When students arrive at Miri Piri Academy (MPA), they look forward to a program which is different from what traditional schools offer. That’s what we promise them – a deep dive into meditation and yoga along with an academic program that will prepare them for life both in and outside school.
But was this really happening? Were students as engaged with academics as much as they were with other aspects of the MPA program? Did they wake up each morning, excited about the new learning experiences that they would encounter during their academic classes? Did they feel a disconnect between their spiritual and academic life?
When the leadership team posed these questions to members of the community (students, parents, staff, board members) they realized that it was time for a major redesign of the academic program. And so began a two-year journey of research, discussions, and reflection.
We soon realized that transforming a school program is hard work, and though it felt overwhelming at first, we discovered the joy in coming up with creative ideas for the redesign. Anchored in research-based learning principles and innovative pedagogies, we modified our existing program to come up with a new educational framework for the 2022-2023 academic year. There are three concept levels we’ve formulated that show the progress of our school values, principles, goals, and delivery.
Learning with Purpose – Seeing the journey of learning as a lifelong process, answering the questions of why is learning important, and that the same principles inform all parts of the MPA educational program.
Our Approach to Learning – Recognizing that there are many ways students learn, and that a diversified and individualized approach is the most impactful.
How Students Learn – Our improved curriculum that gives a breadth and depth of subjects and ways of learning that inspires students to want to learn.
Coming August when we open our doors once again, we hope students will be as excited as we are to learn and engage in our new academic activities and courses.
Here are some features of the redesigned academic program:
- Deep connection between spiritual education and academic education.
- Experiential learning through learning expeditions and project based learning.
- Emphasis on interdisciplinary courses integrating different aspects of more than one academic discipline to examine a theme, issue, question or topic.
- Assessment as a tool to measure learning and help students grow.
- Meaningful feedback platforms for parents and families.
- Focus on 21st-century skills of research, critical thinking and problem-solving.
- Honoring our host country, India, through an innovative India & Punjab Studies program.
- An Elective program for personalized learning opportunities.
- Supporting our graduates become future-ready with Career and Life Skills courses.
- A personalized Capstone Project for our graduating class to showcase what they’ve learned at MPA.
- A wide range of academic support services for our students.
- Continued relationship with NEASC as a candidate school. Our final accreditation visit is scheduled for October/November 2022.
We hope you’re excited about these inclusions and we look forward to sharing more details with you in our ongoing Academic Blog Series. ❤️
