Learning Futures: a pedagogy of engagement AISNSW workshop September 2012 valerie hannon People who want to get online can use the wifi. If you want to be involved in the conversation on twitter, use the hashtag #getengaged

Innovation Leadership Supporting and connecting leaders of innovation Innovation Labs Equipping organisations to be independently innovative Innovation Measurement Measuring innovation activity and impact Innovation Exchange Connecting people and ideas to solve social challenges Innovation Research Uncovering and sharing new thinking and practice Innovation Facilitation Facilitating workshops, events, projects and programmes

The Problem: Disengagement

Disengagement is a bigger problem for the most disadvantaged children

What do we mean by engagement?

Engagement in Learning vs. Engagement in School

Engagement in School: Attendance Attentiveness Conformity Exam Results Behaviour For a long time, attention has focused on ‘engagement in school’, as measured by certain proxies

Engagement in Learning Engagement in Learning: Energetic and enthusiastic Learning all the time, everywhere Taking responsibility for learning Achieving a wider set of learning outcomes We are more interested in engagement in learning.

Learning that fosters engagement is: Placed - The activity is located, either physically or virtually, in a world that the student recognises and is seeking to understand. Purposeful - The activity feels authentic, it absorbs the student in actions of practical and intellectual value and fosters a sense of agency. Passion-led -The activity enlists the passions of both students and teachers, enhancing engagement by encouraging students to choose areas of interest which matter to them. Pervasive - The activity enables the student to continue learning outside the classroom, drawing on family members, peers, local experts, and online references as sources of research and critique.

From Learning Futures to Engaging Schools In 2007, the Learning Futures programme started – run in partnership by the Innovation Unit and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. This conference marks the end of the development and research phase of this work, and the beginning of the implementation phase – using what we know about what makes learning engaging in order to make schools more engaging places to learn. For two years, Learning Futures worked with over forty schools across England to help young people engage with their learning, achieve better learning outcomes, and remain committed to learning beyond their school years.

Learning Futures worked with about forty schools on 15 sites across England.

These are the publications that have come from Learning Futures

Out of this work, we identified four approaches to designing engaging learning. These four approaches are at the heart of the ‘engaging school’

Design Principles

Introduction Great schools evolve around clear, non-negotiable principles Values-led school designs clearly prioritise and enact their design principles Intelligent designs draw inspiration from a range of other models – they integrate great ideas

Private sector Third sector All of these organisations have basic design principles that we can all recognise Citizens Advice Bureau – specialised knowledge is a resource everyone should be able to access Big Issue – Homeless people can be financially independent Pret – If you have quality and convenience, you don’t need customisability RyanAir – people don’t need to like you, they only need to use you

Apple iPad - personalisation McDonalds - standardisation For example… Apple iPad - personalisation McDonalds - standardisation

Whose principles are these? Focus on the user and all else will follow It’s best to do one thing really well Fast is better than slow Great just isn’t good enough You can be serious without a suit The need for information crosses all borders It’s Google

Private sector Third sector All of these organisations have basic design principles that we can all recognise Citizens Advice Bureau – specialised knowledge is a resource everyone should be able to access Big Issue – Homeless people can be financially independent Pret – If you have quality and convenience, you don’t need customisability RyanAir – people don’t need to like you, they only need to use you

High Tech High The primacy of the quality of student work Teachers as designers

Projects always end with an exhibition of students’ work. Their maxim is to view project outputs as installations. The whole school campus is an exhibition centre for great work – a walk-round archive of their core principle of generating great student work.

This is about design principle number 2: Teachers are designers of learning Image guide, clockwise from top left corner: Unboxed is a peer-reviewed journal of research by teachers, published quarterly by HTH’s graduate school of education Ampersand is the student version of Unboxed Beauty and the Beach is a book, the output of a project designed by middle school teachers. Collegial conversations are online discussions about teaching practice, hosted by the High Tech High Graduate School of Education HTH teachers go to other places, and HTH invites people from elsewhere, in order to feed the intellectual culture of the school.

Imagine that you have been invited to design a new school – from scratch. Design principles capture what you believe in. You want your school to be a manifestation of those principles – for them to be visible in both the way that the school is organised and the way students (and staff) learn.  

Our school will be committed to rigorous project-based learning Our school will rebalance student enquiry and transmission teaching Our school will maximise time for deep learning by simplifying the timetable Our school will use authentic real world assessment Our school will integrate curriculum subjects within student projects Our school will actively involve parents and volunteers as tutors, experts, mentors and coaches

7. Our school will have a curriculum that integrates ‘head and hand’ – knowing and doing 8. Teachers in our school will plan, design and teach in teams 9. Teachers in our school will really know their students as individuals and the students will feel known as learners 10 Students in our school will feel a sense of ownership and take responsibility for their learning 11 Our school will persuade local organisations to provide authentic locations and opportunities for learning 12 Our school will work in partnership with parents and respect them as the primary educators of their children

Delta 6

Our support If you are now inspired to become an Engaging School, you need not do so in isolation. We have spent three years building a community and we’d be delighted for you to join us. We are working with school leaders, teachers, and sponsors of new schools, to help them make their schools more engaging. In order to support schools in becoming more engaging, we are offering the following: