In the OC, teachers, parents, and administrators continually try to articulate the overarching principles of learning as a community that guide our everyday practices and underlie natural variations across individuals and classrooms. The principles are enacted in varying ways in the specific practices across classrooms, as variations on the theme that makes up the common thread of the philosophy. The everyday practices that support the philosophy vary according to teacher style and experience, classroom grade levels, and the unique interests and needs of members of the classroom community. For example, some years different teachers experiment with the schedules in their classrooms, arranging all literacy activities in one time block or encouraging varying types of activities within any time block. But such variations in everyday practices are still built around the philosophical principle of purposeful learning activities, as all classrooms support literacy learning with classic and current children's literature that is of interest in their class. The specific types of activities vary across the grade levels to adapt to the interests and growing skills of the students. Teachers and parents continually examine how everyday practices in the different classrooms fit with the OC philosophy. The common principles that tie our classes together not only provide coherence to the way we do things but also underlie many of the issues with which we continue to struggle in philosophical discussions. That is natural, since a community of learners is a work in progress. The common philosophy has developed from and is understood by working together and having innumerable discussions about the way we do things. The variations in practices still must remain true to the core principles in order for the school to remain a coherent community of learners. On occasion, differences in interpretation of the philosophy by particular individuals have been great enough to raise concern. At such times, the teachers observe and reflect to come to consensus on how to support the learning of the people involved. With this process, people usually come to understand and embrace the philosophy; sometimes they realize that another learning situation would be more appropriate for them.
Curly Questions