Reinforcing Experiential and Character Education

The Senior Class Trip:  Reinforcing Dawson’s Emphases on Experiential and Character Education  (Photo from senior Carlton Moeller)

 

“In one word, describe what it means to be a senior,” Charlotte Sutherland, Dawson’s Town Council President, confidently asked of her classmates as they circled up at a high elevation campsite during the opening senior class trip last week.  Words like “leadership,” “integrity,” “respect,” and “role model” came up frequently as students shared their thoughts with the larger group.  As a newcomer to this annual tradition, I was incredibly impressed by both the contributions of the seniors and the exercise itself, asking seniors, at the beginning of the school year, to reflect on what it means to be the leaders of the school.

 

Dawson’s class trips, which occur during the opening four days of our school year, showcase our emphasis on place-based, experiential education as well as our focus on character growth, all of which have garnered significant national attention in recent years.  Each grade level focuses on one of Dawson’s four character virtues – respect (9th grade), compassion (10th grade), courage (11th grade), and integrity (12th grade) -  through the activities of the trip as well as intentional group discussions.  The ninth graders spend time in challenge activities, getting to know each other and Dawson’s culture on a local camping trip, while the tenth graders participate in service learning throughout Boulder County.  The juniors head out to the Colorado River for a canoe trip, and the seniors complete the most physically and mentally challenging class trip – backpacking in the high country just west of Boulder.

 

As Dawson’s new director of upper school, I was eager to spend time with the seniors so that I could get to know this year’s student leaders.  In six small backpacking groups (two faculty and eight seniors per group), we headed out along different trails to a variety of locations within the beautiful Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, challenging ourselves to long days on the trail as well as unusually cold and rainy weather this year.  Students served as “leaders of the day,” hiking at the front of the group and keeping track of our route, and they assumed other leader designations, too, like cooking leaders and “water managers.”  Faculty intentionally stepped back in order to give these seniors authentic leadership roles, providing valuable practice in anticipation of their year leading the rest of the student body.  The challenging terrain and inclement weather, too, helped seniors practice the positive, “can-do” attitude that is so essential for those in leadership roles, as well as develop the qualities of “grit” and “resilience” that have frequently cropped up in recent educational journals and books.   Informal conversations inevitably arose between students and faculty while on the trail, as well, regarding individual and collective goals for the year and how best to achieve them.  And during our discussions about their integrity, seniors in our group made valuable connections between this character virtue and their essential role as mentors for younger students.

 

After three days of hiking in our small groups, we convened at a centrally located lake in the wilderness area called Lost Lake, where friends swapped stories of their adventures, shared hugs and came together for the annual goal-setting tradition facilitated by the student body president.  As I reflect back on my first senior class trip at Dawson, I am so impressed by the design of this annual event, combining small group travel with a culminating large group event, as it allowed us to fulfill our goals for the trip.  Providing authentic challenges in Boulder’s dramatically beautiful Indian Peaks Wilderness Area helped our seniors gain confidence and appreciation for the natural world, become more bonded as a class, and gain more clarity and excitement about what it means to be a senior.  What a fantastic way to begin our school year together!

 

 

For further reading, explore:

 

McKenzie, Malcolm. "Rescuing Education: The Rise of Experiential Learning." Independent School Magazine. NAIS, Mar. 2013.

 

Mierke, Sarah. “Extending the Classroom: Transforming a School Through Experiential Education.” Independent School Magazine. NAIS, Mar. 2013.

 

Steiner-Adair, Catherine. "Got Grit?" Independent School Magazine. NAIS, Jan. 2013.

 

Tough, Paul., and Dan John Miller. How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012.