BCL continues to evolve and change. Thanks to our emergent curriculum, every semester is a new adventure. BCL14 was the first cohort to study the environmental impacts of the fashion industry, for instance, and who knows what BCL15 will explore.
But after seven years — and, crazy enough, after 150 blog posts — it’s also clear that our core practices are remarkably consistent. Although we’re always learning, the essential program elements are solid and enduring.
Over the years, the Burlington City & Lake Semester has hosted dozens of educators from other school districts. Each has been interested in what makes the program what it is. There is a lot that a visitor can pick up on from a ride-along, but other elements can be hard to witness in the course of one day. While a handful of blog posts can’t fully fill that gap, we’re hoping that the following set of curated links offers a window into many of BCL’s essential elements. Click around, follow your curiosity, and don’t hesitate to reach out if we can offer more color or context to anything that resonates with you.
In no particular order, here are some core principles and practices:
- Grounding in Place and Time
- Engaging with Complex Problems
- Nature Connection (This theme shows up in various ways, for example by exploring Non-Human Neighbors, Local Climate Impacts, etc.)
- Youth-Adult Partnerships and Student Consultancies
- Purpose & Authentic Audience
- Thematic, interdisciplinary learning
- Inquiry Mindset and Inquiry Projects
- Expo Assignments
- Circle practice
- Diversity
- Belonging
- Fun and Connection
The BCL blog also has more than a dozen pieces about how to use public art as a means of both expressing and synthesizing student learning. Highlights include projects that expanded our minds, illustrated what matters, spotlighted stories, and invited the audience into the experience. There is also the project that resulted in Church Street’s newest piece of public art — complete with a joyous block party!
Finally, there are several pieces posted on the 2Revolutions blog that feature BCL. Feel free to check out the piece about designing for emergence and the manifesto for how real-world learning is an antidote for AI.
Burlington City & Lake Semester 