Enhancing the Quality of Student Experience

A few weeks ago, each of the four Upper School Deans spent the day shadowing a student from his/her respective class. The idea for this “shadow day” originated with our Assistant Head of School and Dean of Student Affairs, Jim Long, and has continued now for several years. The insights gleaned from these days allow us to assess our students’ quality of experience.

When I use the term "quality of experience," I am referring to the degree to which students are truly engaged in the learning process, the extent to which they are deriving real meaning from their experiences at Rivers, and the balance between their intellectual and social pursuits. After “shadow day,” the Deans always come away with a great appreciation for the high caliber of teaching they observe, but they also invariably come away with a concern about the intensity and pace of the school day. These observations have led us to re-examine our daily schedule this year with the hope that we can do a better job of enhancing learning and improving the quality of student experience in the future.

We examine our program constantly. Excellence is a critical value at Rivers, but we refuse to achieve it at the expense of other equally important values: quality of experience, relationships within the community, our spirit of innovation, and character development. At Rivers, "balance" does not mean sacrificing a part of each of these values. Rather, it means living in the tension these values sometimes create and using our collective imagination to reconcile these tensions to produce a stronger learning environment and a better experience. We want our students to leave Rivers loving to learn, and that's why quality of experience matters to us.

"Sled Dog Moments"

On Monday Dr. Amy Enright, a member of the Rivers history department, gave a wise and wonderful talk to our students about searching for work that inspires us individually as opposed to fulfilling the expectations of others – work that feels more like play than work. In this talk, she referenced a news story she read last year called “Why Do Sled Dogs Run?” which explored the reasons behind why sled dogs find pure joy in hard work.

Dr. Enright went on to call times of hard, yet rewarding work “sled dog moments” because sled dogs appear to do their work simply because they love it. We tend to lose ourselves in this kind of work and become oblivious to time and our surrounding environment. Dr. Enright implored our students to find these moments in their work.

One of the defining attributes of Rivers is the concern for students' quality of experience. Quality of experience at Rivers means students squarely facing the challenges we put before them and, as a result, finding meaning in successfully meeting those challenges. It means students gaining self-confidence and self-efficacy such that they come to believe they can do this thing called adulthood. Part of this journey is students’ discovery of what they love and what they are good at; herein lies the power of the "sled dog moments." Recognizing those moments - those times when, as Dr. Enright states, "work becomes an expression of self" - is critical to leading a happy, fulfilling, and meaningful life. In turn, it is our job as parents and educators to help young people reflect on those moments, embrace them, and learn something about themselves in the process.

Community at Its Best

On Wednesday, January 4, most of the school's students and teachers traveled to Fenway Park to watch the girls’ varsity hockey team play St. George's at Frozen Fenway. It was a great Rivers moment – a shared experience that strengthened our community. This sense of collaboration and coming together around shared experiences is a cornerstone of the Rivers way.

Last Monday, Middle School math teacher Sam Poland spoke to the entire student body about the regret he still feels about giving up his dream of playing basketball in college, even though that decision led him to another activity he found fulfilling: singing. His point was that we need to think carefully about the choices we make, and his speech captured the attention of the entire student body at All-School Meeting that day. It was another shared moment. 

The concept of community can be an enigma. Americans, in particular, extol the virtues of individualism and sometimes chafe against the straight jacket of community pressure. Some American writers have criticized community for creating a culture that stifles the individual. I've seen this happen; I get it. 

But I'm not ready to toss community building aside and label it irrelevant at best or detrimental at worst. I have seen too many instances when community has lifted our students and promoted their growth as individuals: the star athlete who learns the value of teamwork, the senior who shares the poignant death of her father in her senior speech, an upper classman reaching out to freshmen. Community at its best encourages each of us to use our individual leadership strengths and to sublimate our individual wants in order to satisfy our intensely human need for connection. When those connections reflect and support our core values of respect, honesty, compassion, and responsibility, and enhance the quality of experience here at Rivers, how can we not be enriched as individuals?

Music at Rivers: Instrumental in the Learning Experience

The following is a guest post by Rivers Performing Arts Department Chair David Tierney. David is also the Director of The Rivers School Conservatory.

The interview on The Rivers School website with Rivers’ Jazz Director Philippe Crettien gives the listener insight into nearly every aspect of what makes the music program at Rivers so outstanding. The passion Philippe has for jazz is evident in every word and gesture; the depth of his dedication to teaching is palpable as he talks about the cycle of students and educators teaching each other; and his commitment to “being in the moment” with a “valid music statement” through his own learning and performing is unambiguous. But what makes Philippe a great teacher and the jazz program at Rivers the envy of public and private schools across the country is his unshakable belief that every student can play jazz well and the generosity of spirit and energy that he uses to guide every one of his students through the mastery of their instrument, music, and jazz.

Why is jazz so important? Before we can answer that question, we need to acknowledge why music in general is so valuable to learning. During the past 20 years, there have been numerous and extensive studies conducted by the National Association of Music Educators, McMaster University, University of California at Berkley, and Stanford University, to name a small handful, on the relationship between music and learning. The evidence seems to overwhelmingly prove that studying music trains the brain for higher forms of thinking including sequential learning which translates into stronger reading comprehension and math scores for music students. In my opinion, music also fills the most serious abyss in our education system – and perhaps in our society today – a lack of self-discipline. The very nature of learning an instrument, while providing the student with an intensely personal connection with a teacher-artist, requires the student to think and work independently, develop self-confidence, engage in honest self-critique, think creatively, communicate clearly and concisely, and persevere.

Both jazz and classical music require technical mastery of an instrument and artistic creativity. While the classical musician needs to interpret a musical score in order to bring the notes on the page to life, the jazz musician must use technique and improvisational skills simultaneously to both create and perform un-composed music using only a handful of written directions (changes) in the score. Jazz performance is uniquely authentic, requiring the performer to be the composer in the moment, creating and playing music with passion, developing musical ideas by listening, thinking, and responding to others in the performance. The best analogy I have heard is that the classical musician is like a Shakespearean actor who has mastered a script but must now bring a character to life, while a jazz musician is the actor without a script, perhaps with only a few notes for direction, who must immediately perform in character and engage in dialogue with other actors.

At Rivers, we hold students in both classical and jazz studies to the highest standards. Philippe Crettien is emblematic of the quality of teachers and the program at Rivers. He pushes his students' artistic imagination and critical and creative thinking skills to levels they never dreamed of attaining. The result is district, state, and national recognition, signifying a program of unparalleled depth and quality.

Relationships at Rivers: A Support System for Student Growth

Relationships are a staple of independent school education. Check out any school website, and you are sure to see statements about the close relationships between students and adults. Rivers is no different in its emphasis. However, our school goes a step further than many others, intentionally using the power of relationships to challenge and inspire our students to be their best. This essential Rivers quality was fully on display a few years ago at an Upper School faculty meeting in which we practiced giving feedback to students (played admirably by selected teachers) in the most effective ways possible. Our role-playing exercise highlighted the importance of honest, descriptive feedback directed to specific behavior.

These techniques have proven helpful in our work with students and advisees, but they only have impact because our teachers have established strong bonds with their students. Our advisor program and the connections advisors form with their advisees are direct examples of how relationships serve as the fertile ground that make student growth possible. In addition to frequent one-on-one interactions students have with their advisors, advisory groups meet at least once a week to review academic progress, discuss relevant topics and aspects of students’ lives, or just engage in casual conversation. Faculty members become mentors, role models, guides, and friends.

When students know that faculty members care about them, want them to be successful and value them as multi-dimensional human beings with an array of talents, interests, and personality traits, they will be more inclined to take risks, pick themselves up after falling, get out of their comfort zone, and pay attention to the feedback teachers give them.

In this week's Rivers web story you can read about a remarkable Rivers student, Bruna Lee ’13, who was the keynote speaker at the annual Steppingstone Gala. Her story is compelling, coming to the United States by way of Brazil with her parents who emigrated to Brazil from China. None of them could speak English. Her transition to Rivers was challenging, but adults kept reaching out to her, engaging her in conversation, and encouraging her to get involved. Today, Bruna is a true school leader, a great contributor to our community, and someone who is making a big difference. Moreover, she directly attributes her success to her network of supporters.

There are countless other examples of our teachers reaching out to students to make connections and then using those relationships to mentor their young charges and help them be their best. Relationships at Rivers are not just a "nice" appendage to the serious business of school; they are fundamental to our success with students.

Rivers' Approach to the Advanced Placement Program

There's a lot of controversy surrounding the College Board's Advanced Placement program. Teachers are frustrated by the constraints of the curriculum. Educators are concerned about teaching to the test and the resulting loss of intellectual curiosity. Students are overwhelmed by the rigor and content of the courses. And most notably, there is consternation that taking AP courses is a way to "game" the college admissions process – more AP courses on the transcript mean a more attractive application for the colleges. Combine this "gaming" with grade inflation in these and other classes, and a candidate can appear attractive to selective colleges even if his or her courses lack the appropriate rigor.

Like almost any human system, the Advanced Placement program can be abused. But this fact should not blind us to the merits of the program. At Rivers some of our most intellectually stimulating classes are AP courses. We tell the AP teachers to cover the curriculum but not "teach to the test." I can walk into an AP American History class and see students performing simulations or engaging in a debate. Calculus students work in pods and debate the process for solving a problem. When AP teachers are told to offer a rigorous, engaging course that covers the AP curriculum, the message is loud and clear – make students think, allow them to question, and above all, make sure the experience is of the highest intellectual quality. 

Finally, there is something to be said for seniors, especially, focusing on a culminating exam as a way to measure their performance for the year. I suspect our seniors spend little time preparing for these exams. They don't have to; they have been taught well throughout the year. The AP Exam is just the gravy. The fact that these students do so well on these exams without a lot of stress is a testament to their hard work throughout the year. Is it a little contrived – an exam after the students have been accepted to college? Of course. But contrived or not, the exams still have meaning to the students primarily because they have worked so hard together and with the teacher for the entire year to prepare for this moment. That Rivers students do so well on these exams is not reflective of our students mindlessly prepping for a test; it is, rather, a testament to the bonds within the classroom community that have developed during the year and the intellectual journey students and teacher have travelled together.

Practice What You Teach

I believe strongly in professional development for faculty. To me it's a mark of a school that is serious about what it is trying to accomplish. Opportunities to share best practices, graduate studies, conferences – all of these translate into teachers who are growing which, in turn, is a major component of high faculty morale.

Lately, I have been intrigued with teachers who actually “practice what they teach.” Does a teacher's work in his/her discipline make a difference in the classroom, or is it simply entertainment for the teacher? With two of our teachers, Dr. Aisha Cort in the Foreign Language Department, and Ben Leeming, Chair of the History Department, presenting their respective research at national conferences, and with the recent display of our art teachers' work in Bell Gallery, I was motivated to seek answers to my question.

It turns out Ben Leeming's research in Latin American history and his growing expertise as a practicing historian play a huge role in his teaching and the design of the curriculum:

“History is not just something you learn, it's something you do,” says Leeming. “My Ph.D. research has made me more sensitive to the fact that history is a way of understanding the past that involves interpreting evidence and arguing for a particular perspective. The reality is that history often involves multiple perspectives, which often conflict. In contrast, many students come into our classes thinking history is about ‘facts’ and that learning history requires little more than the memorization of those facts. As a result of having to grapple with contradictory interpretations in my dissertation research I have increasingly tried to introduce multiple interpretations into my teaching, as well as the skills students need to analyze primary sources and conduct their own historical analysis.”

Ben's research has led directly to developing critical thinking skills among his students.

Likewise, David Saul, Visual Arts Department Chair, feels strongly that his work as a practicing photographer influences his teaching:

“When I photograph and engage in the creative process, I am constantly learning,” says Saul. “I can use that learning to guide my students in the process."

As with many teachers who practice what they teach, David points to empathy as a powerful teaching tool:

“Students will struggle with the creative process where there is not a right answer,” he says. “I can share with them the struggles I have had in creating art, the unexpected paths I have taken, and the need for persistence."