When we talk about the “pedagogical milestones” of Self Development Academy, we are referring to the pillars of our approach to teaching. These are the most important things we identify for successful, engaged students who go on to become lifelong learners.
Take a peek into our pedagogical milestones, which drive us as teachers to make the biggest impact on students:
Self-Assurance
SDA provides a nurturing environment that instills a strong sense of personal identity in young learners. We embrace failure as part of the learning process. We value growth over perfection (because no one is perfect anyway!) and curiosity over complacency.
Spending time in our classrooms and with our teachers provides students with an opportunity to discover their strengths, their interests, their talents, and their proudest moments.
Our graduates are sure of their academic abilities and have the confidence necessary to approach novel, complex, and ever-challenging subjects with the belief that they can and will succeed.
Subject Mastery
SDA’s enriched, accelerated curriculum helps students develop a phased approach to learning. This means that teachers introduce them to the concepts. Then they add a layer of learning one by one, incorporating new knowledge, skills, concepts, and mindsets for any given subject or topic.
Students first become proficient in a subject, and through time, practice, and exposure, they become masters of the subject.
Critical and Creative Thinking
Advanced logic and critical thinking programs help SDA students understand not only what is going on but why it is so, or at least to be able to ask the right questions to get to the heart of any matter.
Students will learn how to examine, evaluate, disassemble, and reassemble information and ideas in order to develop a deep understanding of any subject.
Students learn creative thinking to generate new ideas, novel solutions to confounding problems, and to make radical leaps in thinking. It’s fun and engaging!
Collaboration
Teamwork is an essential skill for the lifelong learner, and SDA offers numerous extracurricular activities that help students learn to collaborate and work in teams.
SDA graduates have confidence in their own abilities, as well as confidence in the abilities of others and the recognition that teamwork is often necessary to learn and master new skills.
They enjoy sharing new insights with each other, learning from one another, and cheering each other on.
If you value these pedagogical milestones as well, check us out! Self Development Academy is recognized as one of the best K-8 charter schools nationwide. We have campuses in Phoenix and Mesa. Find email and phone numbers here. We can’t wait to hear from you!
