ed for a 21st-century education that befits the Wheeler name. Often, the new and old are expertly mixed. In a lesson ostensibly designed to promote social-emotional learning through practicing empathy, nursery students expand and develop their vocabulary and reading skills. And wherever they teach, Wheeler N-8 teachers are predisposed to reach all students. They reach the more socially activated students through collaborative projects and draw out the talents of a quieter student by finding what lights them up in the curriculum. They use their colleagues to work out new ideas and consider new approaches to reach each child. Teachers are able to reach a broad range of students because they work on a permeable campus and in collaboration with talented professionals. For example, teachers bring out the best in a student named Sarah who struggles to sit still during morning meeting and focus on anything but her friends. They use the Farm as a classroom creating learning opportunities so she can collaborate with others to figure out how fulcrum points work on a plank balanced on a rock. This elementary lesson on basic physics would not be as vivid and memorable were it not for regular use of the Farm. And for Sarah, were we one campus with conventional classrooms, learning would be a struggle.
Meaningful, challenging work: Wheeler N-8 teachers have a love/hate with the concept of rigor. They tend to be disinclined toward the 20th-century version of rigor where students, particularly older N-8 students, endure a cycle of read, memorize, test, read, memorize, test only to forget what they were tested on and to be understood as a set of numbers. The 21st- century version emphasizes a multi-layered approach where students solve open-ended problems, use multiple resources (internet-based and not) for research, work collaboratively, and produce work that demands effective communication, logical and creative thinking, careful consideration of audience, and high-level executive functioning. As a 7th grader, Sarah no longer has to sit fidgeting through an endless cycle of quizzes and tests but has to figure out with her partners how best to research and write about Brown University’s reliance on slave labor to construct its campus. Her teacher takes Sarah and her partners to the field to research and conduct interviews. After turning in their essay as evidence of learning, their teacher encourages them to share their learning with a greater audience. They decide to create a podcast on what they’ve learned and face tech and writing challenges. They know a podcast can’t be completely scripted but shouldn’t be completely improvised. Their teacher says that they must use intro and outro music that they compose and play. Sarah struggles but her struggles are productive and fun (though she hates to admit it to her parents). Most importantly, she will never forget what she learned about the role of enslaved people at Brown.
Relationships: While innovative and highly skills-based, the N-8 culture’s reason for success is the relationship between teacher and student. The reason for the success of Wheeler’s N-8 education is not the latest technology or pedagogy (although they are important); it’s in the close relationships between adults and children where teachers respect their students in the moment, but also know how to adapt, pivot, and collaborate to help their charges grow. Additionally, when N-8 teachers are at their best, they see their students as whole human beings with interests, vulnerabilities, and untapped abilities. In their appreciations, Wheeler seniors often point to their close and formative relationships with Lower and Middle School teachers as the reason for their success in the Upper School.
So as the Head of Strategic Innovation and N-8 Divisions, I am excited to make the once implied and unstated identity of the Lower and Middle Schools vivid to all and to collaborate with my colleagues to enhance an unparalleled N-8 educational experience.
By Young Un
Head of Strategic Innovation and N-8 Divisions
Growing Minds is the pe