Whose learning is it anyway? Di Pardoe September 2009

Whose learning is it anyway? This workshop will explore: the impact of enabling the learner to become a truly active participant in the learning process how we can enable the meaningful transference of responsibility of the learning to the learner

...developing successful learners confident individuals responsible citizens

Learning is our business…… How can we define learning?

…the fundamental process of interaction between ‘development’ and ‘experience’ (Blyth 1984 – ‘What Pupils Say’ Pollard and Triggs 2000)

What are teachers for?

Assessment for Learning – the 3rd generation…..? Assessment for Learning is about making sense of learning which means talking about it!

How do learners differ? Prior knowledge or skill expertise Learning rate Cognitive ability Learning style/Multiple Intelligence preference Motivation, attitude, and effort Interest, strength, or talent Self perception – in terms of learning, ability, potential

2020 Vision - High quality teaching …strengthening the relationship between learning and teaching through: matching high quality teaching to the different and developing abilities of pupils, focused on breaking down barriers to learning…and underpinned by high expectations dialogue between teachers and pupils, encouraging pupils to explore their ideas through talk, to ask and answer questions, to listen to their teachers and peers, to build on the ideas of others and to reflect on what they have learnt collaborative relationships which encourage and enable all pupils to participate and which develop pupils’ skills of working independently and in groups, enabling teachers and pupils to move learning forward together developing pupils’ appetite for and attitude to lifelong learning

2020 Vision report: 5 key strategies…. Engineering effective discussions, questions and tasks that elicit evidence of learning Providing feedback that moves learners forward Clarifying and sharing learning intentions and criteria for success Activating pupils as the owners of their own learning Activating pupils as resources for one another Black and Wiliam’s work with schools suggests, it is because the kinds of ‘short cycle’ adaptations that lead to the most significant benefits for pupils involve teachers changing some deeply embedded habits.

…and one big idea use evidence about learning to adapt teaching to meet the needs of the learners

enabling learning environment raised achievement high motivation active involvement learner autonomy enabling learning environment

“…….I just want work that’s not too easy and not too hard……” Challenge and support

Challenge and support… …getting the balance

Challenge zone Comfort zone Danger zone

Towards Successful Learning….. What helps us to learn? What stops us from learning? What does a successful learner do? What does a learner need in order to be successful? What do we need to do to enable learners to be successful?

To be a successful learner I need to ... Know and understand what I am learning Know why I am learning Be involved in reviewing and improving my learning Have time Ask questions and know what I could learn next Understand how I learn Have fun and enjoy my learning!! Know how to improve Know when and how I have been successful Feel safe and feel that ‘I can’ Learn with other learners Have new and varied experiences

To enable learners to be successful we need to ... Have high expectations and set clear success criteria Create an enabling learning environment Provide opportunities for reflection and review for working in different ways Share learning objectives, intentions and / or outcomes Provide focused feedback Manage time effectively Ensure secure knowledge and understanding of the learning and the learner Produce clear explicit planning for learning Teach learners how to become self-evaluative Promote Excellence and Enjoyment! Model desirable behaviours and effective learning strategies

The significance of talk…… ‘It’s good to talk!’ The significance of talk…… Sue Palmer: Toxic childhood

Think about the ways in which you already involve children in meaningful talk about their learning…… What do you do? Why do you do it? How do you do it ? What is the impact? How do you know?

What? Why? How? Impact How do you know? This type of structured analysis can be used by teachers and learners to assess/debrief learning WHAT have you learned? WHY is it important / do you need to know/understand this (clear rationale for learning indicating level of understanding) HOW did you learn – focus on learning styles and different ways of learning IMPACT What difference has learning this made to you? What can you do now that you couldn’t do before? How might you be able to us this learning? Eg. WHAT I have learned how write notes WHY important because I need to know how to extract and record the main points of a discussion/lecture/text HOW Read a piece of text with my partner and discussed and agreed what we thought were the key points and wrote them down IMPACT I will be able to revise more effectively / I can make notes as prompts for myself / II will be able to maintain more of a focus on what I am reading/listening to WHAT I have learned how to swim WHY really important to know how to swim to enjoy water safely HOW My teacher got in the water and showed me and then supported me until I could float and then I began too swim little by little IMPACT I can go to the pool or down to the beach on holiday with more confidence and without having to be watched all the time!

Teaching and Learning Research Programme – evidence informed principles to guide policy and practice 1 - Effective pedagogy equips learners for life in its broadest sense…..develop intellectual, personal and social resources ….. 6 - Effective pedagogy promotes the active engagement of the learner…..promotion of learners’ independence and autonomy….developing a positive attitude towards learning, confidence in oneself as a good learner….. 7 - Effective pedagogy fosters both individual and social processes and outcomes…..consulting learners and giving them a voice is both an expectation and a right…..

Becoming a Learning Detective... Exciting project Pioneering roles! Understanding learning – we need to have a very clear understanding of what we are looking for

What? Developing Learning Detectives is a student voice project focused upon partnerships in learning and transferring the responsibility of learning to the learner. Why? to build more a more effective dialogue about learning with teachers and learners to promote higher levels of involvement and motivation to enable our children and young people to become independent , autonomous learners to raise aspirations to raise achievement towards Successful learners; Confident individuals; Responsible citizens How………….? Impact…………?

Aims for initial ‘training’ sessions: ☺ developing deeper understanding of what the ‘movers’ and ‘blockers’ of learning are ☺ identifying what we do and how we feel when we are learning ☺ considering what needs to be on a checklist for learning detectives ☺ creating a draft set of ground rules for learning detectives

Looking forward to... 2020 What year is it now? How many years until 2020? How old will you be in 2020? What would you most like to be doing when you are ….. years old? If these are your goals….. …..what do you think you need to DO to move towards your goals? …..what do you think you need to BE LIKE as people to move towards your goals?

What do you think you need to do? What do you think you need to be like? Listen carefully Concentrate Talk through my ideas Plan out my work Ask questions Organise myself Prioritise Set my own targets Practise and persevere Follow instructions Confident Attentive Open to new ideas and thinking Enthusiastic Patient Hard-working Ambitious Full of self belief

2020 Vision recommends that schools also need to ensure that young people develop the skills and attitudes that will enable them to be successful in life after school. These include: having good oral communication skills being reliable and punctual developing perseverance working with others in a team and working independently being confident and developing problem solving skills being resilient in the face of difficulties

Transferring the responsibility of the learning to the learner Successful Learning: Transferring the responsibility of the learning to the learner Learner holds more responsibility…. teacher scaffolds and facilitates… learner becomes active participant Teacher holds responsibility……learner is passive recipient

Successful Learning: Creating a culture for learning Transferring the responsibility of the learning to the learner Teacher holds responsibility Learner holds responsibility Teachers: set the classroom rules tell learners how to behave manage rewards and sanctions distribute resources talk too much! Teacher and learners together: negotiate class codes/contracts of behaviour, noise level etc discuss what they think they need to do to learn and how they will learn talk about what they think begin to negotiate ways of working etc Learners: usually decide to behave appropriately can show that they understand how they learn manage resources and equipment make suggestions about organisation, resources, ways of working etc recognise mistakes are part of the learning process ‘have a go when they don’t know’

Successful Learning: Assessment for Learning Transferring the responsibility of the learning to the learner Teacher holds responsibility Learner holds responsibility Teacher and learners together: Teacher guides learner Teacher asks learners what they think they need to be successful Teacher supports learners in seeing difficulties as part of the learning process Learners begin to negotiate goals, targets and success criteria with the teacher Learners have opportunities to review their own work Learners begin to give feedback to peers Teachers: Teacher plans Learning Teacher sets success criteria Teacher marks work Teacher gives feedback Learners: Learners begin to plan learning and set success criteria Learners are able to identify successes and areas for improvement Learners make improvements to their work independently of the teacher