School Spotlight: Guadalupe Centers High School
Guadalupe Charters High School (located in the North East of Kansas City, MO) serves 9th - 12th grade students. Over the past year, they have been working to redesign the school experience for their students and teachers. Several GCHS teachers worked closely with the Startland team and created a multi-week workshop to bring RWL (Real World Learning) into the classroom utilizing the design thinking framework.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Keith Shoen, Real World Learning Coordinator, and Michael Meaney, Principal at GCHS, to talk about Real World Learning and the state of education.
How would you define Real World Learning (RWL)?
Keith: Our vision statement is “students [are] prepared to positively impact their community”. I think the purpose of RWL for us is that it helps us to live out that vision statement. So what does that look like? What are students passionate about? And then it comes down to us allowing them to pursue those passions now. What will the experience of RWL look like? We know that doesn’t reflect traditional school.
Michael: Real-world learning helps bring our vision statement to life and helps support our students in living out our mission statement. Whatever it is, it provides a low-stake environment where students can explore. I want them to have an idea of what they can do after high school. We want to really support our students in figuring out what they want to pursue.
Why is it important that your students experience RWL?
Keith: Because our students want it. They want these opportunities to think about what they want to do, and then experience it. We have focused on our stakeholders, teachers, students, and families when designing real-world learning. Access and availability are an equity issue - students of color have less access to this type of learning, and we need to do more to provide that opportunity for students.
Michael: We want our students’ voices to be heard. Providing our students with opportunities that other schools have is important. We want them to have opportunities to follow programs of their choice and help them figure out what they do and don’t want to do after high school. It is a work in progress to provide these opportunities; I don’t know if there will be a true end of the road.
Who has been leading RWL at your school? Who do you feel should lead RWL at schools?
Keith: We have tried as hard as possible to center our work around our stakeholders. If our leadership is coming from a directive state, then this work won’t last and won’t serve our students. We have built this around a human-centered designed process - this lets us empathize. We can put information out there and then be open to feedback. We can grow and continue to be better at empathizing, but having that mindset has helped. As far as our team, we have 15 members of staff from various positions throughout the school and we have invited students, but that has been hard given the circumstances. We want to get more consistent family involvement, but we have also done well in engaging community partners.
Michael: I don’t have much to add. Keith was selected as the RWL coordinator and is in charge of facilitating the process. Because we have been able to have this role, we have been able to move the process along.
How much have students been involved with the planning process?
Keith: At the beginning, we did a student survey to get their feedback on what they wanted. We had about 218 students take that survey. We were able to disaggregate that data by gender and by race. It was interesting to pull that information. We surveyed 100 parents and all our staff. We then did research, virtual school visits, prototyped - and then surveyed teachers, students and parents again. The team, then, used that information to build and reiterate the process. We wish we had more student involvement helping us interpret the survey results. We did have focus groups that included students and they helped interpret data there.
Michael: Students weren’t in the building so we couldn’t have those organic conversations as we would have liked. We can be more creative and lean on the structures that we have to include students more in the future.
What steps are you taking to make RWL a reality?
Keith: We have taken a lot of steps. When the pandemic hit we were asked if we still wanted to do this, and we said yes. We are in the launch phase now. We have a design thinking team and other teachers that they have recruited. The teams are getting ready to say what they are committed to this year and are ready to design. They get to design this with Startland. It is high autonomy, which is rare in schools.
What are your goals for RWL at your school/district level?
Michael: We have a strategic plan that we have been working on. We pitched to Kauffman and we are hoping to receive a grant. Our academy model is our big goal. We want students to be able to jump out of one pool and jump into another pool if they don’t like what they originally chose. We are calling it our “Impact Academy”. We are working on expanding our programs and are partnering with Summit Tech this coming year.
Keith: We have three academies each with their own goals. Our first academy is our Early College Academy. We are working to expand offerings and campuses in this space. Our second academy is our Career Academy. We are excited to be sending students to Summit Tech this year as part of that academy. We are working to ensure that students attending career-oriented programming receive an IRC upon completion of the program. Finally, we are opening our own academy called the Impact Academy this school year. This academy is focused on career exposure through client-connected projects. Our goal is for every student to be in Impact Academy before they graduate, and have this be one of our primary avenues for students to impact their community while acquiring an MVA.
When did the discussion about RWL begin at your school?
Michael: We started talking about this last year when we had our first cohort with Kaufman. Word got around and the planning has not stopped since.
Keith: The discussion started in the classroom when I was an instructional coach; it was at the inspiration of Katie when she started doing her work in the classroom and with Startland. That bled over into other classrooms and curriculum. We started testing in different classrooms. Teachers got excited and wanted to do more. When you start listening to students more they start asking questions for it to be more connected to their passions.
Michael: The conversation goes all the way back to 2008, a while ago. We have been fortunate enough to work on this for a while. It has allowed us to think differently and focus on student voice and choice more.
What would you say is the hardest/easiest part of implementing RWL?
Keith: I don’t think of things as easy or hard - I do the thing that is worth doing. There have been joyful moments. We have been in a flow space as a team and those moments are joyful. The challenge of creating RWL itself is what is most exciting. Nothing we have really run into has felt like a barrier. Teachers are working in teams, students were learning virtually. We get to rethink the way we do everything.
Michael: The challenges are exciting. We have had a great support system at the district level. I think we will encounter barriers as we go, but it has been pretty smooth overall. We have the right people on our team with the right mindset.
What would you say to other schools who are just starting to talk about RWL?
Keith: Jump in. Just do it. Just dive in. It isn’t just for schools. If you are looking to provide RWL, you just have to do it. Let go of your preconceived notions. Dive in.
Michael: Build off what you are already doing. Anything you believe in or value, if you believe in it and value it that is a starting spot. It does not have to be revolutionary.
To find out more about Startland educational programming and how to get involved, click here.
