Our philosophy of teaching is based upon a firm belief that every individual can succeed, given the proper goals, encouragement, motivation and tools. We believe that one of our most important jobs is to listen and observe how one works and learns, and then provide strategies to increase effectiveness.
Our aim is to authentically reach students in the learning style that suits them best and teach them lifelong learning strategies and problem solving skills. This instills a cycle of motivation, confidence and academic success that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Today’s new generation of students have been characterized as smart but impatient, rejecting the old school model of lecturing by texting their way through classes to stay awake. While we would argue against this stereotype of the youth generation, we acknowledge that students today have the desire to learn, but seemingly only what they are minimally required to learn, and they want to learn it in a style that suits them. Best practices in teaching and learning indicate that students who are actively engaged in constructing their own understandings about the world around them retain knowledge better.
“Education is not preparation for life, rather education is life itself.”
–John Dewey
John Dewey was a big believer in inquiry-based learning, the process of seeking knowledge when it is needed for a particular task in a particular situation. If the factory was the model for the typical American school of the past, a new model for a 21st century educational delivery system in our global, knowledge-based economy is much needed. That is, whereas in the factory model educational content was to be transmitted uni-directionally from teacher to student for rote memorization; we at Falls View Academy (FVA) recognize that the importance of gaining knowledge lies within the active, ever changing process of learning itself.
At FVA, we strive to provide a student-centered, multi-modal learning environment in which student and teacher/tutor are partners in the learning process. Our goal is to customize educational experiences to be compelling and relevant to individual’s real lives; to personalize learning to play on one’s passions using topical examples designed to fascinate and stimulate a thirst for knowledge.
When a student enters a tutoring relationship at FVA, an individualized learning plan will be constructed. Assignments will be tailored to target a student’s zone of proximal development – meaning that we set the bar in the sweet spot, right above what a learner can do on his/her own without help, providing that proverbial “leg up” in problem solving guidance that he/she needs to clear the bar.
Our small group courses are also customized to the particular needs of the class in an effort to engage each student as an active learner. Regardless of where you start or your goals for the finish line, FVA will help you reach success through growth.
