The Intergenerational School
Model for a Real-Life Learning Community:
Mission:
The Intergenerational School fosters an educational community of excellence that provides experiences and skills for lifelong learning and spirited citizenship for learners of all ages.
Vision:
The Intergenerational School will serve as a model to encourage and invigorate communities to create new environments that empower learners of all ages as they become life long contributors to a democratic society.
Spirited Citizenship Values:
- Personal Integrity
- Celebration of Diversity
- Interpersonal Skills
- Work Ethic
- Honoring the interconnected web of life and time
- Choice and Accountability
- Shared and responsible use of resources
Educational Philosophy:
The educational philosophy is grounded in two main concepts.
- Learning is a lifelong developmental process.
- Knowledge is socially constructed in the context of culture, experience and community.
TIS believes that all individuals are capable learners. Each individual brings a unique constellation of talent, interest, experiences and cultural heritage to the learning situation. Learning takes place best in an environment where such differences, as well as human commonalities, are valued and respected. Teachers and learners strive together to attain the knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable them to participate powerfully in their families and their communities, both local and global.
This educational philosophy leads directly to two of the key educational innovations at TIS. While neither of these innovations might at first glance appear unique when considered separately, it is the essential integration of these practices that constitutes a new “best practice” in education.
First, students at TIS learn and thrive in flexible multi-age groupings based on developmental needs. This is in sharp contrast to traditional, but arbitrary, age-based and age-segregated grade levels. Small classes, developmentally grouped, permit each child to learn in a way and at a pace individually tailored to that child’s unique needs and capabilities. A progressive pedagogy promotes independence, student decision-making, self-assessment, and a reflective stance towards learning.
Second, the multi-age philosophy is expanded to its logical outcome of becoming a lifelong learner through the infusion of intergenerational concepts and relationships into all areas of the curriculum. This infusion has several goals. Not only does it encourage students to form and value relationships with individuals across the lifespan, it also supports and complements the academic instruction taking place daily.
The educational philosophy of TIS has applicability at all phases of the life span and truly applies to “learners of all ages.”
FoundingHistory of The Intergenerational School
A Learning History project to collect stories of our development.
Return to:Rountable on Intergenerational Learning and The Intergenerational School
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