'Community School' Concept's Roots Termed Deep In History

(Editor's Note: The following article is the first of a series about the newlyauthorized Ann Arbor Community High School, scheduled to open next f all. Tlie articles, prepared by the Ann Arbor School District administration, will appetr periodically.) The Board of Education has I áuthorized the creatíon of Ann I A r b o r Community High I School, scheduled to open in I the fall of 1972. I Last week this column listI ed the personnel involved in I the core-planning-group f o r the Ann Arbor Community High School and described the initial stages of its creation. ", A brief history of communi'ty schools will provide information regarding rationale "and precedent for sueh a facility. ► Communities have been classrooms longer than schools have been. Dating from the birth of civilization, schools have been organized to take advantage of the vast educative resources offered by t h e communities t h e y serve. Ancient Babyion utilized "on-the-job" training for its scribes and artisans; Sócrates advocated marketplace schools; medieval universities centered t h e i r curriculum around the scattered hamlets of the countryside. Greeks and Romans used the forums to supplement academy training; the Germans, English, Danes, and Chinese all incorporated certain community school concepts as they established their schools. 'The "community c 1 a s sroom" was evident in the early American frontier settle ments where the untamed ter ritory and new challenges of ,the colonies provided exciting learning environments for people of all ages. As the country expanded and prospered, a vast amount of education took place en route to or inside of towns and cities and outside school rooms as we know them. As Lincoln describes it, "Everyone helped mightily." Today, citizens are familiar with the schools' efforts to use the resources of the community as an informal part of the curriculum. The value of field trips, interest sessions, study groups, guest speakers and younteer service grams haïïöhg been confirm-ed. #■:--'..' In some cases, these contacts have been expanded to affect many aspects of the school curriculum i t s e 1 f . Systems stretching from Massachusetts, Maryland, and New York to Michigan, Illinois, Oregon, and California have developed programs where citizens come into the schools as adjunct "instructor s ' ' and where students move out of traditional classrooms and into work-study and in-service opportunities. Kecently two city school systems have made the "cities as classrooms" concept the basis for new secondary schools. Initiated in February, 1969, the Philadelphia Parkway Program was created to "intégrate school children with the life of the community, a life whieh, under normal conditions, they were not expected to enter until leaving school behind them . . ." Parkway aims to develop a structure in which "the educator and the community professional can combine their abilities to provide students with the most profitable educational experience." (From "Parkway Program," a brochure produed by the School District of Philadelphia.) I Organized in February, I 1970, the Chicago-based High I School for Metropolitan I ies (more commonly knownj as Metro) confirms the 1 bility of integrating the school I and community. "Since Metro I is a city-wide school, it 1 pends on the metropolitan I community for its program. I Drawing from businesses, cul-l tural institutions, community I organizations, and profession-l al associations, Metro hasl created a diverse curriculuml using the skills of these par-I ticipating organizations and cooperatÍBg teachers, as welil I as its own staff teachers. Doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers, consumer service directors, astronomers, actors, gradúate I students, social workers and I many others have worked in I different capacities with the I Metro program. Some have I taught a full learning unit. I Some have offered conference I rooms and available space for I I classes. Some have given I valued consultation. Some I have sponsored individual stuI dent placements." As a result I of this program, "you can see I students involved and interI ested. in learning projects all F over the city" (From a paper: "Metro: Walls" by the Chicago Public High School for Metropolital Studies.) Our experiences to date in Ann Arbor, particularly with the Cooperative Occupational Education program and the Student Community - Involvement Program coni firm the lessons of Parkway; that businessmen and professionals are coneerned about the youth of the community, that significant sections of the general population will respond to a school system's request for involvement, and that teachers can help students use the talents of community residents to gata a rich and individualized education. Ann Arbor's Cooperative Educational Program has been in operation since 1941, Presently it provides over 200 students the opportunity to study with dental assistants, ballet teachers, hospital supervisors, . super-market managers, gas station attendants, nurses aides or with persons on any one of several I hundred different occupations. I Enrollment in the StudentCommunity-Involvement Program (initiated in 1971 at -I Pioneer High School) has grown to 225. The program encourages students to join in our community through a broad range of options I ing, for example, understudy I to a short-order cook, tutor I for Ann Arbor school I dents, assistant to the curator I of a museum, and aide to the I day care clinic. Such trends underseore the I fact that there is a great value in the idea of communities as classrooms, and that "chiliren learn when they are acive participants in the events around them" (Dewey); that 'learning is a highly 1 alized activity that takës I place in a variety of ways I and in a variety of settings" l(Noar); that "the more the J learning activity resembles Ireal-life experiences the Igreater the opportunity for Ithe student to assimilate what f has been learned" (Hilgard); that the broad range of options must be available to accommodate the diverse needs and interests of students (Kohl, Holt); and that the city is a vast reservoir of educational wealth - an ecologic a 1 laboratory w h e r e the "sheer numbers of interacting people provide a marvelous opportunity for human behavior. . . ." (Bailey); and that "well-informed active citizens can improve the quality of life! within the community set-i ting" (Barnard). Based on the best information available regarding the process of learning and the favorable results following the implementation of such information1 in school systems throughout the country, the success of a program incorporating the "community as classroom" is highly probable. Based on what we know of Ann Arbor - its vast educative resources, its high regard for quality education, its unf a i 1 i n g response to the schools' requests for cooperation, the success of such a. program becomes even more likely. Next Week: Your critique I of the Blueprint for the Crea-I tion of Ann Arbor Community I High School will be invited. Questions: If there arel questions about the I ty High School, they can be I answered in this space. Just I write: Office of New School I Planning, Ann Arbor Public I Schools, 2 5 5 5 South State I Street. ■