Going Beyond: Advanced Studies Removes Traditional Classroom Boundaries

STORY BY MELISSIA MASON

ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN STAUFFER

When your goal is to instill a love of learning in the future leaders of the world, it helps to love teaching. Emma Willard School faculty exude an enthusiasm for learning that is irresistible. After just a few moments of conversation, you can’t help but want to discover more about what excites them. Last year, we announced a plan to “go beyond” Advanced Placement™ classes, replacing AP with our own Emmaspecific Advanced Studies (AS) courses. This summer, faculty spent time together in a coordinated effort to dream of and plan for advanced classes that are student-centered, relevant, and meaningful.

EMILY SNYDER

Engaging Art History

After teaching AP Art History for many years, Emily Snyder began to feel like students were speeding from prehistoric cave drawings to post-1980s contemporary art, barreling past Pacific Island royal architecture and impressionism in an all-out sprint toward the finish: the AP exam. “It felt like it was all about the exam and not about the depth of the learning,” she shares. “The shift to Advanced Studies has really given me the opportunity to center the student experience and make thoughtful decisions about how and what I teach.” For Emily, one of the most invigorating elements of the new perspective on advanced learning has been the connection with other faculty—hearing what they’re doing, getting ideas, and helping one another. “Coming up with cool ideas and getting feedback has been so enjoyable and exciting,” Emily shares. “It’s helpful to see how others approach problems.” During the week-long collaborative curriculum design process, Emily focused on embedding experiences that would be authentic and meaningful for students. The exercise is helping her decide what pieces of the former curriculum to keep. “It’s clear that some of the cross-cultural comparisons that I’ve been doing in the AP class are things I want to continue,” Emily explains. In addition to a traditional chronological arrangement of content, she will focus on elements that tie together thematically. “While exploring Romanesque cathedrals, we’ll pause to look at Buddhist architecture and reliquary designed for pilgrimage to compare it alongside the European tradition.” One of the most appealing features of the new class design is that students will have more choice. “If we’re focused on non-western pieces, students will have the opportunity to choose whether they want to explore the Pacific Islands or colonial Latin America. We’ll be able to dive deeper into those moments,” Emily explains. With the added flexibility, Emily envisions her students engaging in a robust classroom experience that involves more writing, reflecting, revising, and analyzing. “I’m interested in making this class more about developing the vocabulary and analytical skills necessary to contextualize and understand different works of art and to apply that knowledge in a real-world setting,” Emily says. “Are you able to think about a contemporary problem related to art history, develop a solution, and communicate your ideas in an effective way?” Emily points out that this approach to art history requires a higher level of thinking skills than focusing on an exam, giving students the opportunity to test their skills in a different way, listening to feedback and working collaboratively. “For art history in particular, many people take the class because they are visual artists and have a creative mindset. Memorizing and regur-

gitating isn’t necessarily the way they best express what they know,” Emily says. By moving beyond a focus on testing, art history becomes accessible to all students and allows them to demonstrate their knowledge in new and creative ways. In the inaugural Advanced Studies Art History class, Emily is excited to dive into project-based learning. Students will propose a public monument to replace the statue of Teddy Roosevelt flanked by an Indigenous person and an African man, which is soon to be removed from the entrance of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. “The project is based on something I’ve been thinking about for a couple of years,” Emily reveals. “I want to try to get kids to think about public monuments specifically from an art history lens.” She feels that this approach puts students at the center of the classroom experience by giving them a tangible way to apply what they are learning. Beyond this year’s public monuments project, Emily dreams of engaging students in conversations about the repatriation of objects acquired during colonial and imperialist periods. “Kids are engaged in the type of work that has a social justice lens,” she says. “Where we are in upstate New York, there are many conversations about who has the right and responsibility to own and

care for objects.” Emily’s students are passionate about exploring why there are mummies in Albany and what can be done about pot hunters who steal indigenous artifacts from burial grounds, what it takes to get them returned, and how communities collaborate in a way that is valued and appreciated. “There is a lot of work to do in this local area,” Emily shares. “I imagine we could collaborate with US history classes to imagine a different way of looking at the relationship between the US government and Indigenous people.” Emily’s work in Student Life has also given her a birds-eye view of the toll that stress and anxiety take on student wellbeing. “For so long, I watched kids fall apart before, during, and after AP week because of the stress it puts on them,” she recalls. “They stop sleeping, stop taking care of themselves, and generally struggle so much more because of the stress of the exams.” By engaging students in academic pursuits that align with their personal passions, Emily believes we can help alleviate that pressure. “I’m hoping that the new approach to advanced learning restores the joy our students have in learning!”

LASZLO BARDOS

Creating with Calculus

When Laszlo Bardos talks about calculus, his eyes light up. That spark is a reflection of the passion and excitement he strives to foster in his students. He dreams of the moment when his students are faced with a problem and realize they can use calculus to solve it. It’s that moment of realization—creativity meets math meets real-world solution—that excites Laszlo about the possibilities inherent in moving beyond a focus on AP testing. Emma’s new Advanced Studies curriculum gives Laszlo and his students the gift of time and space to have fun with math. “Traditional math curriculum is like being on a highway, striving to get from point A to point B,” Laszlo explains. “You can get from algebra to calculus in a direct route, but never see anything along the way.” He likens the journey to a cross-country road trip. “You’re driving right past the Grand Canyon, but never see it. You get to California, but how much have you missed by not stopping to explore along the way?” Although the direct route may help students pass a test, they miss the fun that can be found in “sight-seeing.” Laszlo’s ideal advanced studies course makes connections between what students are learning and the things they feel passionate about. “Math knowledge is very fragile,” he observes. “Ask a student three months after a test and they have no idea what they learned for that test. There isn’t a long-term connection. By asking students to do fun and real things, we’re giving relevance and meaning to it.” In an Advanced Studies class, stu-

dents leverage their comprehensive math knowledge— not just what they learned for a particular test. “When students finally get it and realize how math works in practice, that connection is burned in their brain.” Laszlo expects students to choose a field they’re interested in and use calculus to find a solution to a question they devise. When students come to the end of the class, he hopes they walk away with the ability to apply the principles they learned and the ability to actually make something—whether that’s a physical product or a complex analysis of a problem and its solution. From creating electronic circuits to solar ovens, Laszlo has experienced first-hand what students can do when they apply calculus to a purpose-driven goal—and when there’s purpose, the motivation to learn shifts. “In a traditional advanced class, the goal is to pass a standardized test,” he explains. “But if the goal becomes to explore something you’re interested in, that’s a completely new mindset, and it’s really powerful.” Peppering his class with explorations and activities, Laszlo teaches students to think creatively about real-world challenges and how they may be a part of the solution. By moving beyond AP, Laszlo hopes that students experience the thrill of making things. “I think our Makers Space is very valuable,” he says. “Our society doesn’t necessarily give the message to girls that they can use wood-working tools and saws and drills and that they can actually make things.” Developing these skills opens up possibilities so that students have capability—beyond creating digital media—to develop prototypes, expand their skills in other spaces (like art),

and create what they dream of. For Laszlo, “beyond” is the difference between having book knowledge and having a feeling of accomplishment and wonder in creating. “It’s seeing the power in what you can do with what you know,” Laslzo reflects. Laszlo brings his own hobbies and interests into the classroom as a demonstration of what students can achieve. As one who loves working with electrical circuits, Laszlo looks forward to giving his students the opportunity to create. “I love so many aspects of making,” he shares. “I can’t wait to have students do things with electronics and robotics, to have students sew, crochet, and make things out of wood.” As a cyclist, he can apply calculus to determine how far he can coast if he stops pedaling. “Don’t get me started on differential equations,” he laughs. “You have gravity to consider, and air resistance … I can make this as complicated as you want. That’s what’s rich about this approach to learning—it’s much more interesting than assigning chapter nine, problem 13.” Moving beyond the AP gives teachers the chance to focus on skills that are not covered on a test. “Thinking on your feet or working on a team, being able to communicate with other people, being able to write about what they’re learning,” Laszlo explains, “those are things that go beyond the AP test.” Testing doesn’t cover these skills, but they are key to a student’s future success. Whether or not a student ever applies a calculus principle to a real-life situation after his class, Laszlo wants to make sure they know how to solve problems. “You are going to face problems every single day in your career,” he explains. “Your job is to take that problem, see its essential components, break it down into steps that are manageable, and complete it. That’s what math is.” As he looks forward to the possibilities of the new approach to Advanced Studies, Laszlo reflects on the best moments he experiences in the classroom. “When I see a buzz of activity in the classroom, where students are making, planning, collaborating … I’ve arrived,” he says. His goal is to set the environment where students can nurture creativity, curiosity, collaboration, experimenting, failing, and trying again. “At Emma, we’re so lucky,” he concludes. “If we give these students the opportunity to create, they will jump on it and do amazing things!”

CAROLINE BOYAJIAN

Fulfillment Meets Literature

What do Sophocles, Toni Morrison, The Good Place, and an advice column have in common? Soon, they will be tenets in an Advanced Studies course centered around literature and philosophy. The class is the brainchild of Caroline Boyajian, who says, “This is a dream course for me, and something I think the kids can

really sink their teeth into.” Students will be reading and viewing works that are not explicitly philosophy, alongside great philosophers from history. “What I hope to achieve is an experience where students engage with works that are about the human experience, what makes our lives meaningful, and what we owe to each other,” Caroline explains. “The idea is to get kids to think about their lives differently, and to also think about literature differently—how what they’re reading speaks to the human condition.” Inspired by the philosophical discussions in the TV show The Good Place, Caroline envisions the class exploring a selection of fiction works, the New York Times’ column “The Ethicist” by philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah, and a variety of classic works of philosophy to inform what they’re reading. Add on a layer of resolutions (think New Year’s), and students will walk away with an interdisciplinary experience that informs how they see the world around them. “I want students to resolve for themselves to accomplish something that will either do good in the world or allow them to live more authentically,” Caroline says. “Whether that’s to return to a hobby that gives you joy or interact with their friends in a different way or become more engaged with current events … I want them to think about how both fictional and philosophical texts can help us live our lives in a way that is richer and more fulfilling.” With a variety of writing assignments in store, students will journal, write book and film reviews, and even try their hands at an advice column. “They’ll get to practice using a different voice in their writing,” Caroline says, “and they’ll also teach the rest of the class about the particular philosopher they’re researching.” While Caroline sees the class as having some parallels with a traditional AP curriculum—a holistic approach centered around how students think and write—it’s the creativity to move beyond the boundaries of the AP test that excites her. “Rather than working toward a goal that happens at the end of the year,” she shares, “students can be more creative in thinking about what they’re passionate about in the moment.” To Caroline, going “beyond AP” means having the opportunity to do interdisciplinary work. “Sometimes kids can walk away from high school with the sense that these subjects that we hand to them—math, science, English, art, history, music—are separate things in the world, and the truth is they’re not,” Caroline contends. “These are all interrelated, interconnected ways of thinking about the universe and each other. You don’t need to pigeon-hole yourself as a math person or a history person or an English person—you’re just a thinker.” Caroline is giving students the opportunity to be more open about how they see themselves as thinkers and learners.

In her additional role as junior class dean, Caroline engages students in conversations that move beyond what is explored in a typical classroom setting. “Conversations about who we are, who we want to be, and what it means to be in community together are not and should not be separate from the intellectual, academic conversations we’re having in the classroom,” she asserts. “The more we can think about character as part of our academic experience the better.” Caroline’s dream for creative advanced coursework doesn’t end at philosophy. “I also fantasize about designing a course that’s grounded in ekphrasis, writing about art,” Caroline shares. She gives as examples the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley—inspired by a fragment of a statue of Ramesses II—and Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier—inspired by the Johannes Vermeer painting of the same name. Her face lights up as she explains, “I envision an interdisciplinary environment where students use real artwork as inspiration for the writing that they complete for the class!” By nurturing this imaginative process, Caroline hopes that students can shift their focus away from external pressures and evaluations and more toward what they have accomplished. As class dean, she has had ample opportunity to see firsthand the pressures that students are under. “Students will always care about grades—and they should,” Caroline adds, “but if we can shift their attention away from the pressure of that measurement in just a small way … that would be something!”

PHILOSOPHY AND LITERATURE READING AND VIEWING LIST

Interested in reading along with the Philosophy and Literature class? Caroline shares the following glimpse into the list of possible works she’ll be using.

READING • No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre • Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison • The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro • The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery • Sophie’s World by Jostene Gaarder • Turtles All the Way Down by John Green • The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers • Tao Te Ching • The Philosophy Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained • The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus • The Ethicist NYT column by Kwame Anthony Appiah

SHORT STORIES: • “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty • “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. LeGuin • “The Egg” by Andy Weird • “The Three Questions” by Leo Tolstoy • “The Garden of Forking Paths” by Jorge Luis Borges • “Søren Kierkegaard Confounds the City” by Tom Baikin-O’hayon • “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri

VIEWING • The Good Place (Season 1 and Season 2) • Groundhog Day

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