Is GDS really progressive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

I guess you haven't studied science (or theology, for that matter, LOL) -- it's just not that uncommon for a basic insight/paradigm to be studied, debated, refined, explored, developed over decades or even centuries. The whole varieties of intelligence (including emotional) literature, together with advances in our ability to image brains at work means that there are lots of opportunities for new insights into how to do progressive education well.

That said, progressivism has changed the American educational landscape -- most schools now embrace "critical thinking" as a crucial component of education, for example. But then you look at how they teach, what they teach, and how they evaluate what students have learned and wonder whether you can get there from here. So whether you see it as a spectrum or as rival pedagogies, some schools are certainly much more progressive than others. And some people really want their children to be progressively educated and others don't.

[Anonymous]

progressive and liberal.

[Anonymous]

Not liberal -- lefty. Vive la difference!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not liberal -- lefty. Vive la difference!!

Is it wise to send a kid to a school that reflects your own values? Given that kids rebel, if I were a liberal, I would probably want to turn on Fox News every day, betting that the kids would rebel right into my briar patch.

[Anonymous]

What is meant by" lefty"?.

[Anonymous]

Commitment to social justice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Sadly though, many schools do not get past these basic skills. They are labored over all year long. Schools then do not have the time to teach any higher order skills like cooperation, teamwork and problem solving skills. Those aren't on the test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:progressive and liberal.

Interesting. I am conservative and Republican and have a child at GDS. I feel extremely welcome there and quite like the school. To each it's own. Differences are certainly respected, but like in any environment, be prepared to have your opinions questioned if you are extremely outspoken regarding your political / lifestyle opinions.

[Anonymous]

On progressive education. Note the UChicago Lab school as incubator of Dewey's theories.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

GDS is not more selective than the Cathedral schools or Sidwell. All of the Big 3 are very selective.

[Anonymous]

What are the demographics of GDS? I can't find the actual statistics anywhere. What percentage of students are caucasian, african american, jewish, etc...? I have heard so many differing statements on this that it has me curious on what the actual stats are. TIA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the demographics of GDS? I can't find the actual statistics anywhere. What percentage of students are caucasian, african american, jewish, etc...? I have heard so many differing statements on this that it has me curious on what the actual stats are. TIA

http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolName=georgetown+day&NumOfStudentsRange=more&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&HiGrade=-1&ID=Y9101619

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Progressive v traditional pedagogical approaches to learning, not whether the school is liberal or conservative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Where are the brilliant kids enrolled?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

GDS is not more selective than the Cathedral schools or Sidwell. All of the Big 3 are very selective.

Who said/suggested otherwise? Certainly not me -- the poster you've quoted. The reason I mentioned selectivity at all is that OP indicated that she wouldn't say her DC was "extremely bright" but that she could do very good work on grade level. I wasn't comparing schools -- just saying that admission itself would be a vote of confidence on the part of the school.

In general, my point was that I thought that kids with a wide range of abilities/learning styles might thrive in a school like GDS. To what such a range is represented on campus is a separate question and one that comes down to admissions.