The New School Project is rooted in an essential Erikson idea: that an understanding of child development is essential to good teaching, instructional design, curriculum, classroom arrangement, teacher-child relationships, discipline practices, and more.

Another core Erikson principle at the heart of the project is relationship-based learning. Learning is a fundamentally social process, and how children learn is as important as what they learn. In a chaotic classroom or rigid academic atmosphere, young children will struggle to learn and quickly lose interest in school. Creating an environment of trust and respect and providing varied learning experiences to engage their natural curiosity builds social skills and academic success.

Following these general ideals, the New Schools Project is using three specific approaches: the Prekindergarten to Third Grade (PK-3) school concept, the Responsive Classroom, and Balanced Literacy and Inquiry-Based Curriculum. 

PK-3
PK-3 schools aim to create a positive school and classroom climate – one that integrates the teaching of social/emotional and academic learning so that students acquire social and ethical values and develop a desire to be a continuous learner.

PK-3 schools strive for a sense of continuity in early schooling experiences, through carefully sequenced curriculum and consistent approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment among classrooms and across grades. A key premise of the PK-3 concept is the idea of adjusting schooling to children, so that they experience early success. PK-3 schools also recognize and respond to the fact that children in a given classroom grow at different rates and that an individual child may be more advanced in some developmental domains than others. To respond to the developmental needs of children, structural policies and practices associated with the PK-3 framework include small class size, heterogeneous assignment of children to classrooms, and flexible grouping for learning. 

Responsive classroom
To create a community ideal for both social and academic learning, Erikson coaches teachers in the Responsive Classroom (RC) framework.

RC aims to strengthen the quality of relationships between all members of the classroom/school community and helps children master social skill such as cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, self-control, and empathy and become self-regulated learners.

Through emphasis on rules and logical consequences, RC helps children see how their own behavior and choices effects themselves and others. It engages children in setting the norms of the classroom community. Teachers in the responsive classroom use specific language to provide consistent feedback on schoolwork and behavior.

Based on experience to date with RC, “We have seen the value of connecting academic and social issues,” says New Schools director Patricia Horsch. “When we work on both together, the potency of each is affected.”

Balanced literacy
Most NSP schools were interested in improving their literacy instruction, so Erikson consultants pursued a balanced and multidimensional approach to foster children’s literacy development. Balanced Literacy is a framework designed to help all students learn to read and write effectively. The balance between reading and writing allows students to receive the teaching needed through modeled and guided learning experiences in order to reach grade level status, while allowing students to work independently at a level that is not frustrating for them. NSP classrooms focus on four different types of reading experiences:

• reading aloud to children
• shared reading with the whole class
• guided reading with small groups
• independent reading with appropriately leveled text

Students also participate in shared and individual writing activities each day. The four types of writing experiences are:

• modeled writing
• shared or interactive Writing with the whole class
• guided Writing
• writer's workshop - small groups or individual independent writing

Children are taught about letters, sounds, words and how they work and vocabulary and apply their learning in integrated curriculum studies throughout the day.

Additionally, in the fall of 2008, NSP sites will adopt two new initiatives—Making Meaning and Being a Writer— to integrate teaching of reading comprehension skills, writing traits, and social skills. Horsch says this innovative approach to reading and writing will help develop children’s capacities to think deeply and critically and to become committed to personal values such as kindness, helpfulness, personal responsibility, and respect for others.

Relationship-based consultation
In the New Schools Project, how technical assistance is provided is as important as what is emphasized.
Erikson’s working relationship with staff in schools mirrors the approach encouraged in the school and classroom. Consultants work to establish trusting relationships with principals and teachers. They establish legitimacy by being responsive to teachers’ strengths and struggles and understanding their goals for children.

This approach creates a model for the parallel processes of principals building relationships with teachers, teachers with children, and children with peers. Erikson consultants are not just visiting experts but supportive and encouraging partners. This approach helps create a learning community committed to the ethical values of school and society and motivates all participants to take risks to learn in all domains: socially, emotionally, and academically.