This week my EDCI 336 class had the opportunity to visit the Pacific School for Innovation and Inquiry (PSII- pronounced “sigh”), Victoria’s newest high school and form of personalized education. Students at this school are able to move through a curriculum that is designed specifically for them at their own pace. Basically, at this school all the projects are inquiry based so students get to decide what they want to learn and the teachers design their learning to meet all the BC curriculum content. The image below, from PSII’s website, better explains their whole learning approach.

This visit made me consider how beneficial our education system really is. One thing that I hated about my high school experience was the lack of freedom I had. If I wasn’t feeling well I had to call home in the office and get my parents to come pick me up even though I could drive myself. As soon as I left high school and entered university I found my mental health got immensely better. If I wasn’t feeling well physically or emotionally, I could just not attend class that day and catch up on my own time and nobody would mind. The stress of being forced to remain at my place of learning even if it wasn’t in the best interest for me was gone and I found myself enjoying my education so much more. For once I had independence and control over my learning and I began to care a lot more about my education. So why do we still design our high schools this way? As stated on the PSII website, we are all unique individuals, so why do we force our students to complete a pre-designed, standardized education?

For more information on PSII visit their website learningstorm.org & I promise it will answer all of your questions.