"We prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be."
Hassan Wilson Recognized for Innovative Teaching
For the second consecutive year, Friends Science Teacher Hassan Wilson is recognized nationally as one of the top 100 innovators by Flipped Learning Global Initiative (FLGI). Through a flipped classroom, Hassan essentially reverses traditional learning, introducing students to materials before class through a variety of channels, which allows dedicated class time to focus on active discussion, one-on-one assistance and lab work.
As an FLGI innovator and ambassador, Hassan is at the forefront of new product launches, online courses and research, advocating for others who wish to apply the flipped method at their schools. Through his responsibilities as an ambassador, Wilson was recently featured on BAM Radio Network, the largest education radio network, which introduces parents to the latest insights from thought leaders within early childhood education, physical education/motor development, play research, child development, and the neurosciences. In his interview, Wilson discusses giving more power to students through flipped classroom and his major/minor construct, while further examining educational models that balance the mandates of the curriculum with students' individual needs.
Wilson, who is currently the Science Department Chair and a Grade 8 teacher, began incorporating his unconventional methods in the classroom in 2013. The flipped classroom blurs the line between work done at home and in the School, freeing students from being locked in to a concrete pattern of knowledge gathering. He investigates his students’ ambitions and incorporates this into the curriculum and structure. By identifying core skills and content while leaving a margin for students to explore their passions, he said he’s able to reach them on a deeper level.
The flipped approach is currently being utilized by several of his colleagues in the Science department, with Chemistry and Physics teachers mixing elements of flipped learning into some units, expressing their students are excited about the increased independence it allows.
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Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.
