What makes a VISST course?

As the VISST’s Principal, I’m often asked how our courses actually work. And I always fear it’s unsatisfying, but the honest answer is that it’s up to each teacher. I’ve always believed in finding exceptional educators, keeping them happy, and staying out of their way. Or, as it’s phrased on our website, our commitment to teachers is “To support you in doing work you are proud of, understanding that this will sometimes be with support and resources and at other times with trust and autonomy.” Partly this is because, as VISST teacher Philip Freeman put it, teaching is not a profession but a constellation of professions. I don’t know all that much about teaching English, or carpentry, or music. And even within my own domain, I believe teaching at its best is a form of self-expression and shouldn’t be too standardized. All that said… I do still have some big-picture ideas about teaching at VISST, which I wanted to share in this post. 

With much helpful input from VISST teachers, I crafted these ideas into a VISST course “style guide”, accessible here. For those with too many tabs open already, here are the headings: Thinking, Differentiation, Student Buy-in and Real-world Connections, Experiential Learning, Curiosity and a Sense of Wonder, Respecting Students’ Time, Challenge, Dialogue, Relationships, and Shared Responsibility. Below I’ll elaborate on a few of these areas and provide examples of how they manifest at VISST. I’ve also written about curiosity and a sense of wonder in a previous post.

Differentiation means providing different learning experiences to different students. This was much more difficult in my old job at UBC with hundreds of students in a lecture hall, and I don’t take for granted how differentiation becomes possible with a class of 20 students. At VISST I recommend less lecturing (necessarily one-size-fits-all) and more working with individuals and small groups. In my own classes, I try to add extensions to all of my course materials for those seeking more of a challenge, while making clear what is required and what is extra. Project-based learning is also a great way to meet each student where they’re at — more on that below.

Respecting students’ time is one of the areas that most inspired me to start a school. It’s a cliché, but I have vivid memories of staring at the clock for seemingly endless hours during my own school years. My guiding principle is that if I don’t have something to contribute, it is better to leave students to their own devices than to assign busywork. For the most part, VISST students are busy people who put their free time to good, productive use. (In fact, the school is often vibrant past 6pm with club activities such as robotics!) Whenever I assign work, I try to consider the pedagogical benefits vs. the opportunity cost for my students. One of my favourite moments at VISST was a student approaching me with a claim that the work was a waste of their time. Ultimately, I agreed with the substance of the claim, if not the delivery. Afterward, I felt it was a win on multiple levels: the student’s personal growth, their academic growth, and reinforcing our dialogic school culture.

(I think our 10am start to the school day also respects students’ time: the hours when teens often prefer to sleep can be spent sleeping, and the hours they’re required to be at school are generally good productive hours.)

Student buy-in, experiential learning and real-world connections are another pillar of VISST courses. Many VISST teachers, I think disproportionately many, have led other careers before teaching — be it research, engineering, performance arts, or childcare. I find that our varied backgrounds broaden our collective perspective as a teaching team and help us add real-world connections into the classroom, which in turn builds buy-in as students see the applicability of their learning. Another simple strategy suggested in the style guide is incorporating students’ interests into the classroom, be it a TV series, game, or even a popular meme (within reason!).

Project-based learning is often a good way to build buy-in and bring real-world connections to life in the classroom. Some of my favourite VISST projects include redesigning an exhibit at the Pacific Museum of Earth (you can still see our students’ work at the museum!), designing and constructing a custom bookshelf (in collaboration with the UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing), and our annual book of student writing which we publish and distribute. Photos below:

Page from the 2023-2024 VISST book of student writing, Beginnings

Custom corner bookshelf designed by the 2025 Grade 8 class

PME OmniGlobe user interface redesign by the VISST Class of 2026

Student-made OmniGlobe icons

While these projects in disparate domains have little in common on the surface, they share a common thread: they all deliver value in the real world. When students experience the feeling of creating value, they build justified self-confidence. These projects also promote student buy-in, a sense of ownership, experience with ambiguity and messiness, and a sense of pride in one’s work.

Is every VISST teacher required to include a major project in their course? No, but we all strive to promote student buy-in and real-world connections in our own ways. Likewise, there is no ban on lectures, or quota for bonus questions, etc. But even thinking of teaching as a constellation of professions, where the implementation details may vary greatly between disciplines and between teachers, we as the VISST teaching team are building a shared educational vision. It’s still tough to offer a pithy summary of how our courses run, but hopefully these pillars shed some light on what makes a course a VISST course.

If you enjoyed this post, consider joining the VISST mailing list at visst.ca/#updates!