This week, I had the pleasure of touring the Pacific School for Innovation and Inquiry in downtown Victoria, founded and co-run by former Gulf Islands School District Superintendent Jeff Hopkins. Our class had the opportunity to hear from Jeff, tour the school, and speak with some of the students. I entered the experience not knowing what to expect, and I left inspired and intrigued.
Jeff started the session by talking to us about the mission behind the school and how the school works. The students choose an inquiry question and attend sessions that help them along with their research and broaden their knowledge on related topics. By exploring their inquiry, the majority of students meet curriculum requirements and sometimes even graduate early. At first, I was skeptical about this model of schooling, but after hearing Jeff speak about the school and answer all of our questions I found myself wishing that I could have gone to a school like this when I was in highschool.
My favourite part of the tour was getting to see the creative working space. As a sewer and general textiles enthusiast, seeing this space was so exciting. They have tons of bins of fabrics and other materials, sewing machines, sergers, mannequins, and even a loom for weaving. I couldn’t help but imagine all the projects I could make and how it could all connect to learning outcomes in other subjects. The textiles space is not the only creative workspace they have. The studio also houses a small theatre, a small woodworking shop, a ceramics studio, and music rooms.
Another thing that stood out to me was a term that Jeff mentioned: the Zone of Proximal Development, developed by Lev Vygotsky. I recognized the term from my Grade 12 psychology course, but it was interesting to hear Jeff talk about it in the context of the school’s approach. The diagram below is a visual for the term. Essentially, it describes the zone between what is too easy for a learner and what is too difficult. The zone represents the optimal content that challanges someone. Jeff mentioned how this term is very important for the school’s model but also for us as elementary school teachers.
Zone of Proximal Development Diagram, PSII Victoria
Overall, I’m grateful for the opportunity to have toured the school. I had never been exposed to this type of school growing up and I think it would be so cool to be a student there. We had the chance to talk to some of the students and they seemed so focused and inspired. I very curious to see how this model of school will expand and how its approach can be implemented in more schools in the future!
— Sofia 🎀
