Last year marked 15 Years of Harkness in the Senior School. What started out as one 'innocent' table in room 225 or the 'Harkness Room' has helped grow learning in the Senior School to the fulsome experience it is today for students and faculty alike. Today we are proud to be the only school in Canada to feature Harkness in every discipline and to center Harkness as a foundational component of our Senior School Education Program.

The most prominent symbol of Harkness is the physical table itself, a warmly solid, wooden oval table where teachers and students sit equitably and facing one another – a physical space that inspires and actuates collaborative learning. In the Senior School, we refer to it in various ways: a way of learning, a philosophy, a pedagogy, a methodology. The multiplicity of identities speaks to the way in which each teacher and student has embraced and made Harkness unique in the Southridge Senior School. In this way, over the past 15 years, the Southridge Senior School has taken the origins of Harkness at Phillips Exeter Academy and evolved and innovated it into the complex, challenging, and joyous experience it is today.

As Harkness Coaches, we have been committed to the support of Harkness for all community stakeholders – a daunting but ultimately richly rewarding experience. To celebrate 15 Years of Harkness, we have organized and facilitated a number of events, all serving to highlight the phenomenal growth, complexity, and ultimately, success of Harkness in the Southridge Senior School:

• Harkness Student Leadership: Each year, Grade 12 students who are skilled in Harkness join this student leadership team. They act as ambassadors of Harkness learning, act as Harkness teaching assistants, and mentor students new to Harkness in the Senior School.
• Harkness and the Admissions Process: Potential student candidates to the Senior School learn about Harkness at our Open House and have a chance to experience a Harkness discussion firsthand.
• Professional Development Opportunities for Faculty: Southridge Harkness Institutes, where teachers facilitate and participate in Harkness discussions in different disciplines, help faculty empathize with the student experience and grow in their own professional practice.
• Harkness Leaders Conference at Phillips Exeter Academy: Harkness Coaches were invited to present the Southridge experience to US school administration and faculty interested in developing Harkness.
• Phillips Exeter Academy Faculty and Staff Visits: Guests from Phillips Exeter Academy, where Harkness learning originated, visit, observe, and consult with Southridge faculty on best Harkness practices.
• Harkness Outreach: ISABC and public school districts who are interested in developing Harkness in their schools visit and learn from Southridge faculty.

While we had so many highlights of the year, our proudest and most memorable accomplishment is our very own publication, the Southridge Harkness journal, “At the Table: Stories of Harkness at Southridge”. At 190 pages, this journal showcases reflections on Harkness from some of those who have had the chance to work in Harkness. We feature pieces written by faculty, administrators, and alumni. We also have a foreword and observation reflections written by guests from Phillips Exeter Academy, many of whom we have been working with for over a decade in growing Harkness learning at Southridge. Copies of the journal are available in the Junior and Senior School libraries, or can be requested through Joyce Kim and Michael DiPietro, Harkness Coaches. 

We hope you are able to share in the joys and challenges of Harkness and look forward to supporting Harkness learning in the coming years.

Contributed by Joyce Kim, English Department Curriculum Leader/Harkness Coach and Michael DiPietro, Science Department Curriculum Leader/Harkness Coach