106: Showcase: Assumption College (Self-Directed Choice Curriculum, Multi-Age Learning)

What this episode covers

This podcast is our first of what we're calling the "spotlight" series. Every so often, we'll reaching out to schools who are doing intriguing progressive practices that could inspire and influence others to do the same. Each has a twist on how their school is operated, and we're bringing in students and teachers to talk about it. They're not all perfect, and they'd all acknowledge there are things they'd change; but there's so much to learn from these schools as we reimagine education in our communities. We are joined by students and faculty from Assumption College, a Catholic co-ed 7-12 secondary school located in Kilmore, Victoria, Australia, featuring 1,200 students, some of whom board on campus. Assumption is doing a lot of fascinating work that would interest people interested in progressive education and reform measures. In the last few years, they've transferred to the "MyMAP" program, which stands for Mastery, Autonomy, and Purpose. Instead of assigning students to traditional classes, students have the option between many different classes that are then mapped to traditional graduation needs. This means that students that have an interest in the arts will have a drastically different curriculum than say, engineering. To learn more, we're talking today with Kate Fogarty, the principal; Vaughan Cleary, the Deputy Principal; Kendall Aglinskas, Professional Practices Coordinator and Learning Leader; and Bel Luscott and Billy Carlin, both year 11 students. All of these folks have been at Assumption before and after their self-directed curriculum began. SCHOOL Assumption College, a Catholic co-ed 7-12 secondary school located in Kilmore, Victoria, Australia RESOURCES * MyMAP Overview [https://www.assumption.vic.edu.au/learning/mymap] * MyMAP Learning Program [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR7AKGt6sdY] (YouTube) * Assumption College Website [https://www.assumption.vic.edu.au/]