Cities Experience Program
A Whittle Global Network Experience
whittle school
2
whittleschool.org
&
studios
Education Re-Imagined We want to change for the better the lives of those students who attend and, beyond our own campuses, contribute to the cause of education on every continent. We measure our merit not through the narrowness of exclusivity, but through the breadth of our impact. － Chris Whittle, Chairman and CEO －THE CITIES EXPERIENCE PROGRAM－ －THE GLOBAL CITY CORE TOOLKIT－ －THE WHITTLE GLOBAL CURRICULUM－ －THE CEP CURRICULUM－ • STEM • HUMANITIES • CAD
• MATH • LANGUAGE
the cities experience program
3
The Cities Experience Program:
Global Conn through Local The Whittle School and Studios will be a global network of 30 Pre-K through 12 schools with campuses located in the world’s most vibrant cities. The challenges and opportunities of the modern world demand a global perspective—one that exposes students to the world and provides them the language, traits, knowledge and social skills to navigate multiple cultures and collaborate across national boundaries. The experience of our students in our host cities will be a platform for understanding how communities work, integrating rigorous classroom learning with real world experience, and cultivating the understanding and awareness necessary to become successful, effective and responsible local and global citizens.
4
whittleschool.org
nection Roots For the fall of 2019 we are introducing our Cities Experience Program (CEP), a groundbreaking global exchange experience designed to immerse a select number of our middle and high school students in the host cities for our first campuses: Shenzhen, Washington DC and New York City. Students will begin their school year in Shenzhen, following a tailored version of the core program, in which they master skills and content drawn from the highest global standards, while building the scholarly and personal skills necessary to navigate, study and interact with the world’s great cities. They will then deploy those new skills, traveling to Washington DC and New York City for deep, immersive learning experiences, returning to Shenzhen between trips to ensure that they master necessary skills and knowledge, and to solidify the insights and discoveries they will take with them from the CEP into their future studies.
A team of highly trained middle and high school teachers from all disciplines (STEM, Humanities, Art, Math and Language) will work with the students across all three campuses to ensure that students cover the required material thoroughly and master the skills they need to navigate the three cites successfully and safely:
In Shenzhen, students will master all the required skills and knowledge they would normally learn in school- the Chinese National Curriculum, the Next Generation Science Standards, elements of the Advanced Placement program and Whittle Global Standards- applying that knowledge to understanding Shenzhen through our 5 City Lenses: • Change & Innovation • Migration & Mobility • Sustainability & Resilience • Diplomacy & International Relations • Media & Culture
• Students will then go to our Washington DC campus, residing in our full-service boarding facilities at our new campus, exploring the 5 City Lenses with a focus on Diplomacy and International Relations. They will work with our local partners in the State Department, DC Department of Energy and Environment, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Smithsonian Museum, Anacostia Riverkeepers and Library of Congress to explore and understand Washington DC as world city, national capital and unique local metropolis. • Students will return to Shenzhen to reflect on their Washington DC experience, comparing what they saw and learned to what they are studying in Shenzhen, diving deeply into the Chinese National Curriculum, and developing questions to investigate in New York City.
• In the first months they will also master our Global City Core Toolkit, a set of skills preparing them to move safely and productively through world cities. • Students will also engage in immersive English language study preparing themselves over the course of the year to enter a campus with English-medium instruction. Learning will be highly individualized and supported by a cadre of teachers aware of the need to teach both “their” subject and English at the same time.
• The program culminates with a month in New York City where the students will explore the 5 City Lenses with a focus on the lenses of Sustainability and Resilience and Media and Culture. They will partner with the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, The New York Times, The Metropolitan Museum, The Bronx River Alliance, Google, WNYC Radio and other Whittle partners to explore and understand New York City as both a global cultural capital and a city of diverse neighborhoods.
At Whittle, we anchor the global experience of Whittle students in local engagement: sending students out to study their anchor city and other cities in our network, rooting their learning in meaningful interactions in the world beyond the classroom.
We believe that deep learning and mastery occur best when students apply what they have learned in the classroom to answering relevant questions in the real world. Through our Cities Experience Program, it is our goal to inspire, educate, and empower students to be responsible and empathetic members of both their local and global communities, to understand and address the challenges and opportunities that global cities share, and to cultivate in our students deep understanding of themselves and the world.
6
whittleschool.org
The Global City Core Toolkit— A Life-Long Scholarly and Personal Journey
The CEP is more than your typical foreign exchange program: It is a school experience that prepares students not only for college and career, but for life. By cultivating a “Global City Toolkit” of interdisciplinary skills across all three campuses, we seek to provide every CEP student with the capacity to effectively, safely and respectfully study their environment and to engage in rewarding partnerships in local communities around the world. The Toolkit provides the competencies and knowledge to support ambitious collaborative and independent work in the world beyond the classroom. With this toolkit, students will be able to immerse themselves first in Shenzhen, then Washington DC and New York City, to compare the experiences of different sites and develop a global perspective rooted in local experiences. Beyond Whittle, the skills and knowledge students cultivate in the city will make them happier and more capable in both college and later life. This Toolkit is just the beginning of a lifelong journey to learn how to move through the city and world with empathy, intelligence, insight and agency.
G LO B AL C I T Y TOOLKIT DI VI SI ON
MIDDLE SCHOOL
UPPER SCHOOL
CONTEN T HIGHL IG HTS
S K I LLS
T RA I T S
• Rachel Carson, Silent Spring • AEJ Morris, History of Urban Form • Lilla Watson and asset-based partnerships • Regular reading and analysis of newspapers and journals • Urban fiction and films
• • • • • • • • • • • •
Interviewing experts Cold-calling Mapping city/ Orienteering Social geography Using mass transit Using the public library Placebooking Sketchup Exhibition skills Public speaking STEM fieldwork Environmental Lab reports
• • • • • • •
Cultural awareness Leadership Listening and collaboration Resilience Environmental awareness Ability to take risks and fail Meta-cognitive understanding
• Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities • Kevin Lynch, Image of the City • Georg Simmel, "The Metropolis and Mental Life" • Mike Davis, City of Quartz • Urban policy, history and • resilience texts Statistics • Regular reading & analysis of newspapers and journals
• Student-led walking tours • Researching in public and university archives • GIS (Geographic Information Services) • Advanced interactive and AR mapping • Interviewing policy-makers and activists • CAD and urban planning • Public policy memos • Documentary film-making
• • • • • • • • •
Respect for difference Being an ally Leadership Resilience Environmental action Open-mindedness Considering consequences Self-awareness Willingness to take intellectual risks
the cities experience program
7
Immersive City Expeditions The CEP applies all of a student’s skills, knowledge and traits to the task of understanding how we live together, how we solve problems collectively, how we affect our landscape and how it affects us. In their first weeks, students begin urban skill-building (numeracy, interviewing, city mapping, navigation, making observations) through architecture tours, transportation studies, urban storytelling, neighborhood research, interviews with residents, and in-class urban simulations. As their mastery expands, students build on the Toolkit (through archival research, policy memos, urban orienteering, environmental analysis) exploring city physics through bridge design or car velocity analyses, urban planning and design by studying in-progress construction, policy analysis through stakeholder interviews, and cultural exploration through student-designed walking tours and scavenger hunts. Finally, as they travel to our partner cities, students become active agents in the city, applying all they have learned to cultivating leadership, civic engagement, urban design, resilience planning, social entrepreneurship, service learning and collaboration with community partners.
E XAM P L E S O F C I T Y CO R E EXP ER I E N CE S MIDDLE SCHOOL
UPPER SCHOOL
Studying logarithms in math class supporting pH in STEM, leading to water quality testing of local waterways to investigate local resilience.
Sustainability policy paper and exhibition based on an overnight canoe trip down a local waterway, discussions with environmental policy-makers, housing experts, and officials.
Wayfinding Project: students and teachers design an urban history scavenger hunt, then follow clues using maps, compasses, and mass transit to navigate the city safely.
Students research a neighborhood to design and lead a historic walking tour with place booking and architectural analysis connected to community outreach and a participatory planning project.
Building a model of the local neighborhoods and transportation network using all media in the workshop floor.
GIS, interactive mapping, and 3D modelling projects for urban analysis and community-based participatory planning project in STEM and humanities.
DI VI S I O N
STE M (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, MATH)
H U M ANI T I E S (HISTORY, LITERACY, LANGUAGE)
C R E AT I VE ARTS AN D DE S I GN (MAKER FLOOR, 2D AND 3D ARTS, PERFORMING ARTS)
8
whittleschool.org
EXAM P L E ST U DENT C I T Y EXP ER I ENCE
CHINESE NAME IS 张菲菲 , OR ZHANG FEI FEI; HER ENGLISH NAME IS FIONA ZHANG
FION
A
Fiona is a day student in 11th grade on our Shenzhen campus. She has been in Whittle since middle school and has mastered many skills already in her City Core Toolkit, including interviewing, storytelling, placebooking and map making. Her parents moved to Shenzhen when Fiona was small, and, as a result, she was always interested in exploring her “new” city, especially meeting new people. In 9th grade she spoke to her advisor, Mr. Chu, and they decided that her passion for adventure and meeting others would make her a good candidate for the City Experience program, so she signed up for the Shenzhen Experience in the fall trimester of 10th grade and became deeply interested in housing policy during her student-designed walking tour of the urban village, Baishizhou. As a result, Fiona designed and led an affordable housing debate that was well-appreciated by her teachers and peers.
SHENZHEN es Ci ti c e n e i r E xp e m. .. a r g o Pr
MAX
For her final project in the Shenzhen Experience, she and three of her peers developed a policy proposal for redeveloping Baishizhou with local residents and, with the help and recommendation of the City Core Coordinator, Wang Lu, presented it to the local planning board. One of her partners in this project was an exchange student, Max, from the Washington DC campus, and he told her all about growing up in a working class neighborhood in Washington that reminded him of Baishizhou. This intrigued Fiona, so she spoke with her parents, Mr. Lu and Mr. Chu and all agreed that she should sign up for a trimester of the Washington DC Experience in 11th grade. Sara used some of her Acceleration class time in the spring to deepen her Statistics mastery, so she would have all the tools she needed to go to DC. Fiona had been doing well in her English studies, but Mr. Chu suggested that she sharpen her fluency with a summer program, which she did at Whittle Studios. While she was there, she worked more deeply on some of her City Core Toolkit by taking a GIS City Mapping course, because she knew that she wanted to continue working on housing policy and city planning.
WASHINGTON DC In the fall Fiona traveled to the US to join the Washington DC Experience. In Washington she met Gloria Mobley, the DC City Core Coordinator, who introduced her to her new classmates in the DC daily program, and helped her settle in to her room. Even though this was her first time outside of China, and she was excited for an adventure, Fiona felt comfortable as a result of her good English proficiency, the familiarity she had with Whittle School culture and her mastery of the City Core Toolkit that all of her CEP classmates were also using. Fiona had many memorable learning experiences, including an overnight canoe trip down the nearby Rock Creek to research the health of the river, a historical walking tour of DC’s Chinatown in which she set her friends straight on some misperceptions of Chinese culture, and a community design event with the residents of the Adams-Morgan neighborhood. But her most powerful experience was her interdisciplinary exploration of affordable housing in the neighborhood between Adams-Morgan and Columbia Heights, where she met with housing advocates in Jubilee Housing, and, working with students from Howard University, helped lead a community event to discuss gentrification and affordability in Washington’s older neighborhoods. Together with her team, and with her friends back in Shenzhen, Fiona developed a comparative study of affordability and gentrification in Shenzhen and Washington that became the core of an exhibit and conference at the Whittle DC campus. Her friends from the Shenzhen Experience joined the conference via video.
In Washington DC exemplary units might be: ”Immigrant Metropolis- DC as International Crossroads;” “Resilient Capitol- Sea Levels and Public Space;” “Changing Neighborhoods- Gentrification, Migration and Affordability.” the cities experience program
9
A T YPICAL WEEK IN THE WASHINGTON DC CIT Y EXPERIENCE MO NDAY
TUES DAY
MAT H the use of logarithms for pH testing
ST E M the ecology of the Potomac- guided student research
ST E M Water quality as a gauge of a healthy landscape
HUM Slideshow on the settlements along the Potomac; industrial revolution and the River Guest lecturer from Georgetown Env. Law program
GEOLO GY AND GEOGRAPH Y the forming of the Mather/Potomac Gorge and great Falls
LUNC H cooking Chesapeake fish with a local chef
HU M Native Americans and European settlers on the Potomac Rivera historiographic debate
A RT Finishing Paddle-making
10
Discuss the policy memo as a form Research on environmental policies since WWII LU N C H lesson with Black Salt restaurant chef on sustainable seafood
H U M /A RT “Representing the Potomac�- the art and literature of the Transcendentalists
WEDN E S DAY
T H U R S DAY
F R I DAY H A L F DAY O N T HE LOWER POTO M AC
FULL DAY EX PED I T I O N TO THE UPPER POTOM AC
STE M debrief on first day- small group presentations
P E , ST E M, HUM Hiking the Billy Goat Trail P E , ST E M Paddling lesson ST E M , MATH Water quality testing HUM Canal history HUM Journaling; poetry brainstorming
LU N CH with the Potomac Environmental Research Center (George Mason University) ST EM Bird counting, seining and marsh ecology study ST EM Water quality testing
HUM sharing journals Peer review of transcendental poetry A RT 2D and video work inspired by En Plein Air watercolors begin planning and designing presentations
LUNCH and meeting time with advisors
A RT Painting En Plein Air watercolors
Overnight in Great Falls Park
Buses home
whittleschool.org
HUM Immigrant communities on the river STE M Waste disposal analyses STE M Water quality testing HUM Journaling observations for poetry work LUNCH At Black Salt restaurant and fish market- lesson on food safety and resilience R ET UR N TO SC HO O L
M ATH statistical analyses of bird, fish and mammal counts and water analysis
HUM Communities along the river SCIENCE/ L A N G UAG E (in Mandarin): The Potomac and the Zhujiang Estuary
PE , STE M Paddling lesson
STE M Prepare policy memo on Potomac sustainability for Department of Env. Protection
return and clean equipment; shower locker rooms Debrief on the day with teachers and advisors and plan presentations A RT building public presentations on the river expeditions for the upper school piazza
Mastering a Second Language through City Immersion As an intensive one-year program with a goal of preparing students to enter a school in which the language of instruction is different from their native language, several aspects of the process of language development will be heavily foregrounded.
1
Language development is a negotiated process whereby learners must construct meaning with the help of teachers and peers. Given that each cohort will have learners at various stages of development, it will be important for this to be a group goal, with flexibility at its core. All teachers will be language teachers, aware that new concepts must be learned in two languages. Learners who may have stronger English, or who simply learn a particular concept more quickly, will have the opportunity to deepen their learning by explaining it to their peers, whether in the classroom or out.
2
Language use arises in context which is an amalgamation of interests, needs, and abilities. Learners will have distinct interests and will make the best progress where they focus on their goals and not on generic ones. They will learn to set achievable goals and actively monitor their progress, developing not just language skills but the metacognitive skills necessary to do this well. Rather than insist that all learners proceed along an identical trajectory, regardless of starting point and regardless of interests and goals, each student will learn to assess their language development relative to their specific goals.
3
So-called “acceleration� time will allow learners to allocate time to meet their language needs, whether because they feel themselves behind in their work or because they wish to move even faster than normal. This aspect of personalization is an important component in maintaining the necessary flexibility to address potentially disparate needs across the group.
the cities experience program
11
As with the language component of the program, so too will advisory focus heavily on helping learners rapidly achieve confidence and competence in navigating their own learning. We will begin with the assumption that learners are living away from family for the first time and will support them in this transition. We will provide a flexibly, but carefully scaffolded framework in which to develop the skills to learn independently and interdependently.
Advisory in the Cities Program
independently and interdependently
Key tools in advisory will be journaling and the use of the important frame of “personal projects� to support learners in the task of understanding themselves and their learning in this new context. Students will meet on a daily basis with their advisor as they work to master their learning and the metacognitive skills that best foster this learning. At the same time, we will take advantage of the intimacy that a small program provides to develop close bonds across the group. This will allow greater scope for support, for shared learning, and for leadership development. The challenge of doing this learning in three cities will help forge a sense of community that will live with the learners long after they finish the program and move on to more traditional educational settings.
12
whittleschool.org
College Placement and our City Exchange Experience The Whittle College Office is a full participant in the CEP. College Counselors will teach in the program, giving them a unique insight into its value and the best way to tell your child’s story as part of the college process. We have spoken about the Whittle City Exchange Program with college admissions directors and officers, and the response has been very positive- that the City Experiences will provide a compelling narrative of a student’s unique interests, intellectual adventurousness and willingness to think ‘outside the box.’ Indeed, while we created the Global City Experience Program as a meaningful educational experience, such a program has the added benefit of supplying evidence of a student’s global awareness and uniqueness, and providing a compelling story for college interviews and essays. This program will be an asset to the college process for intrepid scholars and aspiring global citizens, making them stand out among other more conventional applicants.
the Global City Experience Program as a meaningful educational experience, such a program has the added benefit of supplying evidence of a student’s global awareness and uniqueness, and providing a compelling story for college interviews and essays.
the cities experience program
13
Residential Life and Safeguarding Residential life is a central part of the Cities Experience Program. There is equality of opportunity and respect for all. Each student will have the chance to grow intellectually in an atmosphere of encouragement, challenge and fun. Strong partnerships with parents are seen as an indispensable part of the support and development of the students. Our principles of residential life are designed to support our school aims and values by:
Providing conditions for study in an atmosphere which seeks both excellence and balance
Providing a range of activities and opportunities that will assist in the personal social and cultural development, allowing each individual to develop their individual talents and skills
Developing students’ responsibility for self, for others and for the environment, allowing them to contribute to the needs and welfare of the wider community with dynamism and innovation
PRINCIPLES OF RESIDENTIAL LIFE
Allowing students to feel able to turn to members of staff to share the good things in their lives, as well as seeking advice, counsel and support during times of difficulty
Creating an atmosphere of trust in which positive relationships thrive and where disharmony would struggle to develop through the creation of a tolerant and open community
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all, by providing an environment that is, as far as possible, free from unacceptable hazards and dangers
Communicating frequently with parents to keep them fully involved with the life of the students
Developing a desire to learn in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect
14
whittleschool.org
We develop qualities of team-work and leadership through the extensive program of activities and through residential life.
Both within the classroom and beyond we aim to teach trust, encouragement and mutual respect for everyone. We believe this will inspire the positive contribution that an individual can make to the life of a school or any other community and we encourage constructive suggestions from all members of the community. We develop qualities of team-work and leadership through the extensive program of activities and through residential life. Students are aware of the importance of working with their teachers and school staff to best ensure their future success and the importance of honest academic practice and working to the best of their abilities.
the cities experience program
15
The CEP and the Core Whittle Program— A School Within and School The CEP program is grounded in the Whittle Global Curriculum, covering the material required by the Chinese National Curriculum while preparing students for transfer to the DC campus in year 2 of the program. Beyond the core program, CEP students will engage in deeper English language immersion and special courses in city navigation, to permit CEP students to successfully and safely explore both US cities and a US curriculum.
16
whittleschool.org
The Whittle Global Curriculum The Whittle Global Curriculum is an integrated synthesis of elements from the best curricula around the world. In order to deliver the future of education, our New York City-based Education Design Team, division heads, and key faculty on both campuses have spent the past four years visiting and researching the world’s most prestigious schools: from traditional institutions such as Eton and Harrow in England and Phillips Academy Andover in Massachusetts, to leading progressive schools in the US and Europe, as well as the world’s best-performing institutions across the Asia-Pacific region. Collaborating with the Center for Curriculum Redesign at Harvard, our Education Design Team has rethought education according to what we know from the science of learning to retain the best of traditional practices, while employing the best progressive practices and respecting local cultures in the development of schools that meet the demands of a new era in global education. Our curriculum combines the innovative work of leading educators with the best curricula from around the world. Our curriculum draws upon the best standards including the Chinese National Curriculum, National Research Council’s Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Singapore Math, Australian Mathematics Standards (ACARA), the National Council for the Social Studies Standards (NCSS), the International Society for Technology in
Education (ISTE), as well as competencies developed in partnership with the Center for Curriculum Redesign at Harvard. Our model takes inspiration from the best American Independent School curricula, including research and presentation components of the AP curriculum, bolstered by some of the finest aspects from the British tutorial system. It is also deeply informed by research in learning science and some of the strongest aspects of the Chinese approach to education. At Whittle School & Studios, we see education as a student-driven process that cultivates agency, curiosity, and collaboration. Our model places skills and knowledge in context, taking into account a student’s own aspirations and grounding coursework in local and global challenges. A key aspect of this is integration. The more ways in which a piece of information is connected to different contexts and experiences, the more synapses are formed and the more ways your brain can access, manipulate, and apply it—making that knowledge more permanent, meaningful, and usable. The emotions of debate, the experience of exploring a city, the thrill of playing roles, the hands-on learning of laboratory experimentation, and the challenge of decision-making—these experiences all make learning “sticky” and help develop true mastery, creativity, and ownership.
the cities experience program
17
Here is an overview of our curriculum in all three divisions and across all campuses and disciplines:
WO RL D OF HUMAN IT Y
WORL D O F SE LF
WO RLD O F KNOW LE D G E
EARLY L EARN IN G
18
LOW E R S C H O O L
Integrated and Interdisciplinary Project Work
Students work as a whole class, in small groups and independently on projects rooted in global themes. Students master skills and develop knowledge in the context of student-centered, projectbased work. Learning takes place in the classrooms, common areas, art studios and makerspaces and weaves together all disciplines. Students deepen their learning through City Core and Center of Excellence work on expeditionary X-Days. In Early Learning, themes emerge from children’s interests. In Lower School, themes are inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and begin a spiral that extends into Middle and Upper School.
English Language Arts
Through rich, experiential learning that includes songs, rhyming, storytelling, artistic expression and more, children develop English speaking, listening, and early writing skills.
Students engage in guided reading, shared reading, interactive “read-alouds�, and book clubs across genres to build their literacy and critical thinking skills. They develop a bank of wordsolving strategies through phonics and word study.
Mathematics
Students develop mathematical thinking and skills throughout their day in early learning.
During the mathematics mastery band, students work on math investigations and problem-solving, consolidation of skills, and understanding based on their level of development.
World Language & Culture
From ELC through 2nd Grade at Whittle School & Studios, we offer a 50/50 Chinese immersivelanguage model that is designed to teach children about Chinese language and culture, using language as a tool for gaining insight into cultural beliefs and practices as well as for communication. The primary emphasis of the program in these grades continues to be on the spoken language and its cultural context, enabling students to participate actively in a Chinese cultural environment. From a young age, students will be able to participate in programs designed as family or parent-child experiences in countries where the language is spoken.
Advisory & College Guidance Homeroom teacher serves as advisor with time for individual conversations and planning weekly. Faculty are selected for their deep commitment to student development.
Physical Literacy
Fine motor skills develop through working with clay and wire, painting, drawing and more. Gross motor skills are developed through group games, climbing, running, balancing and more.
Centers of Excellence
COE work is integrated into classroom development of skills related to international cooperation and diplomacy that foster global leadership, tolerance, and engaged citizenship.
City Core on X-Day
Theme-inspired, project-based work in the classroom moves onto the school grounds, into the local neighborhood, and out into the city to answer questions developed by the students. Students and teachers design age-appropriate fieldwork, that responds to student interest, creating challenging projects that cultivate knowledge, skills, and traits identified in the City Core Toolkit.
whittleschool.org
Students apply knowledge, fundamental movement skills, positive attitudes, and behaviors that develop well-being through active participation in alternate environment, dance, games, gymnastics.
HU M
STE M
CAD
CURRI CULUM OV ERVI E W: AT-A- GLA NC E MID DL E S C HOOL
UPPER SCHOOL
The Middle School Creative Arts and Design curricula introduce students to a wide range of materials, techniques, and pictorial concepts from around the world, and to the core principles of design thinking. CAD periods will often be used for studentcentered work that align to interdisciplinary STEM and humanities projects.
The Upper School Creative Arts and Design periods provide space and time to allow students to choose their own materials and multimedia resources to build projects that align to interdisciplinary STEM and humanities projects, and to electives, X-Day trips, and Centers of Excellence portfolio project work.
Students engage with STEM projects that are thematically aligned to the progression of the HUM and CAD curricula and are led by interdisciplinary teams of faculty. Project work intentionally integrates the use of technology as a problemsolving and expressive tool, employs the skills and practices of engineering and design thinking, and applies the techniques of statistics, data analysis, and mathematical modeling.
Students study a progression of STEM topics integrated across the life, physical, and Earth/space sciences through projects led by teams of STEM experts from each of those domains. Projects intentionally incorporate technology, engineering, and mathematics. This progression serves as the foundation in later years for advanced study of science topics, student and facultydesigned STEM electives, interdisciplinary electives, and independent study.
The MS humanities curriculum combines three threads: history and geography; literacy and literature; and ethics and culture. Students learn to cultivate the power of their own voices in writing and in a variety of oral and multimedia presentations. They learn to listen actively to the voices of others, and to work collaboratively in student-guided teams to build projects that connect to other classes and the world beyond their school.
True humanity requires creative, critical, and rational thinking. Students in our program go beyond basic mastery of facts and fluency to master archival research, deep textual analysis, an understanding of causation, empathetic interpretation of historical events, historical numeracy, scholarly writing, creative writing, portfolio presentations, and verbal expression. They deploy their skills and knowledge to understand, communicate with, and think critically about the world around them.
Students pursue a mastery-based progression of stage-appropriate mathematics concepts and skills. Through this progression, students balance individual/small-group skills-focused work and collaborative engagement with open-ended, challenging math problems designed to support development of conceptual understanding. In the Upper School, students who have demonstrated sufficient levels of mastery will have the opportunity to study advanced math topics and/or to pursue math electives or independent study. Students learn to guide their learning in ever-widening areas of proficiency. Our global network will allow students to connect with students on other campuses to communicate and build friendships in advance of travel. The program’s overall goals are for students to be continually preparing for appropriate in-country experiences, where a truly immersive experience can occur. For younger students, in-country study opportunities will begin with shorter programs over some portion of a vacation. Beginning in Upper School, students will be able to study at other campuses for longer periods of time, whether for a full summer, semester, or year. At the completion of Whittle School & Studios, students will understand how to continue to learn language effectively and independently, and what it means to participate appropriately in another culture.
There will be one advisor to 10 students who will stay with the group of students for multiple years. Advisory time is four days a week for 35 minutes each day; college counseling seamlessly integrates students’ personal and academic narratives, creating a holistic picture of an entire Whittle School & Studios journey and leading to admission to a college that is the best fit for each student. Ongoing professional development ensures that all faculty are expert at the advising process. Learning experiences provide maximum activity and participation time for all students to apply knowledge, demonstrate fundamental movement skills, positive attitudes, and behaviors that develop well-being in alternate environments.
In Upper School, students specialize in a particular area such as exercise science, exercise physiology & anatomy, sport science, athletic leadership, Super Fit, strength & conditioning, outdoor pursuits, martial arts, tai chi, yoga, dance, recreation management, etc.
COE work is integrated into humanities and STEM project work. Deep study of Washington, DC–specific history, culture, language, and skills related to international cooperation and diplomacy.
Deep study of Washington, DC–specific history, culture, language, and skills related to international cooperation and diplomacy. Students may also choose electives that focus on internships and sustained study in Washington, DC foreign policy organizations, NGOs, and think tanks.
An interdisciplinary, experiential program in which teams of teachers from across the curriculum design projects that take students outside the school walls to research and resolve relevant scholarly and policy questions. The experience of City Core provides students a platform for understanding how communities work, integrating classroom learning with the life of the world, integrating different disciplines, and cultivating the awareness necessary for becoming socially responsible local and global citizens. Students will be able to move between schools and cultures with agency, ease, and awareness, and will see the connection between their learning, local relationships, and potential global impact.
the cities experience program
19
MI D D L E A N D U P P ER SC HO O L SC HE DULE The weekly schedule is made up of four interconnected modes: Content Mastery Bands, Interdisciplinary Blocks, X-Days, and Life Skills and Wellness Bands. M A ST E RY B A N D S
(4 5 M I N U T E S )
Mastery bands are focused on the development of specific skills and knowledge in math and languages, utilizing both time-tested and innovative techniques. Students are encouraged to work at their own pace and in ways that support their individual learning styles. The bands are supported by acceleration periods, during which students can further hone their skills, master competencies, and receive any additional support they need. I N T E R D I S C I P L I N A RY B LO C K S ( 6 0 M I N U T E S — M I D D L E S C H O O L ; 8 5 MINUTES—UPPER SCHOOL)
Interdisciplinary bands for STEM, humanities and creative arts and design studio are grounded in project-based work that combines multiple areas of content knowledge to forge connections across subject matter. By blending classroom study with fieldwork, students are encouraged to explore big questions and solve relevant problems. These blocks will operate in cycles of preparation, project, and reflection. Some examples of culminating activities that the blocks support include: STEM labs and experiments; simulations; historical roleplays; debates, trials, and roundtables; exhibitions and digital slideshows, and multimedia presentations; public readings; workshop fabrication; group collaboration; and peer evaluation. X - D AY ( O N C E W E E K LY )
By engaging with the environment beyond the classroom, students understand the realworld applications of their education. Each week, one day is set aside for applied learning through experience and civic engagement. Programmed by the faculty, the X-Day is reserved for work that cannot be contained by the regular schedule or even within the walls of the school. X-Days alternate between an “inward” day, which focuses on school community and personal growth via Center of Excellence (COE) work, and an “outward” day, which sends students out into the city on fieldwork in our City Core Program. A DV I S O RY ( 3 5 M I N U T E S )
Meeting four times per week, students will work closely with an advisor to guide their school, travel, and extra-curricular activities and to plan for college and their careers. For example, 9th graders may use an Advisory period to develop goals for each class, including how they will use their Acceleration period that week. M I N D & B O DY ( 3 0 M I N U T E S )
Whittle School & Studios students are given a unique and innovative opportunity to begin each day by focusing on the Mind & Body connection. Building on the undeniable neuroscience research that intentional vigorous physical activity primes the brain for learning, our Mind & Body program is designed to use exercise as a simple means to improve cognition and focus. Students in our ELC and Lower School will have the program components built right into their early morning routines, while Middle and Upper School students will be encouraged to participate in a variety of exercise options. A C C E L E R AT I O N
(30 MINUTES)
Acceleration bands allow students to move faster than the pace of their current grade level or to receive extra support in one-on-one work with teachers or in small study groups. Work during these bands is coordinated among the student, the advisor, and subject teachers.
20
whittleschool.org
WOR LD O F K NOW LE D G E Light-Blue Bands: Shorter bands grounded in practice and mastery, e.g. math, language, and Acceleration.
Dark-Blue Blocks: Longer interdisciplinary, project-based blocks for STEM, humanities, and creative arts and design studio.
WOR LD O F S E LF Green Bands: Holistic programs, e.g. advisory, social-emotional learning, mindfulness, physical education, conference, lunch with advisor, and/or housemates.
WOR LD O F H UM ANI T Y Orange Mega-Blocks: Deeply integrative experiential off-campus fieldwork, labs, City Core, Centers of Excellence, community days, and assembly.
Based on what we now know about how students learn, our program mixes disciplinary with interdisciplinary teaching, and classroom study with fieldwork. In the past, high schools and middle schools were organized according to traditional disciplines: history, literature, math, foreign language, science, and art, and all instruction took place in a classroom where teachers lectured students. Even today, the only true innovation in most schools has been the addition of lab work in the sciences and seminar discussions in the humanities. At Whittle School & Studios, we have retained a discipline-specific structure for world languages and math. However, we have organized other types of classroom learning into interdisciplinary, projectbased clusters: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), Humanities (HUM), and Creative Arts and Design Studio (CAD).
the cities experience program
21
THE CE P WE E K LY SC HEDU LE IN WA S H I N GTO N, DC AND NEW YO RK CIT Y TIME
M O N DAY
TUES DAY
W E D N E S DAY
T H U R S DAY
7:00 am
Woken up by member of House Staff
7:20 am
Breakfast Classroom Day
8:00 am
X-Day
Classroom Day
X-Day
Mindfulness and Exercise Mindfulness and Exercise Mindfulness and Exercise Mindfulness and Exercise
8:30 am
Humanities
9:45 am
STEM
11:00 am
Language
X-Day: City as a Classroom, Lab, Forum Fieldwork with civic partners in neighborhoods, landscape, museums, city government, universities, liberaries
Humanities STEM Advisory
12 noon
X-Day: City as a Classroom, Lab, Forum Fieldwork with civic partners in neighborhoods, landscape, museums, city government
Lunch
1:00 pm
Advisory
1:30 pm
Acceleration
2:15 pm
Math
3:15 pm
Arts and crafts, sports, music
Return to school for reflection, analysis, labwork and/or physical
Arts and crafts, sports, music
Return to school for reflection, analysis, labwork and/or physical
Studios:
For those who have been out all day:
Studios:
For those who have been out all day:
Acceleration Fieldwork
Math
Fieldwork
Language
4:30 pm 5:00 pm
language & math acceleration time co-curriculars arts and crafts, sports, music
6:30 pm
language & math acceleration time co-curriculars arts and crafts, sports, music
Quiet Reading and Study
House In Night
work and/or arts practice
Dinner with Advisors Quiet Reading and Study
Group Advisory with Advisors
9:00 pm
quiet time, reading and reflection,
House Supper Dinner with Advisors
8:00 pm 8:30 pm
work and/or arts practice
House Supper
7:00 pm 7:30 pm
quiet time, reading and reflection,
Well-Being Activity with Advisors
Group Advisory with Advisors Global Citizen Night
Well-Being Activity with Advisors
9:30 pm
Younger students in bed, free time or additional studay for older students
10:30 pm
Lights Out
22
whittleschool.org
FRIDAY
T IM E
Classroom Day
S ATUR DAY
S U N DAY
Family breakfast prepared and cleared Family breakfast prepared and cleared away by students away by students
Mindfulness and Exercise Humanities STEM Advisory
10:30 am
Independent study, reading, art, music, drama
12 noon Acceleration
1:00 pm
Independent study, reading, art, music, drama Lunch
Out and About' TIme
Out and About' TIme
Math
Functions with other schools
Language
Private lessons in Studios
Arts and crafts, sports, music
Fitness opportunities
Fitness opportunities
Cultural events
Cultural events
6:00 pm
Return to house for free time
Return to house for free time
7:00 pm
Social opportunities
Social opportunities
Studios: language & math acceleration time co-curriculars arts and crafts, sports, music House Supper
Quiet Reading and Study
Evening Cirty Activities
10:00 pm
Younger students in bed, free time for older students
11:00 pm
Lights Out
the cities experience program
23
The CEP Curriculum Our CEP students will be in 7-10th grades, spanning middle and high school. They will take a core program that is a synthesis of the mainstream Shenzhen and Washington DC curricula, covering the elements required by the Chinese National Curriculum while preparing students to be full boarding students on our DC campus for their second year at Whittle. When in Washington, DC and New York City, students will have extra-opportunities for experiential learning in the city and for English language study. Our curriculum is organized around themes for each grade level that have been carefully identified, chosen, and developed around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Mastery bands, interdisciplinary blocks, and X-Day experiential learning all approach those topics through various entry points and have connections across campuses and subjects through those shared themes and topics.
T HE ST EM C U RRICULUM M I D D L E S CHO O L
The STEM program seeks to cultivate and deepen each student’s innate curiosity about the natural and man-made world. To keep alive the spirit of inquiry, we design learning experiences around open-ended questions and exploration of phenomena. We believe that the purposeful integration of science disciplines, technology, engineering, and mathematics creates the conditions for deep exploration of the world, and that handson engagement with the skills and practices of these disciplines is essential for our students. We further believe that interrogating the world through the concepts and tools of STEM be suffused with joy, rigor, critical thinking, and optimism. TECHNOLOGY IN STEM Today’s students must be prepared to thrive in a constantly evolving technological landscape. Academic technology at Whittle School & Studios supports our mission by providing students with the digital resources to think critically about the world as it is, and to imagine the world as it could be. Technology provides our students with a platform to pursue their innovative and creative instincts, and the means to collaborate and work together to solve local and global challenges. In addition, new digital tools allow for a more personalized and experiential education that utilizes students’ diverse learning styles and curiosities. Our school will encourage students to consider the responsibilities and obligations of the use of technology globally, and the notion of “digital citizenship.” Our students will develop a set of social, emotional, and cognitive abilities to achieve a healthy balance to the demands of digital life.
24
whittleschool.org
7 TH
G RA D E STE M :
HOW DID WE GET HERE? HOW DO WE STAY HERE?
The course is organized around a series of questions that establish the interconnection between the human race and planet Earth as a means for addressing existential questions: How did the solar system form in such a way that led to the development of a planet that sustains life? How did the conditions that allowed life to flourish on this planet arise? How did modern humans evolve to occupy the influential role we now have in Earth’s ecosystems? What are the environmental and social causes and consequences of global climate change? How do natural and climate-change-induced disasters affect human life on Earth? What is biodiversity and why is it important to preserve? And, finally, how can we seek inspiration from nature to find solutions to the major problems facing humanity and the planet today?
ɓɓ Solar System and Planetary History Gravity and the formation of the solar system; Earth’s place in the solar system, galaxy, and universe; Earth-Sun-Moon system – lunar phases, eclipses, seasons; Scale properties of solar system objects; Gravitational Attraction and Mass ɓɓ Earth History Geoscience processes; Geoscience factors influencing uneven distribution of natural resources; Fossils and rocks; Continental Shape and Plate Tectonics; Seafloor structures; Earth structure; Geologic Time and Time Scale ɓɓ Climate Change Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation Patterns; Oceans’ influence on weather and climate; Water cycle; Energy flow and matter cycling in Earth’s systems; Climate and Weather ɓɓ Natural Disasters and Human Life Natural hazards; Forecasting natural hazards; Technology Concepts and Practices:; Technology tomitigate effects of natural disasters; Mapping; Natural hazards preparedness and mitigation design; Data analysis from natural hazards ɓɓ Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution Evolution and adaptation in anatomy; Natural Selection and Speciation; Fossil record of biodiversity and mass extinction events; Resource availability and population dynamics; Matter and energy flow among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem ɓɓ Biomimicry Biological systems as determined by student choice of topic; Environmental Science topics as determined by student choice of topic; 2D and 3D Design; Infographics; Video production; Design Thinking/Engineering Design, Prototyping and Fabrication
the cities experience program
25
8 TH
GRA D E STE M :
BUILDING AN IDEAL COMMUNIT Y
The 8th-grade curriculum engages students in big questions about the STEM-related aspects of organizing a human community, focusing specifically on the use and management of resources and the organization and functioning of various systems that support and organize life in an advanced society. Through in-depth and careful examination of the science, engineering, and technology questions underlying these resources and systems, and by applying techniques of data collection and analysis, students will develop an informed understanding of existing issues. This will serve as basis for employing the design thinking process to generate solutions that improve upon the current state of resource management and systems in cities.
ɓɓ Shelter and Housing Structural analysis of static forces; Thermal energy and energy transfer; Electrical Circuits and Power Storage; Composting/Decomposition; Earth/Sun Positional Relationships ɓɓ Food and Food Systems Cellular respiration and photosynthesis; Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms; Artificial Selection and Plant and Animal Breeding/Genetics (BioEthics connections); Animal and Plant Reproduction; Plant and Animal Development ɓɓ Transportation Human impacts on Earth Systems; Kinetic and Potential Energy; Electricity & Magnetism; Laws of Motion and Forces ɓɓ Power and Energy Systems Electricity and Magnetism (engines and generators); Mechanical and Potential Energy; Forces and Interactions; States of Matter; Energy Transfer; Work and Energy; Synthetic Materials; Climate Change and Greenhouse Gases from Fossil Fuels ɓɓ Communications Systems Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation; Digital vs. Analog Transmission; Wave Properties; Optics; Acoustics ɓɓ Waste and Water Management Human Impacts on Ecosystems; Weather and Weather Events; Biodiversity and Humans; Water Purification and Water Quality; Soil Erosion; Population and Resources
26
whittleschool.org
T HE ST EM C URRICULUM H I G H S CHO O L
In Upper School, students study a progression of STEM topics integrated across the life sciences, physical sciences, and Earth and space sciences through projects led by teams of STEM experts from each of those domains. As in Middle School, projects intentionally incorporate technology, engineering, and mathematics. This progression serves as the foundation in later years for advanced study of science topics, student and facultydesigned STEM electives, interdisciplinary electives, and independent study. A two-level core sequence integrates traditional science disciplines (life sciences, physical sciences, earth and environmental sciences) with technology, engineering, and applied math. After completing the first two levels of the STEM sequence, students will be able to continue their study of STEM at advanced levels, enroll in STEM electives and/or pursue independent study in STEM topics.
9 TH
G RA D E ST E M :
THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATH OF CITIES
The course revolves around three interrelated questions that address how we live together in cities: How do we make sense of new things? How do we make choices and how do our choices impact the world around us? And What are the implications of local and global connection? To answer these questions we explore how discerning the organizing structures of the physical and chemical properties of matter permits us to understand and harness the power of nature, how engineering choices are constrained by the laws of physics (and how we creatively push up against those limits) and how human interactions with the environment, with other humans and with nonhuman organisms affect our health. In this exploration we see how we shape cities and how cities shape us.
ɓɓ Materials Periodic Table; Atomic Structure; Structure of Materials; Chemical Bonding; Geological formations; Acid/Base Chemistry; Chemical Reactions ɓɓ Engineering Cities Laws of Motion; Newton’s Laws; Forces, Work and Energy; Universal Gravitation; Engineering Design and Structural Analysis ɓɓ Human Health Cell Structure and Function; Cellular Processes; Disease; DC Public health project
the cities experience program
27
10 T H
G RA D E ST E M :
INNOVATION AND CHANGE- OLD ENERGY, NEW ENERGY AND BIOETHICS
The course revolves around three interrelated questions that address how we innovate and make change, and how innovation affects us and the world: How do constraints drive creation? How do we innovate ethically, equitably and sustainably? And how do our students want to have an impact on the world? To answer these questions we explore the science of fossil-fuel based energy and how its limitations and consequences necessitate the development of new forms of energy, how 21st-century energy systems function sustainably, and the ethical imperatives behind scientific innovation. In this exploration we see how scientific advances have unintended consequences and how we need the viewpoints of ethics and sustainability to make choices about how we will impact the world.
11 T H ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ
28
G RA D E EL ECT I V E S :
Earth Systems and Climate Science Advanced Biology Advanced Chemistry Advanced Physics Data Science Our Natural World Human Anatomy & Medicine Biochemistry & Microbiology Fuel & Energy Independent Study
whittleschool.org
ɓɓ Old Energy Energy, Electricity, and Power; Carbon Chemistry; Steam; Combustion Reactions; Atmospheric Chemistry ɓɓ New Energy Electricity; Nuclear Power; Biofuels and Plant Biology; Water Power; Solar Power; Wind Power ɓɓ Bioethics DNA, Genetics, Gene Editing. Antibiotic Resistance and Bacterial Evolution
12 TH ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ
GRA D E EL ECTI VES :
Advanced Biology Advanced Chemistry Advanced Physics Foodprints: The Global Impact of Local Food Consumption Global Climate Agreements The Economics of Mass Migration The Politics of Water Independent Study Group Independent Study
Humanities The Whittle School & Studios Humanities program (HUM) weaves together the study of geography, ethics, history, religion, politics, economics, literature, and arts. Each year will culminate in a long-form portfolio project that aligns with one or more of the overarching themes for the grade. For example, 6th graders might explore the theme of “understanding of self,� and spend the year studying memoirs, autobiographies, and self-portraiture; finally creating a portfolio project that could be an autobiographical essay, video performance, or graphic novel.
HU M ANI TIE S M I D D L E S CHO O L
In Middle School and Upper School the HUM classes are taught by a team of three teachers (history and geography, literature and literacy, ethics and culture) during blocks that provide time for project-based explorations of core social science and literary concepts and skills. They are integrated with the STEM and Creative Arts and Design Studio (CAD) courses through interdisciplinary projects on X-Days. Students learn to cultivate the power of their own voices in writing and in a variety of oral and multimedia presentations. They learn to listen actively to the voices of others, and to work collaboratively in student-guided teams to build projects that connect to other classes and the world beyond their school. Identity and community are central themes in the minds of young adolescents and are central themes present in our Middle School humanities courses. Other humanities themes are inextricably linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: 6th Grade-Good Health & Well-Being, 7th Grade-Reduced Inequalities, and 8th Grade-Peace, Justice, & Strong Institutions. Throughout our studies, students are engaged in deep inquiry by examining history, ethics, and geography through a case-study approach of analyzing topics, themes, problems, and issues. The humanities courses are also where students receive more sophisticated reading instruction within a wide variety of genre, and strengthen their skills to be highly effective communicators in both written and oral forms.
the cities experience program
29
7 TH
G RA D E HU M AN I T I E S :
THE SELF AND OTHER S
This year focuses on the realtionship of the self to others. How do individuals connect to society and contrubite to making abetter world? How do we each fit into our family, school=, neighborhood, city and nation? Students will learn about gender equity and equality, about people who are trying to create a fundamental shift in global energy policy, and the role of inventors and entrepraneurs in bringing social and economic change. Throughout the year, students will work on projects in the city to undertsand how th=ey can make a difference, and the year culminates in a socially conscious business-plan exercise that will be implemented in the eighth grade.
ɓɓ Identity and Community Essential Question · Why is it important to understand identity and community? Topics Identity (defining features, creation, and perception), Community, Shennzhen, Washington, D.C. and New York City as a communities, Rules and traditions shaping communities ɓɓ Considering our Reading Identity Essential Questions: How do readers restore and strengthen reading habits? · How do readers increase their comprehension? Topics:Based on teacher choice ɓɓ Citizenship and Cooperation Classes will study causes of and events that precipitated new constitutions (i.e, Haitian, French, American revolutions and constitutions). Close attention will be given to how new constitutions both enabled forms Unit 1. Topics: Post-colonial constitutions (Africa, India, Latin America, China), Citizenship in post-colonial constitutions, Hatian Revolution, French Revolution, American Revolution
ɓɓ Environmental Consequences of War The theme of this unit is "war and peace". Classes will consider social, economic, political, technological, and environmental causes and effects of major modern conflicts. Topics: The American Civil War, WWI, WWII, Russian Revolution, Chinese Revolution, The Cold War, Selected key conflicts from South America, Africa, and Asia ɓɓ Capitalism, Communism and Labor Topics: Slavery and colonialism, The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and history of garment workers, Contemporary sweat shops/factories, Sharing economies ɓɓ Globalism and Urbanization as a Nexus for Cooperation Embark on a case study of a city through the London School of Economics Cities Project” ɓɓ Telling Other’s Stories as Change Storytelling and Growth Topics: Civil Rights in America, Gandhi in India, Girls Empowerment, Arab Springs, MeToo 30
whittleschool.org
8 TH
GRA D E H U M AN I T I E S :
THE CHARACTER OF COMMUNITIES IN HUMAN HISTORY AND LITERATURE
Human beings are social animals. The first relationships individuals have is with their families, which may assume any number of forms. From there it’s a set of concentric circles ultimately culminating in humanity itself—a collective entity consisting of the living, the dead, and the unborn. We proceed through our lives in webs of association we call communities. They vary in size, purpose, meaning. Over the course of one’s life these communities overlap, conflict, disburse and reform. Asking adolescents to consider the roles of communities—in their own lives as well as those of others and in other times and places— is an important part of the educative process and an essential component of a full, productive, and happy life. As the curriculum offered here suggests, there is a stunning, even bewildering, number of ways people organize themselves for innumerable purposes. And yet for all this variety there are broad classes of communities that serve collective needs. There are, for example, religious communities, economic ones, political ones, literary, and artistic ones. One can find them in every civilization, even if their configurations differ and change. The units in this course will be organized by theme. They will explore clusters of communities from different times and places attempting to address the same problems. As the course proceeds, students will be able to draw comparisons and contrasts between kinds of communities, making inter-thematic and well as intra-thematic observations. They will be asked to complete projects that ask them to attempt to solve social problems using skills of negotiation, compromise, and delegated roles. Students will bring their projects out into the city, to understand the city as their community. These projects will intersect with student’s investigations in their STEM and Arts courses through X-Day explorations.
ɓɓ The School as Community (CNC theme: rhetoric) (STEM theme: Food systems)
Topics: The Mandarinate, Athenian academies (notably Plato’s and Aristotle’s Lyceum), Public schools, Private schools, Religious schools, Home schooling, School structures/ governance Touchstone texts: The Analects (excerpts), Plato, The Republic (excepts—e.g. the cave analogy), S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, Fielding, Lord of the Flies, Tobias Wolff, Old School, Tom Perrotta, Election Close reading opportunities: Dead Poets Society; Fast Times and Ridgemont High; Easy A, (movies), Heathers; Mean Girls (movies), Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew; 10 Things I Hate about You (movie), Jane Austen, Emma; Clueless (movie) ɓɓ Families as communities
(CNC theme: recollection and memories/ folk customs)(STEM theme: Shelter & Housing)
Topics: Your family, Nuclear families, The construction of gender roles in families, Blended families/ Nontraditional families, Extended families, Clans (Case study: Chinese clan, the Tudors. DC example: the Adams/Bush dynasties), Nation as family (Case study: Japan) Touchstone texts: Dwarf Seneb and his family (ancient sculpture in Cairo), Family tree of Greek gods, Pompeii frescoes,
the cities experience program
31
Michelangelo, The Pietà, Elizabethan theater (Johnson, Marlowe, Shakespeare), Shakespeare, King Lear (and other versions, like Kurosawa’s Ran), Screening of “Battle of the Month” episode of All in the Family
Close reading opportunities: Correspondence of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Correspondence of John and Abigail Adams. Frederick Douglass chapter on his mother from his slave narrative, “My Dungeon Shook” chapter from James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time ɓɓ Geographic communities
ɓɓ Political communities
(CNC theme: logic and reason) (STEM theme: Power & Energy)
Topics: Chinese dynasties (Han Song), Greek City States, The Roman Republic/Empire, Swiss Cantons, The United States (the Constitution), Shenzhen, Washington DC and NYC as a political communities
Touchstone texts: Plutarch’s Lives (excerpts), Machiavelli, The Prince, Shakespeare, Macbeth, The Federalist Papers, #10, #51, Speeches of Abraham Lincoln, Diego Rivera murals, George Orwell, Animal Farm
(CNC theme: landscape/ travel) (STEM theme: Water & Waste)
Possible general topics: Chesapeake watershed, Anacostia watershed, The District of Columbia, A local neighborhood (e.g. Baishizhou/ Anacostia), A local street, A local building Touchstone texts: Rock Creek park, L’Enfant/ Banneker plan, The Mall, Francis Scott Key, “The StarSpangled Banner”, Parliament, “Chocolate City” (song), The Post (movie) Close reading opportunities: Comparison of Vietnam memorials on the Mall (as well as other monuments), The plan of SZ/DC, “Maryland, My Maryland” / “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” (racist state songs), Washington monument; Walt Whitman, “Washington’s Monument, February 1885”
32
whittleschool.org
Close reading opportunities: Gu Kaizhi, “Wise and Benevolent Women”; Nymph of the Luo River” (paintings), The Candidate; Primary Colors (movies), Bruce Springsteen, “My Hometown” and Death to My Hometown” (songs) ɓɓ Social and Economic communities (CNC theme: folk customs/ the good life) (STEM theme: Transportation)
Topics: Constructing the “Other”: Race, Class and Gender in the Greek Republic, The Medieval Manor, the Feudal System and “Noblesse Oblige”, The Silk Road and the Economics of Cultural Diffusion, The Invention of Europe and the Nation State, the European Union and Immigration; Migration Then and Now, The Social Geography of Immigrant Communities in the DMV
Touchstone texts: Secret History of the Mongols, Du Fu, “The Chancellor of Shu”, Nathaniel Hawthorne, At Brook Farm (excerpt), Aleister Crowley, “Dionysius”, Tim Tharp, The Spectacular Now, Dave Eggers, The Circle Close reading opportunities: Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto, Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America; Robert
ɓɓ Social and Economic communities (CNC theme: observation/design and nature)
Topics: The court of Catherine the Great, The Medici Circle, Hudson River School, The Transcendentalists, The Pre-Raphaelites, Mabel Dodge’s (Greenwich Village) salon, The Beatles Touchstone texts: Warli art (of India), The sculpture of Bernini, The Hudson River School, Essays and poetry of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, “The Dresser” (carved into the DuPont Circle Metro station), Poems of Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams and other modernists, Jennifer Cody Epstein, The Painter from Shanghai
ɓɓ Unit 8: “The Media” as a community (CNC theme: news/media) (STEM theme: Communications)
Topics: Letters as journalism in the ancient world, Monasteries as repositories of information, Birth of the penny press (“Moon Hoax” of 1835), The age of radio and television, The Internet and the rise of social media Touchstone texts: Correspondence of Marco Polo, Thomas Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization (excerpts), Pamphlet wars of the American revolution (selections), War of the Worlds (broadcast), Student-selected social media sites Close reading opportunities: Comparison between the synoptic gospels (“good news”) of Mark and Matthew (selected chapters), Samuel Seabury, “Letters from a Westchester Farmer”; Alexander Hamilton, “The Farmer Refuted” (excerpts), A news story of the day as reported by The Washington Post and The Washington Times (and, perhaps, the Chinese media)
Close reading opportunities: Allen Ginsberg “America”; Jack Kerouac, On the Road (excerpt), Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, self-portraits, The Beatles, “All You Need Is Love”; The Rolling Stones, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
the cities experience program
33
HU M ANI TIE S U P P E R S C HO O L
True humanity requires creative, critical, causal, and rational thinking. Students in our Upper School humanities program go beyond basic mastery of facts and fluency to master archival research, deep textual analysis, an understanding of causation, empathetic interpretation of historical events, historical numeracy, scholarly writing, creative writing, portfolio presentations, and verbal expression. Above all, they come to understand themselves, their world, and the experiences and cultures of others, deploying their humanities skills and knowledge to understand, collaborate, communicate, and think critically about the world around them. A two-year core program integrates history, geography, politics, economics, English language and literature, ethics, and religion. Ninth Graders will engage in thematically oriented, project-based study of modern world history and literature, culminating in a capstone project. Tenth Graders will study modern United States history and literature, using Washington, DC as a lens to examine the national history of their campus. In 11th and 12th Grades, students will have the opportunity to choose from a diverse menu of teacher and student-designed elective courses on topics ranging from creative writing to model diplomacy.
9 TH
G RA D E H U M AN I T I E S :
“GLOBAL CONNECTIONS THROUGH LOCAL ROOTS - CITIES OF A MODERNIZING WORLD�
To expose students to modern world history from the Age of Discovery to the mid-20th century via history, literature, arts, politics, ethics, culture, religion and geography, and, in so doing, to cultivate in our students the knowledge, skills and awareness to become engaged, openminded and thoughtful global citizens and local actors. The humanities gives students the skills and knowledge to understand, collaborate, communicate, and think critically about the world around them. True humanity requires creative, critical, causal and rational thinking. Students in our program go beyond basic mastery of facts and fluency to master archival research, deep textual analysis, an understanding of causation, empathetic 34
whittleschool.org
interpretation of historical events, historical numeracy, scholarly writing, creative writing, portfolio presentations and verbal expression. Above all, they come to understand themselves, their world and the experiences and cultures of others. The 9th grade curriculum, Global Connections through Local Roots-Cities of a Modernizing World, focuses on the phenomenon of modernity, the rise of the nation-state and the emergence of globalism, and, in so doing, sets the stage for an exploration of the current relationship between national and global identities in the 10th grade. The lens through which students experience the modern and the global is the city--locating global humanities in the history, literature and ethics of specific cities- Washington DC, Shenzhen, and cities across the globe and throughout history, with a focus on cities in the countries in which we will have campuses.
Encounters ɓɓ Exploration and Nature (London/ Mumbai)
(Age of exploration; Slave Trade; Romanticism; Silk Road; Atlantic Trade; Imperialism & Colonialism (India, Africa); Opium Wars
Touchstone texts: –– Bartolomé de las Casas, Historia Apologética (1566) and Historia de las Indias (1566) –– Shakespeare, Othello (1603) –– Description de l'Égypte, ou Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française (1809-1829) –– Edward Said, Orientialism –– William Cronon, Changes in the Land (1980) –– Mahatma Gandhi, Quit India Speeches (1942) –– Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (1958)
Close reading opportunities: –– Shakespeare, The Tempest (1610) and Aimé Césaire, Une Têmpete –– The Orientalist art of David, Delacroix, Gros, Gérôme, Ingres, Manet (comp to current representations of the “Other”) –– Phillis Wheatley – On Being Brought from Africa to America
ɓɓ Liberation and Identity (Florence/Hangzhou)
Renaissance and Modernity; Enlightenment; Individual liberty and rights- Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau; Neo-Confucianism; “Civilization” and “Savagery”
Touchstone texts: –– Selected texts of Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism on the self and society –– The art of Leonardo, Michelangelo and The Florentine Renaissance –– Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (1532) –– Selections from Thomas Hobbes,
Leviathan, John Locke, Two Treatises on Government, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Du contrat social (1762) –– The British Bill of Rights of 1689 –– Declaration of Independence (1776) –– Abraham Lincoln, First (1861) and Second (1865) Inaugurals
Close reading opportunities: –– Dante, Inferno or Divine Comedy –– Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Commonwealth Club Address (1932); Four Freedoms Speech (1941) –– Herman Hesse, Siddhartha –– Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987) –– Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Change ɓɓ Revolution(s) (Paris/ Moscow)
Glorious Revolution; American, French and Haitian Revolutions; Liberal Revolution of 1848 ; Marx and the Russian Revolution; Chinese Revolution
Possible general topics: –– Glorious Revolution and English Constitutionalism –– Redefining Liberty- the American and French Revolutions –– The Liberal Revolutions of 1830 and 1848 –– The Japanese Meiji Restoration of 1868 –– Marx and the Romance of Materialism –– European colonialism and anticolonialism in Africa –– The Call of Nationalism- Kossuth, Herzl, Garibaldi, Bismark –– The Russian Revolution, Leninism, Stalinism and the Birth of the USSR –– Should the Indian Rebellion from Unit 1 be here?
Touchstone cultural texts: –– Magna Carta –– Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) –– Marx, Communist Manifesto
the cities experience program
35
Encounters –– Herzl, The Jewish State
–– Marinetti, Manifesto of Futurism –– Constructivist art and architecture in Russia (Malevich, Vesnins, Lissitsky…) –– Aimé Césaire, Discours sur le colonialisme
ɓɓ Innovation and Technology (New York/ Shenzhen)
First Industrial Revolution: “Spinning Jenny,” “steam engine, railroads, factories; Second Industrial Revolution: electricity, internal combustion engine, automobile, airplane; Communications Revolution: internet, mobile tech, social media; Green tech and climate change
Touchstone cultural texts: –– Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations –– Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto –– Lenin, Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism –– Jules Ferry
Connection ɓɓ War and Peace (DC/Berlin)
WWI; WWII; Postwar migrations and Immigration; The Cold War: Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO, Warsaw Pact; Washington DC as a product of WWII and PW internationalism
Touchstone cultural texts: –– Treaty of Versailles –– Sykes Picot Agreement –– Woodrow Wilson on the League of Nations –– Mao Ze Dong, Selected speeches –– Lenin, Selected speeches –– Alexandra Kollontai, Communism and the Family –– Patrice Lumumba, Speech at Accra –– Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart –– Bessie Head, A Question of Power –– Nehru, Marxism, Capitalism and NonAlignment –– Sukarno, Speech at the Opening of the Bandung Conference –– Anwar Sadat, Afro-Asian Solidarity and the World Mission of the Peoples of Africa and Asia
36
whittleschool.org
Close reading opportunities: –– Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man –– Declaration of the Rights of the Toiling and Exploited Peoples (Soviet Union) –– Ghandi, Quit India –– Beijing World Conference on Women’s Declaration and Platform for Action
ɓɓ Globalism, Collaboration and Conflict (New York/ London)
Post-War Europe: UN, EU and the Post-War Order; China and the US: Nixon and Zhou in 1972; Containerization and Globalization: NAFTA, WTO, TPP, EC; Paris Climate Accords and UN SDGs; 21st century Nationalist and Nativist Populism: Brexit, Yellow Jackets; Tea Party…
10 T H GRA D E HU M AN I T I E S : CENTER AND PERIPHERY IN AMERICAN NATIONAL LIFE
The dream of global citizenship was born in the republic of letters: an eighteenth-century vision of a moral imagination without borders, where the intrinsic worth of ideas could be entertained regardless of nation, religion, or location. (It was, in fact, a vision that spawned the birth of another republic—namely the United States.) The drama of the republic of letters derived from its origins in a world of particularities—of boundaries and conflicts that complicated, if not actually prevented, one’s ability to realize a dream of oneself as a citizen of the world. At the same time, the indelible stamp and pull of a local self was not only the very spice of life, but the foundation for any meaningful ability to appreciate intelligence from the outside world. This dialectical tension between margin and center, the cosmopolitan and the provincial, has been a feature of civilizations all over the world for thousands of years. But it has arguably become the central issue of our time—a time of intensifying globalization and growing resistance to its costs. This dialectical framework of center and periphery is the proposed framework for a 10th grade Humanities curriculum grounded in American history and culture.
Frontiers ɓɓ Center and Periphery Topics: The World in 1500; Technological Innovations in the Age of Exploration; American Encounters; The Rise of the Global Slave Trade; The Chesapeake vs. New England: the rise of sectional identities
Touchstone texts: –– John Winthrop, “A Model of Christian Charity” –– Poetry of Anne Bradstreet –– Maryland Act Concerning Religion –– Native American origin stories –– Slave narrative of Olaudah Equiano –– Short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne –– Toni Morrison, A Mercy (settings in MD/VA) –– Comparison of Native American and colonial architecture/settlements
Close Reading opportunities: –– Anne Bradstreet, “Verses Upon the Burning of Our House”; John Berryman, “Homage to Mistress Bradstreet” (excerpt); Charlotte Gordon, Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of the Nation’s First Poet (excerpt) –– Testimony from Anne Hutchinson trial (fragment); Eve LaPlante, American Jebezel (excerpt); Edmund Morgan, The Puritan Dilemma (excerpt) –– John Winthrop, “A Model of Christian Charity”; Daniel Rodgers, As a City on a Hill (excerpt)
ɓɓ Revolution and Rule Topics: The Seven Years War and Anglo-American Tensions; The American Revolution & the Enlightenment; Class and Race in the American Revolution; The Constitution; L’Enfant, Banneker and Ellicott: Mapping the Republic; The Transportation Revolution (C&O Canal)
Touchstone texts: –– Last of the Mohicans (1992 film version) –– Letters of John and Abigail Adams
the cities experience program
37
–– The Declaration of Independence –– Short fiction of Washington Irving –– John Singleton Copley and John Trumbull paintings –– Monticello as architectural, cultural and economic text –– A Map of the Republic: Reading L’Enfant Plan for Washington DC
Close Reading opportunities: –– Phillis Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America”; Henry Louis Gates, The Trial of Phillis Wheatley (excerpt) –– Benjamin Franklin, “The Way to Wealth: Edmund Morgan, Benjamin Franklin (excerpt) –– Samuel Seabury, “Letter from a Westchester Farmer”; Alexander Hamilton, “The Farmer Refuted,”; excerpt/episode from AMC series Turn –– John Singleton Copley’s “Samuel Adams”
Freedom ɓɓ Liberty and Slavery Topics: Jefferson v. Hamilton; “King Andrew” and the rise of mass politics; Slavery and Sectionalism; The Road to Civil War; The Civil War and Reconstruction
Touchstone cultural texts: –– Frederick Douglass slave narrative (focus on Maryland) –– Essays of the Transcendentalists (Emerson, Thoreau, Fuller) –– The Seneca Falls Declaration –– Poetry of Walt Whitman –– Short fiction of Edgar Allan Poe –– The Washington Monument –– Painters of the Hudson River School –– Caleb Bingham, Currier & Ives paintings –– Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (excerpts) –– Louisa May Alcott and Whitman hospital sketches (set in DC)
38
whittleschool.org
–– Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage (set at Chancellorsville) –– Herman Melville, Benito Cereno –– Poetry of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper –– Writings of Abraham Lincoln (visit to Lincoln Memorial?) –– Gangs of New York (2002 film) –– Winslow Homer paintings/sketches –– Film: “Glory”
Close Reading opportunities: –– Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” (opening and closing); excerpt from David Blight, Frederick Douglass –– Catherine Beecher, “The Duty of American Females” and Angelina Grimke (reply), on women’s rights (excepts) –– Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance,” (key paragraphs); Herman Melville, paragraphs from “The Whiteness of the Whale” in Moby Dick –– Caleb Bingham, “Fur Traders Descending the Missouri”; diaries of Lewis & Clark (excerpts) –– Alexander Gardner photographs of Antietam; Matthew Brady Civil war photos; Susan Sontag, On Photography (excerpt)
ɓɓ The Market, the State and Individual Liberty Topics: Robber Barons and the rise of laissez-faire; The Birth of the Labor Movement; Roaring 20s: Populism, Immigration & the 2nd KKK; The Harlem Renaissance; Positive Liberty: The New Deal, the coming of WWII
Touchstone cultural texts: –– Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans (racial/ethnic ethnographies) –– Kate Chopin, The Awakening –– The Age of Innocence (1993 film) –– Ida Wells, Southern Horrors
–– Poetry of Emily Dickinson –– Paintings of Mary Cassatt
Close Reading opportunities: –– Text of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, Frederick Douglass, “The Composite Nation” –– George Washington Plunkitt, “Honest Graft” (chapter from Plunkitt of Tammany Hall); Thomas Nast cartoon of Boss Tweed –– Chief Joseph’s account of his trip to Washington DC; excerpt from S.C. Gwynne, Empire of the Summer Moon –– Theodore Roosevelt, “The Strenuous Life”; Edmund Wilson, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (opening scene of White House reception); –– William James, “The Will to Believe” (excerpt); Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club (excerpt) –– Booker T. Washington, “Atlanta Exposition Speech”; W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk (“of Booker T. Washington and Others”) –– Charlie Chaplin, The Immigrant; Chaplin chapter in Gilbert Seldes, The Seven Lively Arts –– Dorothea Lange, “Migrant Mother” photograph; James Agee, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (excerpt) –– Ma Joad’s “We’re the people that live” speech from John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (and/or film version) –– Billie Holiday, “Strange Fruit”; David Margolick, Strange Fruit: Biography of a Song (excerpt)
Fairness ɓɓ Postwar Migration and Mobility
Touchstone texts: –– I Love Lucy (sitcom) –– Good Night and Good Luck (2005 film on McCarthyism) –– Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” –– Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior –– Imitation of Life (1959 film version) –– Dr. Strangelove (film) –– James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk (film) –– Motown and Stax (sound recordings) –– Easy Rider (film) –– Higher Learning (film) –– Andy Warhol paintings
Close Reading opportunities: –– Elvis Presley, “That’s All Right”/”Blue Moon of Kentucky,”; Greil Marcus, “Presliad,” from Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock & Roll Music; –– Excerpt from Mad Men, “The Wheel”; excerpt from Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique; –– Magazine advertisements from 50s magazines; Lizabeth Cohen, A Consumer’s Republic (excerpt) –– Popular music analysis medley: I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Little Boxes, If I Had a Hammer, Revolution, Ohio, Sweet Home Alabama, Star-Spangled Banner… –– “The Port Huron Statement”; Jim Miller, Democracy is in the Streets (excerpt) –– Martin Luther King, “I Have a Dream”; corresponding passage in Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years –– · “The Battle of the Month” episode, All in the Family; Germaine Greer, The Female Eunuch (excerpt)
Topics: The end of WWII, The Cold War, The Flight to the Suburbs; The Red Scare and the PW “Consensus”; Television and Rock & Roll; The (early) Civil Rights Movement; Camelot: JFK; The Great Society; The Vietnam War
ɓɓ Social Movements
Student-designed projects on: Civil Rights, Women’s Movement, Indigenous Rights, BLM, #MeToo, The Evangelical Revival, Tea Party, White Nationalism…
the cities experience program
39
40
11 TH GRA DE:
12 TH GRA D E:
TEACHER DESIGNED ELECTIVES ON GLOBAL THEMES (SELECT EXAMPLES)
TEACHER AND ST UDENT DESIGNED ELECTIVES ON GLOBAL THEMES (SELECT EXAMPLES)
ɓɓ East Meets West: Representations of “the Other” in History (HUM and CAD) ɓɓ Global Cooperation and Climate Policy (C.O.E. connection) ɓɓ Why Do Societies Collapse? (STEM and HUM) ɓɓ Images and Words (HUM, STEM, CAD) ɓɓ Guns, Germs and Steel: Technology and Global Development in History (STEM and HUM) ɓɓ Urban History and Archeology (HUM and CAD) ɓɓ Art, Culture and Change (HUM and CAD) ɓɓ Independent Study in advanced humanities: politics, geography, ethics, literature, creative writing…
ɓɓ Foodprints: The Global Impact of Local Food Consumptions (STEM and HUM) ɓɓ Global Climate Agreements (COE.) ɓɓ The Economics of Mass Migration (HUM and Math) ɓɓ The Global South (HUM) ɓɓ The Politics of Water (STEM and HUM) ɓɓ Independent Study ɓɓ Group Independent Study
whittleschool.org
Creative Arts and Design (CAD) Curriculum Our robust arts program includes visual arts, performing arts, and design. At Whittle, students will grow as active participants and conscientious observers within our local and global context. As our students experiment with a multitude of media, including traditional and contemporary practices, there will be space for students to engage in purposeful play, choice-based inquiry, and collaborative problem-seeking. Depth and rigor will emerge as students discover personal and conceptual connections to materials, forms, and processes and are empowered to build upon their technical skills. Innovative strategies will be used to stimulate each student’s imagination and to encourage risk-taking, perseverance, and reflection. Documentation of the creative processes will develop our students’ selfawareness and artistic habits of mind. Formal and informal exhibitions and
performances on campus and within the local context will help our students acquire confidence by sharing their ideas, processes and progress with others in the community. Whittle students will build confidence in expressing personal ideas while they acquire knowledge of big ideas and make connections within CAD and across other disciplines. Through collaborative challenges, the design thinking process will help our students to research and envision sustainable solutions to global and local concerns. Utilizing first-hand experiences, historical analysis and research into cultural heritage, our students will grow to deeply understand and question art contexts as they decode visual culture through exposure to artworks and artifacts from a broad range of artforms and times.
the cities experience program
41
C AD M I D D L E SCHO O L
Students will be able to take up to three different elective courses within the same academic year. Each student will have three hours of Creative Arts and Design Studio (CAD) per week. In addition to having full-time art teachers, we are collaborating with some of the best arts and design organizations throughout Washington, DC to further enhance our program, giving our students unique access to world-class professionals. In collaboration with the STEM & Humanities departments, CAD work will intertwine with cross-curricular connections and themes through X-Day. X-Day explorations will be supported through content in CAD classrooms.Students will document the artistic process, as it develops, through meaningful reflection and miced-media products as they engage in the creative cycle of producing work.
ɓɓ Visual Arts Throughout each trimester, students will be exposed to a variety of 2D, 3D, and digital forms of artmaking. Sense, Regard and Relate, three key artistic lenses, will frame a broad variety of contemporary themes as students experience the variety of disciplines offered through CAD. Students in CAD will develop these essential questions through a variety of formats, specific to the forms and function of the different visual arts, performing arts and design disciplines.
6 TH
G RA D E:
IDENTIT Y
How do we experience materials through our senses? In what ways does our identity inform our perception? How do our individual “ways of seeing” shape our identity? How can different perspectives inspire meaning? How does artmaking allow for us to personally connect with and relate to others? What happens when we redefine our role as artmakers and consumers?
42
whittleschool.org
ɓɓ Guided by sensory experiences in relation to individual identity, students will be introduced to a variety of media. Their material focus will include working fluidly between multiple media. ɓɓ Through immersion in drawing and painting, students will explore identity by regarding objects, places, and people through keen observation, consideration and mindfulness practices. ɓɓ With a focus upon sculpture and installation, students will explore identity through relationships by forming comparisons and juxtapositions. The role of art making will be considered in relation to audience.
7 TH
G RA D E:
CONTRAST & VARIET Y
How do we balance contrast and variety to create unity? Through diverse materials and ideas, how do we develop a sense of personal voice? What happens when we look closely and zoom out? How do we discern difference(s) and what is the impact of this process? When exploring narratives, how does the process of making help us to empathize with and relate to others? In what ways do contrast and variety impact cooperative effort? What allows for a collaborative art effort to become unified?
8 TH
G RA D E:
REMNANTS, RELICS & REVERIES
Where have we been, where are we now and where are we going? How does our place in time impact our perception and connection to others? How do we make sense of the past through images that may be lost, forgotten, or blurry? What collective stories do objects, places and people tell? Where and how do we fit into the communities of which we are a part? How can an understanding of the past and present become inspiration for personal dreams? What happens when we relate to community through an exhibition?
ɓɓ In relation to concepts of contrast and variety, students will hone in on their sense of personal voice while simultaneously exploring concepts in conflict and resolution. Working backwards and forwards, their material focus will be fluid across multiple media and forms. ɓɓ Through immersion in drawing and printmaking, students will explore their personal perspectives of conflict and cooperation as they regard their proximity to objects, places, and people through a contemplative lens. ɓɓ With a focus upon video, sound and public art, students will explore relationships and empathy through conflict-oriented narratives. Utilizing collaborative art models, students will work cooperatively through elements of contrast and variety.
ɓɓ When exploring a sense of memory and daydreams, in relation to community, students will investigate techniques in 2D, 3D and digital forms while working across multiple media at a time. ɓɓ Utilizing a focus in digital drawing and animation, students will explore concepts of community, employing an observational lens as they regard remnants of the past, such as artifacts and relics, artworks and narratives. ɓɓ Students will ask individual questions in an artform of their choosing as they consider personal dreams in connection with community. Students will collaborate to create a "pop-up" exhibition in order to relate and connect with local community.
the cities experience program
43
C AD U P P E R S CHO O L
We are collaborating with some of the best arts and design professional institutes in DC to create a four-year sequence that builds from artistic exploration to application, acquisition, and integration across visual and performance arts disciplines as well as study of design. Reflecting global, contemporary visual and performing arts practices, a wide variety of materials, processes, skills and concepts will be interwoven throughout the course of the year. The research and investigative processes experienced across this diverse content will be documented as part of an individual portfolio throughout each year; this holistic supplement will enable students to reflect, refine and revise past ideas as they consider new possibilities for their creative practice. As students enrich their personal voice through open-ended prompts, their learning will deepen through big ideas.
9 TH
GRA D E C AD :
How do our senses inform our relationships to materials? How do our backgrounds and contexts influence our access to art and why? Where does our art fit into a global network of makers, thinkers and activists? What happens when the process of making generates empathetic connections to others? Grade 9 students will engage in purposeful exploration through independent and collaborative exercises in drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, digital illustration, text art, sculpture, and public installation. The ideas, artists, concepts and processes explored in this year will promote opportunities for students to consider the application of design elements and principles, building a foundation from which to understand and analyze the role played by art history and theory, visual culture, economic interests, and social concerns in compositional choices. Meanwhile, students will begin to hone in on individual stylistic and aesthetic preferences through the development of personal voice.
44
whittleschool.org
ɓɓ Sense and Sensitivity
When encountering new materials, new ideas emerge and sensitivities develop.
Purposeful Play; Sensory Experiences; Physicality; Landscape and Nature; Drawing in Space; Cardboard Construction; Biography and Narrative; Mixed Media; Performance Art ɓɓ Situation
Contexts inform who gets to make art and we creatively push against those limits.
Local culture and artists/performers; Art in situ (murals, installations, guerilla art, street art/performances); Institutionalization; History and Access; Gender & Race through Portraiture; Propaganda; Resistance Art; Printmaking & Democracy; Outsider/ Intuitive Art. ɓɓ Network
We seek to cultivate empathy through the acts of making and experiencing art.
Digital Literacy and Citizenship; Digital Design; Text/Lettering; Photography; “How to Steal Like an Artist”; Sourcing and Ownership of Ideas; “Everything is a Remix”; Inspiration; Empathy; Local and Global; Independent Questions & Research
10 T H
ɓɓ Here & Now
GRA DE C AD :
How do the constraints of our present time drive creation? How can material choices and processes drive ethical, equitable and sustainable outcomes? How do phenomena drive our own essential questions? Grade 10 students enrolled in CAD 5.0 will continue to build a repertoire of various art mediums while also articulating their interests in passions in more specific media. As part of building an understanding of a wide platform of media, students will engage in purposeful exploration through independent and collaborative exercises in drawing, painting, assemblage, altered books, textile arts, stop-motion animation, video and performance art. The ideas, artists, concepts and processes explored in this year will promote opportunities for students to develop resourcefulness, work with found materials and consider how materials relate to identity, culture, place, social justice, economic interests and environmental concerns. By the end of the course, students will identify and develop a personal interest in a focused art discipline of their choosing through a pair of culminating self-directed independent projects. Through the course of the year, students will be expected to mount a pop-up, group art exhibition that they will curate collaboratively.
Liberating constraints help us to innovate and become resourceful.
Sense of Urgency; Found materials; Resources; Environmental Art (1950s-present); “Wasteland”; Portraiture; Design Challenge ɓɓ Collective Collections
Thoughtful consideration and gathering of materials allow for ethical, equitable and sustainable production.
The Everyday; Observations; Gathering & Collecting; Consumption; “How to Be an Explorer of the World”; Found objects; Assemblage; Repurposing (Altered Books and Quilts) ɓɓ Phenomena
What phenomenological questions drive you?
Society; Environment; Mythology; Personal/ Independent Projects
11 T H G RA D E E L ECT I V E S :
12 TH GRA D E EL ECTI VES :
ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ ɓɓ
ɓɓ Visual Art Studies II: Contemporary Practice ɓɓ Visual Art Studies II: Contemporary Practice ɓɓ Design Studies II: Contemporary Practice ɓɓ Theater Studies II: Contemporary Practice ɓɓ Dance Studies II: Contemporary Practice ɓɓ Music Studies II: Contemporary Practice ɓɓ Art & Design History & Theory II ɓɓ Theater History & Theory II ɓɓ Dance History & Theory II ɓɓ Music History & Theory II ɓɓ Advanced Portfolio ɓɓ Independent Study
Visual Art Studies I: Culture and Context Design Studies I: Culture and Context Theater Studies I: Culture and Context Dance Studies I: Culture and Context Music Studies I: Culture and Context Art & Design History & Theory I Theater History & Theory I Dance History & Theory I Music History & Theory I Advanced Portfolio Independent Study
the cities experience program
45
Math Our mastery-based program seeks to develop sophisticated and flexible mathematical thinkers who understand both the power and limitations of mathematics as a tool to describe and make sense of the world. True mathematical sophistication requires creative, critical, and logical thinking. Students in our program go beyond basic skill development and fluency to master computational thinking, mathematical modeling, problem seeking and solving, data analysis and visualization, reasoning and logic, financial literacy, and creative expression through mathematics. Above all, they partake of the joy and wonder of using math to create, collaborate, communicate, and think critically about the world around them. Math study in the CEP will be problem-based and will also integrate focused work on computational thinking and financial literacy alongside the acquisition of more traditional math skills and knowledge. As the math program is personalized to the stage of each individual student, it does not follow a traditional calendar-based curricular pathway. However, a typical sequence of topics for students in the CEP grades would follow the sequence of topics detailed below:
7 T H GRA D E ɓɓ Rational Numbers ɓɓ Absolute Value ɓɓ Real Numbers ɓɓ Irrational Numbers ɓɓ Radicals ɓɓ Algebraic Expressions ɓɓ Scientific Notation ɓɓ Equations and Inequalities ɓɓ Systems of Equations ɓɓ Solid Geometry ɓɓ Plane Geometry ɓɓ Parallel Lines ɓɓ Cartesian Coordinates ɓɓ Translations ɓɓ Data Collection ɓɓ Statistical Displays of Information
46
whittleschool.org
8 T H G RAD E ɓɓ Triangle Geometry ɓɓ Triangle Congruence ɓɓ Quadrilateral Geometry ɓɓ Logic, Proof, and Reasoning ɓɓ Axial Symmetry ɓɓ Similarity ɓɓ Projections ɓɓ Exponents ɓɓ Quadratic Expressions ɓɓ Algebraic Fractions ɓɓ Radical Expressions ɓɓ Pythagorean Theorem ɓɓ Function Notation and Concepts ɓɓ Linear Functions ɓɓ Descriptive Statistics
9 TH GRADE ɓɓ Quadratic Equations ɓɓ Quadratic Functions ɓɓ Graphical Transformations ɓɓ Applications of Quadratic Functions ɓɓ Rotational Symmetry ɓɓ Constructions ɓɓ Circle Geometry ɓɓ Probability ɓɓ Inverse Proportional Functions ɓɓ Similarity ɓɓ Right Triangle Trigonometry ɓɓ Projection ɓɓ Similarity
10 TH GRADE ɓɓ Polynomials ɓɓ Optimization & Inequalities ɓɓ Power, Exponential, and Logarithmic Functions ɓɓ Trigonometric Functions ɓɓ Solid Geometry ɓɓ Vectors ɓɓ Advanced Vector Operations ɓɓ Experimental Design ɓɓ Sampling Theory ɓɓ Advanced Probability ɓɓ Statistical Analysis ɓɓ Regression Analysis
M ATH U P P E R S CHO O L
ɓɓ Math 1 Math 1 is the first level of a three-level integrated sequence of mathematics study in the Upper School. The course emphasizes mathematical reasoning and fosters the development of a growth mindset for mathematics through a discovery, exploration, skill-building, and understanding. The course is designed to deepen students’ understanding of mathematics through recognizing and generalizing patterns, developing and understanding multiple solution pathways for problems, and learning to employ the language of mathematics to explain and justify their reasoning. In addition to exploring a core foundational set of algebra topics, students engage with topics from geometry, right-triangle trigonometry, statistics and probability, computational thinking, and financial applications. Students focus on conceptual understanding and skill-building and are also provided with multiple opportunities to pursue and extend open-ended problems to think deeply and richly about mathematics. ɓɓ Math 2 Math 2 is the second level of a three-level integrated sequence of mathematics study in the Upper School and is a continued development of the concepts, skills, and dispositions of Math 1. Students deepen their understanding of the function concept through study of polynomials and complex numbers, exponential and logarithmic functions, mathematical modeling, and optimization. Students expand their mathematical skills through an introduction to vectors and matrices and deepen their knowledge of probability and statistics techniques through experience with conditional probability, regression analysis, sampling theory, and experimental design. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to extend their learning through the exploration of applications to STEM, social sciences, finance, and computational thinking, among other areas as dictated by student interests. Completion of this level of mathematics study is required for all students and prepares students for Mathematics Electives. Prerequisite: Math 1 or its equivalent. ɓɓ Math 3 Math 3 is the third level of a three-level integrated sequence of mathematics study in the Upper School and extends the work students have done in the first two levels. Students continue to expand their knowledge of functions through the study of trigonometric functions and identities, conic sections, polar coordinates and functions, and parametric equations. Students deepen their understanding of vectors and matrices and gain basic familiarity with the concepts and techniques of sequences and series, limits, derivatives, and integrals. Students also make strong connections to their work in STEM through a study of probability density functions and statistical inference. Completion of this level of mathematics study prepares students for Advanced Mathematics Electives. Prerequisite: Math 2 or its equivalent. MATHEMATICS ELECTIVES ɓɓ Calculus ɓɓ Applied Statistics ɓɓ Cryptology
ɓɓ Number Theory ɓɓ Discrete Math ɓɓ Financial Math
ADVANCED MATHEMATICS ELECTIVES ɓɓ Advanced Calculus ɓɓ Advanced Statistics ɓɓ Advanced Topics in Mathematics
the cities experience program
47
Language Language Learning is a continuing process that evolves with time, context, environment and users. Whittle students develop their English skills in a Chinese-English dual immersion environment where both languages are used instructionally and socially. It aims to prepare our students to be highly proficient and wellversed in both languages and cultures to be a global leader.
It aims to prepare our students to be highly proficient and well-versed in both languages and cultures to be a global leader.
The CEP program provides the opportunities to interact in the authentic and robust linguistic contexts of Washington DC and New York City, to refine students’ language skills throiugh deep experiental learning. The purposes of the CEP program are as follows: Communicative Language Development: CEP time in DC and NYC provides an excellent opportunity for communicative language learning and interaction. Buying a bottle of water from the street vendor, reading a subway map, interpreting the giant commercial slogans in Times Square, skimming the symbols on the NY Stock Exchange, deciphering the historical documents in the Metropolitan Museum exhibition, all these expereinces immerse students in deep langugage learning where students interact with the live language in an authentic context. To add to the depth of the commutative language learning, students will learn, before the CEP trips to DC and NYC, about the usages and history of colloquial English, the development of English vernacular and its significance, and the code-switching phenomenon. NYC and DC will be the living language labs for students to witness, experience and participate in language acquisition and immersion.
48
whittleschool.org
Culture and History: Culture and history are the bedrock for any language. NYC and DC are two of the most diverse cities in the world. DC, the political capital in the US, and a global center for diplomacy, affords students opportunities to delve into the political arena. In addition to visiting all the major political establishments, students will interview politicians, study political science, and explore DC history and culture. NYC’s vibrant multi-cultural neighborhoods, lively street life and the breathtaking skylines speak directly to the intriguing history of the place and its people. While visiting these two cities, students will be instructed to read local literature on NYC and DC to enhance the understanding of the locales and for language development.
Preparing for the US Education: The majority of CEP students will choose to study in the US during their second year. The early exposure and adjustment to the US education system lays an important foundation for their future Middle and Upper School expereince, as well as beginning to prepare for university. Many international students, without experiences in the US education system, usually find the college adjustment challenging. Therefore, one of the important missions of the CEP is to acclimate students to the US learning system for future success. Students in the 3-week stay in DC will attend classes in our DC Whittle School campus to study with their US peers. While students are incorporated fully into the DC system, special attention and care will be given to CEP students to support academic language development, high- level English reading and writing ability cultivation, cross-cultural adjustment, and any other developmental and transitional concerns. At the end of the program, we expect students to be well-versed in both Chinese and English languages and culture and to develop into confident and open-minded young people. Faculty and staff will be highly trained in language acquisition and cross-cultural understanding to ensure a rewarding experience.
the cities experience program
49
LANG UAGE M I D D L E SCHO O L
Cultural competencies are central to our mission. Our program is designed to teach children about world languages and culture, using language as a tool for gaining insight into cultural beliefs and practices as well as for communication. The goal is to enable students to actively and comfortably participate in a world language cultural environment. A central goal of the CEP is to prepare students to study at a US Whittle campus in the following year, and language programs have a key role in making this possible. While this is a challenge, having every teacher and student in the program acting as langugage instructiors makes the task more straightforward than it would otherwise be. Since this program is designed by the same educators who have developed the overall Whittle curriculum, it is easy to achieve curriculum alignment. Perhaps most importantly, the opportunity for students to visit the campus at which they are preparing to study gives them both first-hand experience and a motivation boost. The tendency is to think of language proficiency in broad terms — “I want to be able to speak English/Mandarin/Spanish... — and that is, in fact, a difficult target to be able to hit in a short period of time. The reality is that we use language in specific contexts, and we will be able to build language knowledge in the precise contexts in which students will need to perform. So, knowing in advance what contexts we are preparing for goes a long way to making the task manageable. Students will know that they need English, not only for their course workm but to navigate the city and to use the city asa a classroom. Students will be doing this work as part of a team: other students with the same goals, teachers who understand the goals and can respond to the specific needs of a narrowly targeted group of learners, advisors who will get to know the specifics of their situation, and boarding support staff who can help them make good use of out-of-class time. And they will be doing this in contexts that reinforce their efforts. For their time in Shenzhen, they will be working with teachers who know the Whittle curriculum and who are themselves living and working in China so understand the nature of the steps they must be preparing for. In Washington, DC, they will be attending class in the very building where they will be studying the following year full time. They will gain anchors to lots of important cultural and linguistic knowledge and learn how to navigate the city. In NYC, their learning will be dramatically reinforced by seeing familiar concepts but in a new and lively context. In short, the variety of learning contexts will themselves represent the best kind of cognitive support for the language learning tasks they are undertaking.
50
whittleschool.org
Along the way, learners will participate in grade-appropriate activities to further prepare them for the transition into English-medium education. For middle school, this will mean gaining insights into the nature of upper school education, and what it means to prepare for education with more space for electives. For upper school, this will mean that they begin to think about the question of what university education is about and how Western education is organized. Since a key value at Whittle is personalization, they will begin to learn how the process of applying to university is a natural extension of understanding oneself, one’s goals, and one’s strengths.
LANG UAGE U P P E R S CHO O L
Students choose between an immersive study of either Spanish or Chinese, leveraging our global network for authentic experiences and cross- cultural connections. Opportunities for full cultural immersion exist through our Global Rotation Program. Course offerings provide a range of experience and exposure to languages, from novices to heritage speakers.
the cities experience program
51
whittle school
&
studios
CONTRIBUTION BY
MAREK BECK, DENNIS BISGAARD, ARA BROWN, NICK DIRKS, STEPHANIE FITZGERALD, SVETL ANA GRINSHPAN, JIM HAWKINS, LI JING, PETER MERRILL, ANDY MEYERS, LINDSEY NELSON, ELIZABETH HUN SCHMIDT, PAGE STITES, SUSANNA STOSSEL, REBECCA UPHAM, JACKLYN WHITE, CHRIS WHITTLE, XUEYING ZHANG COPYWRITING
LAURA ESHBAUGH, ANDREA WHITTLE
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
SUSAN CHAN, NANCY NANKA-BRUCE,
LINDSEY NELSON, JULIET WANG STRANGA GRAPHIC DESIGN
ARYA KUO
All Rights Reserved. © Copyright 2019 Whittle School & Studios
52
whittleschool.org
the cities experience program
53
OUR MISSION Our hopes are high, and by them we are bound together. We aim to create an extraordinary and unique school, the first truly modern institution serving children from ages three to 18 and the first global one. We want to change for the better the lives of those students who attend and, beyond our own campuses, contribute to the cause of education on every continent. We measure our merit not through the narrowness of exclusivity but through the breadth of our impact. Favoring our work is an emerging canon of best practices pioneered by educators who have come before us. They have taught us that a modern school knows how one learns will outlast what one learns; will end lock-step, one-size-fits-all education; understands that the emotional development of its students must also be given time; sees that an ingenious facility is an ongoing lesson in design; believes that a global system of schools will surpass a single, local one; harnesses the power of our new digital age; and reconceptualizes the school day and year, recognizing that learning happens everywhere and anytime. Our graduates will stand out. Grounded by rigor and knowledge, they will be undaunted, creative, and bold, ready to lead or help in the wholly transformed and challenging world of their future. Each will shine in at least one loved, purposeful pursuit in which he or she will achieve excellence and a resulting lifelong confidence. All will speak other languages and study in other cultures yet remain deeply connected to their homeland. Surrounded by an expansive and diverse collective intelligence, they will forever be members of it. And through carefully carving their own character they will help goodness prevail. Our faculty will be learners too, side by side with our students and other teachers. We’ll choose them because they want to guide children and have distinction in their academic discipline. They’ll choose us because our global scale brings them unequaled professional development; our growth provides them growth; and our rewards for them are more commensurate with the great good education brings to society. We thank those who have generously supported us, and we look forward to sharing our work with all who aspire to reimagine education.