The Corporation Learning Way corporationlearning@comcast.net
A Brief Introduction
The Corporation Learning Way (CL), developed and copyrighted by Margaret O’Hara, Ph.D., a professor at East Carolina University and by John O'Hara, a physics teacher in Kearny High School for thirty-two years and recently retired Webmaster and Coordinator of Public Relations for the Kearny School District, is a pedagogy that incorporates workplace readiness into the core curriculum. Corporation Physics is a high school physics course that uses the Corporation Learning pedagogy. Other disciplines using Corporation Learning include, but are not limited to, English, earth science and social studies. Using Corporation Learning, students are empowered to take responsibility and leadership roles. Students are taught how to work in teams. They learn to use technology in making presentations. They learn how to stand in front of an audience to deliver a lesson without typical teenage jargon. CL is a student-centered process that gives students the workplace readiness skills that they will need to enter the workforce of the 21st Century upon completing their formal education. It is a process that teaches students how to be life-long learners and provides them with entry-level tools that are essential in business, for example, using technology to communicate ideas and time-management skills. CL is a process that is modeled after successful business practices, including teamwork, critical thinking and problem solving, self-management, responsibility, and empowerment. In addition to learning the traditional 3 R's of reading, writing, and arithmetic, students learn the 3 R's of the 21st-Century: rigor, responsibility, and respect. In Corporation Learning, the classroom becomes a corporation. The students become the employees or associates of the firm, and the teacher becomes the CEO. Students write a resume and a cover letter to apply for a specific team. They list their unique qualifications for the team and provide an alternate team choice. In this manner, students are discouraged from joining their friends' teams, and they can avoid peer pressure to do so by citing their qualifications and background Procedures: Imagine a science class with a 14-period, two-week schedule. In a traditional class, the instructor might lecture for five periods during the week and have a double-period lab. In CL, the instructor presents for the first four periods. The fifth period is a planning period. From period 6 through 12, the students are presenting. The core curriculum content material is taught at a rigorous, rapid pace by the instructor. After the teacher's presentation, which is an introduction to the material, specialized teams embellish it. Because physics has many components, such as theory, mathematics, laboratory investigations, and use of technology, students apply to be on teams that focus on these areas. They are taught how to prepare a cover letter and a resume and identify their qualifications for a particular team. Each team is responsible for presenting a specific component of physics to the class approximately once every two weeks. These groups, known as the Quality Team, the Quantity Team, the Lab Team and the WITS (Web, Information, Technology and Speakers Bureau) Team, are a few of the teams used in Corporation Physics. While students make use of the Internet for research, interactive physics lessons and gathering real-time data, they are not allowed to simply read their notes. They must prepare a computer presentation (e.g., Microsoft PowerPoint), and they may refer to their notes on a large-screen television connected to the computer. Students use a camcorder to videotape their presentations.. A rubric is used to grade each presentation. Each team must make an electronic presentation. They must distribute notes via email or fax of their slides to each student in class. They must also make up a worksheet or some other class activity. The presenting team will grade the activity and record the grades. With seven teams presenting, this provides seven rigorous homework assignments in a two-week period. Students must also publish a company newsletter, create, design and publish a web site, and be ambassadors for the Corporation Learning process by giving lectures and presentations to the community and school districts.
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