“What’s the Big Idea?” A Case Study of Whole-School Project-Based Instruction in Secondary Education
Keywords:
secondary education, creativity, project-based learning, 21st century education, student experienceAbstract
This paper presents the results of an inquiry into a creative, whole-school integrative learning project that started with posing a ‘big question’. Data were generated to deepen understanding regarding the effects of implementing creative project-based learning Hi on student lived experience and student attitudes toward learning. Research on project-based approaches is required to reflect the current contextual realities specific to high schools. The focus on integrative and arts-based approaches as they relate to high school classrooms indicate that secondary education lags in comparison to elementary and middle grades. The findings presented here provide the possibility of a more informed, attentive, action-sensitive professional practice in the development of educational experiences designed to influence the learning experiences of secondary students.
References
Alberta Education. (2011). Framework for student learning: Competencies for engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit. Retrieved from https://open.alberta.ca/publications/9780778596479
Atkinson, J. (2002). Four steps to analyse data for a case study method. ACIS 2002 Proceedings. http://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2002/38
Atlass, P. & Wiebe, S. (2017). Re-imagining education policy and practice in the digital era. Journal of the Canadian Association of Curriculum Studies, 15(2), 48–63.
Bagnoli, A. & Clark, A. (2010). Focus groups with young people: a participatory approach to research planning. Journal of Youth Studies, 13(1), 101–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676260903173504
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice Hall.
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology 52, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1
Barnett, R. (2007). A will to learn: Being a student in an age of uncertainty. Open University Press.
Bell, S. (2010). Project-based learning for the 21st Century: Skills for the future. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 83(2), 39–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098650903505415
Bender, W. N. (2012). Project-based learning: Differentiating instruction for the 21st century. Corwin Press.
Biesta, G., Field, J., Goodson, I., Hodkinson, P. & Macleod, F. (2008). Learning lives: Learning, identity and agency in the life-course: Full Research Report ESRC End of Award Report, RES-139-25-0111. ESRC. https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/research/publications/512334
Boaler, J. (1998a). Alternative approaches to teaching, learning and assessing mathematics. Evaluation and Program Planning, 21(2), 129–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0149-7189(98)00002-0
Boaler, J. (1998b). Open and closed mathematics: Student experiences and understanding. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 29(1), 41–62. https://doi.org/10.2307/749717
Boaler, J. (1999). Mathematics for the moment, or the millennium? Education Week, 18(29), 30.
Brooks, M. & Holmes, B. (2014). Equinox blueprint: Learning 2030. Waterloo Global Science Initiative. Retrieved from https://vdocument.in/equinox-blueprint-learning-2030.html
C21 (2017). Canadians for 21st century learning and innovation. Retrieved from www.c21canada.org
Carter, M., Belliveau, G., Irwin, R.L., & Beare, D. (2011). A/r/tography as pedagogy: A promise without guarantee. Canadian Review of Art Education, 38, 17–32. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ967132
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. (2020). Mental illness and addiction: Facts and statistics. Retrieved from https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real/mental-health-statistics
Council of Ministers of Education Canada. (n.d.). Global competencies. Retrieved from https://www.cmec.ca/682/Global_Competencies.html
David, J. L. (2008). Project-based learning. Educational Leadership: Journal of the Department of Supervision and Curriculum Development, 65(5), 80–82.
Duke, N. K., & Halvorsen, A.-L. (2017, June 20). New study shows the impact of PBL on student achievement. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/new-study-shows-impact-pbl-student-achievement-nell-duke-anne-lise-halvorsen
Dealy, D., Ryan, C., Fowler, P. & Flinn, M. (2017). Hosting the Saxby Gale at Riverview High: Using Disaster Day to teach universal design, increase student engagement, and so much more. In A. Sherman (Ed.), Universal design for learning action research (pp. 76–82). New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Retrieved from https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/ed/pdf/UDLActionResearch.pdf
Dewey, J. (1938/1997). Experience and education. Macmillan.
English, A. (2013). Discontinuity in learning: Dewey, Hebart and education as transformation. Cambridge University Press.
Fogarty, I. & Ryan, C. (2017). Bringing assessment research to practice using an essentials model. In J. Cummings & M. Blatherwick (Eds.). Creative dimensions of teaching and learning in the 21st century, (pp. 219–228). Sense Publishers.
Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. (2013). Towards a new end: New pedagogies for deep learning. Collaborative Impact. Retrieved from http://www.newpedagogies.nl/images/towards_a_new_end.pdf
Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. (2014). A rich seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. Pearson. Retrieved from http://www.michaelfullan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/3897.Rich_Seam_web.pdf
Fullan, M. & Quinn, J. (2016). Coherence: The right drivers in action for schools, districts, and systems Corwin Press.
Geier, R., Blumenfeld, P. C., Marx, R. W., Krajcik, J. S., Fishman, B., Soloway, E., & Clay-Chambers, J. (2008). Standardized test outcomes for students engaged in inquiry-based science curricula in the context of urban reform. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(8), 922–939. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tea.20248
Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the imagination: Essays on education, the arts, and social change. Jossey-Bass.
Harris, M. (2014). The challenges of implementing project-based learning in middle schools. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh]. Retrieved from: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/23533/1/MatthewJHarrisDissertation%235.pdf
Holm, M. (2011). Project-based instruction: A review of the literature on effectiveness in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade classrooms. Insight: Rivier Academic Journal, 7(2), 1–13. https://www2.rivier.edu/journal/ROAJ-Fall-2011/J575-Project-Based-Instruction-Holm.pdf
Howard P., Becker, C., Wiebe, S., Carter, M., Gouzouasis, P., McLarnon, M., Richardson, P., Schuman, L., & Ricketts, K. (2018). Exploring teachers’ experience of risk-taking in the classroom. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 50(6), 850–864. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2018.1479451
Hutchison, D. (2015). Project-based learning: Drawing on best practices in project management. What works? Research Into Practice. Monograph #60. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/WW_BestPractices.pdf
John-Steiner, V. (2000). Creative collaboration. Oxford University Press.
Kelly, R. (2016). Creative development: Transforming education through design thinking, innovation, and invention. Brush Education.
Klemincic, M. (2015). What is student agency? An ontological exploration in the context of research on student engagement. In M. Klemencic, S. Bergan, & R. Primozic, (Eds.). Student engagement in Europe: Society, higher education and student governance, (pp. 11–29). Council of Europe Publishing.
Kokotsaki, D., Menzies, V. & Wiggins, A. (2016) Project-based learning: A review of the literature. Improving Schools, 19(3), 267–277. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480216659733
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (2003). Philosophy in the flesh: The embodied mind and its challenge to western thought. Basic Books.
Little, T. (2013). 21st century learning and progressive education: An intersection. International Journal of Progressive Education, 9(1), 84–96. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ijpe/issue/26313/277317
Levin, B. & Segedin, L. (2011). International approaches to secondary education. Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18720.99848
McKeown, R. & Nolet, V. (2013). Schooling for sustainable development in Canada and the United States. In R. McKeown & V. Nolet. (Eds.), Schooling for sustainable development in Canada and the United States, (pp.3–22). Springer.
Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. Jossey-Bass.
Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M. (1994) Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. (2nd ed.) Sage.
Moran, S. & John-Steiner, V. (2004). How collaboration in creative work impacts identity and motivation. In D. Miell & K. Littleton, (Eds.), Collaborative creativity: Contemporary perspectives, (pp.11–25). Free Association Books.
Neufeld, V. R., & Barrows, H. S. (1974). The “McMaster Philosophy”: An approach to medical education. Journal of Medical Education, 49(11), 1040–50.
O’Brien, C., & Howard, P. (2016). The Living School: The Emergence of a Transformative Sustainability Education Paradigm. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 10(1), 115–130. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973408215625549
P21 (2016). Partnership for 21st century learning. Retrieved from www.P21.org
Patrick, F. (2013). Neoliberalism, the knowledge economy, and the learner: Challenging the inevitability of the commodified self as an outcome of education. International Scholarly Research Notices,. Retrieved from http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/79975/
Ravitz, J. (2009). Introduction: Summarizing findings and looking ahead to a new generation of PBL research. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 3(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1088
Ryan, C. (2016). Filling an assessment literature gap: A systemic example of formative assessment in a high school physics course. In Proceedings of Global Learn-Global Conference on Learning and Technology 2016 (pp. 52–64). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
Schrage, M. (1990). Shared minds: The new technologies of collaboration. Random House.
Smith, S. J. (1998). Risk and our pedagogical relation to children on the playground and beyond. SUNY Press.
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. SAGE Publications.
Stake, R. E. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research 3rd ed. (pp. 443–466). Sage.
Strobel, J., & van Barneveld, A. (2009). When is PBL more effective? A meta-synthesis of meta-analyses comparing PBL to conventional classrooms. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 3(1), 44–58. https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1046
Thomas, J. W. (2000). A review of research on project-based learning. Retrieved from http://www.bobpearlman.org/BestPractices/PBL_Research.pdf
Thompson, C. (2013). Smarter than you think: How technology is changing our minds for the better. Penguin.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. (Cole M., John-Steiner V., Scribner S., & Souberman E., Eds.). Harvard University Press.
Vagle, M. D. (2014). Crafting phenomenological research. Routledge.
Van Manen. M. (1997). Researching lived experience: Human science for action sensitive pedagogy. Althouse Press.
Van Manen, M. (2014). Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-giving methods in phenomenological research and writing. Routledge.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l'éducation de McGill

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Those wishing to reproduce all or part of any material published on this website are asked to email mje.education@mcgill.ca for permission and to acknowledge the McGill Journal of Education as the original source.
Authors must transfer copyright of their article to MJE. Authors may use all or parts of their work in any future publication with the article's origin in MJE acknowledged in the customary manner.
A copy of our standard form may be requested from mje.education@mcgill.ca