Week 3 – PSII

Pacific School of Innovation & Inquiry, a unique secondary school formed by UVic alum Jeff Hopkins.

This week, more than half of the EDCI 336 class went to see PSII up close and personal at its only campus in downtown Victoria. I, however, observed the beauty and intricacy of the school through my computer screen, and although a less engaging experience, I learned a lot.

The main surprise for me when watching the video tour of the school was noticing how small and humble the spaces look. To me, when I hear a school has a $7000 yearly tuition and is “innovative”, I imagine a sleek interior, large windows, high ceilings, and an open layout kind of school. PSII could not be more different. Through my screen, the school seemed small, with more rooms than the open layout I had imagined and smaller work areas. A room I most enjoyed was the calming room that students can choose to enter by booking, and simply just hanging out, calming down and enjoying a sensory-free experience.

I do appreciate the concept of the school being focused on inquiry and student innovation. I grew up doing inquiry-based projects for 5 years, and those 5 projects I did are some of the only projects I remember making in all of high school. To me, these were the most meaningful because they were based on topics and ideas that I valued and found genuine interest in. The self-leading, planning, and commitment were difficult to manage, but are the same skills I now value in myself because I learned them so young. I believe my personal experiences are a big reason why I find PSII to be inspiring. Inquiry-based learning is important to a student’s development and allows for true retention of knowledge as well. Most learning through our colonial systems is test-based, and none of the things I learned from these systems has carried with me into my future the way my inquiry topics had.

I especially like how PSII holds a deep connection to the BC curriculum through its core competencies. One area that most public schools struggle with is implementing core competencies meaningfully. I absolutely despised doing core competency reflections growing up because it was never framed with meaning or purpose in my education. PSII is opening new doors to how to approach core competencies, and I believe regular classroom teachers can gain a lot of knowledge and perspective on learning and teaching through the practices of this school.