INSTRUCTIONAL FRAMEWORK
Brighten Academy will employ an integrated curriculum. An instructional framework, Connections, will be employed. The main components of Connections are “The Seven C’s”: character, commitment, critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, community, and culture.

Character

The founders of Brighten Academy believe that developing shared values is critical to educating a child. Shared values which will be part of the school’s educational framework include: Empathy, Honesty, Trustworthiness, Caring, Compassion, Generosity, Punctuality, Self Discipline, Perseverance, Friendship, Tolerance, Fairness

The school will foster these shared values in a number of ways:

  • Morning assembly - discuss character traits, thought for the day
  • Service learning projects - classroom, school wide, community
  • Role models from real life, history, literature
  • Peer and adult mentoring
  • Students aid in daily school upkeep and maintenance (Japanese model)
  • Teachers model desired character traits
  • Classroom meetings - class discussions, goal setting, and problem solving

Commitment Focus on personal responsibility for learning - high expectations, goal setting, Individual Learning Plans

  • Increase motivation through engaging learning opportunities
  • Learning from failure and the value of perseverance
  • Commitment to the task at hand
  • Development of concept of personal best
  • Safe environment that tolerates mistakes and sees errors as a chance for growth
  • Committed staff

Do what you love, love what you do

Critical Thinking

  • Cultivation of higher order thinking skills (application, analysis, evaluation, synthesis
  • Metacognition (thinking about how to think)
  • Development of the attributes of a critical thinker:
    • asks pertinent questions
    • assesses statements and arguments
    • is able to admit a lack of understanding or information
    • has a sense of curiosity
    • is interested in finding new solutions
    • is able to clearly define a set of criteria for analyzing ideas
    • is willing to examine beliefs, assumptions, and opinions and weigh them against facts
    • listens carefully to others and is able to give feedback
    • sees that critical thinking is a lifelong process of self-assessment
    • suspends judgment until all facts have been gathered and considered
    • looks for evidence to support assumption and beliefs
    • is able to adjust opinions when new facts are found
    • looks for proof
    • examines problems closely
    • is able to reject information that is incorrect or irrelevant
      (Ferrett, Peak Performance, 1997)

Creativity

  • Teach and reinforce different forms of creativity (fluency, flexibility, elaboration, originality)
  • Encourage development of personal expression
  • Encourage "thinking outside the box"
  • Acceptance and development of multiple intelligences
  • Linking the arts with instructional topics
  • Creating effective and engaging lessons that inspire creativity
  • Role models of creative thinkers from real life, history, literature
  • Appreciation of the playful, accepting atmosphere in which creativity flourishes

Curiosity

  • Nurturing children’s natural curiosity
  • Development of an inquiring and inquisitive mindset
  • Reaching students how to ask important questions
  • Refraining from giving answers to problems too readily
  • Cultivating a classroom atmosphere that rewards hypothesizing, questioning, and wondering
  • Inquiry-based teaching
  • Allowing students to have more choice in projects

 Community

  • Develop awareness of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship
  • Teach children to become agents of change in the community
  • Establish natural leadership through service learning projects
  • Increased and continuing school - community interaction
  • Professional learning community focus
  • Clear lines of communication established within the community via:
    website, school and classroom newsletters, parent/teacher conferences, Board meetings,
    PTA meetings

Culture

  • Inclusion
  • Diversity
  • Orderly, safe, supportive environment
  • Students have a sense of belonging and ownership for their school and for their education
  • Cultural literacy (that common body of knowledge everyone must have to be culturally literate in our society)
  • Focus on cultural awareness
  • Development of unique school culture through traditions