UPDATED, Dec. 6: Vision 2020’s community dialogue on education continued Wednesday, Dec. 7, from 7 to 9 p.m., in the Lyons Room, second floor, Town Hall.
It continued the comments spurred by the free public screening of the critically acclaimed documentary “Most Likely to Succeed” — kicking off the dialogue on education Nov. 16, in Lowe Auditorium, Arlington High.
The goal of these meetings is to establish community principles for how Arlington defines success in its public schools.
At the Nov. 16 meeting, “Most Likely to Succeed” challenges communities like Arlington to rethink public education to better equip kids for societal and technological changes. A number of themes were raised including personalized learning, project-based learning and alternative assessment approaches (nontesting).
A central idea in the film is how a community definition of success determines what is taught, how it is taught and everything a student experiences in school. The film encourages viewers to focus more on a student’s personal growth and less on test scores or content coverage.
On Nov. 16, in a spirited panel session, AHS Principal Dr. Matt Janger made the powerful distinction between “Being Educated” and “Being good at School.” This point along with many of the themes in the film we viewed resonated with the audience of more than 100 people.
Those involved plan to pick up on this point and others on Wednesday and explore three questions:
• What does it mean to be educated? (What’s the purpose?)
• What skills, capabilities, and experiences do students need in the 21st century?
• How might we define success for our schools?
The objective Dec. 7 is to build community principles to influence Arlington’s educational vision.
Come prepared to share your viewpoints. We’d like to learn from the community’s valuable and enduring learning experiences. What do you remember the most from your k-12 experience? What had the most impact on your education and personal growth? What do you see in your children’s school experience that’s had the biggest impact on them?
This is the first is a series of meetings over the coming months to generate community principles. You are encouraged to attend even if you missed the film.
Supporting the dialogue is Arlington’s Vision 2020 Education Task Group working in collaboration with the Arlington Public Schools and the School Committee.
This announcement was published Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, and updated Dec. 6.
