I recently spent a week at the Exeter Humanities Institute at Phillips Exeter Academy (PEA), in Exeter, New Hampshire. According to Forbes magazine, PEA is the sixth best prep school in the United States.

PEA teaches entirely by the Harkness method, a sort of modified Socratic technique in which students are truly responsible for their own learning.  I look forward to using the Harkness method at Union-Endicott High School this year.  Of course, I tend to have well over 20 students per class so I’ll need to modify my approach accordingly.   PEA never has more than 12 students in a class.

I dream about revolutionary changes in public schools.  Smaller classes. Institutional commitment to a pedagogy that propels learning forward. Meaningful assessment.