Jewel White, a 15-year-old student, gathers her books and signs herself out of a routine morning math class. She is not leaving school for the day, but is off to try some more challenging equations. This practice is not uncommon at Westmount Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where an unconventional learning approach is prevailing.
Westmount is one of the eight regular schools in the country where students work at their own pace and set their own direction, spending as much or as little time as they need on subjects. Teachers act as advisers. With the classroom teachers' permission, students can sign out of a class to work on other materials or walk into another class to catch up on another subject. And every two weeks they make plans for their own learning time, with support from their adviser,
At a time when a shrinking student population is causing boards to close schools. Westmount sits at 30 percent overcapacity with 1,500 students. Its bursting number led education officials to consider expanding the program to other locations.
"If students are interested, we are going to do our best to provide that sort of programming," said Todd White, chair of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.
When students like Jewel are not in a classroom, they can usually be found in the school's learning commons, a study area for all students. There are teachers available to help, but generally students are working on their own assignments or projects.
Jewel said Westmount's self-paced style caught her attention when she was looking at high schools. Westmount is not the school close to her home. She said at elementary school she would often cause trouble in class because she would complete her work early and not have much else to do. "I find this kind of academic environment in Westmount is a lot better for me," she said. "I like the thought of being able to work faster or slower if needed."
