Looking past
the light:
A NEW FOCUS ON
EXPANDED LEARNING
Using the LCFF and
Expanded Learning to
build school climate
and culture, we can
transform our schools
into places where every
student has a positive
relationship with the
adults on campus.
14
Leadership
An old man was walking home late one night
when he saw a friend on his knees under a street
light, searching for something.
“What are you doing?” He asked his friend.
“I dropped the key to my house.”
“I’ ll help you look.” After a few minutes of
frustrated searching, the old man asked, “Where
exactly were you when you dropped this key?”
His friend pointed toward the darkness.
“Over there.”
“Then why are you looking for it here?”
“Because this is where the light is.”
– Sufi parable
Expanded Learning encompasses
all the out-of-school time spaces and expe-
riences our students and communities par-
ticipate in to enrich their lives. These are the
dance or music classes students take before
and after school, the summer enrichment
programs, and the sports teams they com-
pete with on the weekends.
Traditionally, the core day has held a be-
lief that the skills and experiences provided
through Expanded Learning have little or
no impact on student achievement. But as
more and more research is being conducted,
it’s becoming more evident that a student’s
social-emotional wellbeing is just as impor-
tant to student achievement as a teacher’s
“first-best” lesson. With funding decisions
being made at the local level, there is no bet-
ter time than now to capitalize on the ben-
efits of relationship building, experiential
learning and innovation through Expanded
Learning.
Moving funding decisions to the local
level has its perks. School sites and districts
can determine which ventures to pursue and
which ventures are worth funding. How-
ever, history has taught us that schools and
districts have put their effort, energy and
funding into two things: improving instruc-
tion or reducing class sizes.
Admirable, yes, but nothing novel. There
is a common misconception that’s rooted
in old textbooks of ancient pedagogy. A
singular belief that we can’t control any-
thing outside our classrooms or schools, so
why bother addressing it? Why look into
the darkness? This belief, that one’s sphere
By Rodrigo Arancibia