Phase I - Working with SAISD

Phase I of Unlimited Potential aimed to encourage creativity and new ideas in children through arts-based children’s programming. The initiative launched with 15 elementary schools of the San Antonio Independent District participating.

The program sought to enable educators to examine their assumptions of their students and the relationships involved in the process of learning and teaching. According to a report that the Unlimited Potential team published in the late 1960s, the prevailing relationship between student and teacher was one based on control. In this model, teachers acted primarily as authority figures and often did not view their interactions with students as “human encounters” or a relationship among equals. The economic, cultural, and racial backgrounds of teachers also made it more difficult for them to reach and understand the disadvantaged youth in their classrooms.

Unlimited Potential aimed to change the nature of the student and teacher relationship, diminishing the differences between the teacher and student and instead fostering a sense of mutual understanding and respect.