SUPPORTED GROWTH

BY DYLAN CHERNOV

Reprinted from The Hilltopper Magazine, Spring 2024

 

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School is more than just academics.

Like social skills learned on the playground, or sportsmanship and teamwork gleaned from soccer fields and locker rooms, self-advocacy is a tool Marshall students learn to sharpen. Advocating for oneself is not always easy to do; asking for help can be scary. For new students, as well as those who struggle, the thought of asking for help is often met with feelings of intimidation or embarrassment. At Marshall, however, students learn that asking for help is a sign of strength, not something to be embarrassed about. In working persistently through their challenges, the ability to grow and thrive is found.

Self-awareness is an important precursor to self-advocacy, and the connection between the two is seen in distinct parts of the school’s programming and curriculum. Across divisions, students are taught how to assess their own learning, and are then encouraged to do something with that knowledge.

Thinking about and assessing our own learning is a process known as metacognition. Metacognition is defined as “the awareness or analysis of one’s own learning and thinking processes,” or, to put it simply, thinking about one’s thinking. Metacognition is an essential part of personal and academic growth, and through an awareness of one’s learning habits, both good and bad, students are able to identify their strengths and challenges as learners. Metacognition, like social skills, sportsmanship, and teamwork, is one of the hidden curriculums at a school like Marshall.

In the Forest School, students use metacognitive awareness as a fundamental step in problem solving. According to Forest School principal Matt Whittaker ’02, metacognition is something that is built from the ground up and across content areas. In the discipline of math, for example, students work toward solving the unknown by beginning with known tools. Teachers prompt students with inquiry-based questions such as, “What tools do you already have that can help you come closer to solving the problem?”  

During periods of play, students regularly balance risk with metacognitive awareness. Safety is a personal line that students draw for themselves, but it begins with an awareness of how risk-taking has gone in the past. In such settings, students are asked to consider what they have learned about themselves in prior periods of play. As Mr. Whittaker put it, “When we lead students on this path of inquiry, of going from the known to the unknown, we help them build their own metacognitive toolbox. These moments become the underpinnings of higher-order metacognitive work.”

Middle School students build metacognitive awareness as part of their Crew programming. Individual meetings between Crew leaders and students at the beginning and end of grading periods are introspective in nature, where students are asked to reflect on their experiences. In these conversations, Crew leaders leverage teachable moments by helping their students identify strengths and weaknesses, strategies that work, and how to learn from past mistakes.

This year, in the sixth grade, Learning Specialist Meredith Freshley administered the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) as part of a lesson on note-taking. Ms. Freshley used the MARSI to help students develop an awareness of how they read and how that can affect the notes they take. While students learned about their individual reading styles, Freshley noted that the bigger takeaway came when students discovered how their peers handle text. “It was good for kids to see how their friends read. The students who struggle with comprehension had some lightbulbs go off when they saw that their friends use different strategies.”

As the sixth grade team prepares students to tackle more challenging reading, an awareness of different strategies and when to use them will surely serve them well.

A hallmark of the eighth grade experience is the student-led conference, where students are responsible for the planning and execution of second semester conferences. In these conferences, students choose examples from their coursework that showcase what they have learned. Students then take this a step further to include a narrative for their conference: a way to describe to their parents not just what they did in their classes, but how they learned the material and what they learned about themselves along the way. In doing so, eighth grade students must evaluate their learning and identify artifacts from their coursework that support the narrative they wish to communicate. This higher-order metacognitive work helps them build an identity as a learner. This, too, will serve them well as they make the transition to high school.  

As with Middle School, students in the Upper School routinely engage in conversations about their academic experiences. Organized discussions have become a staple of humanities courses in the Upper School. For our older students in these classes, the metacognitive work goes beyond a personal assessment of learning towards helping them identify how their thinking compares and contrasts with their classmates.

Dr. Susan Nygaard uses fishbowl-style discussions in her English courses to promote teamwork and the sharing of perspectives. As Dr. Nygaard explains, “Students are used to discussions being a free-for-all, where they are trying to impress the teacher as an individual. Now, they are asked to consider how their own thinking meshes with the larger group conversation, and how they might incorporate their point of view in a way that furthers the discussion.”  

Dr. Lon Weaver uses discussions as a means to confront complex topics. To prompt his students, Dr. Weaver presents them with four guiding questions:

• What is your viewpoint?
• Where did it come from?
• What does the opposing group think?
• What truth is represented in the opposing group’s perspective?

In his ethics and world religions courses, Dr. Weaver uses these questions to lead his students from a recognition of their own thinking to a contemplation of other perspectives. As Dr. Weaver has observed, when students learn to recognize truth and validity in opposing perspectives, they tend to advocate their opinions in a more thoughtful and constructive manner. The sum of these experiences provide students with both planned and natural opportunities for personal and academic growth.

When asked about the roles self-advocacy and metacognition have played during her time at Marshall, Ruby Swanson ’24 shared, “When I first came here I really struggled with asking for help. I was taught how to advocate for myself. My teachers really got to know me and feeling a connection with my teachers really helped with that.” She added, “My teachers always said it was my responsibility to tell them what I need. This was strange at first, but it forced me to think about what I can do on my own and when I need to ask for help.”

Ruby says it best. As a result of teachers keen on developing meaningful relationships with their students, support staff dedicated to the growth and development of each student, and small class sizes, Marshall is a place where students discover their potential, and—perhaps more importantly—learn how to go after it.

The metacognitive work teachers do empowers students to advocate for themselves with confidence. In turn, students at Marshall learn to take control of their learning. They learn how to put themselves in the driver’s seat, both during their time as a Hilltopper, and for the lifetime of learning ahead.

 

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Dylan Chernov has been a member of the Marshall School faculty since 2013. He received a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and a Master’s in Education from the University of Washington. During his time at Marshall, he has taught English Language Arts, Literature, and Spanish courses in the Middle School, and College Prep English classes for International Students in the Upper School. He is the Director of the Marshall Academic Commons and Marshall’s site director for the Global Online Academy.