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Individualized Instruction | Mastery Learning | Graduation Requirements
Work-Study Program | Interdisciplinary
Humanities Units
Studio
Art | Creative Writing | Applied
Music | Foreign
Language
Interdisciplinary Humanities Units
Research in cognitive development and educational psychology has shown that students learn and retain information better if it is taught in a logically connected and cohesive manner. Despite this "common-sense" knowledge, many students take courses that do not relate to each other, either in time or thematic content.
For example, a high school junior or senior may take a class in world
history of ancient Greece and Rome, while taking an English class on modern
British literature. Although each class may be expertly taught, student
learning suffers from the fragmented nature of the subject matter. Consequently,
opportunities to help the student make connections among the various disciplines
and draw conclusions about their readings are lost.
At Ben Franklin, we believe in the interrelatedness of the various areas of knowledge and that a curriculum that consciously underscores and reinforces these relationships will be more effective than the traditional "piecemeal" approach.
Accordingly, we have attempted to bring together the study of English, history, geography, philosophy, aesthetics, religion, history of science, etc. under a common theme that seems to typify the spirit of the age (or Zeitgeist) for that particular time period. Thus, we have formulated eight "units," four American units that correspond to the subject matter traditionally taught in the eleventh grade and four World units that correspond to subject matter traditionally taught in the twelfth grade. (If a student already has credit for the English or history portion of that year's work, we make adjustments to the required work so that students do not repeat material.)
The strength of the interdisciplinary units is that students are able
to make connections across disciplines, seeing the relationship between
world or national events and the art, literature, and scientific achievements
of that time period. They begin to recognize relationships and/or disruption
between literature and art as well. They experience in a more concrete
way than in a traditional curriculum what a "utopia" is, what "enlightenment" is
and what fosters it, what "excess" really involves for the individual
and the community, and how "power" can be abused by individuals
and countries, and so forth.
In general, students complete four Units per year, although they are free to move as quickly through a unit as they can demonstrate mastery over the content matter or to move more slowly if need be.
The interdisciplinary humanities combine most elements of the English, History and academic electives college prep credit requirements for junior and senior level work. Students are required under the Board of Regents' College Preparatory Curriculum to complete a designated number of credits in mathematics, science, government, economics, and foreign languages, etc. As a Work-Study school, BFA additionally requires students to complete 150 hours per semester of paid or volunteer work in order to receive academic credit.
