History and Vision
Challenge in Education
There is an ongoing struggle to meet the needs of diverse learners. Teachers continually search for methods of creating enriching and stimulating learning environments and experiences for children. Closing the achievement gap is a priority. However, educational reforms tend toward providing greater constraints on teachers and classrooms by using rote practices and standardized testing. Math and science education in particular, is taught in a rigid manner that restricts learners’ ability to solve problems and think critically. As curricula and assessments become more standardized, teachers have fewer opportunities to develop project-based and interdisciplinary educational experiences for their students, even though current educational and psychological research points to these methods as ‘best practices’ for student learning and achievement.
Our Values
In 1976, Columbia University Professor Mario Salvadori (1907-1997) took up a challenge from the New York Academy of Sciences to improve the teaching of math and science in our middle schools. Using the urban landscape of buildings, tunnels, and bridges, the Salvadori Center introduces teachers to the wonder, beauty, and logic of architecture and engineering, who then share it with their students. We provide professional development for teachers and project-based learning experiences for students to master the mathematics, science, art, language, social studies, and technology embedded in our built environment.
Today, the Salvadori Center sees itself as an organization that transforms teaching and learning.
- We believe that teachers are facilitators of learning not just depositors of knowledge.
- We acknowledge the value of mathematical and scientific literacy and strive to improve both by creating curriculum, modeling teaching, and empowering teachers to use the city as their classroom.
- We seek to create a model of education that is relevant, challenging, hands-on/minds-on, and critical, that provides teachers with the autonomy and skills necessary to create environments where all children can learn.
Our Vision
The Salvadori Center offers educators and children a new way of conceiving education. We are committed to utilizing the built environment as a teaching tool, with the belief that it holds the knowledge individuals need to be informed, active citizens; implementing project-based, interdisciplinary, experiential education, thereby allowing learners to take an active role in their education; providing professional development for teachers in order to equip them with the tools to implement project-based learning in math, science and the humanities; .developing relevant integrated curricula in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) to promote science and math literacy; using architecture, engineering and design as a gateway to project-based, interdisciplinary learning.
Our work with teachers promotes capacity building so that our educational practices are sustainable thereby creating an education that helps all learners expand their world view and experience of opportunity.
