Mission+&+Philosophy

Loyola High School of Los Angeles is a Catholic college preparatory school for young men who represent the racial, ethnic, and socio-economic diversity of greater Los Angeles. Drawing upon the Jesuit tradition, Loyola is committed to the development of the whole person, through a challenging educational experience of academic, co-curricular, and religious opportunities. By teaching as Jesus taught, Loyola is dedicated to inspiring its students to develop as conscientious leaders and agents of change who are intellectually distinguished, morally courageous, and compassionate in service to others. The aim of Loyola High School’s Science Department is for all of our students to acquire the knowledge and skills of empirical inquiry so that they may better understand and live responsibly in the world God creates. As Jesuit educators the Loyola Science Department is a component of the Ignatian vision that guides young people in the realization of their dignity, talents, and personal uniqueness. The Department seeks to challenge every student to become an ideal Graduate at Graduation: a graduate who is 1) Open to Growth; 2) Intellectually Distinguished; 3) Religious; 4) Loving; 5) Committed to Justice; and 6) Developing as a Leader. To do this, we challenge our students to engage their minds and nurture their ability to wonder and reason; and to apply scientific methods to reveal truth and beauty in nature while being good stewards. The Loyola Science Department also incorporates the goals of the National Science Education Standards (NSES 1996). According to the national standards, the goals for high school science students are to: 1. experience the richness and excitement of knowing about and understanding the natural world; 2. use appropriate scientific processes and principles in making personal decisions; 3. engage intelligently in public discourse and debate about matters of scientific and technological concern; and 4. increase their economic productivity through the use of knowledge, understanding, and skills of the scientifically literate person in their careers. In terms of __teaching__ and __student learning,__ the department believes that: · Teachers facilitate and guide students in active and scientific inquiry. · Classrooms should be safe, stimulating and student-centered environments. · The student is not a “receptacle” of knowledge but rather actively and uniquely creates their knowledge. · Every student learns all the time, both with us and despite us. · Teachers should focus on student understanding and use of scientific knowledge, ideas, and inquiry processes. · Beyond stimulation, learning requires reflection. · Direct experience shapes individual understanding. · Learning occurs best in a cultural context that provides both enjoyable interaction and substantial personal support. · Students should develop the ability to think critically. This means: o in the face of new information, to ask probing questions; o to be able to gather information and decide what is relevant; o to be able to build hypotheses and theories based on relevant information; o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> to be able to utilize higher levels of thinking when appropriate. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Students should be involved in the scientific mode of inquiry: a cycle of reflection, hypothesis, prediction, experimentation and evaluation (Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm). ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Students should learn science by //doing.// This includes designing and building things, calibrating instruments, collecting things, constructing physical and mathematical models and testing ideas. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> A scientifically literate person is someone who is aware that science, mathematics, and technology are interdependent human enterprises with strengths and limitations. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Acquiring scientific literacy should contribute to a student’s ability to ponder enduring questions and reality. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Teaching is an experimental process. There is always more to be learned about how to do it well. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Concepts are learned best when they are encountered in a variety of contexts and expressed in a variety of ways. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> We should help our students acquire the skills necessary to make informed decisions that positively affect their lives, the lives of others, and the planet on which they live. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> As Jesuit educators we are forming citizens of a biotic community. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">   Humans are a part of nature, not apart from nature. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">  It is i  mportant to understand systems, connections, patterns and root causes of environmental problems. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Students innately have a sense of wonder and are naturally biophiles. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Education is not factory-like. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The classroom is not a recitation room. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> To know “how” and to know “why” is more important that “what.” ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> It is the teacher’s role to encourage students to think the matter out for themselves. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Graduates should be ecologically literate. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Depth is more effective than breadth. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Technology should be appropriately incorporated to enhance learning. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Advance Placement classes should be offered to those motivated students prepared for AP-level curriculum. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Regarding the Scientific Endeavor and Religion: we are in accordance with Cardinal Schönborn’s statement, “faith and scientific findings regarding human evolution are not in conflict.”
 * __ LOYOLA HIGH SCHOOL’S MISSION STATEMENT __**
 * __ LOYOLA SCIENCE DEPARTMENT MISSION STATEMENT __**
 * __ PHILOSOPHY __**