|
|
4C Challenge Program
Esquimalt High School has been home to the 4C Challenge Program since the program was developed here in 1979. The program is designed to serve the unique needs of gifted, creative and talented learners through pedagogical practices and ability grouped classrooms which seek to maximize student opportunities for enrichment, self-directed study, autonomous learning, and social and emotional well being. The program seeks to develop students' cognitive abilities to meet standards of intellectual excellence through differentiated curriculum, acceleration, and enrichment.
The program is centered on what we refer to as the "4Cs": commitment to tasks; creative problem solving; challenging curriculum and assignments; and community involvement. Students are ability grouped in gifted education classes for all of their core subject area courses in grades 9 through 11. In grade 12, students choose a program of elective courses with English 12 being the only ability grouped gifted course required. Our program's focus on academic rigor as well as community involvement and social responsibility produces intelligent, thoughtful, caring human beings.
The 4C program aims to prepare students for post secondary education and the demands of an ever changing and complex world. Students are taught to employ all of their cognitive skills in solving curricular as well as real world problems. Creative thinking skills are encouraged and supported; indeed, divergent, or "outside-the-box" thinking is a hallmark of gifted education. In the Challenge Program, productive, complex and abstract thinking skills are the norm. Higher order thinking skills such as synthesis, analysis, and evaluation are emphasized in all ability grouped core subject areas.
Students are also taught the fundamental skills required to flourish in an academic and world context. These include organization, study, research, and presentation skills. Students are encouraged to develop as autonomous learners, to creatively solve problems, and to take the initiative in designing and implementing individual projects both inside and outside of the classroom. All students are encouraged to take an Independent Directed Studies course during their four years at Esquimalt High School. Such an opportunity allows students to pursue in depth a subject of their own choosing. Students are also required to take a Philosophy course in grade 9, the ideas and skills of which underpin the intellectual elements of the program. Further, students are required to choose between a Philosophy course and an Integrated Studies course in grade 11. Both of these courses continue to provide students with the opportunity to face intellectual challenges that fall outside of the regular school curriculum. Ability grouping in all of these courses allows students to learn in an environment where intellectual striving and peer support for academic achievement is the norm.
Esquimalt High School’s Challenge Program is typified by supportive, collaborative learning where all students are accepted for their unique contributions to both the program and the school.
For more information about the 4C Challenge Program, please contact the program coordinator by phone or e-mail:
4C Challenge Program Coordinator
Esquimalt High School
847 Colville Road, Victoria, BC, V9A 4N9
Phone: (250) 382-9226 Fax: (250) 361-1263 Email: esquimalt@sd61.bc.ca
|