Webucation

The MET School Providence, Rhode Island USA

The Met School is a very different school from those that many of us are used to. It began its work in 1996 as a new school aiming for a teacher pupil ratio of around 1 to 1. It aims to provide a very personalised curriculum with each student having an individual learning plan built as a result of detailed discussions between students and building learning programmes based on the interests of the students themselves. The school set out from the outset to create an environment which was based on small groupings of students where they are well known and their learning needs understood. The school currently has 750 students but these are distributed between three different school buildings each with its own principal and with learners between 14 and 18 years of age. The idea of the three building model being to create smaller schools within the overall campus. The school curriculum sets out to build the individual learning plan by discussing with students their needs and developing a work plan which the students put together themselves. Each student works with a member of the MET staff to plan and construct their learning plan and that person is responsible for making sure that the students get the support they need so that they can follow their individual programme. The key role of the advisor is not to teach the students (although they may actually do some teaching on specific subjects for those students that have certain requirements. Other teachers or experts are brought in to the school as required and the MET has links with specialists in various companies, colleges and the local University. The MET does not deliver set lessons on Maths or English etc, in fact there are not 'subjects' as such but does have five learning goals it uses as the basis for the curriculum.

These are:

• Quantitative Reasoning - How do I work things out? measuring and mathematics skills
• Social Reasoning - the views of others and how to work within teams. Examples from History.
• Empirical reasoning - How do I prove something? Analytical processes and scientific method
• Communications - How do I take in and express information? Literacy and languages, public speaking and information technology.
• Personal Qualities - What do I bring to this process? Time management, academic enquiry and empathy.

Each learning plan is constructed around these requirements linked to the specific interests of the student. As an example someone interested in music will develop a programme around their specific interests eg performance - aspects of mathematics, english and other subject elements will then be planned into the learning plan and then the students will agree the work they will do through a series of project proposals containing the detail of the programme based on the research they have done. The result is a learning programme which interests the students and yet meets the requirements of the school and those of the local US state. Our Form Periods in the UK are called an Advisory at the MET. It is the 'home-base' for groups of fifteen students lead by the adviser, who guides each student's learning throughout the four years of high school. Students at the school said that this meant that over the four years they got to know each other very well and as a result they develop a strong set of relationships and work as a team. Staff and students are all on first name terms and as far as the students all of the adults int he school are a resource to help them with their learning, including the office staff, cleaners, mentors. Other students are also regarded as an important source o support. Each student is assessed through a process known as Exhibitions. This is a process where students are required to present their learning to other students, their adviser and other advisory staff within the school. Each Exhibition is a one hour presentation by the student of their work and the process that have undertaken to complete it. The students said this was really challenging as other students knew when they were not performing as they should and this often resulted in additional work being done to ensure that they caught up with what was required. All of the students we met said that they really felt that they were understood by their advisors and that they were part of a team. They loved going to the school and that the work they did was the best they could produce - not only because the school demanded it but they were working on what they were interested in and what would be of use to them in the future. Further information about The MET School can be found here. Particularly interesting information about The MET can be found under 'The Education' heading as that explains the way in which the school sets out to support their students.