Project Based & Social Emotional Learning
Project Based Learning
At The Raleigh School, children are actively engaged in their learning through discussion, exploration, and individual choice opportunities.
Project Based Learning is an immersive learning process that allows teachers and children to explore their natural curiosities and interests freely. Teachers serve as guides through the development of these inquiry-based projects, which follow four distinct phases. The first phase begins with the selection of the topic, which often emerges from class interests and observations. This is followed by the entry point, which allows children to make their own personal connection to the topic they are about to explore.
After defining a topic, specific driving questions are established as children go through a cycle of continuous learning, research, and reflection. During this process, children are asked to observe, document, ask questions, problem-solve, notice patterns, take notes, and draw conclusions. Visits from guest experts and field experiences often add additional depth to the children’s learning. Projects then conclude with a culminating activity that may include written work, visual representations of knowledge, the creation of products, and performance-based activities that demonstrate the children’s understanding and allow them to share their newfound knowledge with a broader audience.
Social Emotional Learning
At The Raleigh School we believe that the social and emotional aspect of children’s development is as important as the academic component. Our elementary teachers are trained in the Responsive Classroom approach and work hard to proactively address the social and emotional needs of children. Teachers take the time to get to know students and they are valued and respected as individuals. Cooperative group skills, conflict resolution, and intrinsic motivation are actively fostered. From the earliest ages, children learn to resolve conflict, negotiate desired outcomes and serve as leaders. This is part of the reason we say there is no back of the classroom at The Raleigh School - involvement comes naturally.
Responsive Classroom is an evidence-based approach to teaching and discipline that focuses on engaging academics, positive community, effective management, and developmental awareness. Training in this approach helps our elementary teachers to create safe, joyful, and engaging classrooms and a school community where students develop strong social and academic skills and every student can thrive.
Through practices such as holding morning meetings to interactive modeling and the intentional use of teacher language, teachers help students to learn a set of social and emotional competencies (cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self-control) and a set of academic competencies (academic mindset, perseverance, learning strategies, and academic behaviors) that encourage success in and out of school.
In addition to the work that goes on in each of our classrooms, The Raleigh School has a school counselor who works closely with our teachers, students and families. The counselor works with children in their classrooms to reinforce important social emotional concepts. Our counselor uses observations and interactions to design whole group experiences that help children acquire, practice, and implement a wide variety of skills. We have developed a continuum of skills that we believe is important to guide students so that our graduates are not only well prepared and competent in the academic arena but also compassionate human beings who understand their ability to positively impact their world.
