The future of learning
Through hands-on experiences and blended learning opportunities, Havergal College equips the next generation of leaders with the tools to succeed. supplied
Evidence-based approach empowers students to become ‘architects of their education’
Students at Havergal College are acquiring unique skills and knowledge through programs based on leading-edge educational research and novel approaches developed by faculty and an array of partners.
Havergal is a Toronto independent school for girls from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12, and the incubator for its forward-thinking programming is HC-X, Havergal’s innovation hub.
“In collaboration with external education and industry partners, we develop programming designed to nurture students to become future-ready citizens – adaptable, confident and resilient,” says Adam Caplan, director of HC-X. “We talk about futures in the plural to help our students understand the future isn’t fixed, and they can shape many possible futures for themselves and the world. Our vision is to create human-centred learning experiences that empower each student to become the architect of their education.”
“Blended learning aims to develop student agency and self-efficacy, allowing students to have control over elements of the pace, place, path and time of their learning.”
Understanding the cultural context of our digital world
The Digital Wisdom program aims to impart technology skills in the context of strategies for navigating technology’s impact on behaviour and identity.
“We aim to help students maintain their values in the midst of the pressures and cultural changes that arise from social media and other technologies,” says Mr. Caplan. “Who am I? How do I relate to others in the world? How do the devices and social media platforms and other aspects of digital culture affect me and my relationships? These are the types of questions that arise in Digital Wisdom.”
Havergal begins the program in Grade 5 because that is the beginning of important, formative years.
“These middle-school years are when students may be considering a first cell phone, or they have increased access and responsibility for devices,” he says. “With this independence comes the need for new knowledge and perspectives.”
Digital Wisdom’s desired outcomes for students include practising responsible stewardship for one’s digital footprint, being an ethical digital collaborator and developing empathy.
Transdisciplinary learning in high school
One of HC-X’s signature courses is the uniquely structured TC-9 course, which gives Grade 9 students a unique opportunity to develop and implement a sustainable development project with real-world impacts. It’s a two-week experience after March Break in which all the other Grade 9 courses are paused, and students engage in workshops and field trips, and hear from guest speakers.
The course is transdisciplinary in nature, “and that too is the future of learning,” he says. Students apply knowledge and skills from various academic disciplines including environmental science, biology, data science and economics, languages and the arts, social studies and health education.
This year, the outside experts who enriched the program included city planners at Toronto’s waterfront, science educators from the Jane Goodall Foundation at the Toronto Zoo and Indigenous education consultant Mike Carlson, who is helping students learn how to apply Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing to their projects.
Digital microcredentials program
Imagine being in high school and having the opportunity to earn a credential in pre-medical sciences or surgery. Those opportunities and several others are offered to Havergal students in Grades 9 to 12 through the school’s Digital Microcredentials program.
Through courses delivered outside the regular timetable, students can gain certificates that go beyond typical high school subjects. Taught by academic and industry experts, this also includes architecture, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, global competence, finance and law.
Graduate students from Harvard Medical School instruct students for the pre-med credential, and a partnership with Bobby Yanagawa, a University of Toronto researcher and surgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital, has enabled the creation of the Havergal Next Surgeon program.
“Spending time at the hospital, the students also meet women surgeons, providing role models in a field under-represented by women in Canada,” Mr. Caplan says. “They learn about career pathways and are able to do hands-on surgery simulations in the wet lab. At the end, they gain a credential that adds identity to their experience and potentially prepares them for post-secondary education.”
Many more partnerships with educational institutions and technology companies enrich the programming conceptualized in HC-X. Examples include the Virtual Learning Lab and the Virtual Reality Club, as well as the Forum for Change, which takes students beyond Canada’s borders on global exchanges and international learning service trips.
One way the school gives students power is through the pedagogy of blended learning. Face-to-face interactions in the classroom are augmented by online components.
“Blended learning aims to develop student agency and self-efficacy, allowing students to have control over elements of the pace, place, path and time of their learning,” Mr. Caplan explains. “It’s developing their identity as self-directed, motivated learners who are equipped to excel within and beyond Havergal.”
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