Our Philosophy

A Rationale for the Constructivist Curriculum

In a published interview in California Educator (December 2003), for the California Teachers Association, Dr. Mel Levine spoke of the widely shared concern that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, has implications that may actually leave some children further behind.

Widely known among educators and families for his focus on the many different ways children learn, Dr. Levine is the author of A Mind at a Time and founder of the non-profit institute All Kinds of Minds.

Typically, he says, schools focus on children's weaknesses and set out to strengthen them. Instead, Levine says, it can be more helpful to focus on a child's strengths and build upon them.

"If we are going to have testing, we need safeguards so we don't undermine the curriculum or hurt children," writes Levine. "The real issue is not to eliminate these policies, but learn how to make them better and less potentially harmful."

Levine believes one-size-fits-all learning and filling in bubbles encourages children to do mediocre work. "Students begin to feel it's okay to just get by. And one big problem with tests is that they don't reward excellence. If you are going to test, you should have a way to reward outstanding work rather than just having students receive a pass or fail."

He goes on, "If you lower the status of teachers by making them follow a manual, and then judge them only on test scores, a lot of them might decide to go take a real estate exam … If you take away the joy in learning, it will equal a loss in the joy of teaching."

The Mills College School of Education and the Children's School faculty value teachers and teaching, and are committed to keeping the joy of learning alive. We find joy in learning and teaching. Elementary and middle school teachers who receive our preschool and fifth grade graduates tell us that Mills children are notable for their thoughtful approaches to problem-solving and confidence in their own abilities to access resources and gain understanding.

Mills College faculty were recently addressed by Dr. Lee Schulman of the Carnegie Foundation on the work of the university engaged in a liberal education. Dr. Schulman has written that "an educated person … is someone whose commitments always leave open a window for skeptical scrutiny, for imagining how it might be otherwise."

Our Preschool and Elementary School graduates reflect Dr. Schulman's description of the teaching-learning process at its best.

We seek understanding for the pleasure and confidence it brings, and we seek puzzlement or self-conscious ignorance for the mental itching and scratching it engenders. We want students who will leave our institutions deeply committed to values and civic and moral responsibility; yet we must never forget that they must also be committed to skepticism and doubt. We foster the transformation of thought into action, but we also strive to educate for delay, self-criticism, and reflections. These equally important goals must be taught and assessed.

The Mills College Children's School sends our students on to other schools confident that they will be comfortable with their own learning and thought processes, that they will be open and interested in new ideas and constructs, and that they will be active, alert members of their new communities.