Students Having Their Say in Education
Students from AB Combs Leadership Magnet Elementary School presented to policy makers and business leaders ideas about what they need in education yesterday at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation.
“Students are one of our most valuable resources as we create innovative models of education for a quickly changing society,” said Principal Muriel Summers.
Students presented what they would like to see in a 21st century classroom:
- technologies used in school just like they have it at home,
- energetic teachers who motivate and inspire them to learn,
- curriculum with real-life learning experiences that will help them make sense of the world,
- opportunities to be creative and innovative in how they learn,
- collaborative experiences that allow them to learn with other children from around the globe, and
- assessments that allow them to demonstrate knowledge rather than answering multiple choice questions.
Developing 21st century classrooms is a common goal that Combs shares with NC State University’s College of Education. Working with NC State, Combs students and teachers are helping design and evaluate the NSF-funded Crystal Island project, a game-based learning environment for 5th grade science. This partnership is with professors in the Department of Computer Science and the College of Education. In addition, Elementary Education majors are placed in AB Combs classrooms as part of their teaching internships. Another partnership project was the addition of AB Combs students in the fourth installment of the ‘Having Our Say’ video series, in which students, teachers and business leaders provide their thoughts on education. For the other videos in this series click here.
Dr. Hiller Spires, senior research fellow at the FI and professor in the College of Education, moderated the event. She reflected, “One core value that I am impressed with is how the Combs community builds on the strengths and talents of their students and staff. At Combs everyone has a talent; no one is exempt and no one can hide out.”
Special guests who responded to the students' ideas included: Dr. June Atkinson, state superintendent; Dr. Dudley Flood, inspirational educator who gives talks on educational equity around the world; Ann Goodnight, Director of Community Relations at SAS and founder of Cary Academy; Jacob Kragh, President of LEGO Education based in Denmark; and David Hatch, Global Director of Strategic Initiatives for Franklin Covey Education.
All participants enjoyed a dinner that was sponsored by Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge, & Rice. Click here to see the video that two Combs students created of the event.
View the video below to hear from Combs students: