Capstone Project Highlight Series: Abby Dawson ’21

Each year, a number of junior and senior class members choose to participate in the MFS Capstone Program. Designed to challenge students who wish to pursue advanced study in a particular field, the program asks participants to produce scholarly work by engaging in independent research and/or creative development under the guidance of an MFS faculty member. This series highlights recently completed projects of the 18 senior students in the program. 

The past year has challenged so much of the “normal” day-to-day existence, especially in regards to children’s learning and their mental and emotional state. Abby Dawson’s timely capstone project focuses on the connection between the five developmental stages − intellectual, physical, social, emotional, and moral − and children’s ability to learn. More specifically, she sought to answer the question “how do developmental stages affect the way [children] learn and therefore the way they should be taught?”

In addition to speaking with Lower School teachers about their pedagogies, Abby used her summer work as a lifeguard and swimming instructor to better understand child development and its impact on her teaching and their learning. In her particular program, swimming students move through a series of 14 levels as their skill and comfort in the water progresses. This year, due to the pandemic, students were split into groups which limited their interaction with non-group students and instructors. This meant that Abby “had to teach from outside of the water, and … rely on group staff to help teach the campers” in addition to teaching multiple swimming levels at one time. 

Over a number of weeks, Abby noticed that she had reframed her teaching process. Her focus on development led her to shift the thought “‘these kids aren’t paying attention’ to ‘why aren’t these kids paying attention’… a dramatic change that allowed [her] to be more adaptable to situations and more patient.” This experience, and new way of looking at teaching, helped her to create a set of guidelines for each of the grade levels in elementary school. The guidelines which are broken into six categories per grade level will hopefully be a great resource for teachers looking for a new perspective or new ideas for leading a class effectively. Abby looks forward to using this information as she moves into future careers in teaching and/or psychology. Read more about her project on her capstone page.