Project Based Learning - Cheltenham High School

What is Project Based Learning?

In the 21st Century workplace and college, success requires more than basic knowledge of skills and content. When HR departments from industry, academia, and government are asked to describe the "ideal candidate" coming out of a K-12 system, their responses are remarkably similar year after year:

Problem Solver
Responsible
Works Well With Others
Can Work Independently
Critical Thinker
Confident
Manages Time and Resources Effectively
Communicates Well With a Variety of People

Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by investigating and responding to authentic, engaging and complex questions, problems or challenges. With PBL students learn how to take initiative and responsibility, build their confidence, solve problems, work in teams, communicate ideas, and manage themselves more effectively. By bringing authentic expectations and experiences into the classroom students develop the skills they will need through direct practice and application.

In a PBL setting, school is the real world.

At Cheltenham, we use Stanford University d.school's design thinking model, developed to ensure that creativity and innovation flourish, as our guide and template when having students grapple with authentic challenges. Through generous financial support from the Avalon Foundation, a philanthropic organization passionately dedicated to the advancement of PBL, Cheltenham has been able to partner with the world's premier PBL school, High Tech High, and a local Philadelphia PBL school, The Workshop School to support our teachers in their professional learning experiences.