Middle school Civilizations, or “Civ” as the learners call it, is one of The Village School’s signature learning experiences. The curriculum is a rich task built with intention and backed with research. Learners are asked to engage with most of the topics and character traits listed in our school Profile of a Learner as well as meet each strand of Project Zero’s Understanding Map, a research based framework for designing powerful learning experiences.
Twice a week learners are presented with a Civ Challenge that is composed of three parts: research, writing to learn, and socratic discussion. Each challenge is centered around a list of approximately 10 socratic questions, with a focus on what is known as the “big question”. The big question is about a specific time or person in history. Learners are challenged to come up with their own answer to the big question based on their own research. Each Civ Challenge is accompanied by a bank of sources that may include primary sources, images, graphs, videos, and articles that are relevant to the big question. Additionally, each challenge weaves in current events that connect to the historical topic. There are current articles, news clips, and primary sources that highlight these connections.
Learners are challenged to do at least 30 minutes of research using the sources provided, and take notes on the information they are gathering. After their research is complete, they begin writing to learn. Writing to learn is different from the purpose of most academic writing, and research shows that the older a learner gets, the less opportunities they have to write to learn in school. Writing to learn is to help learners process their thinking and determine their own ideas and thoughts – or as one researcher explains, “Writing to learn is learning to think.” This is exactly the purpose of the writing task in Civ.
Learners must submit their written response by the deadline in order to participate in the final aspect of the challenge, a peer-led socratic discussion. Learners arrange themselves in a circle, nominate a discussion leader, review the discussion guidelines and begin. The conversation starts with sharing responses to the big question, followed by the discussion leader’s guidance through the rest of the questions.
This session’s CIV, “The People Who Made America” included ten challenges focused on one or two individuals who helped shape the country. One of the challenges focused on Mary Tape, a desegregation activist who fought for Chinese-Americans’ access to public education. Here is an excerpt from the challenge followed by the “big question” followed by a snapshot of some of the learner responses and discussion:
Mary Tape was a Chinese immigrant living in San Francisco in the 1890s. She became an important figure in the fight against racial discrimination in education. After her daughter was denied entry to a public school because of her Chinese descent, Tape took a bold stand against the schools. She wrote letters and took legal action that led to a landmark court case.
Was Mary Tape a hero for her family and other Asian Americans or a failure? Should heroes be defined by personal victories or by the ability to inspire and effect larger change?
“I don’t think you have to succeed to be a hero.”
I think she was a hero to her family and to the people that she inspired. I think you can fail and still be a hero in some people’s eyes.”
“I disagree – I think she was a failure because she did actually fail at what she was trying to do. I think what she did was heroic, but it doesn’t make her heroic.”
“I actually completely agree with Charlotte because I think calling her a failure is a bit of a stretch. I also agree with something Jude said that being a hero or a failure depends on the standard. I think for Mary Tape the standard was heroic – she was fighting a similar fight as MLK, because she was fighting against racial discrimination. MLK is one of the most influential heroes in the world.”
“I agree with Charlotte. It’s hard to categorize someone as a complete hero or a complete failure. I do think that she failed in her goals, but she certainly didn’t fail in being her. She was a success in that she brought the injustice to light and made people aware of it. Generally I think she was a hero because she did more good than bad.
I wouldn’t describe her as a failure. She stood up for her family and that’s heroic to me.
“Wait -can someone explain what she did with the school?”
“She went to the Supreme Court and advocated for her children to be accepted into the local public school, but the Supreme Court l,et everyone know that segregation was still okay, so they had to make a different school for her children.
“All last year in Health and Wellness we talked about what makes someone a hero, and I remember talking about how a hero is someone who positively influences others, and she did that.”
“Along the way to your goal, you’re always going to have failure. Just like us in our journey at TVS, we’re going to fail sometimes.”
“I agree with Amira. I think she was a hero because even though she encountered failure she still did something incredible. Her argument made it all the way to the Supreme Court which is a big deal. Even though it didn’t turn out how she wanted, she brought awareness to this important issue. I definitely think she was a hero.”
“Hey, can you read the second part of the question again? I noticed no one is answering that part.”
“I think if someone is a hero their actions need to affect more than just themselves. You can be a good person, but that’s not the same as being a hero. I don’t think that your reach has to be huge. You could do something to benefit your school or your neighborhood and that can be heroic.”
“I think that heroism should be defined as the ability to inspire others. Inspiring others is good leadership. If you’re being a leader, you’re being a hero – and if you’re being heroic, you’re inspiring others to be heroic.”
I think it matters what your intention is. Her intention was to make a positive impact and in that sense she succeeded.
Below is one of the learner’s written responses:
A hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. And by that definition, Mary Tape was a hero. She might have failed to get her child into public school, but she inspired others, not just to follow the law but to do what is morally right.
When Mary Tape sued the school and the case went to the Supreme Court, the case was not just for her daughter but for all Asian Americans. She might have failed to get her daughter into an American school, but she put action in the movement and took a step toward equal rights.
You can’t be a failure if you inspire millions. You can still be a hero if your goal fails. Failure is a part of learning, and failure is a part of changing the world. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested multiple times, and he may have failed at that moment, but he is still considered a hero. Mary Tape is the same—someone who, in the immediate future, may have failed but, in the long term, succeeded.
Learners go through this entirely self-led process twice a week. They learn to read critically, write thoughtfully with evidence to support their ideas, consider other perspectives, connect history to current events, and to their own experiences, And, most importantly they are trusted to engage in this process as independent learners, writers, and thinkers. This learning task is something most high school students wouldn’t be trusted to attempt. In a traditional, highly competitive high school environment there isn’t room or time for learners to struggle or fail. Like so much of the learning design at TVS, we choose to trust over control. Civ requires the adults in the room to really lean into our Constructivist approach to learning and our belief that young people can be trusted to learn from their own experience.
As expected, the learners capture the heart of Civ best, as one learner put it: “…Civ is definitely the most challenging part of being in Adventure, but it’s also the most fun.” And, of course we agree: the more epic the challenge, the sweeter the victory.
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