CSS

Experiential Education Curriculum

Philosophy

Experiential Education (EE) at CSS is used in many ways to enhance our college preparatory curriculum. The Progressive Tradition, which stresses problem solving, judgment, and responsibility, is invoked in the design of lessons in all disciplines and at all levels. We place some emphasis on personal growth and wholeness through the Humanist Tradition, which stresses self-actualization. While we apply EE variously within and beyond the classroom in terms of methodology, it also has a curriculum of its own in which we address values and growth, and through which students come to a greater knowledge of themselves and their places in the larger society. Various aspects of EE are addressed briefly here.

  • As a cluster of teaching methods within the classroom, (e.g., manipulatives, cross-disciplinary projects, and dramatizations) EE serves to enhance learning because experiencing a lesson is richer than merely hearing about, or reading, a lesson.
  • Service learning allows students to experience realities of their world and to reflect on themselves and their society. This primarily addresses personal growth and reflection, altruism, tolerance, and citizenship with the assumption that positive social change will result from the lives of fully developed people. While the school sponsors some services, students also earn credit for volunteer services of many kinds that they undertake on their own.
  • Internships and career seminars are arranged in various ways, some of which are directly related to course syllabi (e.g., volunteering in a veterinary clinic, which enhances the experience of biology), and some of which stand alone beyond the academic curriculum (e.g., working in a TV station).
  • Field application of classroom theory is used widely in all disciplines. We design seminars, camping trips, day trips, extended bloc classes, and out-of-class projects to provide comprehensive understanding of principles learned in class.

Although applied differently in each division of the school, all experience-based lessons are directed at age-appropriate personal growth, problem solving, decision-making, and academic analysis, and all are designed to enhance and support the college preparatory curriculum.

  • Children's School: classes participate in school overnights, camping trips (fall, grades 2-5), and Spring Trips (grades 2-5).
  • Middle School: Fall and Spring Seminars and Walkabout. In the fall and spring, Career Seminars are designed for each grade level. These classes are two-weeks long and immerse students in all aspects of various careers. Walkabout is a two-week trip for eighth graders. This extended experience is designed to initiate young people into the adult world.
  • Upper School: Extended Field Experiences are offered are often part of regular coursework in the Upper School and provide our students with a wide variety of active learning opportunities. Experience-Centered Seminars are held during March. These three-to-four-week-long seminar courses are hands-on, interdisciplinary, academically-based, and often involve extended travel.