If you’ve been part of BCL in any way in the past 11 semesters, or you’ve visited the program to learn about BCL, you’ve most likely heard the phrase, “Making Learning Visible.” This is a core practice in BCL’s approach to experiential learning. This begins by having students share what they’ve learned with us teachers, because, as we say in BCL, “We know what we’ve ‘taught’ (or what we’ve offered), but we don’t know what students have learned.” Over time however, students become more and more comfortable sharing what they’ve learned with other learners as well. This way, teachers aren’t the only audience for their insights, and we can all explore new territory together.

Students in BCL demonstrate what they’ve learned by sharing. That sharing is done in various formative ways throughout each BCL day; it also comes in some more formal ways. 

• Students meet with teachers (crew leaders) at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester to set learning goals and to present their evidence of learning.
• After each EXPO writing assignment, of which there are six each semester, students share with each other what they have learned, reflected on, and formulated questions about. 
• Students also share three Inquiry Projects with each other each semester. (See the recent post, “Owning the Inquiry,” from May of 2023.)

So, how do we make learning visible in BCL? Well, sometimes we share their writing. We pull quotes from their EXPOs, highlight big questions, and reflect quietly.

Here are scenes, quotes, and questions from a recent session with BCL11.

“Advertising that targets certain people sometimes scares me because I find it so interesting how data can really track personal interests. It is true though that it seems to help benefit business though. This made me come up with the question ‘Can business be a force for good?'”

LiLin

“A thriving community requires not just physical infrastructure but also the digital threads that weave its members together, and the Media Factory, with CCTV as a cornerstone, provides precisely that.”

– Quinn

“How can we share this with others to make programs like BCL more influential and widespread?”

– Avi

“How do local businesses help the world reach the sustainable development goals?”

– Abbot

“It was inspiring to see the [5th grade] students enthusiastically discussing and identifying various local initiatives that aligned with the global goals, fostering a sense of empowerment and agency in contributing to a better, more sustainable world right in their own community. This hands-on approach helped them grasp the interconnectedness of the SDGs and recognize the significance of collective action in achieving these ambitious yet crucial objectives.”

– Rowan

“It is interesting that we are learning this content (SDG’s) at the same time as these fifth graders (what they are, how important they are, etc.). To me, this represents how the world is in this fight to better the world together, regardless of differences and age. It was also fascinating how all students had similar ideas, pertaining to green energy, education, and nature when creating their cities. It makes me wonder if this is because of the ‘liberal bubble’ in Burlington, or because their generation is more conscious.”

– Naveen

“What Sustainable Development Goals [does] Burlington have the most work to do in order to achieve?”

– Lillian

Going to Hula motivated me to work hard so I can have a job that is in a professional workspace like Hula. I wouldn’t mind working in a pod a few hours a day. 

I wonder what Hula’s future looks like after they leased all of their workspaces to companies.

I think that Hula will purchase more properties to create professional workspaces.

– Sunny

Some of the questions that I came up with were [regarding Roosevelt park]:

1. Who is this space for?
2. What does a park offer for its surrounding community?
3. Where does accessibility make its way into these conversations?
4. Who has access to the survey sent out about that to do with the park – does the survey demonstrate language accessibility?  
5. With climate change in mind – what’s the impact of adding more infrastructure rather that more natural resources and strengthening the natural systems in our city.

– Medea

Here are some excerpts from students’ journal writing about “making learning visible.”