A typical day in member of the Upper School English department Theresa Collins’ class consists of noisy banter and hearty laughs as students participate in thoughtful group discussions. However, last year, Room #480 was a little more quiet, as Collins was granted a year-long sabbatical to explore the dynamics of progressive education in schools across the country.

In a nutshell, progressive education is a philosophy of teaching in which students learn through hands-on experience. One of the many goals of progressive pedagogy is for students to develop their personal skills and interests and further utilize them so they can better participate in society. “I didn’t know what progressive education was until I came to Parker,” Collins said. “In the last decade, I’ve really come to understand and believe in what progressive education is and what it can do for all students.”

A sabbatical is a leave of absence granted to an employee. The purpose of a sabbatical is to complete a project related to the employee’s institution. Parker awards annual sabbaticals to an educator belonging to any department of the school. The recipient is decided upon by a panel of administrators and is given the financial resources to complete the sabbatical.

During Collins’ year away, she completed two of four online courses toward earning the Certificate in Advanced Educational Leadership through Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. Within the series, there are four courses that total to 60 hours of instruction, all of which require readings and online lectures. “It’s cool to learn online,” Collins said. “I enjoyed having the opportunity to think about my own learning style and what works for me.” Collins plans on finishing the other two courses during the upcoming school year.

In addition to her online courses, Collins visited six schools across the country––all of which had specific programs to teach progressive philosophy. Here she observed progressive education at work by attending classes and speaking with the staff. “I wanted to get insight into how peer institutions provide professional learning opportunities so that their faculty can do any number of things,” Collins said. “What I found in all six of the schools is that it’s really important to provide that time and space for faculty and other interested community members, through the lens of progressive education.”

Collins viewed the sabbatical as an opportunity to connect her outside work with the Progressive Education Network (PEN) to some of Parker’s goals. Collins currently sits as the President of the Board of Directors of PEN. In addition to leading a six-day long workshop for teachers across the nation, she is tasked with organizing the PEN 2019 National Conference, which will take place in the Twin Cities.

One of PEN’s many goals, according to their website, is to “amplify students’’ voice, agency, conscience, and intellect to create a more equitable, just, and sustainable world.” They do so through collaboration with over 100 schools nationwide, social media activity, educational conferences, and annual publications highlighting the benefits of progressive education.

Parker brands itself as a progressive school and is one of the oldest in the country. If one strolls into a Parker classroom, they can see progressive education at work through group discussions, hands-on activities, and the use of an assortment of educational tools.

“Parker has been unapologetically progressive for a long time,” Middle and Upper School Director of Studies Sven Carlsson, who is also on the board of PEN, said. “A lot of fads have come and gone, but we’ve stayed saying we’re progressive.”

Although Parker may prove otherwise, “progressive” is not an easy label for a school to bear. “Progressive is a really loaded term,” Collins said. “A lot of people hear the word progressive, and, in the education sphere, the reputation tends to be that it’s one of those loosey-goosey, touchy-feely schools.”

Carlsson agrees that “progressive” is a taboo title in the teaching community. “Progressive education is harder to do,” Carlsson said. “It’s easier to make shiny, fun presentations and lecture than to really do progressive teaching. It takes a lot of work and knowledge to teach progressively.”

Collins has been educating her students progressively for years. “Her class was definitely different from my old English classes,” junior Micah Derringer said when reflecting upon his freshman year English class. “If we were discussing a book, she would bring in other texts to compare the book to. That was something I hadn’t done before.” However, the work of progressive education doesn’t end in the classroom.

“The future of progressive education at Parker is very bright,” Carlsson said. “Right now, in our country, we have difficulty talking across difference. We don’t have safe communities of disagreement. One of the big focuses for us is the science of empathy: training people to become empathetic.”

After spending a year away, Collins feels a great sense of gratitude. “It’s awesome to have a year to pursue a project that’s based on things that I’m interested in,” Collins said. “It’s a gift to be able to design my own calendar and design what my days look like, to have time to think, read, and write.”

Her time off has also illuminated Parker’s progressive legacy. “Parker is an amazing school that continues to be well known for our progressive history and practice,” Collins said. “I believe we can do even more to articulate, develop, highlight, and share the fantastic work that teachers do in our building on a daily basis so that we can serve as a national resource to educators.”