At Acton, we believe that learners are the protagonists of their own adventures in life and that they are capable of driving their educational journeys forward. To facilitate this student-centered approach, elementary and middle school learners have individual “journey” meetings with a guide each week. Learners use this time to discuss moments of struggle and triumph in the studio, propose changes to systems, and reflect on their week.

During these meetings, the guide asks Socratic questions about the learner’s progress, goals, and studio life. For example, “When did you feel challenged this week, and when were you in your comfort zone? When did the challenge feel good, and when was it too much?” Or, “Are you focusing more on mastery of one area or on balance across math, reading, spelling, and grammar right now?”

In addition to weekly journey meetings with a guide, twice a year, in the fall and spring, learners have journey meetings with a guide and their parents. While the weekly journey meetings help equip the learners for the meetings with their parents, the learners also spend a lot of time preparing.

They complete reflection and tracking sheets to review and map their goals and achievements over the course of the year. Additionally, the guides challenge the learners to anticipate the types of questions their parents might ask. These preparations allow the learners to take the lead in the meetings and confidently present their progress in core skills (math, reading, grammar, spelling) and studio life.

Journey meetings bring together different components of learning at Acton Academy, such as learning to do, learning to be, and learning to learn, and are a special time for learners because they get to demonstrate their ownership over their Acton journeys and share their progress.