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To meet our
educational goals, the following behaviors and characteristics will facilitate the
achievement of these goals. The Learner:
Will set high expectations for him/herself.
Is excited and curious about learning. Each individual appreciates his/her own
uniqueness and thinks of him/herself as a valued, contributing member in the learning
process. S/he feels empowered to explore, to take risks, and to make decisions and to do
so safely, without the fear of failure. Each individual will be successful through
intrinsic satisfaction and self-evaluation.
Acquires an understanding of the learning process. Each individual will develop an
understanding, not only of his/her own learning style, but that his/her rate of learning
may vary in terms of content, time, and circumstances. Recognizing personal strengths and
weaknesses, the individual will develop a positive awareness of his/her own ability to
progress.
Will view learning as a lifelong process and will understand that values evolve from
his/her learning experiences and may change with added.
Will actively participate in the learning process and associated decision making. S/he
will work with the teacher to set goals for his/her own learning and will work with both
the teacher and other students in selecting learning experiences. The individual will
participate with the teacher in evaluating his/her own progress in the learning g process.
Will take responsibility for his/her own learning.
S/he will develop the ability to budget time and effort and to set priorities. The
individual will make choices, accept consequences and evaluate the results of a choice
before acting on it. S/he will practice actions that lead to responsible behavior.
Will approach learning with enthusiasm and vigor.
S/he will be physically and mentally active, seizing opportunities for exploratory
learning. Each individual will demonstrate creativity in a variety of settings including
problem solving and self-expression.
The learner will pursue his/her special interests.
S/he will continue to learn outside the classroom and will extend his/her own learning
through discovery.
Will acquire prescribed skills and through
application of those skills will continue to grow. The individual will learn to integrate
facts, skills, concepts, and values toward the understanding of a whole concept.
Will participate in problem solving activities
without fear of failure. Each individual will be able to recognize and define a problem.
S/he will be willing to try a variety of problem solving strategies. The learner will be
able to evaluate the processes and the solutions and to communicate a given problem, as
well as the processes, and solutions to others responsibility for content with his/her
ability to learn.
Will develop the ability to work cooperatively with
others. Each individual will learn to share his/her ideas while listening to those of
others and respecting their differences. S/he will exercise his/her rights without
violating the equal rights of others.
Educators:
Will have high expectations for student achievement.
Are intellectually curious with an inherent desire to learn from all experience,
exemplifying life-long learning.
They are highly motivated and open-minded. They respect individual differences and
actively listen to students, responding to students' individual needs.
They model these characteristics in the classroom.
They are self-disciplined and critically reflective about the role they play in
learners' growth.
They recognize individual strengths, abilities, interests, learning styles, and rates of
learning and prescribe learning strategies that match learning capabilities at any given
time. They value and appreciate each child's uniqueness. They allow student initiatives to
flourish and encourage students to take risks and to explore their interests.
They understand each learner developmentally (intellectually, socially, physically,
emotionally and culturally) and use this knowledge to provide diverse, meaningful, and
appropriate learning experiences. They help to motivate and challenge the learner to
overcome barriers that may affect the learner's ability to attain optimum rate of
learning.
They design interactions and activities to develop each student's self-esteem and
positive feeling toward learning. They promote self-esteem by valuing each child apart
from his/her actions and achievements.
They provide an active and interactive environment that offers students relevant
learning experiences, assisting students in setting goals, and finding means to achieve
them.
They provide many opportunities for problem solving, both teaching specific strategies
and encouraging creative and open-ended processes.
Provide a variety of teaching strategies (including direct teaching, modeling,
utilization of technology, consultants, and other curriculum resources).
Encourage students to use acquired skills across various subjects of study, and to
integrate facts, skills, concepts, and values in forming larger concepts.
Enhance information processing and assimilation of new experiences and knowledge by
allowing opportunity for interaction and personal reflection.
Assess student progress and performance and adjust student learning experiences
accordingly. Teachers at McAuliffe assess both strengths and weaknesses and use strengths
to facilitate learning. Our teachers provide evaluation through dialogue, critiquing,
opportunities for student self-evaluation, group evaluation, as well as quantitative
testing and other means. McAuliffe teachers assess progress within the context of the
child's developmental level.
Communicate about the student's progress with parents and, as appropriate, other
educators. They take an active role in fostering such communication. Empower the learner
and encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning. McAuliffe educators
balance rights with responsibility, supporting both equally for all students. They
encourage students to set goals for themselves and nurture increasing degrees of autonomy
as students mature.
Establish an environment where diverse thoughts
and ideas are encouraged.
Help learners develop the ability to work
productively with others. They encourage students to work with groups of their peers to
seek out knowledge and to honor the contributions others provide. They ensure a wide
variety of student interactions to promote positive peer role modeling.
States the scope and sequence for cognitive,
motor, and social growth in content areas but allows for flexibility in adapting to
individual student needs, encouraging students to pursue personal interests.
Defines essential content, concepts, and skills
needed for lifelong learners. It balances prescribed process, content, skills, teacher
choice, student choice, and parent choice. It is current with the expanding knowledge base
in all fields.
Provides varied opportunities for success in all
areas, e.g. arts, math, P.E., language arts. It treats learning as the acquisition of
whole concepts while allowing for the development of integrated thematic units and
approaches.
Provides for the study of many varied world
cultures and beliefs while offering opportunities to explore similarities and differences.
The Parents:
Ensure that the basic needs of their child(ren) are met so that the child can
effectively engage in the learning process. These needs include food, shelter, security,
recognition, respect, and love.
Communicate about their child's needs with educators so they may better understand the
child. They will share their child's progress with the child fostering the communication
link among students, parents, and educators. and school professional staff. They take an
active role in maintaining and
Recognize and value their child's uniqueness and support the pursuit of their individual
interests. They also have realistic expectations for their child. These expectations are
based on an understanding of development and knowledge that their child's rate of learning
may vary in terms of task, content, time and circumstances. Parents understand that their
child's personal philosophies will grow and evolve through learning experiences and
knowledge.
Model enthusiasm that learning can come from all experiences. Parents foster their
child's inherent desire to learn from all experiences when they listen and respond to what
their children say. They share their work experiences and their involvement in the
community with their children. They also share their knowledge and skills related to any
problem solving experiences. They are aware that they constantly model their own personal
values, i.e. responsible behavior, global awareness.
Aid in the development of their child's self esteem by supporting developmentally
appropriate education and practices. They aid in the development of their child's sense of
responsibility by setting realistic goals and consistently supporting them, and by
allowing their child to share in the process of deciding what rights and duties will be
supported in the family. A child's personal value system is developed when parents
recognize the importance of learning experiences that occur at home as well as support and
encourage children in their decision making and allow them to take responsibility for
their choices.
Curriculum:
- Is organized so that the uniqueness of each individual can be encouraged and supported.
It allows for different rates, capacities, and styles of learning with developmentally
appropriate learning opportunities.
- The curriculum encourages the development of cognitive processes. Creative and critical
thinking is taught and developmentally appropriate learning opportunities allowing for
different rates, capacities, and styles of learning so that all students may succeed in
their responsibility for learning. It continuously expands the experiences and challenges
the minds of learners. The curriculum ensures that processes and strategies including
problem-solving are developmentally appropriate, matching the student's
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