Parliament In Session
A gaggle of geese, a murder of crows, a parade of elephants, or for our Acton Owls, a parliament of owls. Our owl mascot was chosen before our school opened and was driven by an inspiring art piece that lives at school, the fun O alliteration of Oshkosh Owls, and ultimately the gut feeling that owls are wise and young learners are the wisest people we’ve encountered. A parliament is also a democratic legislative body of government that makes and oversees laws. As we close our first session Quest of Building the Nest the word parliament seems even more apropos.
This session included the process of developing Studio Constitutions, a set of promises agreed on between learners. Setting promises or rules is hard business and learners tinkered with trial and error by playing a game called the Contract Game the entire session. First, learners generated ideas on promises such as “I promise to not hurt friends” and a series of ideas start in box 1: Ideas: Promises we have NOT tried yet. Throughout the session promises are moved into a box called the Laboratory: Ideas we are trying. When a promise seems important to uphold a vote is held and it either moves to the Contract Result box or the Dumpster: Ideas we tried. The process is fluid and promises are continually added and explored. Dumpster promises include “I promise to not bite a friend” and “I promise to not go outside without asking” for reasons that learners already know these important safety rules and don’t need to be reminded, a.k.a. Captain Obvious!
The process of democracy at Acton is beautifully messy and today marks the ratification of the Spark and Discovery Studio Constitutions. Learners will sign during our Exhibition ceremony, feather pen and all!The wise promises of the Owl Parliament are as follows:
SPARK STUDIO––1. I promise to be on a Hero’s Journey 2. I promise to keep the studio clean 3. I promise to use marshmallow feet inside 4. I promise to not hurt friends 5. I promise to not bug friends while they are working 6. I promise to do my job until the job is done 7. I promise to share materials 8. I promise to be nice 9. I promise to use kind words in a nice voice 10. I promise to not lie and be honest 11. I promise to learn something new everyday
DISCOVERY STUDIO––1. I promise to have a Growth Mindset 2. I promise to find fellow travelers 3. I promise to stay in the zone 4. I promise to help other friends focus 5. I promise to have my listening ears 6. I promise to not hurt friends 7. I promise to respect when someone says STOP 8. I promise to not lie and be honest 9. I promise to not distract Spark learners 10. I promise to not break friendships 11. I promise to use kind words in a nice voice 12. I promise to stay calm
Who upholds these promises? Our brave OWLS, of course!