FACULTY NEWS AND NOTES
Practicing What We Teach: PCDS Yellott Program 2020-21 faculty research aimed at further engaging students
Ongoing learning, continuous growth, collaboration. Cycles of practice, self-reflection, and improvement. These phrases describe some of the attributes of the education that students at PCDS enjoy. But did you know that those same qualities distinguish the PCDS faculty experience as well? One of the ways that PCDS encourages its faculty to pursue ongoing growth and learning is through the Yellott program. Yellott grants are available to any full-time faculty member, alone or in collaboration with others, to undertake substantial, self-reflective projects over the summer that are related to curriculum and instruction. These projects require allotments of time, focus, and material resources beyond what teachers can devote during the school year. During the spring of the school year, teachers submit applications for Yellott funding by describing the goal of the project, the guiding questions, the method of inquiry, division of responsibilities and timeline, the plan for its implementation, and a discussion of the suggested impact of the project. These proposals are then evaluated by a committee comprising the head of school, the division heads, and the director of curriculum and instruction. Yellott funds are not granted
to faculty members if the proposed project represents the work all PCDS teachers are expected to do to keep themselves abreast of new texts or ideas in their field; rather, the committee is eager to fund those projects that go beyond surface-level modifications. Yellott projects are intended to be time-intensive deep dives into teaching practice and curriculum, and successful projects are those that have implications not only for the teacher but for the School. After a one-year break from the Yellott program at the end of the 2020 school year, PCDS faculty responded in full force last spring when the call for Yellott proposals went out. As a result, at the end of the 2021 school year, the Yellott committee approved four projects for summer funding. This year, half of the projects are collaborations among multiple faculty members. As a result, in sum, the recipients of Yellott funding represent nearly 10 percent of the PCDS teaching faculty. This is a notable and healthy metric, as it means that a substantial portion of the faculty returned to campus in August with an exceptionally high level of energy, inspiration, and engagement—all of which tends to infuse the entire teaching community with those same qualities. Here is a little bit about the projects and the faculty members working on them:
Deepening Students’ Connections to the Natural World Pete Saunders (US science) is working on a project centered on Deepening Students’ Connections to the Natural World. By cultivating community alliances and designing thoughtful project-based learning experiences, Pete is working to design a wildlife biology curriculum that helps students contribute to the conservation of their immediate environment in meaningful and impactful ways.
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