The Price Lab School is both part of the University of Northern Iowa and a First Amendment School, a program the can provide an excellent focus on good civic practices.
In addition, because it serves as a venue for teacher education, preparing university students with the practical skills they’ll need as educators, Price is well-positioned to promote what it calls a fundamental philosophy of “civic consciousness.” “We work with our students in developing a collective civic consciousness, but one that also promotes individual civic consciousness,” explains Clare Struck, the guidance counselor for the elementary school. “Student voice is valued, and we connect our learning beyond our four walls—to our community, our state, our nation, and our world.”
CURRICULUM Price integrates service-learning and social justice issues throughout their curricula, which Struck describes as student-centered. “Besides being rigorous, the curriculum is relevant to our students’ lives. Students’ issues and community issues become part of our curriculum. For example, the first and second grade students did an ecology and environmental science unit. They did clean-up work around Price and the university campus, but they also responded to a concern a first grade girl brought to class.
She observed a mess at the recycling center and was concerned the public was not recycling in the way she learned. By collaborating with the recycling center personnel and writing letters to the editor, the students worked as a group to promote change in their community’s recycling habits. Teachers integrated writing, social studies, and science into the project. At the secondary level, Price weaves social justice and government instruction into the curriculum. In addition, all seventh graders take a journalism and newspaper course.
Writing articles and editorials to the local newspaper is a popular activity in almost all classes, Struck observes. As a First Amendment School, Price also teaches, applies, and practices the Five Freedoms and the four guiding principles, including: making the school a laboratory of democracy; protecting everyone’s rights and responsibilities; community engagement that involve all stakeholders, protecting the voice of the minority and the dissenting view; and active citizenship.
“Sometimes, educators believe that civic learning belongs in the social studies curriculum,” says Struck. “It’s great to have it there, but we’re citizens every minute of the day, starting from the day we’re born. We have rights and responsibilities we need to become aware of, and they need to be nurtured and practiced. That happens in the curriculum as well as in the spontaneous situations that come up. That’s how you learn about it.” And the experiences stick. Recently, the elementary school was invited to sing for the Iowa legislature. When they went outside at intermission, one of the students looked back at the capitol dome and saw that “of, by, and for the people” was written on the wall. He said, “Those are the words we just sang!” Price also recognizes the government piece is important, especially in Iowa, where students are inundated every few years with presidential campaigns. “We’re bi-partisan,” Struck says. “This year, we had two candidates come to the school before the caucuses, but we didn’t have a debate. Instead, we asked them to talk about the First Freedoms and the voting process.”
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Professional development includes a school improvement plan focused on school climate, as well as activities that take a look at how the school can respond to the whole child, and how staff responds to one another to build a caring community.
For Price’s teacher education tools on building tolerance, “Tenants of Democracy,” visit www.intime.uni.edu/terms.html. In addition, Price’s ongoing schoolwide character education initiative, which began 1983, is now being recognized as a finalist for the National School of Character Awards.
CLIMATE AND CULTURE When you walk into Price, says Struck, you get an understanding that a caring community is a place, not a program.
“We don’t have signs slapped up on the wall – although, student work is evident when you walk in our school. You see engagement and learning. You see kids interacting with each other, kids in conflict, kids using conflict resolution skills. The ideal is that we respect one another. We’re pre-k through 12, so we have a lot of cross-age, multi-age opportunities going on here.” Struck describes the school as a lively place where kids are curious. For instance, “I’m a recess supervisor,” she says, “and the other day it was raining. We were really learning about earthworms. There was a conflict: some boys were squishing the worms and some kids were really suspicious about it. We discussed it and decided it was better not to squish the worms. Some other kids were wondering how many hearts earthworms have. I said, ‘Go back in and talk to Mrs. F. about it. Ask your teacher!’ We’d rather have more questions that answers.” To improve their work on climate and culture, Price used an evaluation tool from the Character Education Partnership to survey students, parents, and faculty. Its “Eleven Principles of Character” provided real sound data on what Price could do better, and a process for how to go about it.
SCHOOL GOVERNANCE
At the elementary level, Price originally had an elected student government. A few years ago, the staff heard concerns from students or parents that every time there was a vote, the same students were getting chosen time and again. Some kids who really wanted to serve weren’t getting selected. Now, student government is a volunteer organization. Any 1st through 5th grader who wants to be in student council can. It meets once a month, and students plan a service project together. They present the project at the monthly citizenship assembly, where they also lead pledges and sing songs. At the middle school, student government was changed from a year-long to two-semester schedule in order to involve more students. The high school student council also changed, moving from a more traditional model to a town hall model where any student, faculty, or community member who wants to come can have a voice. In addition, the high school principal has a regular cabinet of students selected by the administration to discuss how things are going. As products of the First Amendment School education, Price students are big on petitioning, says Struck. “Some go places and some don’t. Last year some 5th grade boys were very concerned they didn’t have doors on bathroom stalls. Now there are curtains. “Our seniors wanted a lounge. We didn’t have a space at that time, but they worked with faculty and administration: now we have a senior lounge. “However, when students wanted more recess, the administration laid out the day and showed them the schedule. Students understood there just wasn’t more time for recess with all the learning they had to do.” |
