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1. Internet-based learning

A U.S. pedagogic institution provides the web-based curriculum for most subjects. Each student is required to have a laptop computer to use in class as well as to complete homework assignments. It is goal of Harkness Institute to be ecologically responsible and minimize the use of paper in all forms.


2. Seminar-based Collaboration

The core of the learning program is the participation in discussions about the curriculum around the conference tables in the classrooms. This peer-to-peer Socratic method is what sets Harkness apart from other schools in México. The students partake in one-hour group discussions over an array of topics that both supplement and expand on the web-based or teacher-led programs.
In these intense discussions, the role of the teacher is that of a facilitator… as the students drive the learning process. The single most valuable learning tool is the student himself. Critical thinking is honed, collaborative ideas developed while thoughts are offered and debated. Respect for differing ideas is paramount, as topics from classical literature to calculus is understood on a deeper level. This format is used successfully by the leading private schools in the United States, and it is structured at Harkness to allow students to reach their learning objectives by their own means.


3. “Hands-On” Experience

Thereafter, understanding of the subject is embedded through projects – field studies, robot building and art projects. For instance, one week every year students are expected to participate on the beach in a “turtle camp” working to preserve the nesting areas of the endangered Olive Ridley Turtle in cooperation with the AMA biological association.


4. Getting Ready for University Studies

The goal of Harkness Institute is to enable its graduates to be accepted in colleges and universities anywhere in the world. The curriculum helps to bridge the gap between the SEP program and what is required by U.S. Universities. By providing U.S. and AP accredited courses as well as a Harkness diploma, students are provided opportunities unique and unavailable elsewhere in Mexico.

 

About the name:

Harkness Institute















Harkness Institute is named to honor the man, Edward Harkness,  who in 1930 funded the development of a teaching method that he described as follows:


“What I have in mind is [a classroom] where [students] could sit around a table with a teacher who would talk with them and instruct them by a sort of tutorial or conference method, where [each student] would feel encouraged to speak up. This would be a real revolution in methods.”


This educational style is used by some of the most advanced schools in the United States

and is a cornerstone of educational process at the Harkness Institute.



Please Note: The Harkness Institute has no official affiliation with Phillips Exeter Academy, the independent, secondary school in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA where the Harkness method of discussion-based teaching and learning originated. 


Harkness Combines the Best Learning Techniques