Is GDS really progressive

[Anonymous]

I know that Georgetown Day School seeks out the brightest student. So, are they really progressive?. I really need to know if they truly meet each student where they are developmentally or not. To my understanding, the progressive approach is to educate the students, based on each child individual level. Please assist me!!!

[Anonymous]

really? truly? why? tell us about the DC in question, what your specific issues/concerns are and you'll get more useful feedback.

otherwise, your post just reads like an attempt to stir up controversy.

[Anonymous]

I am sorry if it appeared as though I am trying to cause a problem. I was just wondering if GDS is really progrssive or not. I have a child that is not extremely bright, but she can do very well on grade level. I just want to know if she will do well at GDS, or should I consider an alternative progressive school. I highly respect all of these wonderful schools. I just want to know if my average daughter would be able to survive the rigor, or if the school truly meets the children where they are academically. I ask this question with all due respect.


Thanks

[Anonymous]

I thought progressive was just a euphemism for liberal these days. Does it have some other meaning?

In the way you're using it, it sounds like you're asking if GDS recognizes when it has a mediocre kid on its hands and lowers its expectations accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Well, as you pointed out, GDS has highly selective admissions. So the question may be whether DC gets in. That said, if she does, it's because they have confidence she can handle the work.

To the extent I've heard complaints re not meeting kids where they are, the complaint almost always takes the form that someone's DC should be given harder work -- not that kids are being left behind. The school is very committed (ideologically and in terms of how it spends its resources) to recognizing and addressing kids with a variety of different learning styles. This manifests itself in everything from the number of learning specialists on staff to the variety of ways in which assignments are structured to enable children to show what they've learned (lots of visual, oral, and kinesthetic, as well as written input and output).

In general, what I appreciate about the teaching is that there are generally clear minimum standards/requirements and big projects are broken down into manageable steps while, at the same time, the assignments themselves are interesting and challenging enough that a child will get as much out of it as he or she puts into it. In other words, there's a safety net but also a lot of freedom.

Overall, I'd say that a child wouldn't have to be exceptionally bright -- just eager to learn -- to get a great education at GDS.

Hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

I thought progressive was just a euphemism for liberal these days. Does it have some other meaning?

Let's give you the benefit of the doubt and assume your search function isn't working for some reason. Try this: http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/progressive.htm

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OP, I personally know of 3 different families at GDS who feel the school's approach to 'meeting kids where they are' really does work. In two families, the second child/sibling is A Different Kind of Learner than the eldest kid, who probably was admitted with a 99 WPPSI et al. In other family, the child is a basically or even barely on grade level in some subjects but was nevertheless admitted likely due to other things she brings to the table.

[Anonymous]

No -- progressive education is a movement, often associated with John Dewey, that's been around since the early decades of the 20th century (think Progressive era -- this is one of its legacies). Basically, one of the goals is to create a democratic populace in which ordinary people have the capacity to make complex and high-stakes decisions about their own societies. And the pedagogical approach is child-centered, experiential/experimental, and science-oriented. It focuses on the discovery of knowledge rather than just its transmission and treats kids as active learners/creators/discoverers rather than as blank slates/empty vessels (to use earlier metaphors).

[Anonymous]

oops -- 10:29 was meant as a response to 10:09's comment that progressive is just a euphemism for liberal.

[Anonymous]

I would describe GDS as a progressive school for bright kids. Above average (not necessarily brilliant) kids who have differing learning styles will absolutely thrive there, but average to below average kids are likely to struggle, particularly in Middle and Upper School. The style of education is progressive, the attention to kids from very diverse backgrounds is progressive, but that doesn't mean that every kid, no matter what, will be a good match, nor does it mean that the school will alter the curriculum for a kid who has trouble keeping up.

[Anonymous]

Wow. 10:29 gave a mouthful. Wouldn't something that was proposed in the 1920s have been truly tried and proven by now? Has our approach to teaching not evolved beyond this approach in the last 100 years? In other words, if it produces better people, wouldn't everyone have adopted it by now? What educational institutions still treat kids as empty vessels?

[Anonymous]

People with conservative values, unless they are conservative in some exotic way (like Muslims wearing the Hijab or Sikhs wearing turbans), are unlikely to feel welcome here. GDS is very tolerant, if you're very liberal. Nothing wrong with that, but not to be confused with actual tolerance (which recognizes different values).

[Anonymous]

poster 10:17--- thanks a bunch . I really appeciate your input, it was very insightful.

[Anonymous]

What educational institutions still treat kids as empty vessels?

A lot of parochial schools, like the ones my extended family members attend.

[Anonymous]

Many public schools are treat students this way too. Here is what we need them to know to pass the test so we need to fill them up with the info and skills to get us good test scores.

[Anonymous]

There actually are some basic skills and competencies that those tests are designed to evaluate. Let's not act as if teaching a core curriculum is completely backward.