In the early morning sun, a group of 3rd and 4th graders sits quietly looking across the lagoon to the trees beyond the swiftly moving Bow River. A new blanket of snow has fallen overnight. The tracks of a mule deer and a coyote have crisscrossed the pathway through the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, creating excitement and anticipation within the group. After several moments, Michael whispers, “There he is!” The students' heads turn in unison as a large male coyote walks silently out of the trees in search of an unsuspecting mouse or vole for breakfast.
As the children watch, a flurry of wings rustles overhead. The coyote moves beyond sight, but from above flies a full-grown bald eagle, its white head a crown of brilliance as it pursues the mallards at the river. Eyes widen as the eagle drives the flock of mallards downstream. Students quickly search for a new page in their journals to record their most recent encounter.
Observing a bald eagle in flight at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, putting on white gloves to handle artifacts at the Glenbow Museum, or preparing lunch for homeless people—every week in Calgary, students are immersed in learning with adults in the community. The Campus Calgary/Open Minds program gives public school and private school teachers at all levels the chance to move their classrooms to one of nine community sites for a week of powerful project-based learning. Students learn from—and personally connect to—knowledgeable adults in a real-world setting. Shared planning between classroom teachers and site experts connects the week's activities to yearlong curriculum goals at the students' schools. Through hands-on experience, personal connection with adults in the community, and freedom to write and reflect on their experience, students learn at a deeper level than is possible solely within classroom walls.
What distinguishes Campus Calgary from traditional field trips is the fact that the teacher is an integral part of planning and implementing the on-site learning experience. The model consists of a partnership between local school boards, community sites, and corporate sponsors who provide financial support—including Chevron Texaco, Petro-Canada, the City of Calgary, the Stampede Foundation, University of Calgary, and the Canadian Olympic Development Association. Teachers applying for a week at a community site must submit a proposal showing how the experience will be a catalyst for a long-term interdisciplinary study at their school. Campus Calgary staff members judge the applications; last year 248 teachers or teams applied for 187 available slots. Most participants are public elementary schools, and 20 percent of slots are set aside for high-needs schools, which pay half the usual cost.
Months before the on-site experience, teachers meet with site coordinators several times to tailor lessons and activities to their curriculum goals. Each site hosts summer inservice training for teachers. Creative artists coach teachers in bringing out children's creativity—leading teachers themselves in intensive journal writing, for example—because the Campus Calgary model prizes student writing and drawing as a path to authentic learning.
Seeing the Light at City Hall
In their planning, teachers reach for activities that can't be done in school but that illuminate concepts students have been studying. For example, 4th grade teacher Bonnie Chandler of Olympic Heights School designed a curriculum unit on light and shadows before she took students to City Hall School, held right in City Hall in downtown Calgary. She teamed up with a city planner who was expert in Calgary's “sunlight standards” for its downtown design. To get a feel for the interaction between building design and light, students dismantled a three-dimensional model of downtown Calgary. In a darkened room, they spread out individual “buildings” and experimented with moving around a flashlight and blocks of wood to view how size and placement of buildings could create a sunlit or overly shadowed cityscape. The group was then able to step outside and observe the effect of the downtown's true arrangement.
Connecting to Nontraditional Teachers
Teaching that combines the skills of teachers and the specialized knowledge of adults outside school leads to deep understanding as students connect to the rich resources their community has to offer. Such teaching used to happen more naturally. A century ago, children spent time in multi-age settings—farms, workplaces, neighborhoods—relating closely to adults as they learned about the world. As the schools we know today replaced those natural learning communities, children began to lose a sense of personal connection to the broader world they inhabit.
Students and teachers who participate in Campus Calgary/Open Minds site visits are given the opportunity to associate with their communities in ways that many adults never have. Working alongside curators, artists, naturalists, writers, and technicians, students hear firsthand stories that make these careers come alive for them. They begin to connect to their community on a more personal level. The five-day experience gives students time to develop relationships not only with adults at the site but also with the site itself. By week's end, the students often demonstrate a strong sense of stewardship and pride in their assigned placement, informing responsible adults at the site if anything needs to be fixed or if they see “civilian” visitors breaking site rules. Participants frequently return with family members in tow to share all they have discovered.
Inspiring Reflective Writing
A principle of Campus Calgary is that writing and drawing can lead students into the process of discovering, thinking, and learning. Directors and site coordinators work closely with classroom teachers to promote writing and drawing as ways to help students express themselves and make meaning of their experience. Combining visual and written expression lets students explore creatively and extends their ability to say what they really mean, as reflected in their journal entries.
Much work is done around the concept of “story.” Students learn how to look deeply at artifacts and use them as launching points for stories that inform people about the world. Rather than responding to teacher-assigned topics, they become keen to share stories related to their personal experiences at the site. Students cannot write from thin air; meaningful experiences are crucial for expressive writing to emerge. Especially in today's world of passive television viewing and look-alike shopping malls, children need interesting, hands-on experiences to think and write about.
As students interact with site coordinators and resource people, they build more specific vocabulary and become proficient at expressing their own thoughts and ideas. The reflective writing that takes place at the site becomes a powerful tool for connecting and changing ideas. Teachers involved in the program since its inception have seen tremendous gains in student writing skills. We often hear teachers say something like, “I just can't get over how Ryan is writing this week. Look at his journal: three pages today! At school I can't get him to write anything!”
Research Results
In 2000, a research project conducted through the University of Portland in Oregon demonstrated the significant impact that the on-site immersion approach of Campus Calgary has on student writing. The research focused on one vital outcome: the ability to communicate ideas through writing.
In the fall, researchers tested the writing skills of 266 students from twelve 3rd grade classrooms. Half of these 3rd graders then took part in Campus Calgary/Open Minds, and the other half worked within regular school programs. The Campus Calgary group and the control group had similar initial writing scores. When the students were tested again in spring, however, the results were striking. As expected, both groups showed improvement. But students taking part in Campus Calgary programs improved by an average of 24 percent on the second writing task, whereas control group scores increased by an average of only 6 percent.
Opportunities for long-term exploration, social construction of knowledge, and ongoing journal writing provided within the context of the Campus Calgary/Open Minds program significantly improved students' writing. These results support the approach of teaching students in a variety of settings, letting them participate in hands-on activities and learn from people not considered traditional teachers.
The Campus Calgary model has now spread across North America and beyond. The program has been replicated at AquaSchool in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Open Minds in Singapore, among other locations. Through hands-on work guided by trusted adults—and through creative expression—teachers and students are taking learning to new levels. Campus Calgary is reclaiming for the future the connection to the adult world that deepened students' learning in centuries past.
