The Education Department at Maharishi University of Management Presents the Third in a Series of Colloquia on Educational Change. These discussions are designed as presentations and open forums around the general theme of innovation and progress in American education. Maharishi University of Management’s Education Department offers a B.A. in Educational Foundations and a M.A. in Educational Innovation.
This series of presentations and discussions on Educational Change provides the Maharishi University of Management (MUM) community the opportunity to engage in a lively discussion of ideas surrounding educational change.
The next installation in the series “The Road to Change: Educational Innovation in Iowa” will be today in Festival Hall in the Argiro Student Center from 7:30pm – 9:00pm. Students in the Education Department who recently completed a Rotating University in the Midwest will be presenting the forum.
“The passion of the leadership of the schools we visited was inspiring. It was an interesting study to compare and contrast the different approaches each school was taking to develop its students’ educational experience. The colloquium on April 5th will include a short introduction followed by breakout groups to discuss the different aspects of innovation and school change that are needed in today’s rapidly changing world,” says student Jeremy Jones.
The Rotating University was a two-week course. During the course, students spent two weeks researching and visiting schools involved in a variety of educational reform initiatives.They will share their insights and experiences related to the following topics:
- Creating student-center learning environments
- Relevance
- The road to school change
- Community connections
- Promoting the growth of the whole child
“For me, the the biggest highlight was seeing Central Campus in Des Moines, which is a regional academy that offers kids from around the district opportunities for different types of coursework. High academic achievers can come to the campus to take AP (college level) programs or an International Baccalaureate track. Kids of varied academic standing who have a passion for a specific vocation can apply for courses at the Campus’s career and technical school, which offers hands on experience in things like culinary arts, fashion design, auto mechanics, pre-med programs, and even a jet-flying prep program.
The best part of the career and tech school, in my opinion, is that they’ve found ways to incorporate traditional academics into the program. For example, culinary arts students (who run their own cafe) have to use math to draft their budgets, and aspiring auto mechanics may fulfill writing requirements by writing short papers on how they might explain a certain car problem to a customer in layman’s terms.
There’s also a program called “Future Pathways” for kids who are at-risk and unable to progress in the standard academic 
environment. This program is also heavily project-based with one-on-one mentors. Overall, the campus is what I personally long for more of in our educational system: a structure that mirrors real life, as opposed to a factory model,” recalls student Malinda Gosvig.
TONIGHT: “The Road to Change: Educational Innovation in Iowa” in Festival Hall in the Argiro Student Center from 7:30pm to 9:00pm.
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Anna Bruen is a MUM alumnus who graduated with a degree in Sustainable Living. Anna is the resident blogger here at MUM. To learn more about Anna take a look at her introduction post. |
