going to do it? What materials are needed? When will it be done? Who will check?
Once the committees determine their goals, they write project proposals and submit them to the classroom Executive Committee, the teacher/facilitators, for approval. Any proposals rejected by the Executive Committee can be renegotiated.
Students set their own improvement goals for future activities and measure their progress by how well they meet them. Self- and peer evaluation are also used as measurement tools. The result is students with a stronger sense of purpose and direction. Nick and Amy agree that this style of teaching “gave us confidence and a sense of self-respect, teaching us we can and will make a difference in the world.”
Out in the World
Classroom by Committee has also led students to become involved in a number of community-based activities. Students developed a number of social action committees. They work with the elderly, participate in curbside recycling projects, and help arrange recreational activities for other children.
One such activity was “Fifth Grade Footsteps,” a video researched, produced, and directed by students, to introduce 4th graders from the city's elementary schools to our middle school. The video detailed our school's history since 1917 and described its namesake, Cyril K. Brennan. Producers interviewed staff and students and mapped the physical facility.
The video led to the development of a volunteer mentorship program: 8th grade Unlimited Team members now assist incoming 5th graders in their transition to middle school.
Two students excited about Classroom by Committee even started a student talk show on the local radio station (WARA). They appeared twice monthly on a Friday a.m. call-in show. They invited two students from another city middle school to discuss the differences between traditional approaches to instruction and the Unlimited Team, then arranged an exchange day in each other's schools.
The visiting students told us they felt Unlimited Team students were much more involved in making decisions about their learning, and they envied the high level of trust among students and teachers that allowed for greater freedom. They also observed that Unlimited Team students were much more engaged in their education and actually “liked” school.
The Value of the Committee Approach
How valid a learning experience is Classroom by Committee? Let's hear from the experts: Supervised project team meetings are a good place to let students practice the democratic deliberations and cooperative skills that they will need if they want to participate in the governance of their city, state, or country. A school that offers such opportunities is making an important investment in the mature growth of our citizenry (George et al. 1992).
Current educational research on thinking and brain-centered learning concurs as well: Meaningful knowledge is natural knowledge in which the learner has acquired a felt meaning for the subject or concept or project so that new information and procedures fit together and there is sufficient connection with the learner's interests or deep meanings so that the information and procedures are personally relevant (Caine and Caine 1991).
Does this learning experience translate into changed behavior and attitudes beyond the classroom? Parents answer with a heartfelt yes!
We've noticed a big difference in Ryan. He behaves more responsibly about his tasks around the house. He has a greater sense of independence and a heightened sense of cooperative effort with teammates.—Ryan's dadRob's a lot more interested in everything that's going on around him. He's more aware. He claims it's because of committee meetings.—Rob's momI was really amazed to see Marcie and three friends use PERT chart skills in planning a birthday party for Kristen. They were so well organized. Everyone had their jobs to do. It was a wonderful party!—Marcie's mom
To ascertain the validity of this experience, we created an attitude survey to measure student perceptions about whether their learning is meaningful (see fig 1). Approximately 90 percent of responses to all statements fell into the Strongly Agree and Agree categories.
Figure 1. Attitude Sheet
Classroom by Committee-table
Directions: Place mark next to the answer that best describes your feelings. | Strongly Agree | Agree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| As a middle school student: | ||||
| 1. I am allowed to make decisions about what happens in my classroom. | ||||
| 2. I am actively involved in my learning by developing products. | ||||
| 3. I respect the people in my classroom. | ||||
| 4. I am respected by my peers in the classroom. | ||||
| 5. I am respected by my teachers. | ||||
| 6. My family is encouraged to be involved in my classroom community. | ||||
| 7. I can make a difference in my classroom, school, and community. | ||||
| 8. I participate in groups to solve problems. | ||||
| 9. People listen to what I have to say. | ||||
| 10. I am capable of producing a quality product. | ||||
| 11. I expect quality work from myself. | ||||
| 12. I am involved in evaluating my own work. | ||||
| 13. I can peacefully resolve angry feelings. | ||||
| 14. I am involved in setting goals for myself. | ||||
| 15. I can make connections between what I learn in school and what happens in my life. |
Comments:
- Things I especially like about my classroom: __________________
- Why do I like them: __________________________________________
- What things would I like to change: _______________________________
- How would I change them? _____________________________________
The Business Connection
We also asked ourselves how well Classroom by Committee stacked up against the standards set by business for American education. We used the five competencies (Resources, Interpersonal Skills, Information, Systems, and Technology) and the three-part foundation (Basic Skills, Thinking Skills, Personal Qualities) outlined in What Work Requires of Schools from SCANS (U.S. Department of Labor 1991) as a benchmark.
We gave Classroom by Committee high marks in the areas of Resources, Interpersonal Skills, Thinking Skills, and Personal Qualities. We gave ourselves a quality rating in the areas of Information, Systems, and Basic Skills.
As Amy, an empowered 7th grader, noted in her letter to the editor of the local city paper, the Attleboro Sun Chronicle: The theory around this educational experience is that when students become part of the working world they will have the skills to be able to work with others and express their ideas better with co-workers.
Classroom by Committee students are given the freedom to work on what is important to them and share in decisions made about their learning. They not only accept challenges, but they also look forward to them. This enthusiasm is expressed in this excerpt from the poem, “The Unlimited Team”: <POEM><POEMLINE>We work and strive to reach the top</POEMLINE><POEMLINE>We know there's no limit—we don't have to stop</POEMLINE><POEMLINE>Quality people and quality work we all have seen before</POEMLINE><POEMLINE>It's the product and effort that make our spirits soar.</POEMLINE><POEMLINE>We've learned to be brave and how to speak aloud;</POEMLINE><POEMLINE>Of this classroom we're very proud.</POEMLINE>—by Christine and Melissa</POEM>
