Phase 2: case study outline

The second phase of The Ethos Project provides you with the opportunity to gain first hand experience of Character education in action.

Frontiers – Adventures in Learning runs an alternative curriculum, New Horizons, which is driven by the pursuit of Character education. Students attending this programme have not engaged with traditional classroom based academic learning. On the New Horizons programme, young people define their own curriculum, make choices about their participation and seek opportunities to make valuable contributions to their peers, the environment and the wider community.

You will go and review the ethos and structure of Frontiers and reflect on what you can learn (and develop) from other contexts than your own.

You can choose :

1) Practical Collaborative Activity. Spend two days with the students and staff of New Horizons so you can explore the practical application and implications of a character framed ethos before teaming up with other participants of The Ethos Project and delivering a cross-venue activity (linking your schools. Your team will support your activity by producing a 1,000 word report outlining the collaborative process and recommendations for further enhancement of your project.

Commitment
2 days at New Horizons in July or September 2008
1,000 word collaborative team report
Practical collaborative activity involving students from your own and another participant's context
Deadline: within two working months of the visit

2) Detailed Individual Case Study. Spend four days with the students and staff of New Horizons so you can participate in and explore the practical application and implications of a character framed ethos and make comparisons between and recommendations for your establishment or in the context of a wider community setting.

Commitment
4 days at New Horizons spread throughout July to September 2008
3,000 word personal report on the Frontiers model and reflections for your own context
Deadline: start of November 2008

In some circumstances, visiting New Horizons may not be the most appropriate focus for your case study. If this is the case, please discuss this with the course team. It is also perfectly fine to visit and case-study one another's contexts if this is mutually convenient. We welcome and support such initiatives.