7 Core Principles - Blue Oak School (2024)

The Blue Oak School curriculum, developed by the School’s faculty, is predicated on our seven principles of teaching and learning. As progressive educators, we believe that learning comes through experience and meaningful reflection on experience.

1. Children “learn by doing.”

At Blue Oak School students do not just read about science, they hypothesize, experiment, and build their own apparatus. They devise mathematical models and apply them; they read literature and create their own stories. They compose music, and they do original research.

2. Curriculum is child-centered and developmentally appropriate.

Learning takes place in a meaningful context and is tied to children’s needs and interests. In this way, education at Blue Oak fosters each child’s all-important internal motivation to learn.

3. The curriculum builds from a foundation.

Lessons draw on what a student already knows to extend his or her established base of knowledge, recognizing the importance of what Lev Vygotsky deemed “the zone of proximal development.”

4. Understanding, rather than memorization, is stressed.

When understanding is achieved memorization follows. Students who understand carry their knowledge with them out into the world and can transfer it to new situations.

5. The process of learning is emphasized.

When process is central, there is no need to cheat, no need for parents to do homework, no need to avoid risks. Risk-taking and experiencing an occasional failure are embraced as, as Madeline Levine eloquently states, “the blessings of the skinned knee.”

6. The curriculum is integrated.

Blue Oak School faculty blend disciplines to stimulate understanding from different viewpoints and to show the real-world application of knowledge. Teaching is extended through literature, music, art, science and mathematics.

7. Inquiry is at the heart of the curriculum.

Important questions are asked and addressed. “We only learn,” John Dewey so rightly put it, “when confronted with a problem.”

7 Core Principles - Blue Oak School (2024)

FAQs

What are the main 7 principles of teaching? ›

The Seven Principles:
  • Encourage contact between students and faculty.
  • Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students.
  • Encourage active learning.
  • Give prompt feedback.
  • Emphasize time on task.
  • Communicate high expectations.
  • Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.

What are the 7 principles of practice? ›

Large Classes: Seven Principles of Good Teaching
  • Good Practice Encourages Student-Faculty Contact. ...
  • Good Practice Encourages Cooperation Among Students. ...
  • Good Practice Encourages Active Learning. ...
  • Good Practice Gives Prompt Feedback. ...
  • Good Practice Emphasizes Time on Task. ...
  • Good Practice Communicates High Expectations.

What are the seven principles of Chickering and Ehrmann's influential framework? ›

The seven principles include: student and faculty contact, cooperation among students, active learning, prompt feedback, time on task, high expectations, respect for diverse talents and ways of learning (Chickering & Ehrmann, 1996).

What are the principles of the core curriculum? ›

The principles of the curriculum are norms, values, moralities, and philosophies that will benefit teachers, students, and the whole education system. The curriculum and instructional strategy are essential components of imparting knowledge to students.

What is teaching standard 7? ›

Teacher Standard 7. Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment. • have clear rules and routines for behaviour in classrooms, and take responsibility for. promoting good and courteous behaviour both in classrooms and around the school, in. accordance with the school's behaviour policy.

What is the main purpose of the 7 fundamental principles? ›

RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT MOVEMENT

Humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality: these seven Fundamental Principles sum up the Movement's ethics and are at the core of its approach to helping people in need during armed conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies.

What are the 7 ways to facilitate learning? ›

The seven ways of learning are: Behavioral Learning; Cognitive Learning; Learning through Inquiry; Learning with Mental Models; Learning through Groups and Teams; Learning through Virtual Realities; and Experiential Learning.

What is principle 7 dignity? ›

Principle 7: Recognise the need to challenge care that may reduce the dignity of the individual. Defining dignity and respect. Dignity can be a difficult term to define because it can mean different things to different people. In essence it is the result of being treated with respect.

What are the 7 vectors of chickering? ›

The vectors are: (a) developing competence, (b) managing emotions, (c) moving through autonomy toward interdependence, (d) developing mature interpersonal relationships, (e) establishing identity, (f) developing purpose, and (g) developing integrity.

What are the seven 7 principles of design how does the proper use of these principles of design affect the art viewer? ›

The fundamental principles of design are: Emphasis, Balance and Alignment, Contrast, Repetition, Proportion, Movement and White Space. Design differs from art in that it has to have a purpose. Visually, this functionality is interpreted by making sure an image has a center of attention, a point of focus.

What is the significance of Chickering's 7 vectors of identity development? ›

Arthur Chickering's Seven Vectors theorize the "tasks" that students must go through while developing their identity. The first is developing competence. Chickering identifies three types of competence that college students develop, including intellectual, manual skills, and interpersonal competences.

What are core values and core principles? ›

As a definition, company core values are the clearly stated principles about the organization's vision, mission, and principles. That way, everyone is aligned around a guiding philosophy to serve employees, customers, and the broader community. That can also double as the definition of company culture.

What are principles and core values? ›

Values: The regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. In short, it's what we hold important. Principles: A fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behaviour or for a chain of reasoning.

What is an example of a core curriculum? ›

Similarly, a yearly math course at the high school level could be Algebra 1, Algebra 2, geometry, or pre-calculus. Other content areas such as the social sciences, sciences, computer literacy, physical education, and the arts have been developed or are under development to produce similar core curricula.

What are the 4 principles of effective teaching? ›

The FAIR principles are: provide feedback to the student, engage the student in active learning, individualise the learning to the personal needs of the student and make the learning relevant.

What are the six principles teachers must practice? ›

Six Principles for Teacher Education
  • Knowledge. Effective teachers possess a well-grounded knowledge of the content areas that are central to their teaching. ...
  • Learning Environment. ...
  • Personalized Learning. ...
  • Community. ...
  • Critical Reflection. ...
  • Growth.

What are the 10 principles of learning? ›

Findings Based on the literature and the experience of the teaching faculty, ten principles of effective teaching were recommended: 1) create an active learning environment, 2) focus attention, 3) connect knowledge, 4) help students organize their knowledge, 5) provide timely feedback, 6) demand quality, 7) balance ...

What are the five methods of teaching? ›

Teaching Methods
Teaching ApproachTeaching Method
Teacher-CenteredJust-in-Time Teaching
Student-CenteredInteractive Lecture
Experiential Learning
Case-based Learning
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