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THE LANDSCAPE MODEL OF LEARNING
for all students, this element asks educators to recognize that there are many ways to reach the horizon.
Important Terms The authors have been investigating three terms we believe help capture our vision for education in general and the landscape model in particular: (1) student protagonism, (2) inclusive prosperity, and (3) rightful presence. The landscape model hinges on each of these terms, and the broader concepts they address, because they move education beyond the factory line toward something much more authentic, inclusive, and student centered, which will improve learning experiences and outcomes for all students.
Student Protagonism Sadly, the English language rarely uses the word protagonism, only the word protagonist. Even protagonist is a word we rarely hear in reference to education in the English-speaking world, more commonly used to describe main characters in literature. When Jennifer was working as a head of school outside of Bogotá, Colombia, she found that protagonismo was a fairly common educational term in Spanish for active student participation in learning experiences, for a sort of ownership over the learning journey, albeit limited by the goals of the educator and broader curriculum. As a student of literature and writing, Jennifer was immediately compelled to adopt the word protagonismo in her daily work, to
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This metaphor may sound exciting to some and terrifying to others. How does one shepherd a class of thirty students? It is far easier and more organized to keep the herd tightly packed together. How might one navigate the demands of an administrator conducting a walkthrough to see the exact standard for the day’s lesson on the top right-hand corner of the whiteboard and every student able to recite the learning objective? It is easier to be “on page 53,” for example, because it’s Thursday, rather than have each of your thirty students working on a different page or skill. But educating this way ignores the messiness of what students bring into the classroom with them, of the lives they lead and the families they come from, and doing so dehumanizes every one of them. We believe that a more humanizing, individually appropriate education is possible, and that such an education will result in excellence from more students, demonstrated in more varied ways that leverage their strengths and full selves. While the landscape requires something different from educators, we don’t believe it will amount to extra work, particularly as teachers learn to harness pedagogies with student agency at their core.
