When the BC Ministry of Education completed its inspection of SelfDesign® Learning Community’s programs and processes last fall, our Learning Experiences Library, our in-person camps and gatherings, and how we provide learners with opportunities to design their own learning received particularly high praise.
“The provincial inspectors commended us on doing what we say we do and being what we say we are – an online learning school that provides an innovative, flexible and personalized approach to learning,” says SelfDesign Principal of Educational Programs Nikki Kenyon. “It’s really great to have these areas of our program recognized.”
The three commendations were part of a very successful inspection in which Ministry inspectors found SelfDesign Learning Community to be in compliance with all relevant provincial requirements and standards.
“I’m happy to report SelfDesign Learning Community has again passed its B.C. Ministry of Education inspection,” Nikki says. “With this renewed provincial accreditation, we can continue operating as a recognized, provincially partially funded Group 1 Independent School in British Columbia.”
Like all independent schools in the province, SelfDesign must meet rigorous requirements under British Columbia legislation in order to continue operating. Every two years, SelfDesign Learning Community is evaluated by provincial officials to ensure our programs and processes meet the requirements of B.C.’s Independent School Act and regulations, as well as the province’s educational standards and outcomes set out for kindergarten to grade 12 independent school distributed learning in B.C. In alternate years, including last year at SelfDesign, the Ministry conducts a monitoring inspection.
Last fall, our school leadership team walked the inspectors through the details of our processes for supporting learners and their families in kindergarten to grade 12. The inspectors also spoke with some of our learning consultants to confirm that our processes reflect what is happening in practice.
“For our kindergarten to grade 9 program, we shared the thoughtful process of formative learning assessment that happens through Observing for Learning, using learning experiences in our Learning Experiences Library as a way to extend a learner’s engagement through their interests and passions, and our tracking system as a way to notice gaps or holes where they may exist or arise, “ Nikki says.
The team also shared the approach our learners and their families use to set learning goals and assess their own progress in acquiring the core competencies that are at the heart of the B.C. provincial curriculum.
With our new high school program in its final year of being rolled out last year, inspectors were able to see the program in full. They walked through an example of a learner’s journey from beginning to end to see how the process works and reviewed learner engagement, feedback, and progress.
“The inspectors were particularly excited by the opportunities our grade 10–12 learners have for formative feedback,” Nikki says.
In addition, the inspectors reviewed our process for supporting all of our learners and especially our Individual Education Plans, budgets, and supports for learners with diverse needs.
SelfDesign also demonstrated compliance in all other areas, including learner participation in the Ministry’s annual Foundation Skills Assessment, our policies, teacher certification and assignment, and how we maintain, safeguard and report learner records.
In the end, the inspectors had only one recommendation for improvement. They recommended that we work to find more ways to support our learners, families, and educators to engage intentionally with First Peoples’ Principles of Learning.
“We are exploring this further as a community,” Nikki says, noting that the school has been working towards seamless integration of Indigenous education and mainstream education since 2017. (Read more about reconciliation and Indigenous learning at SelfDesign)
“Achieving standardized provincial requirements provides us with an opportunity to affirm who we are as a school, what we do, and how we do it,” she says. “In walking inspectors through the details of our processes for supporting learners and their families in kindergarten to grade 12, we confirm that SelfDesign provides access to personalized, distributed learning opportunities to all learners.”
The inspection teams are comprised of Principals from other independent schools with experience and a clear understanding of compliance requirements, working alongside the inspector of independent schools or their designate. This past year Nikki, SelfDesign Principal of Educational Programs, was asked to be part of the inspection for three independent school inspections.
Click here learn more about how the SelfDesign Learning Community works.
