Chevron Open Minds

Benefits of Open Minds & Campus Calgary

Benefits to Students:

Research has shown that children who participate in programs like Open Minds improve their writing skills by 24% over those who do not participate. Journal writing is a key element to their success
Students appreciate learning in the "real world" as an exciting, fun, and rewarding experience
Children gain deeper understanding of and sensitivity about the world and its inhabitants
Students learn about valuable community resources and gain an increased awareness of career choices

Benefits to Teachers:

As the Chevron Open Minds School Program evolved, we found that even though the children experience a high learning curve, it is the strong effect on the teacher that is perhaps even more important.

The teacher is given the same learning framework as the students: the experiences (the opportunity to teach in a different site), the assistance of "experts" (consulting with site staff throughout the process) and the opportunities for mentorship.

This program is professional development in its most powerful form and there is bound to be an impact on all future teaching and learning in these teachers' classrooms.

Gain confidence in making use of community resources

Benefits to parent volunteers

Learn alongside the teachers and children
Understand how children learn and what is current in teaching and learning
See their children in a new way and see other children learning
Become more supportive of the site and its role in the community
Become supportive of the business partner's role in the program

Benefits to school districts

Professional development for their teachers through "hands-on" experiences
Recognition from other community stakeholders of the work and needs of the schools
Support, including funding, contributed to the education of students

Benefits to Community Sites

Enhances their education goals
Increases their understanding of how people learn and use this knowledge in their work
Increases community support through enhancing their value to the community and society
Builds current and future audiences
Increases utilization

Benefits to Business Partners

Contributes to education through facilitating students' learning and the professional development of teachers
Supports the work at a specific site; increases understanding of the role the site plays in the community
Increases understanding of community needs

Change in Teaching

Teachers are able to gain a new perspective from their experience. They:

develop a better understanding of how students learn through interesting and rich experience;
experience learning outside of the traditional classroom environment;
gain personal knowledge about the specific content at the site;
expand their skills in assisting students in making connections.

We have built our program on what is known today about how children learn. Cognitive science, especially the latest research about how the brain functions, is building more and more evidence to support learning theory that states that people learn through:

involvement in concrete, challenging, hands-on experiences;
using basic skills such as writing and math in real-life situations;
working with experts as in the apprenticeship model;
building on prior knowledge;
communicating in a variety of ways such as music, art and drama;
having long periods of time to become fully engaged in the experience;
having expectations and skills to create quality products.

Change in Learning ~ Journal Writing

Journal writing continues to be a focus for teachers in our program. A written reflection helps to focus children's attention to details and consolidates their learning. All classes are encouraged to purchase hardcover journals for use at school and while the students are on site. How does journal writing improve the experience?

Students participating in programs like Open Minds improved their writing skills by 24 per-cent - four times that of the students who did not have the same experience
Journals allow the teacher to gain a more complete picture of the students' experiences at the Open Minds site
To solidify and reinforce understandings students can share their journals with other students, parents, teachers, etc.
Journal writing allows children to focus their attention and make detailed and insightful observations.