Looking Beyond Themselves: Preparing Students to Become Invested Members of Their Community

• Author: Anne Pfitzner
• Subject: Social Sciences
• Institution Name: Soldotna Elementary School
• Collection: Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in K-12 Education
• Grade Level: Post-secondary

• Abstract: As a sixth grade teacher, Pfitzner struggled to find a way to truly reach her students. She wanted to help her students find a deeper connection to what they were learning, allowing them to feel ownership of their knowledge. She developed a project based on community activism to help her students escape the cliques and disconnectedness so common to sixth graders in her school. Pfitzner documented this journey as she and her students identified and addressed a need in their community for a non-fishing oriented park for children and their families. This website reveals the pedagogical strategies she used to allow students the opportunity to feel true ownership of their learning, and highlights key turning points in the process of watching eleven and twelve year olds grow from passive learners to inspired citizens.

• Languages: English
• Material Types: Teaching and Learning Strategies
• Media Formats:

• Conditions of Use: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0