Interdisciplinary Studies in Action:The Foundation Year Program at King's

SUMMARY
A trip to University of King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, finds evidence of a vibrant interdisciplinary first year for undergraduates. The program is described and its lessons for secondary schools suggested.

The King's Quad and Library

The Trip
As my daughter prepares to apply to university, she and I flew from Toronto to Halifax, Nova Scotia, this weekend to explore the University of King's College. She was attracted to King's because of the persuasive presentation made last month at her high school, particularly about the celebrated Foundation Year Program. So we came to see King's first hand.

The FYP
The Foundation Year Program (FYP) is an interdisciplinary program for first year students that introduces them mainly to Western civilization through deep reading, collaborative dialogue, challenging dialectic, and regular writing practice.
Rather than worry that FYP over-emphasized the Western Canon, I deeply admired the focus on critical and creative thinking and feeling.

At King's, all students attend the same four two-hour lectures a week. Each lecture is followed by two-hour seminars that develop ideas and opinions in cohesive, smaller groups. Every two weeks, students are set essays for assessment. There are other King's programs that modify or replace this format (e.g., in music, science or journalism) but most students choose to take the whole program or parts of it.

The lecture and seminars weave art, history, literature, philosophy, sociology etc. together for exemplary interdisciplinary knowledge and skill. Professors work collaboratively to ensure the flow and clarity of ideas. Expert instructors from other national and international institutions are invited to widen perspectives.

The Buzz
I was prepared for the Atlantic hospitality. I was not prepared for the buzz on campus. Whether in the lecture hall (we observed an engaging lecture on Machiavelli's The Prince) or the dining hall (we were treated to a nutritious lunch), I have rarely experienced students so united in mind and spirit. It was the unity and comraderie I had hoped for when I helped design the Ontario Ministry of Education Interdisciplinary Studies program twelve years ago. Such motivation and meaningful talk is a treat to see. Everyone was committed to their new life of ideas and reflection.

The Details
We should first accept that students are drawn to King's FYP partly because they are hungry for this kind of approach. It is not that only in university have they suddenly become "mature" enough for it. (This belief continues the patronizing and mediocre expectations often prevalent in secondary education). Students we talked to said that they had longed for such a program throughout high school.

How does King's do it and could high schools adapt the program in any way? The faculty, administration, and students are, above all, a learning community dedicated to both individual success and communal growth. Here are some details of how FYP is delivered.

• High expectations. Students read a lot, and the same books. Over 50 classic texts are on the reading list, from Gilgamesh to Simone de Beauvoir. Required reading must be prepared for lecture and seminar each week. Common and rich texts encourage common and rich conversations -- from morning to night!

• Learning rhythms. While lectures are formal and silence and note taking are required, after-lunch seminars are informal and encourage lively debate. There is a delightful, discernible rhythm that must help students pace themselves. 

• Continual support. Papers are not written in isolation. Every two weeks on a "FYP Monday", a paper is due at 9:30 sharp. However, the whole community is there to help you succeed. Since everyone at King's has had the same direct experience, a student has many people to turn to to test ideas, edit copy, and take risks. On the "FYP Sunday" before essays are due, the whole school goes into action. Upper years bring fruit and goodies to the hall at 6:00 p.m. and offer support and advice for first years. When the birthing is done, the whole school comes together again on Monday night to celebrate with theme parties and bean feasts. The social reinforcement is a natural outcome of the process itself: "Well done all; now on to the next!"

• Balanced assessment. Student assessment is both creative and demanding. Here is a typical set of questions for one section. Notice how simple and comprehensive the prompt is for most questions: "Discuss." If I were a King's student, I would feel confident to tackle the assessment of learning as well as motivated to further the assessment as learning by discussing all questions chosen by other students. Learning is continuous, independent of the marks frenzy often emphasized in high school.

• The whole student. The range of King's clubs or societies is exemplary and boasts many "oldests" and "firsts," from the Haliburton Society, North America's oldest literary society on a campus, to North America's most active undergraduate theatrical society. We watched an excellent adaptation of Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad, a demanding and long work that engaged a full house. Had we stayed this eek, we could have heard the equally celebrated choir that is a fixture of both town and gown in Halifax.

Lessons for Secondary Schools
I have not praised King's to sell their program. It is not my place and they do it themselves with grace and skill. Rather, I saw our experience this weekend as a challenge to the business of secondary education.

The FYP works because King's can design itself from the inside out. That is, the learning comes from a wholistic, interdisciplinary core of texts, teaching practices, and community experiences that are not bound by the fragmentation engendered by the credit system, timetabling, and emphasis on marks.

Here, of course, is the irony faced by even the most dedicated secondary school learning community. While universities are free to deliver such programs as King's Foundation Year, they may also be part of the secondary school inflexibility in focussing on number grades from a credit-based system.

In a subsequent post, I want to suggest ways that schools and universities in Ontario can use the existing  Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum to give students such an exciting experience as we had this weekend.

In any case, thanks to the staff and students of the University of King's College in Halifax for an exhilarating weekend. I wish I were enrolling myself!