St. James Episcopal School’s Educational Philosophy is based on nine important academic principles.  Motivation to learn and retention of content is enhanced when these principles are applied to lesson planning, the delivery of instruction, and classroom management. 

 

• Child-centered:  The physical and mental well-being of students must always be considered.  Providing all children with the opportunity to succeed every day, to be respected and appreciated, ensures that their emotional needs are being met.  Before beginning any instruction, attention is given to each child’s needs so that they may learn comfortably and concentrate fully on the task at hand.

• High Expectations:  Students of all ability levels should be challenged to produce quality work that fully develops their intellect.  When teachers have high expectations, children are more likely to set high standards for their own work.

• Purpose and Meaning:  Activities should always be relevant to advancing children’s learning.  Attention is enhanced when children understand the purpose of each task and how they will be able to use their new skills.

• Higher-Level Thinking:  The formal education of children should be focused on developing the ability to reason, to think for themselves, and on fostering the desire to learn.  Helping students to reason, to analyze and apply their skills and knowledge to develop habits of mind that serve them well throughout their education and their lives.

• Direct, Sequential Instruction:  Lesson content is delivered most effectively when teaching is explicit and follows a logical order. Sequential instruction is structured to proceed from the simple to the complex.

• Multisensory Instruction:  Multisensory instruction reduces the amount of practice required for mastery.  Students using all channels to the brain - hearing, seeing, speaking, touching, writing make stronger connections for long-term retention of information.

• Active Participation:  Student participation is an essential component of effective instruction.  The mental work involved in applying knowledge requires constant use of mind, voice, and hands on the part of all students throughout a lesson.

• Diagnostic Teaching:  Careful observations of student progress, planning appropriate instruction, and adjusting instruction to meet student needs to maximize learning. 

• Integrated Instruction:  Learning is enhanced when students apply skills from one area of the curriculum to other subjects.