One of the ways in which our faculty in the Early Education, Grade School, and High School are preparing for the new school year is a refresher workshop on “Understanding by Design,” a framework for designing curriculum.  UbD, as it is also known, was  introduced over five years ago in Xavier School because it was identified as a tool that could help promote Ignatian Pedagogy in the classroom. The two-day workshop, which kicked off last Friday, May 21, was facilitated by noted UbD expert, Ms. Rita Atienza.  Another batch of teachers will go through the learning experience in the following week.

The workshop explains the purpose and structure of UbD and walks the teachers through the process. The system encourages the teacher to identify first the “big ideas” of each unit of study, and from there, create authentic assessments and activities that will help the student understand these for himself. If well designed, the experience will provide students with lifelong learning skills that will continue to be relevant and useful long after graduating from Xavier.

Through these trainings in UbD, Xavier School hopes to equip its teachers with the paradigm and the skills to design and promote student-centered learning in the classroom.