Six years ago, the staff at Stettler’s William E. Hay Composite High School took a look at its educational model and decided they wanted to be part of a change, and so became one of 16 schools in the Inspiring Education pilot project.
2013’s graduating class was the first class to graduate with four full years of the new inspiring education model, which has been rolled out province-wide.
The project shifted the focus of education from instruction hours, also known as the Carnegie Method, which required students to spend 125 hours in front of an instructor in order to earn five credits.
“It’s not the same as it was 25 years ago,” principal Norbert Baharally said. “Not all learners are the same. Some need more time, some need less, and some need about the same (as present).”
The change also focuses on “key competencies,” information that is used in everyday life, rather than the whole breadth and width of a class curriculum. More time is spent on the useful information, so students aren’t going into exams to “regurgitate information and forget it,” Baharally explained.
As one of 16 schools in Alberta to lead the way with the Inspiring Education project, there were some dips in the process. While the school’s graduation rate was already high, and continued to stay there, there was a brief dip in diploma levels as students with low but passing grades were allowed to participate in exams.
Prior to the project, if students didn’t have a certain mark above a cut-off, they couldn’t take the exam. Now, so long as students are passing, they can.
“We give kids hope and opportunity,” Baharally said. “There are no closed doors.”
The dip in diploma levels has rectified itself, Baharally said, returning to pre-project levels.
Examining and improving the educational method is a passion for Baharally, and he said the past years – and coming ones – will be exciting for William E. Hay.
“It’s very exciting work,” he said. “Alberta is a world leader, not just (Canadian leader), in education.”
The school is now part of the Moving Forward with School Design project, Baharally said. It began September 2013. William E. Hay is one of 96 schools taking part in the project.
The project takes the lessons learned in Inspiring Education and applies them, focusing on the flexible learning environments introduced in Inspiring Education.
“The shift in mindset to focus on student-centred learning happens as a number of key practices are put in place, including personalizing learning, intentionally developing meaningful relationship, creating rigorous and relevant learning opportunities, and supporting mastery learning,” the Alberta Education website explained.
The project will look different in each school because each school’s population is different. The support for the students will be based on their needs, which can be affected by factors such as money and urban-rural characteristics of the communities.
The project notes that each school has common goals, but how a school achieves the goals may be different from other schools based on environmental and social factors.
“High school redesign will look different in each school, as each school’s local context is different,” the website noted.
Success in the project will be determined by both quantitative data – factual, solid numbers – and qualitative data – personal, quality driven numbers.
What educators should be doing, through the Moving Forward in Education project, is “making a difference in student engagement and achievement, and teacher practice.”
“Change is good,” Baharally said. “It doesn’t always need to be painful.”
The project will run for the next two to three years and will factor into policy and practices changes.
For more information on the Moving Forward in Education project, visit https://ideas.education.alberta.ca/hsc/redesigning/movinfw.