philosophy
An important philosophical question is, “Can you really teach someone else anything?” At Rainshadow, we realize we can’t force our students to do anything, and we explain to them their behavior is a matter of choice. We believe that learning is also a self-directed, internal process. So what is a teacher to do? Our philosophy of teaching involves creating or finding situations where students become aware of a vacuum in their information or skills and are then motivated to fill the void. At this critical point, teachers provide relevant information, direction, support and model learning behavior for the students through our curriculum. Students come to Rainshadow because the belief you can “teach” students hasn’t worked very well for them. You might say they are “teacher resistant.”
Rainshadow is a place where most reluctant students will find reasons to become engaged in learning. Our mission is to show students how the knowledge and skills they acquire can be applied to meaningful, real-world projects to accomplish their own goals. Or in short, knowledge really is power! Community can give you roots, but knowledge can give you wings. Rainshadow is dedicated to graduating students who have the tools, the motivation and the attitudes essential for productive life-long learning.
The Rainshadow curriculum works to create student engagement through localized interdisciplinary exploration. Localized interdisciplinary curriculum works to involve students in “authentic learning situations.” Authentic learning situations are classroom events that allow students to become involved in the learning process for their own purposes; they learn for their own reasons rather than simply satisfying the requirements of the school, district or state. Authentic learning situations empower students by giving them ownership of their learning process. The questions they seek answers to are their questions. Becoming empowered, students accept responsibility for discovering appropriate and adequate tools for resolving the problems they confront. Learning in authentic situations begins when students recognize their information vacuum.
Localized interdisciplinary exploration is built on the idea that the most effective and long lasting learning occurs when students are motivated, by either their need or curiosity. Necessity and curiosity create “buy in” and buy in leads to genuine involvement in the learning process. In the localized interdisciplinary exploration approach, students learn in order to accomplish something they need to or care to accomplish, and as a result, experience learning at a deeper level. The goal of the Rainshadow program is to provide students with a powerful learning experience that will go with them the rest of their lives.
