GHS to showcase project-based approach

GUSTINE – A move to incorporate hands-on, project-based learning is under way at Gustine High School, where staff members will share the new approach with parents and interested community members at a meeting next week.

Gustine High is leading the way in the district’s plans to phase in more project-based learning and rely less on traditional lecture-based instruction.

“Content has been the focus in the past; and we’re trying to combine that content with teaching skills students need to be successful,” said Principal Dennis Shaw. “We have identified skills that we want our students to be able to display, such as collaboration, critical thinking and the ability to present and communicate effectively in writing and verbally. The whole basis of project-based learning is that it takes into account those skills as well as the content.”

Some teachers have already launched projects, he said, and all will be asked to do at least one project in the second semester.

Teacher Wassim Absood presented one project to the Gustine City Council last week, asking for their support and participation.

The concept of that project is to examine local changes brought by technology, to learn about changes caused by the Industrial Revolution and to formulate predictions on what Gustine might look like in 10 years based on a comparison of recent changes  and those brought about by the Industrial Revolution.

“That is a prime example of project-based learning,” Shaw commented. “It is relevant and local. Any time you can make it local, it becomes that much more relevant.”

Simply developing a project is a challenging task, he noted. The project must be identified (including a critical question on which the project is based) and go through a peer review and critique process. Teachers must also incorporate standards into their projects.

“The kids are learning while they are doing the project. The learning is within the project,” said the principal.

Some subject areas lend themselves to projects more readily than others, Shaw acknowledged.

“Ag and history lend themselves to projects, but its not the easiest to come up with a project in math. Sometimes you just have to teach this equation or concept in math, and there’s no way around it,” he commented.

Teachers are going to have to coordinate projects as well.

“There is still going to be direct instruction. We don’t want a student to have six projects going on in six different classes the same week,” Shaw stated. “You won’t see projects in class every day.”

Shaw said he believes Gustine is well-suited to project-based learning.

“This is a community where people know about ‘hands-on’,” he pointed out. “Project-based learning also has a vocational edge to it. We will be teaching skills students need down the road in the workplace.”

The Gustine High staff has been working with a specialist in the field of project-based learning, Dr. Thom Markham, to implement the new learning approach. Shaw said the consultant’s $19,000 fee is being funded through the School Site Council.

His guidance and insight have been invaluable, Shaw said.

“This is a process that is going to take several years,” he said of the transition.

The school is also exploring the possibility of turning its library into a project lab and presentation room.

“We haven’t had a functioning print library in years. We would like to turn that into a facility where students can do projects, study, meet, record and practice presentations,” Shaw explained.

The school will host a community meeting next Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. in the school library to explain the shift toward project-based learning.

“I think it is important that parents know what we are doing at the schools, and be able to weigh in on it,” Shaw remarked. “This year is the beginning of a big change for us. It is a fundamental shift, and it is not a one-year plan.”