Self-directed learning at new Bedford school aims to teach life skills alongside curriculum

Students at a new high school being built in Bedford, N.S., will soon have an opportunity to experience a new approach to education in the province.

The school, which is slated to open this September and has not yet been named, will offer students self-directed learning.

The model will see students in grades 10 to 12 spend about two-thirds of their time with teachers in a regular classroom, and the other one-third on flex time. 

During flex time, the students can leave the classroom. They will be able to conduct self-guided learning in a school environment of their choice — furniture in the hallways or collaborative spaces, the library or open classrooms.

Students will begin their day with a teacher adviser who will be their main point of contact throughout their years at the school. The teacher adviser will help them plan their flex time each day and meet with them again in the afternoon to make sure they're on track.

School principal Sean MacDonald says the teacher adviser will be key to supporting students.

"High schools are big places and we just want to ensure that every student knows that they've got somebody that they can go to because that teacher adviser will act as, like, a mentor and advocate for them," he says.

Students will be given learning guides that provide reading materials, links to videos, assignments and self-evaluations. If they run into trouble with the material, subject teachers will be available during flex time to help them.

MacDonald says self-directed learning will allow students to use their flex time to focus on subjects they're struggling with, but it will also teach life skills such as organization, time management, problem solving and collaboration.

"It creates that autonomy for students, and when students have greater autonomy, they rise to that," he says. "I think that's the big thing, is that when you provide students with options and ways that they work best, then you'll see them be more successful."

MacDonald has visited schools in B.C. and Ontario where self-directed learning is used, and says one of the biggest differences he noticed was in the relationship between students and teachers.

"There just seemed to be this ease with each other in terms of the way that they operated," he says. "The relationship is not in any which way strained because it's not me telling you what you need. The student is coming to look for what they need."

Carla van der Pauw teaches languages at Thomas Haney Secondary School in Maple Ridge, B.C., which has used self-directed learning since it opened in 1992.

"Students are very comfortable speaking to adults, you know, advocating for themselves to other adults because we have been practising those skills in what we call our open areas."